Primary Documents 1945–1989 ART IN JAPAN FROM POSTWAR POSTMODERN TO Doryun Chong is Associate Curator in the Department FROM POSTWAR TO POSTMODERN: of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. ART IN JAPAN 1945–1989 Michio Hayashi is Professor in the Faculty of Liberal Primary Documents Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo. A trove of primary source materials, From Postwar to Kenji Kajiya is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, From Postwar to Postmodern reveals a bracingly innovative, mul- Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945–1989: Primary Documents Hiroshima City University. tifarious, and thoroughly international cultural sphere. A nuanced is an invaluable scholarly resource for readers who wish survey of primary texts betrays a roiling milieu in which form to explore the fascinating subject of avant-garde art in Fumihiko Sumitomo is an independent curator and and content, modernism and tradition, realism and abstraction, postwar Japan. In this comprehensive anthology, an array scholar. things (mono) and ideas (koto) were hotly debated amid a his- of key documents, artist manifestos, critical essays, and torically specific context of violence, guilt, and trauma. New roundtable discussions are translated into English for the ways of working—from the intermedia activities of Gutai and first time. The pieces cover a diverse assortment of artis- Cover: Tanaka Atsuko. Untitled (detail). 1964. the Experimental Workshop to collaborations in performance, tic mediums—including painting, photography, film, per- Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 10' 11 1/4" × 7' 4 3/4" architecture, and other disciplines—informed art both within and formance, architecture, and design—and illuminate their (333.4 × 225.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, beyond Japan. This book greatly enriches a discourse that is various points of convergence in the Japanese context. New York. John G. Powers Fund. See pl. 12. still unfolding today. The collection is organized chronologically and —Michelle Kuo, Editor in Chief, Artforum thematically to highlight significant movements, works, and artistic phenomena, such as the pioneering artists’ Published by The Museum of Modern Art collectives Gutai and Hi Red Center, the influential pho- 11 W. 53 Street, New York, New York 10019 Among the most important changes to have occurred in the tography magazine Provoke, and the emergence of video Western understanding of postwar Japanese art is that the art art in the 1980s. Interspersed throughout the volume are Distributed by Duke University Press, Durham, N.C. is no longer viewed as an isolated entity but rather as part of a more than twenty newly commissioned texts by contem- larger international discourse. This volume will make a signifi- porary scholars. Including Bert Winther-Tamaki on art Printed in China cant contribution to the field and will be one of the most critical and the postwar occupation of Japan and Reiko Tomii on resources available in English for new scholarship. For future gen- the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition, these pieces supple- erations, it will immensely enhance the understanding of contem- ment and provide a historical framework for the trans- porary Japanese art as a phenomenon essential to art on FROM POSTWAR the global level. lated source materials. From Postwar to Postmodern, TO POSTMODERN Art in Japan 1945–1989: Primary Documents offers an —Paul Schimmel, former Chief Curator, The Museum of Contemporary unprecedented look at over four decades of Japanese Art, Los Angeles, and author of Out of Actions: Between art—both as it occurred and as it is seen from the per- Performance and the Object, 1949–1979 primaryART INdocuments JAPAN spective of the present day. Distributed by Duke University Press, Durham, N.C. 1945–1989 Chong 440 pages. 51 color and 63 black-and-white reproductions Hayashi Kajiya Sumitomo Primary Documents JAPAN_cover 15-Nov-2012 FROM POSTWAR TO POSTMODERN ART IN JAPAN 1945–1989 Primary Documents Edited by Doryun Chong Michio Hayashi Kenji Kajiya Fumihiko Sumitomo The Museum of Modern Art, New York This publication is made possible by The International Half title: Masuzawa Kinpei (left) and Yoshimura Council of The Museum of Modern Art in honor of Masunobu (right) advertising the third Neo Dada its members and friends Toshio Hara, Minoru Mori, exhibition in Ginza, Tokyo, September 1960. See Takeo Obayashi, Yoshio Taniguchi, and Seiji Tsutsumi. p. 160. Generous support is provided by Mr. and Mrs. Minoru Pp. 22–23: Domon Ken. Children in Kōtō, Tokyo, Mori, The Asian Cultural Council, Inc., E. Rhodes Kondō Isami and Kurama Tengu (Kōtō no kodomo, and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Obayashi Kondō Isami to Kurama Tengu ). 