A small manju shop sees through the 'world's munakata'
—— Shiko Munakata, The Life of a Blacksmith's Child Obsessed with Woodblock Paintings
In 1953 (Showa 28), the owner of a small Japanese confectionery shop in Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture, visited a printmaker. After taking a bite of the manju as a gift, the printmaker muttered, "Delicious," and continued. "It's way too good to keep it a specialty of Gyoda."
That man was still not widely known to the public. It was an era when even being labeled an 'unusual printmaker' was not uncommon. However, it is said that the confectionery shop owner saw the work and intuitively thought, "This is the real thing." It was about three years later that he was called the 'World's Munakata' at the pinnacle of the world. A local confectionery shop recognized the talent of an unknown artist ahead of the rest of the world—such a story remains, showing that Shiko Munakata's character was extraordinary from the start.
So, who exactly was that 'man who was seen through'? Munakata celebrated his 120th birthday in 2023 and 50 years after his death in 2025. At this milestone, large-scale retrospectives have been held one after another in Japan, and internationally, he is being called the 'Van Gogh of Japan,' and his reputation is rising once again. How a nearsighted blacksmith child carved out a unique universe called 'woodblock prints' and engraved them in the world. 120 years since his birth, and 50 years since his passing—based on achievements both domestically and internationally, I want to reconsider the concept of 'Munakata of the world.'
"If you have a rude, you become Van Gogh"—The origin of the blacksmith's child
Shiko Munakata was born on September 5, 1903, in Yasukata, Aomori City (then Omachi). He was born as the sixth child (third son) among nine sons and six daughters to his father Kokichi and mother Sada. The family had been engaged in blacksmithing for generations.
From a young age, he suffered from severe nearsightedness, but Shikō was a boy obsessed with drawing. When he was in sixth grade, while running to see a plane crash landing, he found a white aquatic plant flower (Sawashaki) in a rice field. Captivated by her beauty, she resolved, "I want to become someone who can express this beauty"—such an episode is conveyed. After graduating from Nagashima Elementary School in 1916, he helped out with the family blacksmith business together with his older brother.
At 17, he was hired as a waiter at the court's lawyer's office, and in his spare time, he devoted himself to sketching at Gappura Park in Aomori. At 18, he was shown a color version of Van Gogh's "Sunflower" by the painter Tadaaki Ono, which left a profound impression."If I make a mistake, I'll become Van Gogh! (I will become Van Gogh)"—The words he shouted at that moment have been passed down as lines symbolizing his life.
When Shiko moved to Tokyo in the early 1920s, his goal was to pursue oil painting. However, he continued to be rejected at the official exhibition (Teiten). After much struggle, in 1928, on his fifth attempt, his oil painting 'Miscellaneous Gardens' was finally selected and received official recognition for the first time.
From Oil Painting to 'Woodblock Prints'—A Single Print That Changed Destiny
The turning point was his encounter with a print. In 1926, after seeing Sumio Kawakami's "Early Summer Wind," Shiko was overwhelmed by the power of woodblock prints. The following year, in 1927, he created woodblock prints himself, and in 1932, he visited woodblock printmaker Unichi Hiratsuka to learn techniques. Around this time, works he exhibited at the Kokuga-kai Exhibition received scholarship awards and were purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Musée de l'Luxembourg in Paris, quickly gaining recognition overseas.
The decisive leap came in 1936. His large-scale work, 'Yamato Shibishi Hanga Maki,' which included a title mixed with old characters, caught the attention of leaders of the Mingei movement such as Soetsu Yanagi, Kanjiro Kawai, and Shoji Hamada, and was purchased by the Japan Mingei Museum. From then on, Shiko regarded Yanagi as his lifelong mentor, and through rich friendships centered on folk crafts—such as washi craftsman Karine Kurashina and painter Kazumasa Nakagawa—he developed his own style of expression.
