Research on Japanese Artists and Art-related Professionals
Books and bibliographies on Japanese artists and art-related professionals such as critics, collectors, scholars, curators, and gallery owners. Included are compendiums, biographical dictionaries, and artists’ interviews and essays in both print and online formats.
1. Bibliographies on Artists and Art-related Professionals
Nakajima Masatoshi (ed.). Bijutsuka Shoshi no Shoshi: Sesshū kara Tabaimo, van Eiku (van Eyck) kara I Buru (Lee Bul) made (Japanese Sources on Visual Artists: a Bibliography of Bibliography: from Sesshu to Tabaimo, Vam Eyck to Lee Bul). Tokyo: Bensei Shuppan, 2007.
Lists bibliographies on approximately 2,600 individual artists and art-related professionals in Japan and abroad. The titles were collected from Japanese language publications including art collection series, periodicals, and exhibition catalogues. Arranged in Japanese-alphabetical order with an index of Western names in their original language scripts.
Ekōin Haku (ed.). Bijutsuka Sakuin. Nihon, Tōyō hen (Biographical Index of Reference Materials in Art). Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, Kinokuniya Shoten (dist.), 1991-1992.
An index to 20,500 modern and contemporary Japanese, and East Asian artists. Includes information from dictionaries, art catalogues, annuals, and exhibition catalogues published in 1990 or before. Arranged in Japanese-alphabetical order.
Freitag, Wolfgang M. (ed.). Art books: a Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists. Second ed. New York: Garland Pub, 1997.
A bibliography on individual artists including Ph.D. dissertations, biographies, catalogues raisonnés (indicated as CR), monographs, and artists’ interviews and writings. Excludes periodical and individual articles. Includes some Japanese artists. Arranged by artists’ names.
International Foundation for Art Research, Catalogues Raisonnés
A bibliographical database created by the International Foundation for Art Research, of exclusively catalogues raisonnés covering painting, works on paper, sculpture, and photography. Consists of both published and unpublished catalogues raisonnés. Includes Japanese artists. A useful tool to locate catalogues raisonné by certain artists.
Print Council of America, Index to Catalogues Raisonnés of Works on Paper
A bibliographical database created by the Print Council of America, of exclusively catalogues raisonnés of individual printmakers and photographers. A useful tool to locate catalogues raisonné by certain artists.
Hasegawa Kimiyuki. Gendai Hanga Sekai no 100-nin: Katarogu Rezone (Catalogues Raisonnés) Zen Gaido [100 Contemporary Print Artists: Guide to Catalogues Raisonnés]. Tokyo: Eikō, 1996.
Directory of 100 printmakers around the world and their catalogues raisonnés with brief biographies. Includes information on Japanese printmakers. Arranged by artists’ birth years with an index by artists’ names in Japanese and Western alphabetical order.
2. Biographical Dictionaries and Indexes
Biographical Dictionaries
Artists of the World Online (AOW) (Organizational registration required)
Online version of the renowned Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (AKL), an artist dictionary which has been published in Germany since 1907 (Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig: Seemann, 1907-1950; and Hans Vollmer. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts. 6 vols. Leipzig: Seemann, 1953-1962). Provides brief biographies, lists of primary artwork holders, major exhibitions, and bibliographies. Covers approximately 1,250,000 artists including Japanese nationals. In German and English.
N.B.: You can access this online tool in the reading rooms of any of the national museum libraries. Regarding how to use the libraries please refer to “Research Center Directory” of each national museum library.
Benezit Dictionary of Artists (Organizational registration required)
Online version of the renowned Benezit Dictionary of Artists, an artist dictionary in continuous print in France since 1911. Includes brief biographies, lists of primary artwork holders, major exhibitions, auction records, and bibliographies. Covers approximately 140,000 artists including Japanese nationals. In English.
N.B.: You can access this online tool in the reading rooms of any of the national museum libraries. Regarding how to use the libraries please refer to “Research Center Directory” of each national museum library.
Getty Research Institute, Union List of Artist Names Online (ULAN)
Name authority database, developed by the Getty Institute (Los Angeles), of artists and art-related organizations. In addition to the name form in the original language scripts, entries include variant names, name forms in variant spellings, as well as biographical and historical information. Covers approximately 520,000 names including Japanese artists and organizations.
