Experience Japanese Culture: Making The Great Wave: A Demonstration of Japanese Woodblock Printing
- Date
- January 26, 2019 (Sat)
-
Time
- Two times a day at 11:00 and 14:00 (the venue will open 30 minutes early; each demonstration is one hour long and features the same content)
- Venue
- Japanese Gallery (Honkan)-B1 Education Room
- Reservations
- On the day of this event, reservations may be made at the Entrance Hall of the Honkan (Japanese Gallery) from 10:00 for the 1st session and from 13:00 for the 2nd session on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Capacity
- Maximum 80 persons per session (including a standing area)
- Admission
- Free admission with a ticket to the museum
- Cooperation
- The Adachi Foundation for the Preservation of Woodcut Printing
- For inquiries contact
- Education Programming, Tokyo National Museum (edu@tnm.jp)
A past demonstration
The Great Wave is the world-renowned seascape created by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). This ukiyo-e is not a painting, but a polychrome woodblock print that was made through the collaboration of three skilled artisans: Hokusai, the artist who created the master drawing; a carver who transferred the master drawing to the woodblocks; and a printer who created the final image with the woodblocks. This elaborate process and its techniques were passed down through the generations, with this event presenting a rare opportunity to see the last step of the process, in which the ukiyo-e artwork is printed.
・This performance will be conducted in Japanese and English.
Demonstration by The Adachi Foundation for the Preservation of Woodcut Printing
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa
Edo period, 19th century
This picture is from a series of forty-six prints of Mount Fuji by the world-famous ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai. It shows a view off the coast of the post-station town of Kanagawa (now the city of Yokohama), with Mount Fuji in the distance. The mountain appears tiny in the background behind the sweeping curve of the wave, emphasizing the wave’s immense size.