JAPANESE CARTOONS THROUGH THE AGESBy SASEO ONO

The cartoon, that gay offspring of art, politics, and humor, iB byno means of recent origin. For many generations people have usedcu.rtoons t.o express criticis7lt in Bocial or political issues, originally mainlyin domestic affairs and of late-since war and 11ational emergencielhave for the time being exempted these from cdticism-in the foreig1l field.

Because of language d·i/ficulties the Japanese cartoon hcn hithertobeen little known outside of Japan. We are pleased to publiah an articleon itl development and significance during eight hundred years ofJapanese history. The young author is himself on8 of the leadingcartoonists in Japan today, a member of several cartoon·iles' andpainters' associations, and the author of a book of cartoons called"Adventures of the Girl Chameko."-K. M.

THE oldest cartoon in Japan is ascroll of bird and animal caricatures

painted by Kakuyu, the Priest of Toba,who lived during the latter part ofthe Fujiwara period, about eighthundred years ago. The humor, fluency,and subtlety flowing from the brushof this priest-cartoonist form asource of wonder to the foreigner,who is amazed at the accuracy andaptness with which these caricatureswere drawn so long ago. All the ani­mals depicted. which include rabbits.

A cartoon by the Priest of Toba (12th cent.),the oldest known Japanese caricaturist

foxes, monkeys, cats, and frogs, arepersonified. Through them the artistsatirizes the luxurious life of the peersof those days.

FLYING RICE BAGSThe Priest of Toba once painted a

cartoon in which bags of rice areshown being carried through the airby the Wind, while Buddhist priestsand novices are very agitated at thisunusual sight and are desperately try­ing to retrieve the bags. This cartooncaught the attention of a certain highpersonage in the Imperial Court. Hesummoned Kakuyu and asked him foran explanation of this interesting andcurious picture. To this the cartoonilltanswered: "Well, my lord, you see,the bags of rice recently contributedto the temples are tull ot chatr anddo not contain rice. This is whythese bales are blown away by thewind. I really thought thilS was aninteresting subject. and 80 1 paintedthe ·scene."

The Priest's hint carried muchweight, with the result that theauthorities concerned issued strictorders to the people that no spuriousrice was to be contained in the ricebags. The nobles particularly weresternly notified of this. All this provedmost effective, and the rice contributionbecame satisfactory again. This littleanecdote shows the Priest's influenceas a cartoonist.

The peers were supreme during theFujiwara period and exerted an ex-

JAPANESE CARTOONS THROUGH THE AGES

elusive patronage over the arts. Theirtaste in painting ran to the Buddhistart of the Tang dynasty in China.The result was that practically allartists in Japan imitated the solemnand tranquil style that dealt only withlofty subjects. The sudden appearance,therefore, of pictures concerned withpeople and events of everyday life andtilled, moreover, with wit and humor,caused quite a stir.

The Priest of Toba, this painter ofrealism, thus became the founder ofJapanese caricature. Japan takes amodest pride in the fact that cartoonsof great value were produced in thoseearly days.

DEMONS AND DEBAUCHERYThe Kamakura period (1192-1333)

was characterized by the rising in­fluence of the nobles and the waningof that of the peers. Naturally paint­ing was affected by this tendency ofnational life. Strength and realismreplaced effeminacy and idealism in thebasic traits of all kinds of painting.Lively characterization and scenes fromdaily life, spiced with many a socio­logical and political hint, were featuredin the pictures then produced. Thethen popular picture books, especiallythose of Mitsunaga Fujiwara, containeda number of outright c.artoons. Thisartist attacked the debauchery anddissipation of his times through his

A demon attends the l.llrth of a child, paintedby Mitsunaga Fujiwara in 1102

representations of hell and demons.The cartoons of the Priest of Tobaobviously had far-reaching effects onthe painting of the Kamakura period.

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During the following Muromachi andMomoyama periods, the Chinese Sungdynasty art exerted its influence onJapan and popularized the hangingscroll depicting serene land- and sea­scapes. Picture-book art declined andonly continued to flourish in stories forjuveniles, just as in America todaymost popular cartoons are directed atjuvenile readers.

