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Ukiyo-e Internet Art Museum
Utagawaha Monjinkai
Organization for the cultural enlightenment through Ukiyo-e.
Ukiyo-e is a Japanese traditional multicolored woodblock print.
The Utagawa School is the largest Japanese ukiyo-e artists group which was founded by Toyoharu (1735~1814) and embraced three big lines of followers - Toyokuni III (1786~1864), Kuniyoshi (1797~1861) and Hiroshige (1797~1858).

Toyoharu fortunately had many followers and fostered two big ukiyo-e artists, Toyokuni I (1769~1825) and Toyohiro (1773~1828). Hiroshige who　influenced the impressionists strongly was born from the Toyohiro line, while Kunimasa (1773~1810), Kunisada (later renamed Toyokuni III) , Kuniyoshi and many other talented ukiyo-e artists were born from the Toyokuni I line.

Yoshitoshi (1839~1892), Toshikata (1866~1908) and others were brought up under the instruction of Kuniyoshi and the line was taken over by great masters of the modern Japanese art circles such as Kiyokata Kaburagi and Shinsui Ito. The Hiroshige line ended after Hiroshige III (1842~1894) and the Toyokuni line ended after Toyokuni IV (Kunisada II 1823~1880) (The name of Toyokuni means the leader of the Utagawa school.)

It is well known that ukiyo-e had a strong influence on impressionists such as Van Gogh. Though these were many schools of ukiyo-e prints, such as works of Toyokuni III, Kuniyoshi, Hiroshige I from the Utagawa School attracted a great deal of attention.

Because in those days in the West, people regarded art work existing over 50 years as "culture", Utagawa school's ukiyo-e was still considered as "modern art". Before long, though the prices of ukiyo-e increased sharply as their cultural value rose, higher artistic value was placed less on works from the Utagawa School and more on earlier ukiyo-e artists such as Harunobu (1725~1770), Utamaro (1753~1806) and Kiyonaga (1752~1815), and this trend has been continuing until today.

The first president, Dr.Tadashi Goino (Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Art) changed this preconceived idea greatly and reevaluated the Utagawa school's ukiyo-e as art work which had a strong influence on the European culture. He quickly turned his attention to the art of Kunisada (Toyokuni III) and established a new genre - "Design Toyokuni" in addition to existing genres of ukiyo-e such as portraits of beauties, landscape paintings, and actors. He also revived lacking parts of an ukiyo-e collection called the "Gogh Collection" which Van Gogh himself had possessed. From his epoch-making research on Van Gogh, he approached the essence of Van Gogh's Art and published the results of his research work.

Beyond the scope of collecting and researching Utagawa school's ukiyo-e, Dr.Tadashi Goino organized the Utagawaha Monjinkai in Japan by gathering artists, researchers, collectors, devotees, foreign academicians and so on in August, 1990. (150 members as of July, 2000). Utagawaha Monjinkai would recognize again the significant role of the Utagawa school's ukiyo-e as a composite art which connects Japanese culture and European culture, and would revive the essence of Japanese culture in today's society.

Since its foundation, Utagawaha Monjinkai has planned and held various exhibitions in Japan with the motto - "equal diplomacy" toward culture which had been often regarded as "west high, east low". The Japanese people would now realize the fact that Japanese culture had a strong influence on foreign culture and art as did ukiyo-e. Utagawaha Monjinkai also holds various cultural activities such as ukiyo-e exhibitions in America, Europe, Russia and other foreign countries and receives high appreciation.
Utagawaha Monjinkai was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of Hawaii, U.S.A. in 1998.

Japonisme Renaissance Movement
which Utagawaha Monjinkai promotes
What is Japonisme?
Ukiyo-e, which crossed the seas in many numbers upon the opening of Japan to the world in the late-nineteenth century, were enthusiastically received in Europe. Impressionists, starting with the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet and Gauguin, competed with others in collecting ukiyo-e, learned from ukiyo-e, and were influenced by ukiyo-e, and they produced works one after another which broke with conventional tradition.

This large movement is called "Japonisme" and the artists who were influenced by ukiyo-e were later called "Impressionists." Decorative art called "art nouveau" and "art deco" were born from Japonisme, and while France, which became the center of that movement, is seen as country of fashion, but their roots were in Japanese ukiyo-e.
What is the Japonisme Renaissance Movement?

Under Dr.Goino's guidance, Utagawaha Monjinkai promotes the Japonisme Renaissance Movement by donating one print each from the many ukiyo-e prints in Utagawaha Monjinkai's possession to libraries of elementary, middle and high schools and colleges all over the world, for a total of 10,000 authentic ukiyo-e, so that children and students, who are the world's future, can directly touch and feel ukyio-e and revive the excellence of ukiyo-e and Japanese culture in the present day. (Since 1994, over 8,000 ukiyo-e prints have been donated as of July 2000.)

Through this Movement, Utagawaha Monjinkai is rediscovering the Edo culture which recycled everything, and aims to spread to the world an affluent, healthy and cultural lifestyle and a dietary culture based on non-agricultural chemical which is in harmony with nature.

Ukiyo-e donation by Utagawaha Monjinkai

World
Japan	2,858 prints
USA	1,284 prints
Denmark	420 prints
Sweden	400 prints
Norway	300 prints
Iseland	100 prints
Finland	450 prints
France	1200 prints
Germany	200 prints
Malta	170 prints
Russia	1,250 prints
Ukraine	550 prints
Armenia	330 prints
Latvia	500 prints
Taiwan	400 prints
Grand Total	10,412 prints
(as of August 2003)

Japan (2,858 prints)
Japan State History Museum	273 prints
Kanagawa	801 prints
Miyazaki	156 prints
Kagoshima	92 prints
Nagano	576 prints
Gunma	110 prints
Osaka	500 prints
Hyogo	350 prints

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Utagawaha Monjinkai is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Your donation is tax-deductible
under IRS regulations.
If you wish to make a donation to help fund our activities,
please send in a check payable to Utagawaha Monjinkai.
Your donations will support Utagawaha Monjinkai's programs and services.
If you wish to know more about Utagawaha Monjinkai, please feel free to contact us.
Utagawaha Monjinkai
1750 Kalakaua Ave. #212 Honolulu, HI 96826, USA
Tel:808-951-0477 Fax:808-949-2139
E-mail : guest@utagawa.or.jp
Web Site : http://www.utagawa.or.jp
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