Shin-Hanga

Images of the Countryside

There were many Japanese who were not pleased with the Western influence spreading through Japan. Some, including a large number of novelists, encouraged nostalgia for traditional culture and one’s heritage in the countryside. Philosopher and writer Abe Jirō (1883-1959), in his philosophical musings in the Diary of Santarō, explored the experience of the splendor of nature as a way of exploring oneself:

Descriptions of the Abe-like philosopher Santarō encountering the overwhelming forces of nature and perceiving his own comparative insignificance appear repeatedly in these essays. In the early chapters his descriptions of himself are often set as evening falls, in the ambiguous light that permitted him to “see” past his false self to the essence of things.[1]

These ideals were reflected in the prints of many shin-hanga artists, including Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) and Oda Kazuma (1882-1956).
[1] Kendall Brown and Hollis Goodall-Cristante, Shin-hanga: New Prints in Modern Japan (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1996), 18.

 

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