Paper short abstract:

The present paper aims to offer an insight into the fruitful collaboration between the artist Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908) and one of the most instrumental publishing houses, from the late Meiji era, in the production of kuchi-e nishiki-e prints.

Paper long abstract:

At a time when in Japan the modern reprographic techniques were gradually replacing the traditional ones, colour woodblock prints were granted new life as frontispiece illustrations for works of modern fiction. These types of sophisticated, delicately carved hand-printed prints were bound into books and magazines as luxurious supplements. Their stunning quality reflects the publishers' desire to achieve a unique artefact. Despite their high cost of production, they employed the most skilled and experienced carvers and printers of that time.

Mizuno Toshikata was one of the important names in the design of kuchi-e woodblock prints. The reputation he enjoyed as the successor of his master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) have facilitated his close collaboration with one of the most prominent publishing houses, Hakubunkan. In collaboration with them the artist conceived the frontispieces that accompanied the writings of emerging authors of that time, such as Kawakami Bizan (1869-1908), Kōda Rohan (1867-1947), Emi Suiin (1869-1934), Uchida Roan (1868-1929) and Kyōka Izumi (1873-1939). Toshikata designed for Hakubunkan kuchi-e prints from about 1892 to up until his death. Most of them were created between the years 1895 and 1905 – a so-called golden era for these types of prints.

Even though the present research apparently explores a peripheral subject in the history of Japanese art its importance is nonetheless a major one. It offers a great opportunity to explore the internal mechanisms that triggered the collaborations between the publishers and the artists in the late Meiji era.

Among the numerous collections of Japanese nishiki-e prints it’s rare to find ones dedicated to kuchi-e. The research commenced with the kuchi-e collection of Adrian Ciceu (1939-2017), currently based in Romania. Afterwards it was extended to include some of the most important private collections of this genre such as Tomoo Asahi Collection (Japan) and Raymond Milewski Collection (USA).