It was my grandfather, Shosaburo Watanabe, who gave ukiyo-e woodblock prints another 100 years of life.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Please tell me the history of your business.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Sometime after Meiji 30 (1897), my grandfather, Shozaburo Watanabe, came out to Tokyo from Ibaraki. He first worked for a pawnshop, and later for a trading company, where he learned the ukiyo-e trade while he was still in his teens. In 1909, he started his own business and opened the S.WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co. in Kyobashi. That is how our business started.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How did ukiyo-e come to be so popular globally? Can you tell me about the historical context of its popularity?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- In 1867, in the last months of the Tokugawa shogunate, only a few months before the dawn of the Meiji era, the shogunate had as many as 10,000 ukiyo-e prints exhibited at the international exposition held in Paris. Ukiyo-e prints being of only marginal value to the shogunate, they were to be sold at the exposition to cover travelling costs with whatever profit they generated. Surprisingly, the prints sold like hot cakes and triggered a major ukiyo-e boom overseas. In Japan, ukiyo-e prints were widely affordable by the common people and cost about the same as one bowl of soba, which is equivalent to approximately 400-500 yen today. Only a means of amusement, prints would become garbage once people grew tired of them. It was because foreigners acknowledged ukiyo-e prints to be works of art and valued them that they have been preserved in the way we find them today.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- It wasn\u2019t until I went to the United States to study that I saw ukiyo-e for the first time, at museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Smithsonian Institution.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Ah, yes, they have collections of ukiyo-e.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I was surprised to find that ukiyo-e was respectfully displayed n a special corner of a neatly arranged exhibition room.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- You are right. Ukiyo-e prints are unique to Japan and nothing of the like can be found anywhere else in the world.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- We need to acknowledge their value<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- What could top having foreigners appreciate something that could only be sold for a very cheap price in Japan, and being able to make money out of it? Ukiyo-e exports increased rapidly. Foreigners tend to have a liking for particular prints, but only a limited number of original prints remain, so my grandfather had artisans make \u201creproductions\u201d and sold them for a price lower than the originals. This was a great success.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- So he didn\u2019t just sell existing prints.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- He mastered the skills to reproduce ukiyo-e prints, which became very popular among foreigners. From around Taisho 4 (1916), he invited artists of the time to create contemporary ukiyo-e prints, but failed to win their support.<\/p>\n
It was a time when more and more foreigners came to Japan and my grandfather met an Australian named Capelari. They hit it off very well and started to work on prints together. Later, an English watercolor artist named Bartlett, who had been travelling around the world for two years, came to them, interested in making woodblock prints of his work. This created a novel style of woodblock prints, completely different from traditional ukiyo-e, and marked a cornerstone for the emergence of many new artists, including Ito Shinsui and Kawase Hasui. Today, their works are known to the world as Japanese art and they are very popular worldwide.
\nAfter Showa 30 (1955), my father held classes for covering both traditional woodblock prints and emerging sosaku-hanga, thus enabling the succession of techniques from one artisan to another. These classes continued for ten years and now, Japanese prints are known to be the best in the world. Given such successful efforts, S. WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co. is said to have extended the life of ukiyo-e prints by 100 years.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_01.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_02.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKawase Hasui: Dawn at Nihonbashi Bridge (left), Hiraizumi Hall of the Golden Hue<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_03.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nUkiyo-e influenced the work of European Impressionists<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Why were foreigners so fascinated by ukiyo-e?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- In the Western world, training artists would be taught that it was important to be as true to life as possible, and therefore, artists would draw objects just as they saw them. Of course, that in itself was wonderful, as the artists\u2019 individuality would be present in their work, but ukiyo-e artists would only draw what they wanted to draw. For example, many of Utagawa Hiromaro\u2019s ukiyo-e prints, including \u201cSuruga Province: Miho Pine Grove (Suruga, Miho no matsubara)\u201d, are drawn from the eyes of a bird. High angle views are only possible if you are drawing on a mountaintop, but Hiroshige would compose his prints from that angle just because he wanted to. This style of drawing was very rare in the western world.<\/p>\n
