This article is part of our ongoing series on famous Japanese woodblock print artists. Today our ukiyo-e artist is Toyohara Chikanobu. We’ll learn about his background and see some great examples of his popular prints and print series.
Chikanobu was Born in 1838 in Niigata Prefecture. His father was a lower level retainer of the Sakakibara daimyo. Chikanobu trained in the martial arts and he also showed a talent for painting. He took lessons in the Chinese Kano School of painting. He then studied print design with a student of Keisai Eisen and then when he was fifteen, he studied with Utagawa Kuniyoshi. During this time he probably met Yoshitoshi who was also Kuniyoshi’s student. Around 1855, Chikanobu moved to the studio of Utagawa Kunisada. And then in 1862 he began working with Kunichika.
Kuniyoshi and Kunisada were the senior artists of the time. In fact, I think Chikanobu, Kyosai, and Kunichika were frequent drinking buddies and you can watch my video on the true story of Kunichika’s drunken housewarming party where Chikanobu actually chased Kyosai with a sword.
Chikanobu is the only artist I know who was also a samurai. He started out as a retainer of the Saka-kibara clan. After the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined the Shōgi-tai, which was an elite samurai shock infantry and fought in the Battle of Ueno in 1868. Here’s an example of one of his prints of that battle by Yoshimori.
Chikanobu then joined the Tokugawa loyalists in Hokkaidō, where he fought in a couple of battles and he achieved fame for his bravery on the battlefield. So Chikanobu was a brave warrior but an artist at heart.
In 1875, he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He traveled to Tokyo and found work at one of the newspapers, he also started to produce woodblock prints.
So when I think of Chikanobu, I think of beautiful women or bijin-ga and I also think of war, which seem like opposites but yet, Chikanobu is well-known for both of these genres.
Chikanobu favored the triptych format for his battlefield prints and In 1877, he produced over 45 triptych prints, documenting the events around the Satsuma Rebellion, which was a short civil war, where a group of samurai led by Saigo Takamori attempted to defeat the imperial government of Japan.
But it wasn’t only men that Chikanobu depicted in battle, he also has many prints showing the women fighters. This is one of the things that impresses me about Chikanobu, he seems to have a great respect for bravery and honor and the men and women who fought and died for their belief.
Throughout his career, Chikanobu also has many prints that document the events and activities of the Meji government In 1879 he did this triptych of the Emperor and Empress, in the Phoenix boat, viewing the cherry blossoms on the Sumida river.
In 1884 he published one of his most famous series of 50 Oban sized prints called “Snow Moon Flower” with the theme of historically important people. These prints were beautifully designed, carved and printed. One of the famous prints from the series shows Taira Kiyomori looking out at his snowy garden and seeing the skulls and ghosts of the people he had killed. In this one below, princess Sakura jumps to her death from the terrace of Kiyomizu temple.
On a lighter note also from 1884 we have Moon in the Plum Garden, a gorgeous triptych with wonderful perspective and detail. These are the types of bijin-ga compositions that are quickly recognizable as Chikanobu style.
In 1886 he published a series called "Comparison of Days and Nights in Edo" which presents a range of subjects from the history and legends of Japan. Notice in his print below how it has the same layout of snow moon flower with the rectangular section at the top telling other aspects of the story. There are many great designs in this series. I like this scene of Princess Sarashina easily fighting off these men who were sent to attack her.
In the late 1880s Chikanobu produced a series called "The Manners & Customs of the Eastern Capital". This series was produced as a response to the modernization going on in Tokyo. There was a nostalgia among the populace for the traditions of the past so to honor that, Chikanobu produced prints which promoted the traditional aspects of Japanese culture. I really like this print of these boys playing and the bats flying overhead.
In 1889, he gave us this All-star performance at Saru-waka-cho, from the series, "Throughout the Seasons". Look at the image below and notice the perspective, the color and detail, it gives us an intimate window into that time in Japan.
A similar Oban-sized series was published in 1890, called "Annual Events and Customs of Edo"; there were 12 prints, one for each month, featuring beautiful women. This one below is from Ni Gatsu, or February with the woman viewing plum blossoms during the plum blossom festival.
And this one below is from the 1894 Cherry-blossom Viewing, from the triptych series “The Chiyoda Inner Palace”. The Chiyoda palace was the imperial palace where the emperor and his family lived. I wonder if Chikanobu had some sort of access to the palace grounds.
In 1896 we have The court ladies of Chiyoda palace guarding the retreat from the burning castle shown below. There was apparently a fire there in 1873 that destroyed the west wing. Look how fashionable these women were in their black matching kimonos and naginata weaponry.
In 1897, one of his most famous bijin-ga series was published, called "Mirror of the Ages" or “jidai kagami”. There are 50 prints of beautiful women from different eras in Japan’s history. Care was taken to depict the correct hairstyles, makeup, fashions and accessories. In the inset box at the top of the prints were historical scenes from that era. It’s a really gorgeous series that shows the transition of fashion throughout history.
Below is a triptych from that time of The Emperor Meiji, his wife and Prince Haru. Now we’re getting to the start of the 1900’s.
In 1904 there was the Russian Japanese conflict. Chikanobu got pulled back into the war genre with a series of triptychs. Below is a print of a mother taking her son for a walk during the war - notice the evident patriotism.
Chikanobu's last works in the early 1900’s continued to feature scenes of Japan's past. He died at the age of seventy-five from stomach cancer in 1912. Although Chikanobu didn’t achieve the fame of Kunisada, or Yoshitoshi, he is still considered among the best ukiyo-e artists. I see him as a warrior, a man of honor, and respect, one who truly valued Japan's culture and traditions.
To watch the video version of this blog article see below: