Edutainment > Maekawa Senpan - 1888-1960

No no Musume Tachi
Maekawa Senpan I

Sosaku Hanga
Girl from the Field
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If Maekawa Senpan had been born at a different time in a different country, he might have become a famous cartoonist like Charles Schulz. Instead, he became a leading artist of sosaku hanga. He is an insiders' tip for collectors of twentieth century Japanese prints.

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Maekawa Senpan or Sempan?

The artist's name can sometimes be found with a different writing as Maekawa Sempan.

Puck and Hasty Mr. Bear

Maekawa Senpan was the son of a shopkeeper family in Kyoto. He studied art. But his first job was for a satirical magazine in Tokyo named Puck - Japanese: pakku. He drew cartoons for this magazine and made other illustrations. Maekawa had a talent for comics and cartoons. Later he had a cartoon series in a Sunday newspaper - awatemono no kumasan about a clumsy bear who was always in a hurry.

First Prints by Trial and Error

Maekawa Senpan II

Japanese Prints - Home
Pleasure Boat
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In 1919 Maekawa had created and exhibited his first print in sosaku hanga style.

The sosaku hanga artists had a nearly religious belief that the artist must do the complete process of creating a woodblock himself. For centuries Japanese woodblock print-making had been a cooperative work of an artist, a carver, a printer and a publisher. Especially the carvers and printers needed a long training of several years to accomplish such great prints like Yoshitoshi's women series where each single hair can be recognized as a fine line.

The early prints of the sosaku hanga artists were simple in their designs and the use of colors - technically challenged in a way. Senpan Maekawa later spoke quite frankly about his problems.

"It took me ten years to learn technique. Later, when I got acquainted with some artisans, I found out they could have taught me the same things in a few hours."

Maekawa made only three or four copies of a print in the beginning. Nobody bought anything and often he gave them away. The artist remembered the early days:

"Creative prints (sosaku hanga) were small and amateurish in those days. I was always preaching that we had to make them bigger and better."

Maekawa Senpan after World War II

Maekawa Senpan III

Japanese Prints - Info
Yokusen Rafu
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In 1945 the artist and his wife evacuated to the countryside under the bombing attacks on Tokyo. After they had left, their home was destroyed by a bomb and many of his works, which he had left in Tokyo, were gone forever.

But now things were getting better for sosaku hanga artists. The American occupiers appreciated their works, while the Japanese continued to ignore them. Senpan Maekawa could make a living on his prints. Thus the period after the war became the most productive for the artist.

One of Maekawa's favorite subjects were scenes from a typical Japanese leisure activity - spas and hot springs. He published several series titled Hot Spring Notes, which he had begun during the war. Other subjects that made the artist popular and famous were colorful designs of ordinary people at festivals and local customs - observations from life in the country side.

The All Japanese Artist

No no Musume-tachi
Maekawa Senpan IV

Customs of Japan - Woodblock Series
Dancing - Girl from the Field
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Senpan Maekawa worked always with woodcuts with the exception of a few linocuts. He was never interested in any Western techniques like etchings or steel engravings. His style especially after the war was decorative, cheerful and colorful. No wonder that collectors have discovered his prints.

Dieter Wanczura
(June 2002, updated May 2009)

Literature sources used for this Senpan Maekawa biography

• Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-1732-X
• Helen Merritt, "Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints - The early years", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1990, ISBN 0-8248-1200-X
• Oliver Statler, "Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn", C. Tuttle, Tokyo, 1956, ISBN No. is 0-8048-0406-0

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