• • • 2019 October

      SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
      		1	2	3	4	5
      6	7	8	9	10	11	12
      13	14	15	16	17	18	19
      20	21	22	23	24	25	26
      27	28	29	30	31

Utagawa Toyokuni – A man who surpassed Sharaku

Utagawa Toyokuni (1769~1825) is an ukiyo-e artist who played an active part in the field of yakusha-e (portraits of kabuki actors) and bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women). He studied under Toyoharu, the founder of the Utagawa School. Since he published his representative series “Kabuki Actors on the Stage” in 1794, he stood out in the field of yakusha-e along with Tōshūsai Sharaku and Katsukawa Shun’ei. However, Toyokuni’s clear touch gained greater popularity than the others and he became a leading artist. In the field of bijin-ga, he competed with popular artist Kitagawa Utamaro. Compared to Utamaro’s amorous women, Toyokuni’s women were healthy and elegant, and this also attracted people. Moreover, he created illustrations for books energetically enough to vie with Katsushika Hokusai. Many talented young artists rallied around Toyokuni, who was a leading artist in various genres, and the Utagawa School became the biggest school of ukiyo-e at the end on the Edo period. This year commemorates the 250th year since his birth. Although Toyokuni played an important role as the master of Kuniyoshi and Kunisada, who are more recent popular ukiyo-e artists, exhibitions showing the entirety of his work have rarely been held. This exhibition introduces various genres of Toyokuni’s works and brings out their charms.

Utagawa Toyokuni “Kabuki Actors on the Stage: Masatsu-ya”

Utagawa Toyokuni “Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Komazō Ⅲ as Sasaki Ganryū”

Toyokuni’s yakusha-e, “Kabuki Actors on the Stage,” made him a front runner surpassing Sharaku

Toyokuni became a star artist in the genre of yakusha-e which portrayed Kabuki actors in Edo. His representative series of yakusha-e, “Kabuki Actors on the Stage,” published in 1749 attracted people with its refreshingly honest depictions of actors. In May of the same year, Tōshūsai Sharaku debuted with 28 bust portraits of actors made luxuriously with mica and published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō. This launched the rivalry between Toyokuni, Sharaku and Shun’ei, who were already big names in this genre. However, public interest toward Sharaku did not last long and he disappeared after about 10 months. Shun’ei, too, stopped making yakusha-e within a few years. Toyokuni, who gained both popularity and ability, became the leading artist of yakusha-e and pursued his own unique expression.

Utagawa Toyokuni “Kabuki Play “Sugawaradenju Tenarai Kagami” Kuruma-biki”

Bijin-ga works that competed with Utamaro – from women of samurai families to the lowest-ranked courtesans

Toyokuni was skilled at depicting not only kabuki actors but also beautiful women. Compared to Utamaro’s amorous women, Toyokuni’s women were healthy and elegant, and this also attracted people. Moreover, Toyokuni is also known for depicting women in various occupations and ranks such as women from samurai families, female farmers, high-ranked courtesans in Yoshiwara and the lowest-ranked courtesans working on boats in the illustrated book “Ehon Imayō Sugata”.

Utagawa Toyokuni “Summer View of Atagoyama”

Utagawa Toyokuni “Collection of Beautiful Women”

Utagawa Toyokuni “Illustrated Book “Ehon Imayō Sugata””

Book illustrations that competed with Hokusai – amusing anecdotes of popular artist Toyokuni

Toyokuni, who became a popular artist in the genre of yakusha-e and bijin-ga, competed with Hokusai in the various genres of illustrated books. He had many deadlines from various publishers, and was popular enough to be confined indoors working. However, he was not known as a quick worker. One story says that when Toyokuni was confined to his room in spring, he said he wanted to go see the cherry blossoms at the Sumida River and stopped drawing. The publisher brought a branch of cherry blossoms to Toyokuni’s room and he resumed drawing. There are many anecdotes that remind us of manga artists in the Showa period who were bold and openhearted.

