30th Anniversary Exhibition

Designs Blossoming in Everyday Life: The World of Taisho Imagerie

The term imagerie is a French word meaning image or imagery. In this exhibition, the word is used as a general term representing popular printed matter and prints such as book and magazine illustrations, book covers, postcards, and posters.
During the Taisho era, when popular culture flourished, publishing culture developed against the backdrop of innovations in printing technology. Painters such as Takeji Fujishima (1867-1943), Goyo Hashiguchi (1881-1921), and Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934), who were exploring new methods of expression at the time, also created unique expressions one after another while keeping up with trends in the art world of their day. Among this movement, many graphic designers, including Hisui Sugiura (1876-1965), emerged and exercised a major influence on modern design.
This exhibition will display approximately 320 pieces from the precious collection of Toshiyuki Yamada (1947-2024), the curator of this exhibition, showcasing a wide variety of designs and illustrations. Enjoy the world of fascinating imagerie that blossomed in everyday life in Japan, mainly during the Taisho era, at our museum, which incorporates Oyamazaki Villa, originally built from the Taisho to Showa eras.

Cover of a score of Massenet’s Ouvre tes yeux bleus designed by Yumeji Takehisa (Seno’o Music Score No. 56; 1st edition published in 1917) / 7th edition, 1927, Seno’o Music Publishing

A Woman of Block No. 2 (detail) from a postcard set designed by Kaichi Kobayashi, c. 1925–26, Sakurai-ya (Kyoto)

Cover of Kasho Letter Paper, Wish (detail), designed by Kasho Takabatake, 1925

Pocket-sized edition of Soseki Natsume’s I Am a Cat designed by Goyo Hashiguchi (1st edition published in 1911) / 57th edition, 1919, Okura Shoten

[From upper right] Skullcap; Datura; Phlox; Plantain; Sweet Pea; Forget-Me-Not (detail) designed by Hisui Sugiura from Hisui Monthly Collection of Designs, No. 1, Vol. 1, 1918, Kanao Bun'en-do