Dear Customers & Friends
Hello!! ...from Ginza Tokyo.
This is Sachiko, sending Shukado Newsletter vol.18.
It has been extremely hot in Japan these days and we sometimes have thunder storms in the evening. My 5-year-old son is so scared of lightening and says "Kaminari-sama (god of thunder) is angry! "
Let me introduce our latest recommended items. Those prints are reasonably priced for their quality and we hope that you will find your favorites among the new arrivals!
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New Arrivals
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Ukiyo-e Prints
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/search.php?md=0806
We are featuring Toshikata and Chikanobu in the above link.
In the Meiji period, Japan went under the drastic westernization so the ukiyoe or woodblock prints became less popular than lithographs or photographs. But Chikanobu took effort to depict the lives of women in Meiji era. When we take a look at his prints, we even now can feel powerful and lively atmosphere of the Meiji era
Although "Bijinga" or genre pictures of beauties was major theme of Ukiyo-e in the Edo-era, for example, Harunobu, Utamaro.�@Ukiyo-e legend or legacy was almost dying in the middle of Meiji era.
In that period, TOSHIKATA Mizuno tried to preserve Bijinga tradition and to hand it down to the next generation. One of the pupils of Toshikata is Kaburagi Kiyokata, the most prominent Bijinga painter in the Japanese art history. Chikanobu is famous for painting rather than woodblock prints, so Chikanobu and Toshikata are the artists who connected the traditional Japanese art and the Japanese modern art. Toshikata was the first artist who revived the big Bijinga wave again in the Japanese art world.
Don't forget to check our latest arrivals!
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Hanabi :Big Summer Event in Japan "Tamaya!"
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By the way, if you hear "summer" and "Tamaya! Kagiya!" what would you think of? Japanese people would answer "Hanabi" or fireworks. The Japanese word for fireworks, "hanabi" is made up of two kanji characters; "hana" for flower and "bi" for fire. Every summer Japan prepares for its numerous fireworks festivals held throughout the nation. When I was in England, I felt a bit strange to see a lot of firework displays held in WINTER! A friend mine Koichiro Noguchi san took a nice picture of firework display held in Gifu.
Gunpowder the material of fireworks was invented in the Tang dynasty China. Then it was spread in Muslim countries then in Italy and other European countries.
It is said that first firework display in Japan was held in 1613 in order to entertain Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the peaceful Tokugawa shogunate reign, fireworks spread all over Japan and they were developed into various types.
Among of all, RYOGOKU firework display is the most famous and many ukiyo-e based on this event were created in the Edo era. Many of you may have seen Hiroshige's "Fireworks in Ryogoku".
I found an interesting print depicting Hanabi and beauties created by Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III.
Unfortunately, we do not have those prints in our stock right now but we will post them at our website as soon as we get them. Please keep checking our website!
Many of fireworks (even today) have been manufactured by the same families who began making them generations ago. Tamaya and Kagiya were two major firework manufacturers in the Edo period that made fireworks for the Ryogoku firework display.
Thank you for reading our news letter until the end!
Have a wonderful week!
Sachiko
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