Kyokutei Bakin/Utagawa Toyokuni Illustrated Book “Fukushū Kitan Wakae no Hato” (private collection)

Kyokutei Bakin/Utagawa Toyokuni Illustrated Book “Fukushū Kitan Wakae no Hato” (private collection)

The roots of Kuniyoshi? Toyokuni’s caricature pictures

Utagawa Toyokuni “Mimicking a Cat” (private collection)

Although Toyokuni did not create many of them, he did leave behind some interesting parody pictures. This picture depicts a man pretending to be a cat. The man is playing with decorative New Year ornaments made of rice cakes. There is something amusing about Toyokuni’s humorous depictions of cats on towels and kimono. Toyokuni’s pupil, popular uikiyo-e artist Kuniyoshi, was skilled at caricature pictures and left many works featuring farcical pictures of cats. In this way, Toyokuni’s caricature pictures can be said to be the roots of Kuniyoshi.

Featured Work

Utagawa Toyokuni “Kabuki Actor Sawamura Sōjūrō Ⅲon the Boat at Night”

One of the series of pictures depicting the daily lives of popular kabuki actors with beautiful women. This picture depicts Sawamura Sōjūrō Ⅲ who is seating hunched, warming himself at a kotatsu (a small table with a heater placed underneath) on a boat. We can feel the coldness of the air from the picture. Since the woman standing on the dock looks surprised, she might have just noticed the figure of this famous kabuki actor. The gradation of black applied from the top expresses the night, and the depiction of the light from the lantern the woman is holding also makes an impact. This work is quintessential Toyokuni, showcasing his remarkable skill in both portraits of kabuki actors and pictures of beautiful women. Sawamura Sōjūrō Ⅲ was an active kabuki actor during 1789-1801 who was drawn by many ukiyo-e artists of this period such as Toyokuni, Tōshūsai Sharaku and Katsukawa Shun’ei.

Admission

Calendar

• • • • 2019 September

        SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
        1	2	3	4	5	6	7
        8	9	10	11	12	13	14
        15	16	17	18	19	20	21
        22	23	24	25	26	27	28
        29	30

      Invitation to different worlds – Specters, the spiritual world and foreign countries

      2019, August 2nd-28th

       

      Will be closed on August 5, 13, 19, 26.

      

      Ukiyo-e mostly depicts subjects of the pleasurable yet fleeting “ukiyo” (real world) such as popular kabuki actors and courtesans, as well as famous sites crowded with people. However, the real world is not the only subject of ukiyo-e. In some ukiyo-e paintings, landscapes of worlds which are completely different to those of the world we live in, and characters from these worlds are featured. In this exhibition, we will guide you through the various worlds depicted in ukiyo-e paintings with three themes – specters, the spiritual world and foreign countries. We hope you enjoy the encounters in the unreal worlds.

      

      Tsukioka Yoshitoshi “Ban Danemon Naoyuki Defeating Specters Disguised by Raccoon Dogs”

      

      Utagawa Yoshifusa “Yoshihira’s Ghost Destroying Namba Jirō at Nunobiki Waterfalls”

      Specters – Encounters with odd-looking creatures

      

      Tsukioka Yoshitoshi “One Hundred Ghost Stories of Japan and China: Insatiable Old Woman Opening a Box Filled with Specters”

      Specters attempting to scare, or attack people are often depicted in ukiyo-e. Their appearances can be tremendously horrifying at times and humorous at others. There are also ukiyo-e of people confronting these odd-looking creatures without fear and defeating them. In this section, we will introduce the various monsters that come from different worlds.

