PRESS RELEASE
2-7-2 Kamezawa, Sumida-ku,Tokyo,130-0014
https://hokusai-museum.jp

September 15, 2022

Hokusai’s Book WorldAn Unknown Domainof Woodblock Printed Books
September 21 - November 27, 2022
Welcome to the world of woodblock printed books!
The Sumida Hokusai Museum in Tokyo will hold a special exhibition. The word ukiyo-e
probably calls to mind, in most cases, single-sheet prints, as in the Thirty-six Views ofMount Fuji. Their origin lay, however, in woodblocks carved with text and illustrations,then printed and bound as woodblock-printed books. Prints that were only pictures thendeveloped from those books as an independent art form. Hokusai himself produced theillustrations for many of those woodblock-printed books. This exhibition focuses on thosebooks and explores their fascination in four sections.
浮世絵ときくと、「冨嶽三十六景」のような一枚摺の版画を思い浮かべることが多いと思いますが、その起源は板木に文字や挿絵を彫って摺ったものを本に仕立てた板本で、後に絵のみが独立したともいわれます。北斎は板本も数多く刊行しています。本展では、このような板本に注目し、その魅力をお伝えします。

Hokusai’s Book World - An Unknown Domain of Woodblock Printed Books
Term: September 21 - November 27, 2022
First-term: September 21- October 23
Second-term: October 25 - November 27
Closed: Every Monday or the following day if it is a national holiday.
* Open: Mon/holiday,Oct 10* Close: Tue, Oct 11

Hours: 9:30-17:30 (last admission 17:00)
Website: https://hokusai-museum.jp/BookWorldEN/Organizers: Sumida City, The Sumida Hokusai Museum
For more information and images
Media Contact: Museum Public Relation,Yumiko Hayashi
E-Mail:hayashi-yumiko@hokusai-museum.jp
1 / 5▶ Exhibition Overview
Hokusai not only created single-sheet polychrome prints but also produced pictures for woodblockprinted books. The many books by Hokusai they were published included those in which he illustrated
a story as well as his drawing manuals, with collections of his own drawings.
Looking at these books, the drawing styles and other techniques that Hokusai and his students devisedfor these books capture our attention. Moreover, because these books were hand made, even books withthe same title differed, depending on the printing, to dive deeper into the world of the woodblock-printedbook.
北斎は一枚摺の錦絵の他に、板本にも絵を描いています。物語の挿絵であったり、自らの絵を集めた絵手本であったりとたくさんの板本を出版しています。板本をみていると、北斎や弟子が板本のために工夫した絵画表現などが目にとまります。また板本は手作りのため全く同じものはなく、板本の世界の奥深さをご覧いただくことができます。

Pick Up ▶ Illustrated drawing manuals
Sketches by Hokusai, the series of illustrated books
in which Hokusai depicts almost everything in theworld, naturally includes sketches of Edo-period
people reading woodblock-printed books. Then andnow, relaxing and getting lost in a book is a delight.
北斎があらゆるものを描いた絵手本『北斎漫画』に、江戸時代の板本を読む人々が描かれています。くつろぎながら板本を読みふけって楽しむ様子は今と変わりません。
Katsushika Hokusai, Sketches by Hokusai, Vol. 8, The Sumida Hokusai Museum (All term)

Pick Up ▶ This book is extremely rare.
Most

woodblock-printedbooks

wereproduced in black and white, printed inblack sumi ink, but some were printed incolor, like polychrome, nishiki-e, prints.
Given the format of the book, we evenhave examples that have been handed
down with their beautiful colors scarcely
faded. This book is one of the lavishvolumesofsatyrical

publishedaroundthekyōka

poemsendof

theeighteenth century (Kansei and Kyōwa
Katsushika Hokusai, Sandara Gasumi, The Sumida Hokusai Museum (1st term)eras, 1789-1804). All the illustrations are
two-page spreads in this album-boundbook. This book is extremely rare, with only a few copies extant, and is being displayed by ourmuseum for the first time.
板本には墨摺の本が多いですが、錦絵のような多色摺の本もあります。本の形のため閉じられて保存されてきたことで、褪色が少なく非常にきれいな色のまま伝えられている板本もあります。寛政から享和（1789—1804）の頃には豪華な狂歌本が盛んに出版されており、本書もそのひとつです。画帖仕立で見開き画面全体に描かれています。本書は遺存数も数点しか知られていない希少な板本で、当館初公開です。
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Pick Up ▶ In the later printing, dream or reality?
The first printing

