Bunka 2004-2005

Welcome to the Fourth Grade Bunka web site. The aspects the students study of Japanese culture, Nihon Bunka, will be chronicled here. Biographical notations, study pages, relevant links and, most importantly, student pictures and reflections will be included. 

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• Opening

 Kuniyoshi Utagawa 1797-1861

An Artist Mad About Cats!

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Utagawa Kuniyoshi was crazy about cats. In his house in Edo, the old name for Tokyo, this great wood block artist would surround himself with five or six of his favorite cats, spending his spare moments playing and chatting with them. Visitors to his studio would often find him working quietly with his favorite cat tucked into the inside of his kimono lending a paw.  

Utagawa was born in 1797 to a family of silk dyers. His family was not rich but they were able to him learn the printmaking trade at the age of fourteen, under a famous master by the name of Toyokuni Utagawa, after he showed an interest and skill at drawing. It took a while for Utagawa to become popular as an artist, however. To support himself, he had to repair and sell tatami mats to make a living.  

For him, cats summed up the carefree outlook of the working class people of Edo, like he was. So, in many of his cat prints, his cats did human things. They danced; they played games and ate just like people would. But, this fun way of looking at life made the government nervous. The merchant class was getting a lot of money and with the money--power. The government decided to clamp down on this group of people by making a bunch of laws called the Tempo Reforms. These laws forbade such things as large fireworks displays and outdoor games of chess. They forbade complicated kimono designs and expensive dishes of sushi. They forbade pictures of kabuki actors and geisha who had, for a long time, been the favorite subjects of wood block print artists.  

So, Kiniyoshi decided to work around the laws. Aside from prints of larger-than life heroes, ghosts and people from myths and landscapes, he made cat prints. He made prints about cat stories, cat sayings, pictures full of things cats would like and do. He also made prints of his cats being famous kabuki actors, which got around the strict laws. After all, who wouldn’t like a cat?  

Page written and constructed by Bridgette Fincher.

Wednesday, November 19, 2003