Munakata Shikō — Redefining 'Hanga (Board Picture)' and the World Recognition of 20th-Century Japanese Prints

Munakata Shikō — The Great Master of 20th-Century Japanese Prints

Munakata Shikō (1903-1975) is the most globally acclaimed printmaker of 20th-century Japan. Where the previous article’s shin-hanga (Kawase Hasui, Itō Shinsui) was “the continuation of Edo ukiyo-e,” Munakata, in the lineage of sōsaku-hanga (creative prints), opened up an entirely new 20th-century print art.

Munakata’s position:

• Begins prints by self-study, as the son of a shoemaker in Aomori
• Depicts Buddhist subjects (bodhisattvas, Kannon, monks) in bold black and white
• With the declaration “I shall be Van Gogh,” he goes up to Tokyo at 21
• Establishes his own path through the encounter with Yanagi Sōetsu and the Mingei movement
• 1955 São Paulo Biennale — Grand Prize in printmaking
• 1956 Venice Biennale — International Grand Prize in printmaking
• One of the most globally acclaimed Japanese artists of the 20th century

Life — “I Shall Be Van Gogh”

Childhood (1903-1919)

• Born on September 5, 1903, as the third son of a swordsmith (later shoemaker) in Ōmachi, Aomori City
• Real name Munakata Shikō
• With extreme myopia, from childhood he pressed his face against the paper when drawing
• 1911, the family swordsmith business closes; converts to shoemaking
• The family was poor; after elementary school he goes out to work

Encounter with Van Gogh (1919)

• 1919 (age 16), sees Van Gogh’s oil painting Sunflowers in the magazine Shirakaba and is shocked
• Declares “Wadaba (=I) shall be Van Gogh” — this dialect-tinged vow later becomes legend
• Aiming to become an oil painter, he begins self-study

Tokyo and Setbacks (1924-1929)

• 1924 (age 21), leaves Aomori for Tokyo
• Aims at oil painting, but rejected repeatedly at the Teiten (Imperial Art Exhibition)
• Rejected four times from 1925 to 1927
• 1928 (age 25), on his fifth application, finally has the oil Zōen accepted

But he does not succeed with oil painting, and his life becomes extremely straitened. The turning point is his encounter with woodblock prints.

Turning to Prints (1928-1930)

• 1928, meets the woodblock printmaker Hiratsuka Un’ichi (1895-1997)
• Hiratsuka was a pioneer of sōsaku-hanga, with the philosophy of “self-drawn, self-carved, self-printed”
• 1929, Munakata makes his first trial prints
• Though self-taught, his talent flowers rapidly

The Discovery of “Jōdo-mon Hanga” (1936)

In 1936 (age 33), a decisive encounter comes to Munakata:

• Submits the print cycle Yamato Shi Uruwashi to the Kokuga-kai exhibition
• Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961), leader of the Mingei movement, extols it
• Yanagi introduces Munakata to the Nihon Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum), which buys the work

With this, Munakata’s fate changes. Backed by Yanagi Sōetsu, Munakata is tied to the Mingei movement and establishes his line of Buddhist subjects and native expression.

Declaration of “Hanga (板画, Board Picture)” (1938)

• 1938, Munakata declares that he will rename “hanga (版画, prints)” as “hanga (板画, board pictures)”
• “版” = printing template, “板” = the wooden board itself
• The thought “pictures born from the board”
• “Hanga = pictures that make use of the spiritual power of the material (wood)”

This is not merely a name change, but a declaration of Munakata’s view of prints. Not “transferring the painter’s picture onto the block,” but “drawing out the power the board itself possesses.” This coincides with the material-ism of the Mingei movement.

Wartime Evacuation (1940-1945)

• 1940, released the great work Tōhoku Kyō Kimon Fu
• With the intensification of war, evacuated from Tokyo to Aomori
• 1944, evacuated to Fukumitsu-machi in Toyama, continued print production in the farm village

Postwar — Toward World Recognition (1946-1975)

• 1946, returned to Tokyo
• 1952, chosen as a Japanese representative to the São Paulo Biennale by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
• 1955 São Paulo Biennale — awarded the Grand Prize in printmaking
• 1956 Venice Biennale — awarded the International Grand Prize in printmaking — epoch-making as a global prize for a Japanese
• 1970, received the Order of Culture

For 30 years postwar, Munakata was the globally acclaimed face of the Japanese print world. Left hundreds of prints, thousands of works of calligraphy, and hand paintings.

Death (1975)

• Died on September 13, 1975, at 72
• Cause of death was liver cancer
• Funeral at Kirigaya Saijō in Yanaka, Tokyo
• Collected works and retrospectives held around the world

Munakata’s Style — “The Icon of Yamato”

1. Buddhist Subjects

The subjects of Munakata’s prints are overwhelmingly Buddhist:

• Bodhisattvas, Kannon, Nyorai
• Monks and ascetics
• The life of Śākyamuni
• Sutras — the Heart Sutra, the Kannon Sutra, etc.