      

      Utagawa Yoshifuji “Monster Cutting Woman’s Hair”

      The spiritual world – Ghosts risen from the underworld

      

      Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Kodanji Ⅳ as Ghost of Oiwa”

      Stories of people coming back to this world as ghosts after being killed by villains were often performed in kabuki plays and made into ukiyo-e portraits of the kabuki actors. There are also peculiar works which depict the judge of the afterlife and demons being defeated by a dead person raging in hell. Here, we will introduce ghosts and the world after death depicted in ukiyo-e, as well as the memorial portraits to commemorate the people who had died, called “shini-e.”

      

      Toyohara Kunichika “Kabuki Actors Discipline Ogres at Hell”

      Foreign countries – landscapes based on hearsay and imagination

      

      Utagawa Kunitora “European Ships Going into the Bay of Rhodes”

      For people in the Edo period who had never been abroad or rarely had direct interactions with foreigners, foreign countries were beyond their imagination. The sceneries of these foreign countries were depicted in ukiyo-e, referring to limited documents, pictorial information, and sometimes fanciful imaginations. In this section, we will introduce works picturing Okinawa and Hokkaidō which were not part of Japan at the time, landscapes of China and Europe far across the ocean, and the foreign technologies such as steamships, trains and hot air balloons introduced to Japan at the end of the Edo period through the Meiji period.

      

      Utagawa Yoshitora “View of America”

      Featured Work

      Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Pairs for the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road: Kuwana, Sailor Tokuzō Looking at a Sea Goblin”

      

      A sailorman Kuwana Tokuzō ignores the rule that he should not set sail on New Year’s Eve and encounters a huge sea monster called “umibōzu” offshore. Umibōzu asked Tokuzō if he was scared, but contrary to the expectation of umibōzu, he answers that living in this world is much scarier. Umibōzu was awed by Tokuzō of what he said and disappeared. With umibōzu depicted with only dim eyes in a black shadow, this is an impressive work of the creepy appearance of umibōzu coming from a different world.

      Admission

      Adult	700 yen
      University and High school students	500 yen
      Junior High School Students and below	Free

      Calendar

      Closed

      • • • • 2019 August

              SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
              				1	2	3
              4	5	6	7	8	9	10
              11	12	13	14	15	16	17
              18	19	20	21	22	23	24
              25	26	27	28	29	30	31

            Life with blue – Kimono, pottery and daily articles

            2019, July 2nd-28th

             

            Will be closed on July 8, 16, 22.

            

            The color “blue”, which reminds us of the beautiful sky and sea, fascinated the people in the Edo Period, and brought a refreshing splash of color to their lives. In particular, thanks to the abundant supply of cotton and improvements in dyeing technology, the indigo shade called “Japan blue” in the present day spread widely and came to be used for yukata (light cotton kimono), tenugui (cotton cloths) and noren (store curtains). Furthermore, blue-colored tableware and flowerpots called sometsuke became popular, and blue became a color used in various scenes of daily life. There are a surprising number of ukiyo-e prints depicting Edo people incorporating blue into their daily lives. In this exhibition, we will introduce “the culture of blue” fostered in the Edo Period through pictures which captured the daily life of Edokko (people in Edo) as well as landscape pictures by Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige.
            
            The Ota Memorial Museum of Art, specializing in ukiyo-e, and The Toguri Museum of Art, specializing in ceramic ware, have collaborated for the first time, going beyond the genre of Art. We hope you will enjoy the lifestyles of Edo filled with beautiful blue through the perspectives of ukiyo-e and ceramics.

            

            Utagawa Kunisada “Thirty-two Appearances of Contemporary Women: Looking Cool “

            

            Tsukioka Yoshitoshi “Thirty-two Aspects of Women: Looking as if She Wants to Purchase, Appearance of Housewives of the Kaei Period”

            Blue in fashion

            

            Utagawa Kunisada “Kinsei Suikoden: Kabuki Actor Nakamura Shikan Ⅳ as Keiriki Tomigorō”

            The color of the uniform of the Japanese national soccer team is called “Samurai blue”, which features a deep shade of blue originating from traditional indigo. With the distribution of indigo, ukiyo-e in the late Edo Period captured the appearance of various people wearing blue as daily clothes. In this section, we will introduce various fashions using blue in Edo, especially yukata (light cotton kimono) which features beautiful contrasts between blue and white. Women wear yukata with not only cute patterns but also bold designs such as crabs and octopuses, and men present cool and chic figures with yukata. Moreover, we will introduce manly beauty at that time through the pictures depicting tattoos which gained popularity in the late Edo Period.