After the passing of the period of thewarring barons, there came the peace­ful days of the Tokugawa period. Atthat time the printing process calledwood-engraving was invented. Thepeaceful times allowed commoners totake a greater interest in art, whichin turn brought about the blossomingof the fine art of wood-engraving. Ofcourse, the style of painting was alsoinfluenced by the greatly widened circleof art lovers, and "genre" painting,known under the name of Ukiyoe, be­came popular.

There were two main schools of Ukiyoepainting, the Otsue, named after t<)tsu,a town on the highway between Yedoand Kyoto where travelers used to buyUlciyoe pictures as souvenirs, and theTobae, named after the Priest of Toba.

AUTHORITIES OBJECT

The name of Heho Hanabusa is oneof the greatest in the annals ofJapanese caricature. He lived during the

Genroku Era of the Tokugawa period(1688-1704). Hcho sketched portraitsof powerful men during his time andintended to publish a book entitled.. A Hundred Men" supplementedwith satirical comments of his own.Before publication, however, be wasarrested by Shogunate officials and putin jail for a time. After his releasehe published a picture book called "AHundred Women." Oneof his picturesportraying the fifth Shogun TsunayoshiTokugawa and his concubine incurred

the displeasure of the authorities, and1tcho was exiled to Oshima Island.Before going there, Hcbo told his wife:"I may be forced to servitude on theisland and employed in making dl'iedfish stretched on pieces of bamboo.

292 THE nth CENTURY

Caricature of an actorby Sharaku 'l'oshusai

(about 1790)

As a sign that I am in good health Iwill insert pine needles into the fishgills. Should you find such fish, youmay set your mind at ease." He re­mained on the island for twelve years.Nevertheless his fame continued togrow thl'oughout that time.

ACTORS REPL.4.CE POLITICIAr-.·'SAnother interesting development of

that period was the popularity ofhandsome portraits of beautiful womenand of actors of the Kabuki stage,rivaling the present-day popularity ofphotographic portraits of famous moviestars. Withthe exampleof Itcho's fatebefore them,the paintersof that periodcarefullya voi ded allpolitical sub­jects, and de­voted thei rattention toth e unc'on­troversial fieldof the stage.Some veryfine carica­tures wereproduced bySharaku To­shusai andKuniyoshi. Itis curious to note that the former wasnot really appreciated in Japan untilWestern admirers, hundreds of yearslater, drew attention to his merit.

This concentration on sketchingKabuki actors continued until theTenmei Era (1781-1789), when theTokugawa Shogunate carried out apolicy of extreme financial retrench­ment which disturbed the popularmind. The ensuing change in socialconditions resulted in a tendency tocriticize politiCs in doggerel verse,satirical poems, and anonymous cartoonsreproduced by wood-engraving, atendency which continued up to thedays of the Meiji Restoration, when itwas at its height.

TWO EXTREMEDuring the latter part of the Sho­

gunate Government an Ukiyoe schoolhumorously depicting social affairs be­came prevalent. Hokusai Katsushikawas one of the most renowned paintersof this school, and the "HokusaiCaricature Book" is now world-famous.He lived from 1760 to 1849. Heembodied unique ideas in his work andoutstripped tradition in his naturalisticmanner of painting anything that cameinto his mind.

Caricature used to be known by theexpression Tobae (Toba pictures) orGiga (fun pictures), but during thedays of Hokusai the expressionManga (caricatures), used to thisday, came into fashion. A story toldabout Hokusai is that on one occasionhe spread a huge sheet of paper thesize of 120 tatamis (straw mats), i.e.about 180 square feet, in a templecompound. On this he painted a pic­ture of Hotei, a rich, fat-bellied, smil­ing old man. Immediately afterwardshe painted two sparrows on a grainof rice. In this way he greatly im­pressed his audience by his versatility.

Keisai Kuwagata was another famouspainter of that period. His "Artisans'Picture Book" is a humorous represen­tation of the customs and manners ofthe artisans of his time. Keisai's

, ....~~~ :' .. ';

MediCine vendor attracting customers .bybalancing a top on his sword, by Keisai

Kuwagata (early 19th cent.)

tremendous popularity induced almostall painters to turn toward the fieldof cartoon and caricatul·e.

