Art of Tokyo and Environs of Ginza
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
All three prints focus on the environs of Ginza. Today, this part of Tokyo is fashionable concerning high fashion. However, these prints provide a glimpse of Ginza from many decades ago.
The first print is by Okuyama Gihachiro (1907-1981). He was born during the late Meiji Period (1868-1912). Accordingly, he witnessed dramatic changes to the exclusive district of Ginza throughout his lifetime.
The print above is by Kawakami Sumio (1895-1972). He was also born in the Meiji Period – similar to Okuyama Gihachiro and Hiratsuka Unichi (Un’ichi), who did the third print in this article.
Oliver Hadley Statler (1915-2002) quoted Kawakami Sumio. He said, “I was never much in the swim of things as far as prints were concerned. Since I didn’t live in Tokyo I never knew many of the print artists and never was much influenced by them. I’ve just gone my own way, doing what interested me, and hoping it would interest somebody else. If it has, I’m happy.”
Hiratsuka Unichi was born in 1895 and died in 1997. He is connected strongly with the sōsaku hanga (creative prints) art movement. Indeed, Hiratsuka Unichi is endearingly called the “grand old man” of sōsaku hanga.
He taught many artists. These include Hashimoto Okiie, Kitaoka Fumio, Kobashi Yasuhide, and Munakata Shiko.
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