            

            Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni Ⅲ) “Twelve Months: June, Airing Clothes”

            Blue coloring life

            In the late Edo Period when food, fashion and gardening cultures that continue even today started blooming, people used various pottery and daily articles such as dishes, rice bowls, flower pots and cotton towels, with many of them colored in blue. It can be said that blue colored life and was loved by people back then. Furthermore, a Greek writer, Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), also wrote about the charm of Japanese scenes with copious amounts of blue used for the house roofs, clothes and store curtains that he saw when he came to Japan in 1890. From this section, you can understand that sense of how Japanese people loving blue was nurtured in the Edo Period.

            Japan blue that fascinated the world

            It seems that the Western people who visited Japan in the Meiji Period found the culture of blue developed in the Edo Period to be unique to Japan. Originally, the person who named the blue color ingrained in Japanese life “Japan blue” was a British chemist Robert William Atkinson who came to Japan in 1874. Furthermore, a Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) also wrote about the charm of Japanese scene with a lot of blue used for the house roofs, clothes and store curtains that he saw when he came to japan in 1890.

            Ukiyo-e blue revolution

            Landscape paintings with the beautiful blue sky and the ocean of Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige have fascinated many people all over the world. Behind the birth of the world-class ukiyo-e landscape paintings of Hokusai and Hiroshige was the appearance of a new blue paint called Berlin blue (Prussian blue). It made it possible to delicately express the changing sky and the subtle surface of water. We will introduce the changes of expression related to the new blue painting in ukiyo-e history by exhibiting landscape paintings from before and after its use became common.

            

            Katsushika Hokusai “Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji: Hongan-ji Temple at Asakusa in Edo”

            

            Utagawa Sadahide “Coutesans Viewing the Port of Nagasaki”

            Featured Works

            Utagawa Hiroshige “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Dyers’ Quarter, Kanda”

            

            See Edo Castle and Mt. Fuji fluttering in the wind on fabric dyed shades of blue and brown. Kanda Kon’ya-chō was governed by Tsuchiya Gorōemon, the head dyer who was allowed to buy the indigo fabrics throughout the Kanto district. It was named after the fact that there were many dye artisans living in this area. The appearance of the fabrics being hung at the drying space must have been a common sight in this region. The fabrics dyed with various patterns such as characters, color gradations and checkerboard patterns, show how people tried to seek out various patterns and how the dyers responded to those needs.

            Admission

            Adult	700 yen
            University and High school students	500 yen
            Junior High School Students and below	Free

            Calendar

            Closed

            • • • • 2019 July

                    SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
                    	1	2	3	4	5	6
                    7	8	9	10	11	12	13
                    14	15	16	17	18	19	20
                    21	22	23	24	25	26	27
                    28	29	30	31

                  Walking the hills and valleys of Edo

                  2019, June 1st-26th
                   
                  Will be closed on June 3, 10, 17, 24.
                  
                  In recent years, walking around the city with its unique topographical aspects, such as high ground and low ground, slopes and undulating terrain, is often covered on television and in books, and has gradually gained a quiet popularity. We can enjoy a stroll in Tokyo while experiencing different elevations and the special characteristics of Musashino Plateau in the west, the low-lying land lying to the east, rivers such as the Kanda river and Meguro river and the valleys along the traces of the ancient rivers. Ukiyo-e artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige often portrayed the city of Edo with landscape pictures that demonstrated an awareness of these topographical aspects. Although the townscape is now greatly different from the Edo Period, the hills, valleys and slopes remain almost unchanged in present Tokyo. This exhibition focuses on such topographical features of Edo depicted in ukiyo-e. By looking at ukiyo-e and comparing the topographical characteristics of Edo and present Tokyo, we hope that you can feel much closer to the landscapes of Edo.

