It is the continuation of the last “What kind of dream is Yumeji‘s dream?”

I introduce the impressive contents from the book “Takehisa Yume bi-art book collection” that summarizes Yumeji’s poems and essays, related to the exhibition “Takehisa Yumeji: Master of Japanese Modern Illustration” held at Tokyo Station Gallery until 7/1.

Last time I was talking about poetry, today I pick up “Yukata should wear casually” from the essay.

Many women appear in Yumeji’s paintings, most of them are wearing kimonos and yukata. As expressed in organic lines, the suppleness of kimono and the curvaceous beauty of the women imagined from it are very impressive, Yumeji seems to have been committed about dressing.

An extremely popular painter whose exhibition is held somewhere every year in Japan, Yumeji Takehisa. I have been to the exhibition “Takehisa Yumeji: Master of Japanese Modern Illustration” held at Tokyo Station Gallery now.

See you at Tokyo Station!

The exhibition consists of four sections. Section 1 is about Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934) in his youth. Section 2 focuses on his work, such as publishing, printing and woodblocks. Section 3 explores in more detail his work connected with music and score sheets, and Section 4 covers such topics as the original artwork for his autobiographical novel Shuppan (Sailing Off), and publications by Ryuseikaku after Yumeji’s death.
(from TOKYO STATION GALLERY website)

As the title of this exhibition “Takehisa Yumeji: Master of Japanese Modern Illustration”, inside the hall the paintings of Taisho Romantics drawn by Yumeji were in full bloom. A thin, supple and colorful world is like a dream. In the Taisho Period when Western culture began to enter, Japanese and Western mixed up, love was enjoyed, popular culture blossomed. It is an era like a slumber, which is fascinated by the fleeting images of the shortness of only 15 years.

Yumeji was a perfect match to the atmosphere of the times, but today I would like to pay attention to Yumeji as a poet not as a painter.

I write about the book “Japan the Beautiful and Myself” by Yasunari Kawabata which I wrote about it in my blog “In the spring, cherry blossoms In the summer, the cuckoo“.

In 1968 Yasunari Kawabata was awarded the first Nobel Prize for literature as a Japanese, attended at the award ceremony in Stockholm with formal wear of a Hakama. He gave speech with a magnificent Japanese and a deep impression. This book is the full text of it. (from Description of item amazon Japan)

The content is described by a song of a priest such as Zen master Dogen, the word of a novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa and a monk Ikkyu. In the part about “Karesansui” in the Japanese garden and “Wabi Sabi” in the tea ceremony, he also mentions specific arts such as bonsai, flowers, pottery etc. And tribute to Japanese culture is stated through classical literature such as “Ise Monogatari”, “Genji Monogatari”, “Makurano soshi”, “Kokinshu” and “Shinkokinshu”.

I go to the exhibition which is customarily done at museums and galleries, and over the past few years I go to live stages, theater, concerts, stage performance of something like dancing.

The difference with art works is the realistic feeling. I think every time that it is really amazing to express with the body, and the charm of dance is its physicality and beauty. I fall in love with dancers’ discipline, sense and talent. Because there is no dialogue but they express by their own bodies and attract people.

I admire all the expressionists, and I love Mirai Moriyama in particular. He is famous as an actor but I think as a dancer is also awesome. It was the video installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, that I knew dancer Mirai Moriyama. In the foreign dancer there was Mirai and he was dancing together while I was watching a very strange little cute contemporary dance video work. From that point I began to pay attention to him and has reached the present time, but I think that he is a very dexterous and talented person because he expresses completely different dances for each work.

And today is the performance called “Dansu” I saw the other day.
This performance is in the series, this time was the third. I have not seen the first and the second, so I did not know what it is like. The first impression that I finished watching was “a magical dance of a new experience”

I saw a movie “Mori, The Artist’s Habitat” which is about a painter Morikazu Kumagai‘s one day with a later life in fiction.

No doubt movie because of two Japanese most valuable actor and actress acts as a old couple. The actor Tsutomu Yamazaki acted as a Morikazu Kumagai, he acted as well as the painter like I didn’t know which one was which. Also, the actress Kirin Kiki acted very well, I also didn’t know she acted or just as she was naturally. However I was taken over by the movie’s atmosphere as whatever my concern were.
*The actor Mr. Yamazaki is huge fan of the painter Morikazu Kumagai (I see!)

– Professor Hokusai and Painter Kumagai
– The garden is a small universe
– The actress Kirin Kiki’s existence
– “Mori, The Artist’s Habitat” and “Life Is Fruity”
– To observe

I have things that I want to write like the above by seeing this movie but I introduce the most impressive words in this movie.