JAPANESE CARTOONS THROUGH THE AGES

ENTER THE WESTAfter the visit of Commodore Perry's

ships (1853), foreign culture was rapidlyintroduced into Japan. One foreignproduct to be imported was Western­style caricature. Charles Wagman, anEnglishman, came to Japan in the latefifties as correspondent for The IUus­trated London N eW8. He married aJapanese, and stayed in the countryuntil his death in 1891. His cartoonsof Japanese life which he sent hometo his paper caught the fancy of someJapanese, who published the firstJapanese cartoon magazine called theJapan Punch, which existed for abouteight years.

Following the Meiji Restoration (1868),Japan plunged into the tide of Westerncivilization and culture with a sweepingchange in political and social structure.Diplomatic envoys were exchanged withEurope and America, a telegraphservice was inaugurated between Tokyoand Kyoto, a railway constructed betweenTokyo and Yokohama. Topknots wereabolished, newspapers published, parksopened, and street-lighting by gasintroduced. All this caused wonderand confusion among the people. Pop­ular customs following Western stylesmingled with lingering customs of thefeudal period and produced an indes­cribably strange potpourri. This pro­vided splendid material for cartooniststo work on. The Japan Punch wasfollowed by the Marumaru Chindanand many similar cartoon periodicals.One of these was the Nisshin SensaShorakulcai (Sino-Japanese War Laugh­ter -Provoldng Society), founded byKiyochika Kobayashi.CARTOONS ENTER

INTERNATIONAL POLITICSAt first political cartoons dealt only

with domestic issues. But when theRusso-Japanese War broke out, RakutenKitazawa appeared on the scene withcaustic cartoons concerning foreignpolitical events. Rakuten was in chargeof the Tokyo Puck, founded in 1895.His cartoons did much to create abellicose spirit in Japan and to preparethe people for war. He cleverly madeuse of the expansionist ideas then

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prevalent in Japan, underlining thecriticism on the part of the people ofthe government's weak foreign policy.

Rakuten's caricatures of prominentforeign personalities, such as PresidentYuan Shih-kai of China and the GermanKaiser, caused the respective govern­ments to file protests and were thus

A political cartoon by Rakuten Kitazawasatirizing the Washington Conference and theLeague of Nations. The text is: "Japan,France, Britain, and America-all out of step"

the source of international incidents.His cartoons also led to an exchangeof notes between the governments ofJapan and the United States regardingthe exclusion of Japanese schoolboysfrom American schools. Some ofRakuten's cartoons were even repro­duced in American magazines.

At that time liberalism was supremein Japan, and cartoons were recognizedas the perfect medium for social andpolitical criticism. Nearly every dailynewspaper, together with many maga­zines, printed cartoons. In fact car­toons were inclined to run amuck inthe years up to 1926. Many influentialgovernment leaders were afraid ofappearing in Rakuten's caricatures.

~,

"The Irony of Fate," by E. Fujii,in Asahig?Oaph, September lau

The whole ritual was, of course, a farce.But it succeeded in drawing the public'sattention to the artists' ability andimportance. After ten years of exist­ence the society was ·recently dissolved.

The period from the Russo-JapaneseWar until after the Great War wasone of peace and prosperity for Japan.Hence there was little meat for cartoon­ists to get their teeth into, and noparticular artistic development is no­ticeable during this period. Neverthe­less, Kin Ikebe, one of the members ofthe Tokyo Cartoonist Society, frequentlyhad the honor of having his paintingshung in the annual exhibitions of theImperial Art Academy. This at leastgave cartoonists more weight anddignity in the eyes of the public.

PROLETARIAN ANDNONSENSICAL CARTOONSFrom 1926 Marxism began to make­

its influence felt, especially in literatureand the theater, and proletarian cartoonswere produced by radical and progres­sive artists. One of these was Masamu.Yanase, who imitated the style of theGerman caricaturist Georg Grosz. How­ever, the proletarian cartoon wasshort-lived, as a result of strong pres­sure being brought to bear upon it by

THE XXth CENTURY294

Another cartoon magazine of highartistic value came out at that timeunder the name of Hosun. It waspublished by a group of foreign-stylepainters who even went so far as toproduce their own lithographic plates,not being satisfied with the work ofspecialists in that field. One of thecontributors to the magazine was aGerman conversant with things Japanese.