Katsushika Hokusai,

Tale of the Craftsman from Hida, Vol. 2,

The Sumida Hokusai Museum (All term)

The later printing

Katsushika Hokusai,

Newly Published Tale of the Craftsman from Hida, Vol. 4,
The Sumida Hokusai Museum (All term)

The first printing, the husbands in her dream are shown against a deep black background,
contrasting with the princess in the real world. In the later printing, the printing with deep black ink
has been eliminated, so that we cannot tell where the dividing line between dream and reality is.
初摺では、夢の中の将来の夫たちの背景を濃墨にし、寝ている現実の姫君と対比させています。後摺では濃墨が省かれ、夢と現実の境目がわからなくなっています。

Pick Up ▶ Books like a picture scroll

Katsushika Hokusai, Picture Book of the Sumida River-Both banks at a Glance, Vol. 1, The Sumida Hokusai Museum (1st term)

Katsushika Hokusai, Picture Book of the Sumida River-Both banks at a Glance, Vol. 1, The Sumida Hokusai Museum (2nd term)

What is remarkable is that the pictures on each of the pages connect, as in a picture scroll. In thisexhibition, we display pages from three copies of the first volume, lining them up to show the flow ofthe images.
特徴的なのは各ページの図柄がつながっていて絵巻物のようになっている点です。本展では同じ「上」冊を 3 冊並べて、つなげて展示します。

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▶ Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese Ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) wasborn in Sumida, Tokyo. It is said that Hokusai moved more than
90 times during his 90-year life, spending most of his lifetime inSumida, and left many works depicting the scenery of Sumida,including Ryogoku Bridge, Mimeguri Shrine, and UshijimaShrine. He vividly captured life in the Edo Period and is best
known for the series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” which
includes representative Japan’s most iconic artwork “Under theWave off Kanagawa", known internationally as The Great wave.
His fascinating life and varied works spanning more than 70years are more highly regarded today than ever, 160 years after
his death. Today, he and his works are in the limelight as one of
Keisai Eisen, Hokusai portrait,
National Diet Library

the most acclaimed artists in the world.

▶ Museum informationWe are the Growing Museum,to Sending Out Information on Hokusai to the Local Community and the World
Open:9:30-17:30（Last admission 17:00）
Close:Every Monday

The following day if it is a national holiday.
New year holiday.
Address:2-7-2 Kamezawa, Sumida-ku,Tokyo,130-0014
Tel:03-6658-8936
Web site: https://hokusai-museum.jp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HokusaiMuseum
FB: https://www.facebook.com/THE.SUMIDA.HOKUSAI.MUSEUM/◆Access*5-minute walk from the Toei Oedo Line Ryogoku Station A3 exit
*9-minute walk from JR Sobu Line Ryogoku Station East exit
*5-minute by Sumida Loop Bus from the JR Sobu Line Kinshicho Station North exit

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Requests of visitors for cooperation on COVID-19 infection Prevention
Visitor Guidelines:Health and Safety during your visit for keeping us all safe
Please refrain from visiting if you have a cough, sore throat, fever, fatigue, or if you have symptoms ofCOVID-19, have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past 14 days, or have been in close contact
with someone infected with or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 within the past 14 days.
All visitors are required to...
1. Please take your temperature before entering the building. Temperature checks are carried out at eachentrance.
2. Please wearing a face covering or mask.
3. Please disinfect your hands and fingers. We’re providing hand-sanitizing stations for visitors at eachentrance.
4. Please refrain from talking in the exhibition room.
5. Please do not touch the display case in the exhibition room.
6. Please disinfect your hands and fingers, before and after viewing touch by hand the touch screen
panel.
7. The passengers in the elevator are limited to 3 people. However, families and caregivers can use it
together.

Our efforts to prevent COVID-19
1. We’re limiting the number of people in our museums, galleries, restrooms, elevators toallow for safe social distancing.
2. We’re providing hand-sanitizing stations for visitors throughout our facilities and conducting more
frequent and enhanced cleaning.
3. The space used by customers has already been disinfected. Handrails, elevator buttons, toilet-handle,and tap, are disinfected several times a day.
4. We’re requiring that visitors always wear face coverings. Our staff at the museum who meetcustomers, wear masks.
5. We have installed a virus splash prevention panel at the reception/museum shop.
6. To keep a safe and good environment in the building, we may restrict admission, and the staff speaks
to the visitor to call attention.
7. We do not accept new reservations for group viewing.

*Please check the Sumida Hokusai Museum official website for details before visiting.

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