This is treated less as Munakata’s personal faith than as exploration of a Japanese spirituality. The ambition to express “the Japanese soul” through prints.

2. Bold Black-and-White

• Contrast of black (ink) and white (paper)
• Colors are not used, or used in a limited way
• Composed by planes and lines of black and white

This is the opposite of the multicolor printing of Edo ukiyo-e. Rather in the lineage of medieval Buddhist prints.

3. Female Figures — “The Yamato Bodhisattvas”

Many of Munakata’s representative works have plump, powerful female figures:

• Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples — the disciples are male, but the face style is feminine
• The Two Bodhisattvas and Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples
• Kegon-fu

These female figures are the opposite of the thin-lined beauties of Edo ukiyo-e. Huge female figures symbolizing motherhood, earth, and life-force.

4. The Power of “Carving”

• Because of Munakata’s extreme myopia, he carved with his face close to the paper
• So he carved at a distance as close as face touching board
• Lines are rough and direct
• Carves in one stroke, without correction

This produces Munakata’s characteristic line with a life-force. Completely different from the precise hair-splitting of Edo ukiyo-e.

Representative Works

Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples (1939)

• A series depicting the Buddha’s 10 disciples in prints
• Each figure is a giant standing figure (about 100 cm tall)
• Powerful black-and-white carving
• The 1955 São Paulo Biennale-winning work
• Globally famous as Munakata’s representative work

The 10 disciples: Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, Kāśyapa, Subhūti, Pūrṇa, Kātyāyana, Aniruddha, Upāli, Ānanda, Rāhula

The Two Bodhisattvas and Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples (1940)

• The above plus the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī, 12 pictures in total
• The 1956 Venice Biennale-winning work
• One of Munakata’s supreme masterpieces

Kegon-fu (1936)

• A cycle turning the tales of the Kegon Sutra into prints
• A representative work of Munakata’s early period
• The work Yanagi Sōetsu praised

Yamato Shi Uruwashi (1936)

• A cycle based on the Man’yōshū and Japanese mythology
• Meaning “Yamato (=Japan) is beautiful”
• A declaratory work of Munakata’s return to Japan

Tōhoku Kyō Kimon Fu (1940)

• Turns the legends of the kimon (northeast demon gate) of Tōhoku (Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi) into a subject
• Munakata’s love of home and expression of the weird
• A large work of over 20 pictures

Kadoyo Kafu (1946)

• A representative work postwar
• A print with flowers as subject
• A lyrical side of Munakata

Kadoyo no Saku (1948)

• “Saku” = a coinage of Munakata meaning “work”
• Lyrical prints of flowers and women

Sachi Fubuki no Saku (1961)

• A representative work of his late years
• A woman among flying flower petals
• Period when “saku” as the meaning “work” is fixed

Munakata, Yanagi Sōetsu, and the Mingei Movement

What Is the Mingei Movement?

• In 1926, the philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu, the potter Kawai Kanjirō, and the potter Hamada Shōji advocated the Mingei (folk-crafts) movement
• “Popular crafts” = the beauty of daily items made by anonymous artisans
• Emphasizes anonymity, utility, and locality
• Opposite pole from Western art’s “artist-ness”

Encounter with Yanagi Sōetsu (1936)

• Munakata’s submission Yamato Shi Uruwashi to the Kokuga-kai exhibition was highly praised by Yanagi
• Yanagi bought Munakata’s prints for the Nihon Mingeikan
• Munakata joined the Mingei movement as a disciple of Yanagi

Munakata’s Prints and Mingei

Munakata’s prints fully match the ideals of the Mingei movement:

• Native subjects (Buddhism, home region)
• Reverence for the material (board) → “hanga (板画)”
• Artisanal technique (self-drawn, self-carved, self-printed)
• Possibility of mass production (as prints)
• Everyday use (bought and sold as hanging scrolls and fusuma paintings)

This is in contrast to Kawase Hasui’s shin-hanga, an export-oriented high-class product.

The Meaning of “I Shall Be Van Gogh”

Munakata’s declaration at 16, “Wadaba (=I) shall be Van Gogh,” is not just a boyish goal, but a declaration of the attitude that pierces Munakata’s life:

1. Toward Being a “Painter of the Soul,” Not a Career Painter

• Van Gogh did not sell in his lifetime; recognition came after death
• Munakata’s attitude: “Burn your soul and paint, more than whether it sells”
• Actually Munakata was recognized even in his lifetime, but his attitude is Van Gogh-like

2. “Bet Yourself on the Picture”

• Van Gogh bet his life on the picture, went mad, and died
• Munakata too has the attitude of betting his life on the picture
• Extreme myopia, family poverty, war — he overcomes them with pictures

3. To Aim at the World While Being Japanese

• Van Gogh was Dutch and worked in Paris
• Munakata is from Aomori, aiming at Tokyo and the world
• The declaration “from the provinces to the world”

Even today this declaration is often quoted as “the words that speak of Munakata Shikō’s life.”

