SENSÔ SAKUSEN KIROKUGA (WAR CAMPAIGN DOCUMENTARY PAINTING): JAPAN’S NATIONAL IMAGERY OF THE “HOLY WAR,” 1937-1945 by Mayu Tsuruya BA, Sophia University, 1985 MA, University of Oregon, 1992 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2005 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Mayu Tsuruya It was defended on April 26, 2005 and approved by Karen M. Gerhart Helen Hopper Katheryn M. Linduff Barbara McCloskey J. Thomas Rimer Dissertation Director ii Copyright © by Mayu Tsuruya 2005 iii Sensô Sakusen Kirokuga (War Campaign Documentary Painting): Japan’s National Imagery of the “Holy War,” 1937-45 Mayu Tsuruya University of Pittsburgh, 2005 This dissertation is the first monographic study in any language of Japan’s official war painting produced during the second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 through the Pacific War in 1945. This genre is known as sensô sakusen kirokuga (war campaign documentary painting). Japan’s army and navy commissioned noted Japanese painters to record war campaigns on a monumental scale. Military officials favored yôga (Western-style painting) for its strength in depicting scenes in realistic detail over nihonga (Japanese-style painting). The military gave unprecedented commissions to yôga painters despite the fact that Japan was fighting the “materialist” West. Large military exhibitions exposed these paintings to civilians. Officials attached national importance to war documentary paintings by publicizing that the emperor had inspected them in the Imperial Palace. This study attempts to analyze postwar Japanese reluctance to tackle war documentary painting by examining its controversial and unsettling nature. The art community has been hesitant to reflect on its alliance with the regime by relegating responsibility for wartime collaboration to individual artists. That hesitance has resulted in a critical gap in the history of modern Japanese art. This study attempts to fill the void by examining artistic and political circumstances surrounding war documentary painting from three perspectives as follows. iv (1) Art historical significance: Yôga war documentary paintings offer a record of yôga’s development since the Meiji period. Critics say that yôga’s expression during the war was exceptional, but I show it was consistent with yôga’s history. (2) Nationalistic pragmatism toward art: Modern Japanese leaders were often motivated by nationalism. This study illustrates that the alliance forged between the wartime regime and the art community was a continuation of Meiji governing tradition. (3) Ideological and propaganda aspects: By analyzing documentary paintings of what officials called the “Holy War” (Seisen) of 1937-1945, this study demonstrates central propaganda mechanisms in the images. Without a single portrayal of the Emperor, Japanese war documentary painting expressed the absolute importance of the imperial order over the individual. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As the writing this dissertation closes, I would like to take a moment to remember how many people have helped me finish. My deep gratitude goes to my University of Pittsburgh Department of the History of Art and Architecture adviser, Professor J. Thomas Rimer, for his support and encouragement throughout my dissertation project. He was also busy as chair of the department of East Asian Languages and Literature, yet he always had time for me. Professor Rimer made my time at the University of Pittsburgh wonderful. He was always generous in sharing his vast knowledge and deep understanding of Japanese art and culture with me. Without Professor Rimer’s insight and guidance, I could not have completed this project. I would like to thank my committee members: Professors Karen M. Gerhart, Helen Hopper, Katheryn M. Linduff, and Barbara McCloskey. I have benefited from their continuing interest in my project, stimulating questions and comments, and wise advice. Professor David Wilkins, the former chair of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh was also supportive of me in the beginning phase of my project when he was part of the committee. I am grateful to the administrative help provided by the department staff: Linda Hicks, Julie Korade, and Teddi Prettiman, especially while I lived away from campus. Also, I would like to thank Professor Ann Jannetta for kindly letting me stay with her when I came back to Pittsburgh. I am grateful for the friendship of colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh, especially former students Wang Ying and Hirayama Mikiko, and librarian Okuhara Keiko, who kept my spirits up when the going was difficult. I would also like to thank my friend Lynn Katsumoto, who read and commented on manuscripts many times. vi I was fortunate to have the help of Sasaki Shigeo, an independent scholar on Japan’s war art. He allowed me to have access to his valuable archives on Japanese wartime art, which he has privately collected over many years. I am grateful to John Taylor, archivist at the National Archives at College Park in Maryland, who guided me to critical Occupation materials concerning Japan’s war art. I would also like to thank Noguchi Sachie, the Japanese bibliographer for the University of Pittsburgh’s East Asian Library, for acquiring sources on modern Japanese art. I also benefited from the assistance of curators and researchers in Japan who so kindly welcomed my visit, and provided me with rare materials. They include Yamanashi Emiko at the Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, Kawata Akihisa at Waseda University, Hirase Reita, curator at the Hyôgo Prefectural Museum of Art, Manome Yasunao curator at Nakamura Ken’ichi Memorial Museum, Hashimoto Masahiro, curator at Miyamoto Saburô Memorial Museum, and Kawabata Minami at Kawabata Ryûshi Memorial Museum. Miwa Kenjin, curator at the Tokyo National Museum Modern Art, facilitated my access to the museum’s war painting collection. Hirota Ikuma, curator at Kobe City Koiso Memorial Museum of Art, granted me access to wartime personal papers of Koiso Ryôhei. Research and writing for this dissertation were generously supported by the Japan Iron and Steel Graduate Fellowship, and the Mitsubishi Foundation Graduate Fellowship from the Japan Council of the Asian Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. My husband Stephen Wynne was always willing to talk about my project and read drafts; he gave me constant review from a generalist’s perspective. Stephen’s father and uncles served in America’s armed forces during the Second World War. vii My late brother, professor emeritus Tsurutani Taketsugu at Washington State University, encouraged me to begin my graduate study here in America. I regret that my brother, who was serving as the head of the Political Science Department there when I decided to pursue my academic career, passed away before he could see me finish this study. The young Taketsugu survived the Pacific War in Korea and Japan. My most profound thanks are for my mother Tsuruya Sanae, who also survived the Pacific War in Manchuria in the 1930s, and Japan in the 1940s. She encouraged me to learn English, and helped me to go to college. I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, a survivor of war. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 I. About This Study..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Comparative Perspective: War Art Programs in the US and Nazi Germany......................... 9 III. Postwar Confiscation of Japan’s War Paintings by the U.S. Occupation Army ................ 14 IV. Overview of Debate and Research on Japan‘s War Art ..................................................... 24 V. Chapter Summaries.............................................................................................................. 31 CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 34 DEVELOPMENT OF YÔGA IN MODERN JAPAN .................................................................. 34 I. Inception of Western-Style Painting...................................................................................... 35 II. Two Factions in Modern Painting: Yôga and Nihonga........................................................ 41 III. Yôga’s Search for Its Identity ............................................................................................. 44 IV. Kuroda Seiki and the Academic Style in Yôga................................................................... 48 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 53 ALLIANCE OF STATE AND ART IN MODERN JAPAN ....................................................... 53 I. Pre-History: Nationalistic Art Policy from Meiji to Prewar Shôwa Era ............................... 55 A. Exporting Arts and Crafts for Economic Growth ............................................................ 55 B. Preservation of the Past through Support of Traditional Arts.......................................... 57 C. Control of Artistic Taste by the State Art School and Exhibitions .................................. 60 D. Prewar Consolidation