was a Western-style Japanese sculptor, known as the father of modern Japanese sculpture and referred to as the "Rodin of Japan".Graham, Patricia J. ''Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005''. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007. pg. 260 He was a prolific artist, and his work spanned the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa periods of Japanese history.Tazawa, Yutaka. ''Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art.'' Tokyo: Kodansha International in Collaboration with the International Society for Educational Information, 1981. pg 429

Biography

Asakura was born in 1883 and raised in the village of Asaji (now part of the city of Bungo-ōno) in

Oita Prefecture Oita often refers to: *Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan *Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture Oita or Ōita may also refer to: Places *Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan *Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadium ...

in western

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

, Japan. He traveled to Tokyo to study art at Tokyo School of Fine Arts (東京美術学校, ''Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō''), now the

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

, graduating from department of sculpture in 1907. He set up a studio in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood, and began his sculpting career, entering the annual ''Bunten'' competitions of the

Japan Art Academy is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the Ministry of Ed ...

(日本芸術院, ''Nihon Geijutsu-in''). He drew attention almost immediately, winning prizes for eight consecutive Bunten exhibitions, beginning in 1908 with second-place for his sculpture ''Yami'' (闇, or "Darkness") and in 1910 for ''Hakamori'' (墓守, or "The Gravekeeper"). He continued to create and exhibit Western-style sculptures, especially nudes, at the various official art exhibitions, and was also known for his portrait sculptures of notable people, such as of

Shigenobu Okuma Shigenobu is a Japanese name. It is usually a male given name but can be a surname or the name of a place. As with most personal names, the meaning of the name is derived from which ''kanji'' (Chinese characters) are used, and there are several di ...

. He was appointed to the Imperial Fine Arts Academy (''Teikoku Bijutsu-in'', now the

) in 1919 and became a professor of his alma mater, Tokyo School of Fine Arts, in 1921,''Who's Who Among Japanese Artists''. Tokyo: Print. Bureau, Japanese Govt, 1961. pg. 204 training many young sculptors there and at his own ''Asakura Choso Juku'' ("Asakura School of Plastic Arts") from 1920 to 1944. He was awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

in 1948. His daughters (朝倉摂, 1922-2014) and (朝倉響子, 1925-2016) became artists in their own right. Setsu became a painter and stage designer, and Kyoko became a sculptor. " yokoAsakura's subjects are typically women. Her bronze sculptures are moving and poetic, with a striking intensity." Asakura died in 1964 in Tokyo, aged 81.

Works

According to Penelope Mason's ''History of Japanese Art'': :''One theme that Asakura frequently treated was the feline form – the cat being held by the scruff of the neck; the cat crouching, lying in wait for its prey; the cat eating its catch. The ''Suspended Cat'' of 1909 is a particularly fine example of his work. Although the modeling of the sculpture is strongly three-dimensional, the most impressive aspect of this work is its fidelity to an observed phenomenon. One senses the cat's discomfort and its frustration as it dangles in midair, one cannot help but appreciate it sleek, muscular body.'' Mason, Penelope E, and Donald Dinwiddie. ''History of Japanese Art''. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. pg. 357

At the
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The museum is known for its collection of 20th-centu ...

*Man from a Mountain, 1909 *Keeper of a Cemetery, 1910 *Aborigines from Borneo (1), 1911 *Aborigines from Borneo (2) *Resting Lion, 1944 *Roaring Lion, 1944

Legacy

There are two museums dedicated to his work: *The Asakura Museum of Sculpture in the Yanaka neighborhood of

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The museum, which opened in 1967, preserves Asakura's home and his sculpture studio. The three-story studio was built in 1936 of ferroconcrete, and also served as Asakura's private school. It includes the oldest extant roof garden in Tokyo, where Asakura's students learned gardening as part of the teaching process, intended to sharpen their senses and familiarize them with nature. *The Fumio Asakura Museum of Sculpture in Asakura's hometown of

Asaji, Ōita was a town located in Ōno District, Ōita Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 3,304 and the density of 48.31 persons per km². The total area was 68.39 km². On March 31, 2005, Asaji, along with the towns of ...

, Bungo-ōno,

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumam ...

Personal life

Asakura had two daughters, Setsu Asakura, stage designer and painter, and

Kyoko Asakura was a Japanese sculptor. Her birth name was written . She was the second daughter of sculptor Fumio Asakura and sister of stage designer and painter Setsu Asakura. Career * 1948 - Japan Art Academy Award, Nitten Excellence * 1956 - withdrew ...

, a sculptor.

References

External links

Asakura Museum of Sculpture, English version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asakura, Fumio 1883 births 1964 deaths Japanese sculptors People from Ōita Prefecture Tokyo School of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century sculptors Imperial household artists Deaths from leukemia