Ryūkei Yasukawa (1819 - 1898) was one of the leading literary artists in Tōgane at the end of the Edo period and during the Meiji period. He wrote Kazusakokushi, a compilation of topographical information about his hometown. He also left behind excellent works of poetry, calligraphy and paintings.
Ryūkei was born in 1819 as the second son of a farmer in Fukutawara Village, Yamabe District (now Fukutawara, Tōgane City). From childhood, he enjoyed learning and painting. He socialized with such writers of Chinese poems as Seigan Yanagawa, who visited Tōgane. Ryūkei taught himself poetry, calligraphy and painting while traveling around Japan and befriending writers and artists, including Shōchiku Shinozaki, the Confucian scholar, and Kaioku Nukina and Chikutō Nakabayashi, the Nanga painters. He left behind a number of poems, having formed a poets’ association with poetry enthusiasts. He excelled at drawing historical figures, birds and flowers connected with the Kachin school. Ryūkei successfully built his career mainly in rural areas and provinces, excluding his participation in the first two exhibitions of Naikoku Kaiga Kyōshinkai in 1882 and 1884, respectively. Socializing with other painters and learning from the paintings owned by wealthy collectors provided him with inspiration. He tackled many different subjects in his works upon request.
Showcasing his career as a painter, this exhibition introduces previously unknown facets of Ryūkei’s life by displaying his works that were kept by the old families, temples and shrines in and around Tōgane.
“Sparrows on a Rock with a Sleeping Cat,”
1873, color on silk, one hanging scroll
Mobara City art museum, hometown museum
Gallery Talk
Saturday, November 11, 18 13:30－
Information
Hours: 10:00－16:00
Closed: Sundays, Mondays and holiday
Admission: 300 yen (free for high school students and under)
Access:
●By train: take either the JR Sotobō Line to Ōami Station or the JR Sōbu Main Line to Narutō Station; change trains and take the JR Tōgane Line; get off at Gumyō Station; 5 minutes walk to the university
●By car: take either the Keiyō Highway or the Tateyama Expressway to the Chiba-higashi Junction; from there, enter the Tōgane Toll Road; exit at Tōgane and take National Highway (Route) 126 in the direction of Narutō for about 20 minutes; at the signal at Josai International University Mae, turn right
●Shuttle Bus Service Available from: JR Tokyo Station, JR Yokohama Station, JR Nishifunabashi Station; JR Kisarazu Station, JR Soga Station, JR Ōami Station, JR Narutō Station, JR Tōgane Station, Keisei Narita Station
Mizuta Museum of Art, Josai International University
1 Gumyō, Tōgane-shi, Chiba 283-8555, Japan
Tel. 0475-53-2562 http://www.jiu.ac.jp/museum/
Web design by
YOSHII Ryota, sophomore in the Faculty of Media Studies
HAMADA Takumi, junior in the Faculty of Media Studies
“Actual View of Sansei Nicchō Garden,”
1888, color on paper, one hanging scroll
Mobara City art museum, hometown museum