The way the scenery is obstructed by an object in the foreground in \u201cPlum Estate, Kameido (Kameido umeyashiki)\u201d is another example of bold composition that deviated from the common practice of Western artists but was well-received.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I\u2019m not well-versed in the fine arts, but had Impressionism become mainstream around that time in Europe?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Yes, many Impressionist artists were influenced by ukiyo-e. Van Gogh made replicas and used them in the background of his oil painting as well.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow. That\u2019s is interesting.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Ukiyo-e played the role that TV and magazines play in present days, and therefore, ukiyo-e artists were the fashion leaders of the times. Because their bijin-ga (portraits of beautiful women) depicted the latest fashion and accessories, ukiyo-e prints sold well among stylish women who sought guidance on fashion.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- They really did play the role of fashion magazines.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_04.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUtagawa Hiroshige: \u201cSuruga miho-no-matsubara\u201d (left), \u201cPlum Estate, Kameido (Kameido umeyashiki)\u201d (right) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_05.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
\nI enjoy listening to classical music, which in connection with ukiyo-e is\u2026?<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Now, please allow me to ask you some personal questions. Do you have any hobbies?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I feel uneasy saying this before you, but I have loved listening to classical music since I was a child.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Really? Which genre of classical music do you like?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I enjoy listening to orchestra music. I have been attending the NHK Symphony Orchestra\u2019s concerts for 45 years now. A subscriber since I was ten, I must be one of their oldest subscribers. (laughs)<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I often went to hear them play with my mother, as well.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I was deeply impressed when I travelled to Munich on business. There was a musician performing classical music on the street. Dressed like a rock musician, he was playing Vivaldi\u2019s \u201cFour Seasons\u201d and he was very inspiring. He was just reading off sheet music, but it sounded completely different from music played in a concert hall. It was classical music with a taste of rock. It hit me then that that might be music in its true colors.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I know what you mean. I believe that it may be the same with the fine arts, but classical music is originally a source of entertainment. It started as music performed at the palace for the king, and musicians were underservants who would come and go through the servants\u2019 door. That somehow changed\u2026<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- That is similar to ukiyo-e, which was originally a commercial product for amusement that came to be acknowledged as artwork.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- The same can be said for the opera. Opera is basically daytime drama, storywise, but now you are required to wear a tuxedo to see a performance.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Music has nothing to do with my profession.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Oh, music is entertaining when it is a hobby. (laughs) Do you also play an instrument?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I used to play the piano. It is nice to be able to play an instrument \u2013 any instrument.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I would recommend the cello! It is a much better choice than the violin! (laughs) The cello is popular because few people play the instrument and it gives a sense of stability. I really recommend it.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
Ginza is in need of the instincts of an ukiyo-e artist<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Finally, please tell me your thoughts about Ginza.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Today\u2019s Ginza is full of designer boutiques from overseas. They are, of course, more than welcome here, but I just wish that Japanese brands could lead the world. In that context, since ukiyo-e is a part of Japanese culture that we can be proud of, I am honored to be running a business that allows me to deliver Japanese culture overseas with great confidence.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- And your store is has a history of over 100 years.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Yes, but Ginza has a relatively short history compared to Paris, Vienna and other major cities of the world. In the beginning of the Showa era, \u201cmodern girls\u201d and \u201cmodern boys\u201d dressed in cutting-edge fashion appeared in the streets of Ginza, and Japan\u2019s first department stores opened consecutively. Ginza was renowned for always having something new to present, but from some point in time, it has come to be looked upon as a town full of the oldest stores. My store may be counted among those long-established businesses, but I hope to bring new things into the world. I feel that the instinct for struggling to make products that will amuse customers \u2013 to create entertainment \u2013 that publishers had possessed back in the days of the ukiyo-e, might be what we need now.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_06.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nThe next guest will be\u2026<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- May I ask you to introduce the next guest?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- The next guest is Mr, Keiji Shinmoto, Executive Director of Tenshodo, a long-established retailer of watches and precious metals and also famous for model railways. <\/p>\n
Tenshodo has a long history of constantly introducing novel ideas and being committed to the development of watches and jewelry in Japan.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_37_07.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\nChisako Takahashi<\/h4>\n
Violinist. Takashima started taking violin lessons from the age of 6. After a successful career abroad, she moved her home base to Japan, where she currently performs in concerts across the country. Highly noted for her character in TV and radio appearances, she has currently opened up her career to more diverse fields with an unchanged focus on her profession.<\/p>\n
Official website of Chisako Takashima<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\nShoichiro Watanabe<\/h4>\n
Third owner of S.WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co.. After graduating from college, he worked for WAKO Co., Ltd. until he assumed his current position in 1985.