Japanese Artists: Comprehensive
National Center for Art Research. Dictionary of Artists in Japan (DAJ)
Online dictionary of approximately 5,200 Japanese modern and contemporary artists. Covers prominent artists and art organizations from the beginning of the Meiji period (artists born in 1995 or before). Includes artists’ names and their variant names, places and dates of birth/death, and authority Files. Some entries include biography, major exhibitions, museum holdings, and selected bibliography. In Japanese and English.
Miwa Hideo, Satō Dōshin, Yamanashi Emiko. Kindai Nihon Bijutsu Jiten [Dictionary of Modern Japanese Art]. Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1989.
Dictionary of 1,252 Japanese modern artists of Japanese and Western-style painting, prints, illustrations, and sculpture, covering from the artists active from the early Meiji period to the artists who were born in 1930 or before. Supplemented with: “Related Matters” with commentaries on Japanese art related terminology; and “Historical Overview on Japanese Modern Art” which includes a chronology of organizations with Western-style and Japanese painting, and sculpture. In Japanese alphabetical order.
The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama (Kanagawa Kenritsu Kindai Bijutsukan) (ed.); Sakai Tadayasu, Yamanashi Toshio, Harada Hikaru, Mizusawa Tsutomu, Ōta Yasuto, Hashi Hidebumi, Hori Motoaki, Nagato Saki, Akiyama Ruri. Kindai Nihon Bijutsuka Retsuden [Lives of Modern Japanese Artists]. Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppansha, 1999.
A biographical compendium of 164 Japanese modern artists and art-related professionals (critics, art historians, etc.). Originally published as a series of articles by curators of The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama in Bijutsu Techō, April 1995-October 1998. Supplemented with “A Brief Chronology of Modern Japanese Art” and “List of Reference Books” (arranged by the order of artists as they appear in the series), and a name index at the end.
Taki Kōji, Fujieda Teruo (sv); Ozaki Shin’ichirō, Shioya Jun, Takashima Naoyuki, Hayashi Yōko, Furuta Ryō, Matsumoto Tōru, Yamanashi Emiko (ed.). Nihon Kin-Gendai Bijutsushi Jiten [Encyclopedia of Modern Japanese Art], Tokyo: Tōkyō Shoseki, 2007.
A comprehensive dictionary of modern and contemporary Japanese art. Covers the period from late Edo period through the 21st century, and is organized in four sections: history, themes and related matters, vocabulary, and resources. The vocabulary section includes approximately 800 terms including commentary by artists and art-related professionals. “Chronology of Art Movements” in the resource section presents a timeline of art organizations and art educational institutions. Comprehensive index by Japanese-alphabetical order at the end.
Roberts, Laurance P. A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, Lacquer. Tokyo; New York: Weatherhill, 1976.
A dictionary of approximately 300 Japanese artists. Covers artists who were born from ancient times through 1900, in the fields of painting, sculpture, ceramics, prints, and lacquer art. Each entry provides a brief biography, name in Japanese vernacular scripts, major artwork holders and reference titles. Arranged in alphabetical order. Supplemented by lists of art organizations and their information, glossaries, reference titles, as well as indexes by artists’ variant names and names in Japanese vernacular scripts.
Tazawa Yutaka (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Tokyo, New York: Kodansha International in collaboration with the International Society for Educational Information, 1981.
Dictionary of 862 Japanese artists. Arranged by media such as painting, prints, calligraphy, photography, graphic design, sculpture, tea ceremony, architecture, gardens, ceramics, swords, metalwork, and dyeing/weaving. Within each media, arranged by artist’s name with a brief biography. Supplemented with chronological charts of schools of art and art organizations, glossaries, and a list of reference titles, and an index.
Dictionaries of Japanese Artists: by Theme & Field
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjo). “Bukkosha Kiji [Obituaries]”
A database created by Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, of approximately 3,000 obituaries published in “Nihon Bijutsu Nenkan [Year Book of Japanese Art]. Covers artists and art-related professionals who died in 1935 or after.
Iwase Yukio, Yui Kazuto (ed.). 20-seiki Bukko Yōgaka Jiten [Dictionary of Western-style Painters Who Deceased in the 20th Century]. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha, 1997.
Covers Western-style painters and printmakers who died during the 20th century (before 1997). Includes artist’s dates of birth/death, a brief bibliography, major exhibitions, portfolios, and reference titles. Arranged in Japanese-alphabetical order.
Yui Kazuto (ed.). 20-seiki Bukko Nihongaka Jiten [Dictionary of Japanese Painters Who Deceased in the 20th Century]. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha, 1998.
