Hamada Josen

Hamada Josen 浜田如洗 (1875-?) 

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 2000, p. 194; Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900 – 1975, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 26.

Born in 1875 with the original name of Keisaku (or Esaku), he studied first with his father and from 1901 with Tomioka Eisen (1864-1905) who gave him the name Josen and recommended him for a sashi-e (illustrations) position with Hinode shimbun in Kyoto. While studying with Eisen, he received several awards in the joint Japan Art Institute/Japan Painting Association exhibitions. Like Eisen, he would go on to design a number of shunga.   

Hamada designed a number of kuchi-e, including illustrations for Greenwood Gingo (Gakuya ginnan) by Takeda Gyotenshi (Suzando, 1902) and Japanese Warriors (Nihon bushi) by Murakami Namiroku (Suzando, 1901).  He contributed to the 1924 series New Ukiyo-e Beauties and the 1926 series Taisho Shinsai Gashu (Pictures of Taisho Earthquake) which documented the earthquake in twenty-five designs by nine different artists.  (See the print Chased by the Fire, Drowned in the Water for information on the series Pictures of the Taisho Earthquake.)

His name is also seen translated as Hamada Nyosen.

Examples of Artist's Signatures and Seals 

Prints in Collection

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