Themes

1. Art Schools and Education

This theme focuses on “schools,” which include art colleges, art prep schools, alternative art schools, in addition to “education” relating to and through art that has been taking place in the aforementioned schools, museums, and society in a broad sense. Texts from a wide range of eras, from the Meiji era—which marks the beginning of full-scale art education in Japan—to after the 2010s when gender issues in the field of education rose as an important subject matter, have been selected for this category. By doing so, we will shed light on art “education” of modern and contemporary Japan, and the inner working of “schools” as the site of art education, and their historical shifts.

New translations:

• Kitagawa Tamiji “My Art Pedagogy” (1938)
• Furihata Chikako "Workshops: Education and Public Programs in Japanese Art Museums" (2008)
• Araki Shinya "Discourses For/Against Cast Drawing" (2018)

2. Artists' Writings

The subject of this theme is writings—essays, diary entries, criticism—by Japanese artists, regardless of the era in which they were active. The writings vary in content and style. As a prerequisite for selection, emphasis was placed on whether the writing reflects the core of the artist’s practice, or closely links to the production process and creative impetus.

New translations:

• Okamoto Tarō "On Jōmon Pottery" (1952)
• Takamatsu Jirō "World Expansion Plan: An Essay on Absence (An Overview)" (1967)
• Akutagawa (Madokoro) Saori "Excerpts from the Diaries of Akutagawa (Madokoro) Saori (1953–1965)" (1973)
• Ishiuchi Miyako "Toward an Infinite Black" (1993)
• Ohtake Shinro "Restroom Retrospect" (1997)

3. Collectivism

From the pre-1945 Mavo up to the post-1945 Jikken Kōbō, Gutai Art Association, Hi-Red Center, The Play, Bikyōtō Revolution Committee, Dumb Type, and Chim↑Pom, collective art practice has played an important role in the history of modern and contemporary art in Japan. The texts selected for this theme focus on writings on their group activities such as manifestos and those printed in bulletins. The selection also includes criticism and research on collective activities.

New translations:

• Takiguchi Shūzō "Are Open-Call Exhibitions Useless?" (1961)
• "Hi-Red Center" (1971)
• Kyoto City Museum of Art, Hirano Shigemitsu "Kyoto Biennale 1973: Art by Collectives (Foreword and Essay)" (1973)
• Group of Five Photobook Editorial Committee, Equivalent Cinema, People We Know + People We Know + People We Know, Nirvāna Data Integration—The Final Art Institute, Japan Kobe Zero, The Play "Kyoto Biennale 1973: Art by Collectives (Participant Statements)" (1973)
• Shirakawa Yoshio "Beyond the Circle" (1983)
• Yamaguchi Katsuhiro "Jikken Kōbō" (1996)
• Koyamada Tōru "Dumb Type: Exploring future visions of communication through considerations of the self and other" (2000)
• Takahashi Fumiko "From within the Chaos: The making of Women Breaking Boundaries 21" (2001)
• Suzuki Katsuo "The Dream of the Collective: The historical pathos running through the 1950s" (2012)
• Umetsu Yōichi "The Conditions for Parplume" (2016)
• Kira Tomoko "Hitotohito and Women’s Collectives throughout History" (2021)

4. Critics

This theme provides an overview of the work by critics who have shaped the discourse of modern and contemporary Japanese art history. Focusing on the most important arguments and their development in addition to examining their influence on exhibitions and artists, the texts illuminate how the discourse on art has been constructed. In conjunction with the selection of essays on postwar Japanese art (From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan, 1945–1989) translated and published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the texts focus on the various aspects of Japanese modern and contemporary art history.

New translations:

• Nakahara Yūsuke "For a Criticism of Misemono" (1956)
• Hyūga Akiko "Morals from Another Planet: The appeal of shōjo manga, Japanese girls’ comics" (1977)
• Tatehata Akira "Paintings Emerged: The Gutai Art Association in the 1950s" (1985)
• Kasahara Michiko "Photography and Gender: Encountering the works of Ishiuchi Miyako and Kamikura Yoshiko (1997)
• Mitsuda Yuri "An Ontological Reading of Nojima Yasuzō’s Photographs" (2009)

5. Exhibitions, Events, and Sites

The main subject matter is writings on important exhibitions held in Japan. Most discussions on postwar Japanese art history have centered around artworks and criticism, but the exhibitions that make them physically possible have not been discussed in length. By introducing texts from exhibition catalogues, related essays, exhibition reviews, statements from parties involved, and research papers that have been translated for the first time, this theme foregrounds how exhibitions have shaped the history of modern and contemporary Japanese art.

New translations:

• Tōno Yoshiaki "Sayonara, Yomiuri Independent" (1964)
• Yoshida Yoshie "A Community That Penetrates the Darkness" (1972)
• Koike Kazuko "Emerging from a Chrysalis, the Butterfly Spreads its Wings" (1992)
• Kokatsu Reiko "The Introduction of Gender Perspectives in Japanese Museums" (2007)
• Masaki Motoi "How to Unlock the Outdoors" (2012)
• The History of Bigakkō from its Founding until 2019 (2019)

6. Feminism and/in Japanese Art

Texts on Japanese modern and contemporary art written from the perspective of feminism and gender issues, in addition to statements written by and interviews with female artists, and criticism are at the focus of this theme. In bringing to light seminal works by female writers, critics, and curators, it challenges traditional Japanese art history and its values to further explore the potential of the discourse.