Covers Japanese-style painters (includes Nanga painting and ink brush painting) who died during the 20th century (before 1998). Includes artist’s dates of birth/death, a brief bibliography, major exhibitions, portfolios, and reference titles. Arranged in Japanese-alphabetical order with an index of artists’ variant names.
Murobushi Tetsurō. Jiten Purintsu 21: Hanga, Shashin, CG, Insatsu, Senshoku [Dictionary of Prints 21: Printmaking, Photography, Computer Graphics, Printing and Textile Prints]. [Tokyo]: Purintsu 21, 1997.
A dictionary of media related to the concept of “print” such as printmaking, photography, computer graphics, printing, textile prints, design, etc. “Artist Section” introduces approximately 300 print artists including commentaries on their technique, print type, the number of artworks produced, major artworks, name of galleries who sell their works as well as information on exhibitions, awards received, organizations they belong to, and a bibliography. Arranged in Japanese-alphabetical order.
Minami Kunio, Yagihashi Makoto, Ōtaki Mikio (sv.). Ningen Kokuhō Jiten: Jūyō Mukei Bunkazai Ninteisha Sōran [Directory of Living National Treasures: Important Intangible Cultural Property Holders]. Enl., new ed. Tokyo: Unsōdō, 2012.
Dictionary of living national treasures certified by the Cultural Property Protection Act of Japan. Limited to decorative arts including 180 artists and decorative-arts organizations certified before 2012. Also offers an overview of certified techniques of craftsmanship and its history as well as individual artists’ vita, artistic style, and lists of their major artworks. Arranged by media, then in chronological order. Supplemented with a “List of Important Intangible Cultural Property in Chronological Order” at the end.
Nichigai Associates (ed.). Dezainā Jinmei Jiten [Designers in Japan: a Biographical Dictionary]. Tokyo: Kinokuniya Shoten, 1996.
A biographical dictionary of 3,600 designers in various design fields, including brief biographies and contact information at the time of publication. Arranged by genres (handicraft, fashion, commercial, industrial production, living space, art space, public space, etc.), and then by name of designers. Supplemented with a comprehensive name index.
Itō Junji, Kashiwagi Hiroshi (ed.). Gendai Dezain Jiten [Dictionary of today's design]. Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2016.
A dictionary of design. A section on “Who’s Who in Design” functions as a biographical dictionary of artists active since the beginning of the 20th century, in graphic design, industrial design, architecture, photography, etc. Divided in two sections for Japanese and overseas artists: each section is arranged by name in Japanese-alphabetical order and includes a brief biography, a list of major artworks and books by the artist.
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tōkyō-to Shashin Bijutsukan) (sv). Nihon Shashinka Jiten: Tōkyō-to Shashin Bijutsukan Shozō Sakka (Tōkyō-to Shashin Bijutsukan Sōsho) [Outstanding Japanese Photographers (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum Series)], Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000.
Dictionary of 328 photographers whose works are in the collection of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. Each entry includes a brief biography, reference titles and one image of the photographer’s work. Arranged by name in Japanese-alphabetical order. Supplemented with the sections, “Related Matters” (information on photographers’ circles/schools and photography journals), “Brief Chronological Table of Japanese Photography” and “Major Reference Titles on History of Photography.”
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tōkyō-to Shashin Bijutsukan) (sv); Nichigai Associates (ed.). Nihon no Shashinka: Kindai Shashinshi o Irodotta Hito to Denki, Sakuhinshū Mokuroku [Biographic Dictionary of Japanese Photography]. Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2005.
Dictionary of 839 Japanese photographers and related professionals covering photographers, photo critics, photo editors, photo scientists, photo industries from the Bakumatsu period when photography was introduced into Japan, through modern times. Each entry includes a brief biography/history, and a list of photo albums, books on photography, exhibition catalogues, biographies, critical biographies, and autobiographies. Arranged by photographer’s name and indexed by all of names which appear in the text.
Ajia no Josei Ātisuto [Asian Women Artists ] (Database)
Online resource on Asian women artists who are active in Asia or other areas working from the gender perspective. Covers 120 artists and 6 art groups. Each entry includes images of artworks, a brief biography, major exhibitions, artist’s statement, artist’s website address. Arranged by countries and then, by name in alphabetical order. In Japanese and English. The database is part of a research project headed by Kokatsu Reiko, which was funded by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant number 20K12475).
