# Imperial Household Artist

An Imperial Household Artist (帝室技芸員, Teishitsu Gigei-in) was an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences.

## History

The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and was discontinued after the end of World War II. From 1890 to 1944, seventy-nine individuals were appointed to the position, from both the fine and decorative arts. These tended to be artists who had already had a long and distinguished career. The programme was created to promote Japanese art, inspire new generations of artists, and preserve old techniques.
Imperial Household Artists received 100 yen each year. They were expected to submit one example of their work on being appointed and to accept commissions from the Imperial Household Agency. Some of the works commissioned were for presentation to foreign dignitaries. Many presentation wares were commissioned and then put into storage, to be gifted when the need came. Often these wares would bear the Imperial crest, a sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum.
In 1912, all twenty-four of the current artists were commissioned to create gifts for the Meiji Emperor to celebrate his 61st birthday. The Emperor died before the presentation could take place, so the items were placed in the Imperial Household Museum, which later became the Tokyo National Museum.
Most pieces of work cannot be seen in public except for some in the Museum of the Imperial Collections, as well as pieces in the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum (ja), the Tokyo National Museum and the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art.
Important artists are still designated and protected by the government under the system of Living National Treasures.

## List of artists

| Full name | Specialty | Appointment date | Death date |
| Tazaki Sōun | painting | 2 October 1890 | 1 September 1898 |
| Mori Kansai | painting | 2 October 1890 | 2 June 1894 |
| Shibata Zeshin | lacquerware | 2 October 1890 | 13 July 1891 |
| Kanō Eitoku | painting | 2 October 1890 | 29 January 1891 |
| Morizumi Tsurana | painting | 2 October 1890 | 26 February 1892 |
| Date Yasuke | textile art | 2 October 1890 | 20 March 1892 |
| Kano Natsuo | engraving | 2 October 1890 | 3 February 1898 |
| Hashimoto Gahō | painting | 2 October 1890 | 13 January 1908 |
| Takamura Kōun | sculpture | 2 October 1890 | 10 October 1934 |
| Ishikawa Komei | sculpture | 2 October 1890 | 30 July 1913 |
| Noguchi Yukoku | painting | 25 September 1893 | 26 June 1898 |
| Taki Katei | painting | 25 September 1893 | 28 September 1901 |
| Kōno Bairei | painting | 25 September 1893 | 2 February 1895 |
| Seifu Yohei III | ceramics | 25 September 1893 | 15 July 1914 |
| Kishi Chikudō | painting | 30 June 1896 | 27 July 1900 |
| Yamana Nukiyoshi | painting | 30 June 1896 | 11 June 1902 |
| Kawabata Gyokushō | painting | 30 June 1896 | 14 February 1913 |
| Ito Heizaemon | architecture | 30 June 1896 | 11 May 1913 |
| Unno Shomin | gold carving | 30 June 1896 | 8 October 1915 |
| Miyagawa Kozan | ceramics | 30 June 1896 | 24 May 1916 |
| Namikawa Sōsuke | cloisonné | 30 June 1896 | 14 February 1910 |
| Namikawa Yasuyuki | cloisonné | 30 June 1896 | 14 February 1927 |
| Suzuki Chokichi | metalwork | 30 June 1896 | 29 January 1919 |
| Kawanobe Itcho | maki-e | 30 June 1896 | 5 September 1910 |
| Tadashi Ikeda | maki-e | 30 June 1896 | 7 March 1903 |
| Kawashima Jinbei | textile art | 9 February 1898 | 5 May 1910 |
| Araki Kanpo | painting | 21 July 1900 | 21 July 1915 |
