''Shirakaba'' (Japanese: ''White Birch'') was an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

literary and art magazine which existed in the period between 1910 and 1923.

History and profile

''Shirakaba'' was launched in 1910 by a group of the Japanese writers, art critics, artists, including

Naoya Shiga was a Japanese writer active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan, whose work was distinguished by its lucid, straightforward style and strong autobiographical overtones. Early life Shiga was born in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, ...

Takeo Arishima was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist during the late Meiji and Taishō periods. His two younger brothers, and , were also authors. His son was the internationally known film and stage actor, Masayuki Mori. Early life Ari ...

, and

Saneatsu Mushanokōji was a Japanese novelist, playwright, poet, artist, and philosopher active during the late Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan. Later on in life he requested that the pronunciation of his surname (as far as was concerned) be changed from the usua ...

. They were the members of the

Shirakabaha The was an influential Japanese literary coterie, which published the literary magazine ''Shirakaba'', from 1910 to 1923. History In 1910, a loose association of alumni of the prestigious Gakushuin Peer’s School in Tokyo began a literary so ...

(Japanese: White Birch School) group which opposed to the Confucian worldview, naturalism, and dominant

Japanese traditions Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. The first issue of ''Shirakaba'' appeared in April 1910. The magazine acted as a platform for the Japanese writers and artists who wanted to try new literary and artistic forms. Main contributors included

Kōtarō Takamura was a Japanese poet and sculptor. Biography Takamura was the eldest son of Japanese sculptor Takamura Kōun was a Japanese sculptor who exerted himself for the modernization of wood carving and a professor of Tokyo School of Fine Arts, wh ...

Ryūzaburō Umehara was a Japanese painter who painted in the Yōga style. He was a founding member of the Shunyo-kai art society. Biography He attended the Kansai Academy of Art (also known as Kansai Art School) in Kyoto, Japan. He studied under Asai Chū a ...

, and

Ryūsei Kishida was a Japanese painter in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. He is best known for his realistic ''yōga''-style portraiture, but also for his ''nihonga'' paintings in the 1920s. Biography Kishida was born in the Ginza district of Tokyo in 1891, ...

. They were supporters of the German expressionism, post-

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

movements, and other

movements originated in the Western countries. Based on the views and works of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

they attempted to advance the ideologies of

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...

idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

, and

humanitarianism Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

into the Japanese society.

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

designed the covers of ''Shirakaba'' in 1913. The magazine folded following the publication of the final issue dated January 1923. During its lifetime ''Shirakaba'' 160 issues.

Content

In the first issue the magazine featured the

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

s of paintings by the symbolist artists such as Arnold Klinger,

Franz Stuck Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...

, and

Arnold Böcklin Arnold Böcklin (16 October 182716 January 1901) was a Swiss symbolist painter. Biography He was born in Basel. His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin (b. 1802), was descended from an old family of Schaffhausen, and engaged in the silk tra ...

. In the next issues it contained the

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

prints of paintings by the post-impressionist artists, including

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, and

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

. Most of these paintings were first published in a Japanese publication. ''Shirakaba'' was also the first Japanese periodical which featured translations of the work by Western writers and artists. For instance, it issued the Japanese translations of Paul Gauguin's ''Noa, Noa'',

Julius Meier-Graefe , ro, Reșița), Resicabánya Dist., Krassó-Szörény Co, Bánság, Royal Hungary, Imperial and Royal Austria(now Romania) , death_date = , death_place = Vevey, VD, Switzerland , nationality = German, Hungarian German ...

’s ''Paul Cézanne'', van Gogh's ''Lettres'' and C. Lewis Hind’s ''The Post-Impressionists'' (1911). In the January 1912 issue the magazine published

Yanagi Sōetsu , also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and founder of the ''mingei'' (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. Personal life Yanagi was born in 1889 to Yanagi Narayoshi, a hydrographer of the I ...

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

entitled Kakumei no gaka (Japanese: The Revolutionary Artist). In the April 1914 issue of Bernard Leach published an article on

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirakaba 1910 establishments in Japan 1923 disestablishments in Japan Avant-garde magazines Defunct literary magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1910 Magazines disestablished in 1923 Shirakaba-ha Expressionist works