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. Sho-gaka Jinmei Dētabēsu (Meiji Taishō Sho-gaka Banzuke ni Yoru) [Name Directory Database of Calligraphers and Painters (as appears in Meiji Taishō Calligrapher and Painter Banzuke [Ranking])]
An online name index to the image database, “Meiji-Taishōki Sho-gaka Banzuke Dētabēsu [Database of Calligraphers and Painters in the Meiji-Taisha Eras by Ranking (Banzuke)]” which is a digital version of the collection of calligraphers and painters banzuke (ranking) published in the Bakumatsu, Meiji and Taishō periods. The collection was formed by Aoki Shigeru. Calligrapher and painter banzuke are publications which, like Sumo banzuke, list artists by ranking. Contains 18,000 calligraphers and painters. Each entry identifies the banzuke in which the artist appears (with a link to the image), the publishing date and the artist’s ranking.
3. Signatures and Seals
Nihon Shoga Rakkan Daijiten Kankōkai (ed.). Nihon Shoga Rakkan Daijiten [Dictionary of Signatures and Seals of Japanese Painting and Calligraphy]. 2 volumes. Tokyo: Yūshikan, 2007.
Covers 1,450 artists with 14,400 signatures from the medieval period to the early Shōwa period. Arranged by artist’s name in Japanese-alphabetical order. Supplemented with a table of contents arranged by genre and an index at the end, by artists’ studio name.
[Bijutsu Hyōronsha (ed.)]. Nihon Gaka Shodōka Rakkan-Inpushū [Signatures and Seals of Japanese Painters and Calligraphers]. Tokyo: Bijutsu Hyōronsha, 2011.
A directory of signatures and seals of modern and contemporary Japanese painters and calligraphers. Includes brief biographies, images of signatures and seals provided by artists. Arranged by genre and then, by name in Japanese-alphabetical order.
4. Artists’ Interviews & Writings
Oral History Archives of Japanese Art
A database of interviews with Japanese-art related professionals, which is based on the “Japanese Art Oral History Archive” compiled by a non-profit organization. Includes the transcriptions of interviews since 2006, with artists, critics, curators, gallery owners, editors, and government administrative officers in charge of art. Arranged by name in Japanese-alphabetical order.
As for the reference materials about individual artists in this database, please refer to Dictionary of Artists in Japan (DAJ)
5. Historical Overview
Aoyagi Masanori, et al. Nihon Bijutsukan [The Art Museum of Japan]. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1997.
Overview of Japanese art history from the Paleolithic to modern ages. “Resource” section at the end provides a biographical dictionary, glossaries, and an index in Japanese-alphabetical order (name of artists and works).
Tokyo Art Club (Tōkyō Bijutsu Kurabu) (ed.). Nihon no 20-seiki Geijutsu (20th-century Arts in Japan). Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2014 (Japanese edition).
Tokyo Art Club (ed.). The 20th Century Art in Japan, Tokyo: Tokyo Art Club, 2019 (English edition).
An overview 20-century arts in Japan. The Japanese edition covers painting, sculpture, prints, illustration, photography, decorative arts, design, museum architecture, experimental video, animation, manga, flower arrangement and performing arts. The English edition covers painting, sculpture, prints, and decorative arts. Introduces many artists in each media with commentaries and one image of representative work per artist. Supplemented with reference titles and an index by artist name in Japanese-alphabetical order.
Kusanagi, Natsuko (sv). Josei Gaka no Zenbō: Shissōsuru Bi no Asurītotachi [A Survey of Japanese women painters]. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha, 2003.
A monograph on 229 modern and contemporary Japanese women painters. Includes writings, articles, essays, and interviews. The section “Pictures and Text” functions as a biographical dictionary including artist’s major works and a brief biography.
Ueda Sayoko, Nakano Noriyuki, Fujimoto Manami, Mori Mitsuhiko. Kindai Kyōto Nihongashi [History of Japanese-style Painting in Modern Kyoto]. Tokyo: Kyūryūdō, 2020.
A historical overview of Japanese painting in modern Kyoto, covering the Bakumatsu-Meiji periods to the Shōwa period, the immediate postwar era. Features sixty prominent painters with their headshot photos, brief biographies, images of their major works as well as commentaries and reference titles. Supplemented with “Relation Map of Japanese-style Painters in Modern Kyoto,” “More on Japanese-Style Painting in Modern Kyoto” (for beginners),” “Map of Modern Kyoto,” and a list of basic resources on the subject.
(Translated by Yoshimura Reiko) (Published online: 2024-03-06)