Asakusa Sensōji daichochin - The Great Lantern of the Sensō Temple, Asakusa

The long-lived Shirō Kasamatsu (1898-1991) was one of the most interesting print designers of 20th century Japan. He was part of the shin-hanga (new print) movement, and produced many works for the pre-eminent publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, starting in 1919 and continuing until the 1950s, when his publishing partner became Unsudo, Kyoto. His late style when he produced what he called 'creative' sōsaku hanga style prints, is fascinating: they were self-carved, self-printed and self-published. The Great Lantern of the Sensō Temple, however, shows him in his splendid, brilliantly colourful and stylish Art Deco era prime.

Temples and shrines were popular subjects for shin-hanga artists. These prints maintained traditions of meishō-e (depictions of famous places) and were often acquired by visitors to these places. Sensō-ji (Asakusa Kannon Temple) was an exceptionally popular Tokyo attraction, bringing huge crowds, especially during the new year. Shirō's view focuses on its shop, with its meishō-e, together with votive prints and other souvenirs all on sale. Although Shirō had studied Nihonga (traditional Japanese paintings) under Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878–1972), and also woodblock printing, this print reveals his wider interest in Western-style art in his adoptions of linear and atmospheric perspective, diminutions of scale, and effects of light to describe the dimly lit ambience of the interior.

Source: David Bell and Mark Stocker, 'Rising sun at Te Papa: the Heriot collection of Japanese art', Tuhinga, 29 (2018), https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/document/10608

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art     May 2019