Tohoku Crafts and Shiko Munakata
April 3 - June 10, 2012

It could be said that the natural climate is a mother of Mingei
as well as the source of aesthetic. A world-famous woodcut printerShiko Munakata (1903-1975) from Aomori prefecture obtained
nourishment of aesthetic from the rich nature of the Tohoku
region and produced many works which were full of energy. His
ingenious and astonishing works of hanga* are definitely nothing
but an expression of an innocent soul.
Known for his bold composition and rich colors, Munakata
was often said to have an instinctive sense. However, Munakata
had awe to the all nature and a desperate prayer in his mind witha profound insight and these things fundamentally supported
Munakata’s works.
Speaking of a desperate prayer, there is a work titled ‘In Praiseof the Tohoku District’ made in 1937. Munakata used as manyas 120 printing blocks. This is a pair of six-fold screens andapproximately 10 meter-wide. This is the largest work before
the war and especially spectacular. Munakata thought of hishometown Tohoku where the life and the nature are severe andpoor, prayed for fortune with help of the power of Buddha, andproduced this work.
On the centre of the screen was a two-divided Amida Nyorai(Amitabha Tathagata), and Bosatsu (Bodhisattva), Rakan (Arhat),Monk, an ordinary person and Mizuko (dead baby or infant) arearranged on each side of the screen. This implies the way to theBuddhist pure land, being bathed in the light of Amida Nyorai.
Munakata prayed for Buddha to appease various evil spirits
or calamity by letting them go from the two-divided Aminda
Nyorai.**In addition, Munakata made a work titled ‘Birds of Sorrow’ (UtōHangakan) with an affection to his hometown Aomori in 1938.

This work is based on a Nō play ‘Utō ’, a sad story about a hunter
whose occupation is to kill birds and animals. This play describes
a painful affection of both a hunter family who are to kill and Utōor rhinoceros auklet’s parents and children which are to be killed.
Munakata depicted a sorrow at parting of Utō family and a distressof the hunter who is pursued in hell for having killed. Munakata
engraved these sorrows into blocks recalling his hometown.
For Munakata, these works themselves were his desperate
prayer for his hometown. One year has passed since the Tohoku
earthquake and tsunami, and we hope that Munakata’s deep prayer
for repose of souls would reach the Tohoku district, where is still
suffering from a disaster.
Besides in this exhibition on display are folk kilns from Tohoku
such as Kuji, Hirashimizu, Shiraiwa, Naraoka, Aizu-Hongo andTsutsumi, braided works such as mino, kera and protector for backs
called senaka-ate, dyed and woven works such as katsugi, hishizashi and kogin, fine works such as kaba or birch works and lacquer
wares, which were all produced in the Tohoku region.
A fertile craft culture was born in a traditional and steady life ofTohoku. Its specific beauty of crafts indicates a repository of thefolk crafts or rather Mingei in the north area of Japan.
* When Munakata said ‘hanga’, he used a Chinese character‘ita’ which means block and emphasizes the importanceof block itself. Usually when Japanese people say ‘hanga’, aChinese character ‘han’ is used which means to be printedand emphasizes the process. This distinction meant a lot toMunakata.
** Tohoku is located in the north-east of Japan and this direction
is considered to be unlucky, a devil’s gate in Japan.

First floor
Beauty of Costumes and Accessories

Museum Shop

Japanese folk kilns

Costumes of the Ainu
Special exhibition ‘Tohoku Crafts andShiko Munakata’

Second floor
Works of Kanjiro Kawai andShoji Hamada
Ceramics of the Chosen Peninsula

Tohoku Crafts
Shiko Munakata – prayer and natureSpecial exhibition ‘Tohoku Crafts andShiko Munakata’

The Japan Folk Crafts Museum

tel 03-3467-4527 / 4-3-33, Komaba, Meguro-ku TOKYO

http://www.mingeikan.or.jp/