Sumio Kawakami, 'Early Summer Breeze' (1926) / Public Domain
Then, in 1942, in his essay 'Ban Sange,' he declared that his works would be called 'hanga' rather than conventional 'hanga.' This was because they believed in the vitality generated by the board itself. In 1952, he left the Japan Print Association and, together with Kibachiro Shimosawa and others, founded the Japan Printmaking Institute. Starting from traditional woodblock prints, he began to walk a unique path unlike anyone else.
The unique universe of 'woodblock prints'
Munakata's style was unique, fusing traditional Japanese woodblock prints with a primitive strength that eliminated perspective. His work is based on monochrome ink printing, while also featuring the artist's qualities of writing titles and poems in large characters on the canvas. He boldly carved large woodblocks and, with high brushwork, created images that were both rough and dynamic. He also made full use of reverse coloring, and after the war, works incorporating vermilion and green became more common. Many of his subjects are inspired by Buddhism, folk tales, and poetry.
A list of his representative works reveals his journey.
| Title of the Work | Year of Manufacture | Techniques and forms | Main Holdings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamato Beautiful Print Scroll | 1936 | Sumiori Woodblock & Folding Screen | Japanese Folk Craft Museum | First Exhibition and Purchase at the Kokugakai Exhibition |
| The Ten Great Disciples of the Two Bodhisattvas Shakyamuni | 1939 | Ink folding woodblock ・ Six-panel folding screen | Chiba City Museum of Art | 1940 Kokuga-kai Exhibition Sawake Prize |
| Zhongxi Ode | 1946 | Ink-printed woodblock prints and scrolls | The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and others | 1946 Nitten Okada Prize |
| Woman Kannon Panel Scroll | 1952 | Sumiori woodblock and hanging scroll | Japanese Folk Craft Museum | 1952 Lugano Print Exhibition, Excellence Award |
| Song Boards and Painted Fences | 1956 | Sumiori Woodblock & Folding Screen | The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and others | 1956 Venice International Print Award |
The Ten Great Disciples of the Two Bodhisattvas Shakyamuni: 'Subhuti's Fence'
Zhong Xisong, 'The Fences on This Bank'
Kasakaban Picture Fence: 'Cherry Blossom Blizzard Fence'
In particular, 'The Ten Great Disciples of the Two Bodhisattvas and Shakyamuni' is a six-curved folding screen inspired by the statue of Subhuti at Kofuku-ji, featuring large wooden planks with dynamic carvings, making his name renowned worldwide. The 'Woman Kannon Woodblock Scroll' is a postwar representative work based on the Thousand-Armed Kannon tradition at Kiyomizu-dera, with the title 'Woman Kannon' written in large ink at the upper right of the painting. When he became so absorbed in his craft, he became so absorbed that he could no longer see his surroundings, and due to his extreme nearsightedness, he would rub his face against the board while carving, which was described as 'almost divine in nature.' Shiko himself said, "I am not responsible for my work. There is someone who moves me," believing he entrusted his creation to the power of the Buddha.
To the 'Munakata of the World'
After the war, Munakata's woodblock prints continued to gain recognition on the international stage.
- 1946: 'Ode to the Bell River' won the Okada Prize at the 2nd Nitten Exhibition
- 1952: First Japanese to win the Excellence Award (Bronze Prize) at the Lugano International Print Exhibition in Switzerland
- 1955 São Paulo Biennale, Grand Prize in Printmaking Category
- 1956 Venice Biennale International Print Grand Prize
1968 Exhibition view of Shiko Munakata's woodblock print screen
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
In particular, winning the grand prize in Venice in 1956 cemented the title of 'Munakata of the World.' In 1960, a retrospective was held at the Cleveland Museum of Art, touring New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Domestically, it received the Asahi Cultural Award in 1964, the Order of Culture and the Mainichi Arts Award in 1970.
His works have long been held in collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Musée de l'Luxembourg in Paris, and today are held in numerous museums around the world, including the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., MoMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Ohara Museum of Art.