1953. Gelatin silver Corporation, Obayashi Foundation, The Cowles print, 11 x 14" (27.9 x 36.6 cm). Ken Domon Museum Charitable Trust, ISE Cultural Foundation, and The of Photography, Sakata. See p. 55. Saison Foundation. Pp. 94–95: Georges Mathieu painting Toyotomi Additional funding is provided by The International Hideyoshi in a public demonstration on the rooftop Council of The Museum of Modern Art members of Daimaru department store, Osaka, September 12, Wendy Stark Morrissey, Frances Reynolds, and 1957. See p. 103. Byron Meyer. Pp. 182–83: Hosoe Eikō. Sickle-Toothed Weasel, From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945–1989: No. 17 (Kamaitachi sakuhin 17 ). 1968. From a series Primary Documents is published by The Museum of photographs showing Hijikata Tatsumi during of Modern Art in cooperation with the Japan a return visit to his hometown in Akita Prefecture, Foundation. published as a book in 1969. See p. 199. Pp. 254–55: Hikosaka Naoyoshi. Floor Event (Furoa ibento). 1970. Performance at Hikosaka’s Produced by the Department of Publications, apartment, Tokyo. See p. 258. The Museum of Modern Art, New York Pp. 340–41: View of the exhibition MA: Espace-Temps Edited by Kyle Bentley du Japon, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, October Designed by Gina Rossi 1978–January 1979. See p. 347. Production by Matthew Pimm Color separations by Evergreen Colour Separation Pp. 408 –409: Yoko Ono. Audience Piece. May 24, (International) Co., Ltd., Hong Kong 1962. Performance at the Sōgetsu Art Center, Tokyo, Printed and bound by OGI/1010 Printing International for Sōgetsu Contemporary Series 15: Works of Yoko Ltd., Hong Kong Ono. See p. 137. This book is typeset in Gotham. The paper is 150gsm All of the photographs noted above are shown there LumiSilk matt art paper. as details but appear in complete form on the pages listed at the end of the captions. Published by The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, New York 10019 Japanese authors of the primary documents in this book are generally noted in Japanese form, with © 2012 The Museum of Modern Art, New York family names followed by given names. Authors of newly commissioned essays appear with given Copyright credits for certain illustrations and texts names first, as do the book’s translators. Japanese are cited on pp. 438–39. All rights reserved names mentioned within the text of both primary documents and new essays are written in the Library of Congress Control Number: 2012952761 Japanese order, except for those of certain figures ISBN: 978-0-8223-5368-3 well known internationally by their given names first. Cover: Tanaka Atsuko. Untitled. 1964. Synthetic Distributed by Duke University Press, Durham, N.C. polymer paint on canvas, 10' 11 1/4" × 7' 4 3/4" (333.4 × 225.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Printed in China John G. Powers Fund. See pl. 12. CONTENTS 10 FOREWORD •Glenn D. Lowry 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS •Jay A. Levenson and Gwen Farrelly 14 ABOUT THIS BOOK •Doryun Chong 17 JAPAN’S POSTWAR AND AFTER, 1945 – 1989: AN OVERVIEW •Harry Harootunian 1 1945 – 1957: POSTWAR RECONSTRUCTION — FROM OCCUPATION TO THE COLD WAR Edited by Michio Hayashi 24 INTRODUCTION •Michio Hayashi GROUND ZERO: A NEW BEGINNING 27 A PROPOSAL TO THE ARTISTS OF JAPAN ( 1946 ) •Matsumoto Shunsuke 30 IN FOCUS: REESTABLISHING THE ART WORLD DURING THE OCCUPATION, 1945 – 1952 •Bert Winther-Tamaki 32 WHAT MUST “ARTISTS AS A GROUP” DO? ( 1953 ) •Katsuragawa Hiroshi AVANT-GARDE — TECHNOLOGY — MASS CULTURE 34 AVANT-GARDE MANIFESTO: A VIEW OF ART ( 1949 ) •Okamoto Tarō 39 IN FOCUS: ARTISTS’ GROUPS AND COLLECTIVES IN POSTWAR JAPAN •Ken Yoshida 40 A MEDITATION ON APPLES ( 1950 ) •Hanada Kiyoteru IN SEARCH OF THE REAL 44 FOR A NEW REALISM: THE MEANING OF REPORTAGE ( 1952 ) •Abe Kōbō 49 IN FOCUS: THE REALISM DEBATE, 1946 – 1950 •Yuri Mitsuda 50 ON BEGGAR PHOTOGRAPHY: THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHING STREET URCHINS AND LUMPEN ( 1953 ) •Tanaka Masao 53 THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY ( 1953 ) •Ina Nobuo, Kimura Ihei, Watanabe Yoshio, Kamekura Yūsaku, Tanaka Masao, and Domon Ken 58 DEPICTING “THINGS,” NOT “IDEAS” ( 1954 ) •Saitō Yoshishige, Tsuruoka Masao, Komai Tetsurō, and Oyamada Jirō MODERNITY AND TRADITION 62 AN INTRODUCTION TO TRADITION ( 1955 ) •Okamoto Tarō 69 THE JAPANESE CHARACTER OF TANGE KENZŌ ( 1955 ) •Iwata Kazuo ( aka Kawazoe Noboru ) 74 CALLIGRAPHY EAST AND WEST ( 1957 ) •Takiguchi Shūzō DISFIGURED CORPSES OR THE CRITIQUE OF HUMANISM 78 LOCKED-ROOM PAINTING ( 1956 ) •Nakahara Yūsuke 83 IN FOCUS: THE BIRTH OF NEW ART CRITICISM •Michio Hayashi 84 IVAN THE FOOL ( 1955 ) •Kusama Yayoi THE EXPERIMENTAL WORKSHOP AND THE GUTAI ART ASSOCIATION 86 THE EXPERIMENTAL WORKSHOP: OUR CONTENTION ( 1953 ) •Kitadai Shōzō 89 GUTAI ART MANIFESTO ( 1956 ) •Yoshihara Jirō 92 THE IDEA OF EXECUTING THE PAINTBRUSH ( 1957 ) •Shimamoto Shōzō 2 1957 – 1964: FROM POSTWAR TO INTERNATIONAL REEMERGENCE