\nHis extensive activities include appearing on TV Tokyo\u2019s popular program \u201cKaiun nandemo kanteidan,\u201d to which viewers bring in their \u201ctreasures\u201d seeking to learn their true value, and giving lectures.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Please tell me the history of your business.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Sometime after Meiji 30 (1897), my grandfather, Shozaburo Watanabe, came out to Tokyo from Ibaraki. He first worked for a pawnshop, and later for a trading company, where he learned the ukiyo-e trade while he was still in his teens. In 1909, he started his own business and opened the S.WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co. in Kyobashi. That is how our business started.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How did ukiyo-e come to be so popular globally? Can you tell me about the historical context of its popularity?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- In 1867, in the last months of the Tokugawa shogunate, only a few months before the dawn of the Meiji era, the shogunate had as many as 10,000 ukiyo-e prints exhibited at the international exposition held in Paris. Ukiyo-e prints being of only marginal value to the shogunate, they were to be sold at the exposition to cover travelling costs with whatever profit they generated. Surprisingly, the prints sold like hot cakes and triggered a major ukiyo-e boom overseas. In Japan, ukiyo-e prints were widely affordable by the common people and cost about the same as one bowl of soba, which is equivalent to approximately 400-500 yen today. Only a means of amusement, prints would become garbage once people grew tired of them. It was because foreigners acknowledged ukiyo-e prints to be works of art and valued them that they have been preserved in the way we find them today.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- It wasn\u2019t until I went to the United States to study that I saw ukiyo-e for the first time, at museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Smithsonian Institution.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Ah, yes, they have collections of ukiyo-e.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I was surprised to find that ukiyo-e was respectfully displayed n a special corner of a neatly arranged exhibition room.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- You are right. Ukiyo-e prints are unique to Japan and nothing of the like can be found anywhere else in the world.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- We need to acknowledge their value<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- What could top having foreigners appreciate something that could only be sold for a very cheap price in Japan, and being able to make money out of it? Ukiyo-e exports increased rapidly. Foreigners tend to have a liking for particular prints, but only a limited number of original prints remain, so my grandfather had artisans make \u201creproductions\u201d and sold them for a price lower than the originals. This was a great success.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- So he didn\u2019t just sell existing prints.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- He mastered the skills to reproduce ukiyo-e prints, which became very popular among foreigners. From around Taisho 4 (1916), he invited artists of the time to create contemporary ukiyo-e prints, but failed to win their support.<\/p>\n
It was a time when more and more foreigners came to Japan and my grandfather met an Australian named Capelari. They hit it off very well and started to work on prints together. Later, an English watercolor artist named Bartlett, who had been travelling around the world for two years, came to them, interested in making woodblock prints of his work. This created a novel style of woodblock prints, completely different from traditional ukiyo-e, and marked a cornerstone for the emergence of many new artists, including Ito Shinsui and Kawase Hasui. Today, their works are known to the world as Japanese art and they are very popular worldwide.
\nAfter Showa 30 (1955), my father held classes for covering both traditional woodblock prints and emerging sosaku-hanga, thus enabling the succession of techniques from one artisan to another. These classes continued for ten years and now, Japanese prints are known to be the best in the world. Given such successful efforts, S. WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co. is said to have extended the life of ukiyo-e prints by 100 years.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\nKawase Hasui: Dawn at Nihonbashi Bridge (left), Hiraizumi Hall of the Golden Hue<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nUkiyo-e influenced the work of European Impressionists<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Why were foreigners so fascinated by ukiyo-e?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- In the Western world, training artists would be taught that it was important to be as true to life as possible, and therefore, artists would draw objects just as they saw them. Of course, that in itself was wonderful, as the artists\u2019 individuality would be present in their work, but ukiyo-e artists would only draw what they wanted to draw. For example, many of Utagawa Hiromaro\u2019s ukiyo-e prints, including \u201cSuruga Province: Miho Pine Grove (Suruga, Miho no matsubara)\u201d, are drawn from the eyes of a bird. High angle views are only possible if you are drawing on a mountaintop, but Hiroshige would compose his prints from that angle just because he wanted to. This style of drawing was very rare in the western world.<\/p>\n
The way the scenery is obstructed by an object in the foreground in \u201cPlum Estate, Kameido (Kameido umeyashiki)\u201d is another example of bold composition that deviated from the common practice of Western artists but was well-received.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I\u2019m not well-versed in the fine arts, but had Impressionism become mainstream around that time in Europe?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Yes, many Impressionist artists were influenced by ukiyo-e. Van Gogh made replicas and used them in the background of his oil painting as well.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow. That\u2019s is interesting.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Ukiyo-e played the role that TV and magazines play in present days, and therefore, ukiyo-e artists were the fashion leaders of the times. Because their bijin-ga (portraits of beautiful women) depicted the latest fashion and accessories, ukiyo-e prints sold well among stylish women who sought guidance on fashion.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- They really did play the role of fashion magazines.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n