The news of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano of Hawaii is reported every day, but it was temporarily paused when I visited the island of Hawaii this month (2018.5.6-11), and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (which you can be near the crater) was also closed until the day before I visited the tour. The park was resumed on the morning of the day I participated in the tour, but the area that I could enter was limited.

I share the “Timelapse captures ‘blue’ glow from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano” movie today, it was the pictures of Kilauea volcano taken from the clouds on the night of May 21 and 22. It was taken at Hawaii’S Gemini Observatory of Mauna Kea Volcano at an altitude of about 4,200 meters, located 64 kilometers from Kilauea Volcano.

The camera’s infrared filter has been removed, making the volcanic glow look blue.

How is it?

I visited the exhibition “Léonard Foujita Private on Works(only in Japanese)” at Meguro Museum Art. As the title, the exhibition focuses on his book works or private works such as book design or illustrations or post card to his friends. Many works were painted with pens and thin brushes, and the impression was simple with few colors because most of them art small works.

I like the masterpieces of artists, but I also like sketches to get glimpses of their everyday life like postcards to their family or friends. You need preparation and physical fitness to face to art works such as expressing the artist’ impulse rising in their lives, but there were more relaxed works at this exhibition.

One of my favourite was 5 illustrations called “la fleur aux mille pétales d’or”. The five Japanese women were drawn in each, one looks down, one looks far away, one looks straightforward etc. Precise line drawing captures the soft curves of women brilliantly, the color scheme of making use of the plain background and women who feel the strength of the core somewhere despite grief. And their Japanese hair and kimono seem to complement their beauty more. Also, his touch like a foreign pain like a Japanese painting is also mysterious. I was drawn into a wordless mysterious world.

As a one of picture book lovers, I am happy as long as many picture book of animals or plants titled “The most beautiful xxx” have been published recently in Japan. The charm is the plant illustration, it catches the veins faithfully and seems to draw vividly up to one of the hair growing on the leaves. For the insects, the detailed description of the captivating eyeballs or delicate touch that dramatically reproduces the iridescent beauty color. I am attracted to the mysterious beauty that appears in the microcosm.

Great museum for picture book lovers is “The Intermediatheque” where is near from Tokyo station Marunouchi exit. The feeling that the heavy and academic atmosphere is very nice as if I entered the university’s laboratory. I saw the current exhibition Special Exhibition“The Art of Natural Science in Sweden — Treasures from Uppsala University”.

It is anniversary year 2018: the 150th Anniversary of Japan–Sweden diplomatic relations. And this presents the world of Natural History which bloomed in 18th-century Sweden, as well as its connections with Japan.

I am interested in both antiquity/traditional and contemporary art as well, and I have been interested in Ukiyoe recently. I often go to museum to see it or read books about it. I thought again that Ukiyoe is an interesting genre of paintings because there were opportunities to see Hokusai Katsushika works by chance – The Sumida Hokusai Museum (Museum), Hokusai: Old Man Crazy to Paint (Movie), Hokusai and Hiroshige―The Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji and the Fifty-three Stages of the Tōkaidō (Museum), Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai’s Daughter (Japanese TV Drama).
Today I write about what is real and how to see arts with “Fine Wind, Clear Morning” Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series by Hokusai Katsushika.

First the big point is art is a wood block print, not painting. Painting is only one thing but wood block print is able to make copies which means there are a lot of “real”. Usually the first printed 200 copies are called “Shozuri (first print)”, they are printed according to instructions of painter. Atozuri (after print) which is printed after Shozuri is printed by printer.

Nowadays the “Fine Wind, Clear Morning” is very popular, and seems also it was popular in the Edo period. According to one thesis is it was sold the most.
It means the look becomes different because wood block print is made by wood, the wood gets worn out so the line has changed. Also sometimes it reduced the process without squatting delicate blurring plates, it becomes a color of the taste of the printer, it was sold good sell colored prints. The more the number, the more “real” is produced.

I have a conscious desire to wear Kimono once a year, always someone had put my Kimono on because it is hard to wear it by myself. However, I decided to go to school to wear it by myself.

– I would like to wear it beautifully by myself
– I would like to learn about the way of moving
– I would like to learn about itself (history, cultural background, patterns, colors, types etc)

You would be able to wear it if you would like to just “wear” it, but it is not only that. Wearing Kimono also has the side of emotional effects. I was very impressed by my teacher’s spirit of wearing Kimono.