Global Recognition — 1955-1956

1955 São Paulo Biennale

• Received the Grand Prize in printmaking
• Work: Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples
• Epoch-making as an international award for a Japanese printmaker

1956 Venice Biennale

• Awarded the Grand Prize in international printmaking
• Work: The Two Bodhisattvas and Śākyamuni’s Ten Great Disciples
• The first Japanese to win at Venice
• The name “Munakata Shikō” is fixed in the world art world

With this, Munakata establishes the position of “an artist representing 20th-century Japan.” After this, solo shows and retrospectives continued around the world.

Munakata’s Calligraphy and Hand Paintings

Munakata left many works beyond prints:

Calligraphy

• An extremely distinctive brush style
• Calligraphy transcribing the Heart Sutra and sutras is famous
• Powerful lines that connect to the carving of the prints

Hand Paintings (Oil, Watercolor)

• Oil paintings from his youth (Teiten submissions)
• Great numbers of watercolors drawn as sketches for prints
• Folding-screen paintings — hand paintings on a large surface

Book Design and Illustration

• Illustrations for Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’s In Praise of Shadows, etc.
• Book design for modern literature

Munakata’s Relation to Edo Ukiyo-e

Munakata’s prints are technically and philosophically different from Edo ukiyo-e:

Element	Edo Ukiyo-e	Munakata’s Board Picture
Division of labor	Painter, engraver, printer	One person for everything (self-drawn, self-carved, self-printed)
Color	Multicolor printing	Centered on black-and-white
Subject	Beauty, actor, landscape	Buddhism, female figure, home region
Commerciality	Mass-market product	Art work
Customer	Edo townspeople	World’s art lovers
Lineage	400 years since Hishikawa Moronobu	Independent 20th-century line

But there are also shared points:

• The technique of woodblock printing
• Visualization of Japanese subjects
• Potential to transmit to the world

Munakata is not “the continuation of ukiyo-e” but one 20th-century development of the Japanese woodblock-print tradition.

Munakata’s Disciples and Successors

Munakata did not actively take disciples, but the influence is large:

• Ikeda Masuo (1934-1997) — global recognition for copperplate prints
• Kusama Yayoi (1929-) — a global figure in contemporary art
• Yokoo Tadanori (1936-) — graphic design
• Nara Yoshitomo (1959-) — contemporary art

These modern artists are not direct disciples, but they follow Munakata’s model of “the Japanese artist heading to the world.”

Modern Munakata

Memorial Halls

• Munakata Shikō Memorial Hall in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture (closed 2024, relocation planned)
• Fukumitsu Art Museum in Nanto City (Fukumitsu-machi), Toyama Prefecture
• Also has a memorial collection in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo

Position in Education

• Munakata’s works are included in middle-school and high-school art textbooks
• Recognized as an artist representing 20th-century Japan
• The thought of “hanga (板画, board pictures)” also influences modern print education

Museums of the World

• Metropolitan Museum, British Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
• São Paulo Museum
• Japan’s National Museum of Modern Art, Bridgestone Museum, etc.

Significance of Munakata

1. Completion of the Shift from “Ukiyo-e” to “Modern Prints”

• Edo ukiyo-e → shin-hanga → sōsaku-hanga → Munakata’s board pictures
• In this flow, Munakata placed Japanese prints in world art history
• Munakata is a factor behind the fact that modern Japanese prints are recognized as independent modern art, not “the continuation of ukiyo-e”

2. A Model of “From the Provinces to the World”

• The son of a shoemaker in Aomori gains global recognition
• A universal model for modern Japanese artists
• “Wadaba shall be Van Gogh” resonates with today’s young artists too

3. Visualization of Japanese Spirituality

• Expresses Buddhism, home region, and nature in prints
• Transmits Japan’s own aesthetic to the world
• In the distant background of the global success of modern Japanese anime and manga, the efforts of Munakata and others

From This Article to the Next

We have traced the painters, works, and techniques of 400 years of ukiyo-e. In the next article, we systematically organize the genres of ukiyo-e by subject. Traces the seven great genres — bijin-ga, yakusha-e, musha-e, meisho-e, kachō-ga, shunga, yōkai-e — their origins, developments, representative painters, and modern survivals. It is also a summary of the 400 years.