New translations:

• Migishi Setsuko "A History of Women Artists" (1950)
• Kishimoto Sayako "1983 House of Councillors Party Election Broadcast (NHK Radio Broadcast)" (1983)
• Mitsuda Yuri "Daytime Park on a Weekday: A reflection on the exhibition Images of Women in Japanese Contemporary Art 1930’s–40’s” (1997)
• "Testimony and Art" Shimada Yoshiko, Tomiyama Taeko in conversation with Rebecca Jennison
• Kitahara Megumi "Debates Concerning “Mere Sexual Difference” in the Japanese Art World, 1997–98" (2000)
• Kokatsu Reiko "Postwar 'Avant-Garde' Art Movements and Women Artists, 1950s–60s" (2005)
• Kasahara Michiko "The Consciousness of Contemporary Japanese Women Seen in the Works of Yanagi Miwa" (2007)
• Kira Tomoko "Images of the Home Front in War Art Exhibitions" (2011)
• On Female Artist Collectives Today: A Talk Between Odawara Nodoka and Momose Aya (2019)
• Odawara Nodoka "Why Have There Been No Great Women Sculptors?" (2021)

7. Japan in Asia

This theme focuses on writings that address the relationship between Japan and Asia in art, the experiences of artists from other parts of Asia who have migrated to Japan and Japanese artists who have migrated to other parts of Asia, and imperialism and decolonization. Through engaging with the discourse on modern and contemporary art history within the framework of the nation state of postwar Japan, the theme sheds light on a more transnational history that lies beneath the surface.

New translations:

• Kuroda Raiji "Behind the “Boom” in Contemporary Asian Art" (1995)
• "Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang: The Internationalization of Art and the Position of the Artist" (1996)
• Hariu Ichiro "The Significance of the AREUM Exhibition 2002: A history of my personal exchanges with South and North Korean culture" (2002)
• Furuichi Yasuko "Toward the Construction of New Relationships Across Asia: The activities of the Japan Foundation Asia Center" (2005)
• Ushiroshoji Masahiro "Art of Southeast Asia Under Japanese Occupation, 1942–45" (2013)
• Furukawa Mika "The Reception and Awareness of Korean Art in Japan in Recent Years" (2018)

8. The 1980s

The 1980s was a period that saw a rise of renewed interest in painting and sculpture, and saw the emergence of neo-expressionist paintings known as New Paintings. At the same time, installation works became common and female artists garnered attention. In the Kansai region, there was an active movement led by young artists, and many experimental group shows were organized and held. Towards the end of the 1980s, contemporaneous works by Japanese artists were being introduced actively overseas. From contemporaneous testimonies by artists and curators to retrospective discussions by researchers, this theme focuses on literature on trends that characterized the 1980s Japan.

New translations:

• Kondō Yukio "The Question of Identity and Installation in 1980s Japanese Contemporary Art" (1998)
• Sakagami Shinobu "'On the Eighties': A Look at the New Wave of the 1980s" (2008)

9. Photography and Media

This theme focuses on texts on artists who employ new forms of technology such as photography, video, and computers to create works to pursue new possibilities in expression. Because implementation of new technology has often been carried out by the marginalized, and thus they were not only critical of traditional forms of art, much of the discourse surrounding the works transcended being about technicalities of the media. Interest in technology was not limited to Japanese artists, and so comparisons to discussions taking place in other regions have also been considered.

New translations:

• Natori Yōnosuke "Photography-as-Sign" (1963)
• Ōtsuji Kiyoji "Moving Beyond the Age of Isms" (1968)
• Idemitsu Mako "Observing the Unconscious" (1981)
• Akiyama Kuniharu "Sōgetsu Art Center (SAC)" (1985)
• Yamaguchi Katsuhiro "The World of Fukushima Hideko: Breaking away, into images" (1992)
• Yoshioka Hiroshi "The Culture of Media Art" (2014)
• Nakamura Fumiko "Takano Ryudai's With KJ#2 as a Bed" (2015)
• "Nagashima Yurie: No one else was doing it, so I had to do it myself," interview by Goroku Miwa (2020)

10. State and Ecology

In addition to art practices that tackle environmental issues, this theme focuses on texts that consider the art "ecology" in Japan, such as the state of exhibition facilities and art “festivals.” The theme also reflects on how—having overcome the notion of essentialist cultural identity—the social systems have shaped art in Japan and how the artists have dealt with them.

New translations:

• Akasegawa Genpei "Theses on 'Capitalist Realism'" (1964)
  
• Nakaya Fujiko "Air and Water" (1970)
  
• Kikuhata Mokuma "Dear Foujita…: An examination of the Pacific War record paintings" (1972)
• Tsutsumi Seiji "A Base for the Zeitgeist" (1975)
  
• Taki Kōji "The Origins of Goshin'ei" (1988)
  
• Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi "Fiction Function! World Stakes/History Shares: A rule book for the world history game" (1991)
  
• Kawamata Tadashi "Contemporary Art as Minority" (2001)
  
• Fujita Naoya "Zombies of the Avant-Garde: The problems with locality art" (2014)
  
• Ma Jung-Yeon "Mikami Seiko Suitcases 1993 | 2020" (2020)