Hello from Ginza,Japan!
I hope that you are enjoying wonderful Christmas holidays.
I am Chiaki Tanaka, an on-line shop (Japanese-FineArts.com) director and a president of Shukado(Syukado).
We are sending this newsletter to the people who registered their subscription at our newly opened website “Japanese-FineArts.com” as well as at our Japanese website "ONLINE GALLERY SYUKADO" when you requested our catalog.
Although I referred to my personal background in the ICHIROYA’s newsletter, I would like to introduce my family history to you again.
*ICHIROYA News Letter No.224
http://www.ichiroya.com/blog/Ichiro/20071203#1
I was born into the family of Japanese fine arts dealers. Our family business initially started as an antique bookstore founded at Kyoto by Shin Tanaka, my grandfather on my father’s side.
Approximately 70 years ago, before the Pacific War started, my grandfather who was working at the publishing company started his own antique bookstore in Kyoto which sold antique books and Japanese fine arts including calligraphy and paintings.
My grandfather was the kind of person who was called “Bunjin Bokkaku”. Bunjin Bokkaku is a relatively difficult Japanese word and it means the group of intellectuals who love literature and fine arts. Many of the intellectuals and scholars at that time were categorized as Bunjin Bokkaku. They enjoyed the confidence of the people, but they were not always good at business. My father closed the antique bookshop and then he started publishing mail order catalogs for selling Japanese fine arts. Since he was still working with the publishing company, he composed type for printing by himself and made the catalog at low cost so that he could somehow get his business on the track.
Although his art business was financially feasible, he could not earn enough money out of the art business to support his seven children and therefore my grandmother who was working as a mid-wife, was the breadwinner in the family.
Then due to the Pacific war, the publication of the catalog was suspended and my grandfather’s family came to face the absolute poverty like the other Japanese families. My father, the youngest child among the seven brothers and sisters lived at different relative houses from one after another. My father must have had hardships during this period, but he rarely talks about his experiences.
After the war was over, seven brothers and sisters participated in this family business. They did not have any inventory and money. Although it is really hard to imagine how they could continue their family business, most of the Japanese people were in the similar financial situation so they could not waste their times just to moan over their predicament. They resumed their business by selling antique books borrowed from the relatives on a straw mat at the bridge over the Kamogawa River in Kyoto.
The old rented house, which was the business base of this family business until 1970’s as well as their home, still remains in a corner of Kyoto city. Unfortunately, the house is abandoned and nobody lives there now. When I was a child, I used to visit this house even after my family moved to Tokyo. It this wooden house, there was very steep steps (or it looked like a ladder) which could be often found in traditional Japanese houses. I went up the stairs to see my grandfather in the back room, who was barely living by drinking sake with some appetizers, and got some candies from him.
My father spent his early ages in this mysterious house with full of distinctive scent of old Japanese fine art pieces. He went to bed there almost buried in the old scrolls and antique books piled up mountain-high.
I think that I have written a long story dating back to long time ago and I should stop writing this story now.
About a half month has passed since the opening of our website in November and we have added some items to our online shopping line-ups for each category.
Ukiyo-e Print : http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list/35/
Modern Pring : http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list/36/
Painting : http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list/37/
Screen(Byoubu): http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list/38/
I will make our best effort to introduce more excellent items to you at our website, so please keep checking our website!
I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Chiaki TanakaPresident of Shukado Co., Ltd.
*Our NEW English Website : Japanese-FineArts.com by Shukado
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/
*Catalog Request Page from ONLINE GALLERY SYUKADO
https://www.syukado.jp/en/catalog/index.paypal.html
Japanese-FineArts.com by Shukado
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/
e-mail: info@japanese-finearts.com
address: 7F Sone bld. ,6-4-8 GinzaChuo-ku,Tokyo 104-0061 JAPAN
TEL +81-3-3569-3620FAX +81-3-3569-3621
ONLINE GALLERY SYUKADO (Japanese)
http://www.syukado.jp
master@syukado.jp