THE "CARICATURE CEREMONY"While Rakuten drew in the style of

American cartoonists, Ippei Okamoto,who joined the staff of the AsahiShimbun about that time, developed

"Seduction," from E'nto Geppo (FarEastern Monthly), July 1939

an individual style, a sort of sketchaccompanied by a short story full ofwit and humor. This style broke withall tradition and brought a breath offresh air into the art of caricature inJapan. Gradually all newspapers beganto print cartoons which followed Ippei'sstyle. The Imperial Diet sessions werea favorite subject of cartoons, andartists were present at every session.

In view of the rising influence ofcartoons, a number of artists, includingRakuten Kitazawa and Ippei Okamoto,founded the Tokyo Cartoonist Society.Their aim was to assure themselves ofproper recognition by the public. Toattract public attention, the societyinstituted its "caricature ceremony."The idea of this was to redeem thecartoonists' "sin" of having "desecrated"public and political leaders whom theyhad used as subjects for their cartoons.In the ceremony these leaders were"enshrined" as deities for worship.

JAPANESE CARTOONS THROUGH THE AGES

the government, the reason given beingthat it disturbed public peace and order.So before it could bear fruit the pro­letarian cartoon died. Nevertheless theinfluence of Georg Grosz has persisted.

Except for some government "thoughtcontrol," Japan at that time wasswayed by liberalism, and signs offin-de-siecle decadence were amplyevident. Erotic paintings were per­mitted to be exhibited to some extent,and the sophisticated city-dwellers werein pursuit of every new fad in paint­ing, the more nonsensical the better.This tendency prompted many artiststo turn to appropriate cartoons whichwere taken up with glee by editors inorder to popularize their newspapers.This resulted in "nonsensical cartoons"reigning supreme. They were drawnfor entertainment purposes only, andwere condemned by many as havingno social or political significance, novalue in enlightening, strengthening, orcomforting the public.CARTOONS SERVE

THE NATIONSince the Manchurian Incident of

1931, and fanned by the China hostilitiesand the European war, nationalism hastaken the place of liberalism in Japan.This has led to mere laughter-provokingcartoons being abolished as unnecessary.They have been replaced by thosewhich contribute to the guidance oflife behind the front, to health pro­motion, and by those dealing with thecurrent situation, pacification enter­prises in China, and other undertakingsin the public interest.

Cartoonists volunteered to go to Chinato devote themselves to propaganda andpublicity. They have wholeheartedlyplaced their art at the service of thenew internal structure of Japan anddirected their work along the lines ofJapan's great national effort.

In November 1940 a Japanese-Ger­man Caricature Society was organized,with the aim of exchanging cartoonsof the two countries on the currentsituation. An exhibition of outstand­ing cartoons was planned by thissociety, and the necessary preparationswere well under way, when the out-

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break of the German-Soviet war pre­vented the exhibition's taking place.

In our present age of restlessnessand speed the daily press has lost someof its political inf'luence to the radio,and it is often said that people nolonger have the time or patience to readan editorial Many an editor knows this·and has realized at the same time thatthe political cartoon is an ideal meansof conveying an editorial thought to the

"Tricked by the Robbers A and B," by S.Ishikawa, in Manua, Novembt'r 1941. Thedagger is inscribed: ..Anti.Japan," and the

hat: "Oppressed Peoples of the South"

reader in the shortest possible time andin a very effective manner. Moreover,until there is widespread tele1j ision thecartoon is beyond the scope of radio.

Hence the importance of cartooniststo newspapers has, if anything, grownduring the last few years. Most govern­ments are equally aware of thisimportance, and it is no exaggerationto say that in Japan the cartoonists todayhave practically the same status as themen in the foremost battlefront. Thepresent world conflagration is bound toentail a new blossoming of Japanese cari­cature on a really nationalistic basis.