"I remember my father [Sekino Jun’ichirō] spending quite a bit of time on Mamehon productions in the 1950s, often mingling with Takei Takeo and Kawakami Sumio (aka Kawakami Chosei), et al, but he kept his Mamehon collection (comprising tens of them) in several miniature wooden 'Mamehon cabinets.' For some reason, I wasn't enticed to open the attractive cabinets to inspect what were in them, so I have very little memory about his Mamehon. I recalled from your web page, however, that he had sets of wood engraving tools (that were very different from his Japanese woodcutting tools) and smaller and more polished pieces of wood for engraving. I believe he applied wood engraving mainly for Mamehon covers and illustrations.
The model for the girl that appears on the covers of Mamehon 7 and Mamehon 10 is undoubtedly my sister who was only 8 at the time. Interestingly, her appearance became more like the cover picture when she became a little older."[1]
[1] email received May 24, 2022
click on an image to enlarge
Note: transcriptions and their translations below are subject to my error.
pages 2 and 3
page 2
限定100部の内29番
Number 29 of a limited edition of 100 copies
page 3
目次
Table of Contents [page 1]
表紙:木口版画 関野準一郎
cover: Sekino Jun’ichirō wood engraving
蔵書票 版画 川上澄生
bookplate: woodblock print Kawakami Sumio
層版・紙拓 武井武雄
[article]: "Paper Rubbings" by Takei Takeo
はたちのおじさん 水曜荘主人
[article]: "Uncle Hatachi"? by Suiyōsō Shujin (the pen name of Sakai Tokuo)
frontispiece
川上澄生 服部静夫 蔵書
[artist]: Kawakami Sumio
"library of Hattori Shizuo"
[ex libris size: 2 1/4 x 1 11/16 in. (5.7 x 4.3 cm)]
pages 4 and 5
page 4
目次
Table of Contents [page 2]
爰書閑話 及川藤男
[article]: (unread title) by Oikawa Fujio
膂藤先生と義歯 服部静夫
[article]: (unread title) by Hattori Shizuo
魅力書房設計図 山中倫
[article]: (unread title) by Yamanaka Rin
覚翁夜話 清源杜宇子
[article]: (unread title) by (Seigen Toko?)
限定本だよリ
limited edition books
新会員紹介 (7)
new members
蔵書票 版画 武藤完一
bookplate: woodblock print by Mutō Kan'ichi
page 5
層版・紙拓 武井武雄
[article]: "Paper Rubbings" by Takei Takeo
undated photo of artist
Kawakami Sumio 川上澄生 (1895–1972)
A school teacher who made prints in his spare time, Kawakami lived for over 30 years in a small provincial city several hours north of Tokyo. His career followed a highly individual path from the start. After graduating from college, he spent a year in the United States, supporting himself with odd jobs that included house painting in Seattle and a stint in a fish cannery in Alaska. Shortly after returning to Japan he accepted a teaching position in Utsunomiya, which he held for most of the remainder of his life. Though he exhibited with the Japan Creative Society in the early twenties, he knew relatively few of the print artists and was never much influenced by them.
Kawakami was fascinated by the amusing encounters and bizarre misunderstanding that had occurred when the first foreigners arrived in Japan, and this interest is reflected in a great many of his prints.
For more information on this artist see Kawakami Sumio 川上澄生 (1895–1972)
artist in 1954
Born in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. He studied under the Western-style painter Takeji Fujishima 藤島武二 (1867-1943) at Kawabata School of Painting, graduating in 1915 and after a short course with Hiratsuka Un'ichi 平塚運一 (1895-1997) he began creating woodblock prints. He took part in the proletarian art movement, an international movement seeking to remake art and literature in the context of class-based struggle. He was a founding member of the Japan Etching Society and received the Oita culture prize in 1950. In 1960, he founded the Nippankai 日版会 with Shikō Munakata 棟方志功 (1903-1975) and others and in 1964, he became a member of Kōfukai Art Association (Light and Wind Club).
Sources: Japan Wikipedia; Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 159-160.
undated photo of artist
Sekino Juni'chirō 関野準一郎 (1914-1988)
Sekino Juni'chirō is one of the major post-WWII figures in the sosaku hanga (creative print) movement. He was born in Yasukata-cho, Amori Prefecture in northern Japan in 1914, the first son of Junzō Sekino who owned a wholesale fertilizer store. From an early age Sekino displayed an artistic bent and a fascination with Japanese woodblock.
While largely a self-taught artist, having closely studied available material on woodblock carving and printing while still young, he did study etching at Nishida Takeo’s Japanese Etching Institute and oil painting and drawing at a private painting school. In addition, starting in 1931, he studied intaglio printmaking and lithography with printmaker Kon Junzō (1893-1944), who considered Sekino "an artistic genius."
In 1981 he was awarded the Purple Medal Ribbon by the Japanese Government. The following year, he had a solo exhibition at Central Museum Tokyo and in 1987 he was award the 4th class medal by the Japanese government.
For more information on this artist see Sekino Juni'chirō 関野準一郎 (1914-1988).