| Naohiko Kumagai | painting | 16 April 1904 | 8 March 1913 |
| Mochizuki Gyokusen | painting | 16 April 1904 | 16 September 1913 |
| Imao Keinen | painting | 16 April 1904 | 5 October 1924 |
| Noguchi Shōhin | painting | 16 April 1904 | 17 February 1917 |
| Takeuchi Kyūichi | sculpture | 4 April 1906 | 24 September 1916 |
| Shirayama Shosai | lacquerware | 4 April 1906 | 7 August 1923 |
| Kagawa Katsuhiro | gold carving | 4 April 1906 | 15 January 1917 |
| Miyamoto Kanenori | bladesmithing | 4 April 1906 | 22 October 1926 |
| Nakai Keisho | carving | 4 April 1906 | 30 September 1909 |
| Gassan Sadakazu | bladesmithing | 4 April 1906 | 11 July 1918 |
| Kishi Kokei | design | 4 April 1906 | 3 May 1922 |
| Kuroda Seiki | yōga (Western-style painting) | 18 October 1910 | 16 July 1924 |
| Ogawa Kazumasa | photography | 18 October 1910 | 7 September 1929 |
| Takeuchi Seihō | painting | 18 December 1913 | 23 August 1942 |
| Tsukada Shukyo | engraving | 18 December 1913 | 29 December 1918 |
| Kōgyō Terasaki | painting | 17 June 1917 | 11 February 1919 |
| Tomoto Kobori | painting | 17 June 1917 | 1 October 1931 |
| Kawai Gyokudō | painting | 17 June 1917 | 30 June 1958 |
| Kanzan Shimomura | painting | 17 June 1917 | 10 May 1930 |
| Tomioka Tessai | painting | 17 June 1917 | 3 December 1923 |
| Yamamoto Shunkyo | painting | 17 June 1917 | 11 July 1933 |
| Taketarō Shinkai | sculpture | 17 June 1917 | 12 March 1927 |
| Ito Suzan | ceramics | 17 June 1917 | 24 September 1920 |
| Suwa Sozan | ceramics | 17 June 1917 | 9 February 1922 |
| Muneyuki Hirata | metalwork | 17 June 1917 | 25 February 1920 |
| Sasaki Iwajiro | architecture | 17 June 1917 | 10 October 1936 |
| Yokoyama Taikan | nihonga (Japanese-style painting) | 30 June 1931 | 26 January 1958 |
| Akatsuka Jitoku | lacquerware | 1930 | 1936 |
| Hashimoto Kansetsu | nihonga | 3 December 1934 | 26 February 1945 |
| Yasuda Yukihiko | nihonga | 3 December 1934 | 29 April 1978 |
| Keigetsu Kikuchi | nihonga | 3 December 1934 | 9 September 1955 |
| Eisaku Wada | yōga | 3 December 1934 | 3 January 1959 |
| Fujishima Takeji | yōga | 3 December 1934 | 19 March 1943 |
| Okada Saburōsuke | yōga | 3 December 1934 | 23 September 1939 |
| Choun Yamazaki | sculpture | 3 December 1934 | 4 June 1954 |
| Hazan Itaya | crafts | 3 December 1934 | 10 October 1963 |
| Hozuma Katori | crafts | 3 December 1934 | 31 January 1954 |
| Nanzan Shimizu | crafts | 3 December 1934 | 7 December 1948 |
| Nishiyama Suisho | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 30 March 1958 |
| Inshō Dōmoto | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 5 September 1975 |
| Kiyokata Kaburagi | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 2 March 1972 |
| Uemura Shōen | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 27 August 1949 |
| Seison Maeda | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 27 October 1977 |
| Matsubayashi Keigetsu | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 22 May 1963 |
| Kokei Kobayashi | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 3 April 1957 |
| Komuro Suiun | nihonga | 1 July 1944 | 30 March 1945 |
| Kanayama Heizō | yōga | 1 July 1944 | 15 July 1964 |
| Hiromitsu Nakazawa | yōga | 1 July 1944 | 8 September 1964 |
| Ryūzaburō Umehara | yōga | 1 July 1944 | 16 January 1986 |
| Sōtarō Yasui | yōga | 1 July 1944 | 14 December 1955 |
| Minami Kunzō | yōga | 1 July 1944 | 6 January 1950 |
| Fumio Asakura | sculpture | 1 July 1944 | 18 April 1964 |
| Hirakushi Denchū | sculpture | 1 July 1944 | 30 December 1979 |