Utagawa Hiroshige: \u201cSuruga miho-no-matsubara\u201d (left), \u201cPlum Estate, Kameido (Kameido umeyashiki)\u201d (right) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
\nI enjoy listening to classical music, which in connection with ukiyo-e is\u2026?<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Now, please allow me to ask you some personal questions. Do you have any hobbies?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I feel uneasy saying this before you, but I have loved listening to classical music since I was a child.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Really? Which genre of classical music do you like?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I enjoy listening to orchestra music. I have been attending the NHK Symphony Orchestra\u2019s concerts for 45 years now. A subscriber since I was ten, I must be one of their oldest subscribers. (laughs)<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I often went to hear them play with my mother, as well.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I was deeply impressed when I travelled to Munich on business. There was a musician performing classical music on the street. Dressed like a rock musician, he was playing Vivaldi\u2019s \u201cFour Seasons\u201d and he was very inspiring. He was just reading off sheet music, but it sounded completely different from music played in a concert hall. It was classical music with a taste of rock. It hit me then that that might be music in its true colors.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I know what you mean. I believe that it may be the same with the fine arts, but classical music is originally a source of entertainment. It started as music performed at the palace for the king, and musicians were underservants who would come and go through the servants\u2019 door. That somehow changed\u2026<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- That is similar to ukiyo-e, which was originally a commercial product for amusement that came to be acknowledged as artwork.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- The same can be said for the opera. Opera is basically daytime drama, storywise, but now you are required to wear a tuxedo to see a performance.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Music has nothing to do with my profession.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Oh, music is entertaining when it is a hobby. (laughs) Do you also play an instrument?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- I used to play the piano. It is nice to be able to play an instrument \u2013 any instrument.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I would recommend the cello! It is a much better choice than the violin! (laughs) The cello is popular because few people play the instrument and it gives a sense of stability. I really recommend it.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
Ginza is in need of the instincts of an ukiyo-e artist<\/h4>\n
\n- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Finally, please tell me your thoughts about Ginza.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Today\u2019s Ginza is full of designer boutiques from overseas. They are, of course, more than welcome here, but I just wish that Japanese brands could lead the world. In that context, since ukiyo-e is a part of Japanese culture that we can be proud of, I am honored to be running a business that allows me to deliver Japanese culture overseas with great confidence.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- And your store is has a history of over 100 years.<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- Yes, but Ginza has a relatively short history compared to Paris, Vienna and other major cities of the world. In the beginning of the Showa era, \u201cmodern girls\u201d and \u201cmodern boys\u201d dressed in cutting-edge fashion appeared in the streets of Ginza, and Japan\u2019s first department stores opened consecutively. Ginza was renowned for always having something new to present, but from some point in time, it has come to be looked upon as a town full of the oldest stores. My store may be counted among those long-established businesses, but I hope to bring new things into the world. I feel that the instinct for struggling to make products that will amuse customers \u2013 to create entertainment \u2013 that publishers had possessed back in the days of the ukiyo-e, might be what we need now.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
The next guest will be\u2026<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- May I ask you to introduce the next guest?<\/dd>\n
- Watanabe<\/dt>\n
- The next guest is Mr, Keiji Shinmoto, Executive Director of Tenshodo, a long-established retailer of watches and precious metals and also famous for model railways. <\/p>\n
Tenshodo has a long history of constantly introducing novel ideas and being committed to the development of watches and jewelry in Japan.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n\nChisako Takahashi<\/h4>\n
Violinist. Takashima started taking violin lessons from the age of 6. After a successful career abroad, she moved her home base to Japan, where she currently performs in concerts across the country. Highly noted for her character in TV and radio appearances, she has currently opened up her career to more diverse fields with an unchanged focus on her profession.<\/p>\n
Official website of Chisako Takashima<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nShoichiro Watanabe<\/h4>\n
Third owner of S.WATANABE COLOR PRINT Co.. After graduating from college, he worked for WAKO Co., Ltd. until he assumed his current position in 1985.
\nHis extensive activities include appearing on TV Tokyo\u2019s popular program \u201cKaiun nandemo kanteidan,\u201d to which viewers bring in their \u201ctreasures\u201d seeking to learn their true value, and giving lectures.<\/p>\n