                  

                  Shōtei Hokuju “Sea of Shinagawa Viewed from Atago-yama Hill at Shiba in Edo”

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “Famous Places in Edo : Cherry-blossom Viewing at Gotenyama Hill, Complete Map of Shinagawa”

                  Views from mountains and highland plateaus

                  Views from high places such as mountains and highland plateaus were often depicted in ukiyo-e as the subject of the landscape pictures of Edo. Many shrines and temples were located on the top of the mountains or on high ground that had good views, and these places were popular for their beautiful landscapes. Here, we will also introduce the places made by human hand to enjoy scenic views such as Fujizuka, an artificial mountain, and Sansō-dō Hall of Gohyakurakan-ji Temple.

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo : Suidōbashi Bridge and Surugadai”

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo : New Mt.Fuji in Meguro”

                  Walking around the valleys and lowlands

                  To the east of the city of Edo, low-lying areas spread out around Edo Bay and the Sumida River, and there are many valley-like landforms that can be seen at the edge of the higher ground and around the rivers. Moreover, land was actively reclaimed from the sea in the Edo Period. Hibiya is one place reclaimed from the sea in the early Edo Period, and Tsukiji is also a place located at a low sea level that was expanded by land reclamation. Here, we will introduce valley-shaped landforms and lowlands near water depicted in ukiyo-e.

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “Famous Places in Edo : Takinogawa, Ōji”

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “Teppōzu and Tsukiji Monzeki”

                  Slopes in Edo – connecting higher and lower places

                  When there is a topological gap, a slope connects the higher and lower places. Slopes are one of the most popular features for many people who like walking around Tokyo. Famous slopes are also the subjects of ukiyo-e pictures. Since many slopes still retain the same name in the present day, it might be interesting to visit those places after enjoying the view of the slopes in ukiyo-e.
                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “Various Slopes in Edo : Shiomizaka Slope at Isarago”

                  

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo :　No. 28, View of Gomizaka”

                  A bird’s eye view of the hills and valleys of Edo

                  Ukiyo-e artists often depicted the Edo city by imagining the view looking down from the sky. They portrayed landscapes with topographical characteristics such as mountains, valleys and water channels that were found throughout Edo city. Let’s take a look at some landscapes in Edo city drawn with the bird’s-eye view technique in this last section of the exhibition.
                  

                  Kitao Masayoshi “Bird’s‐eye View Picture : Famous Places of Edo”

                  Highlight of the exhibition

                  Utagawa Hiroshige “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo : Seidō and the Kanda River from Shōheibashi Bridge”

                  

                  

                  The picture shows the viewpoint from Shōheibashi Bridge with the Kanda River flowing past in front and Yushima Shrine on the right. A huge sheer cliff is seen on the left. The area around Ochanomizu, known as one of the best landscapes in the city with its rich topographical characteristics, was actually an artificial valley created through the public works in the Edo period. This area was originally a highland plateau called Kandayama, and Sendai Domain was ordered by the government to create the Kanda River by clearing the land. It was completed in 1661, the era of Date Tsunamura. It is said that Date Masamune was also involved in this construction. From the view of the landscape and the picture, we can imagine the monumental effort of Sendai Domain, and the high level of engineering skills in the Edo period at the same time.

                  Admission

                  Adult	700 yen
                  University and High school students	500 yen
                  Junior High School Students and below	Free

                  Calendar

                  Closed
                  • • • • 2019 June

                          SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
                          						1
                          2	3	4	5	6	7	8
                          9	10	11	12	13	14	15
                          16	17	18	19	20	21	22
                          23	24	25	26	27	28	29
                          30