Narazaki Eishō

Narazaki Eishō 楢崎栄昭 (1864-1936)1

BIOGRAPHY

Source: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 107; Japanese Wood-block Prints, Shizuya Fujikake, Japan Travel Bureau, 1938, p. 94; Hangadomeiran116.pdf (hanga-do.com)

The artist's birth name is recorded as Tsuneo 庸夫 (つねお). He used the art names (gō) Fuyō 扶陽 (1916-1922) and Eishō (1922-1936), which is sometime seen written as 榮昌 rather than 栄昭.2 He learned the art of woodblock printing from Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890) and while working at the Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo, he learned copperplate printing from the Director, the Italian artist Eduardo Chiossone (1833-1898).3

His first known prints appear around 1916 when he began designing woodblock prints for export under the art name Fuyō. In about 1932, he started designing prints for the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962) in the shin hanga style under the art name Eishō.4 . Woodblocks by Eishō published by Watanabe include this collection's Inside Asakusa Kannon Temple (his best-known work) and [New] Imperial Diet Building (see image below).

1 "List of Modern Japanese Printmakers (1900-1945)," compiled by Hanga-do, gives the artist's date of birth as "1864 or 1868." [accessed 11-19-23]2 The range of dates when he used the art names Fuyō and Eishō are unclear. The dates shown above are provided by Merritt. The prints that he created for the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō were signed with the name Eishō and first published in 1932. See footnote 4 below.3Japan hired thousands of Western scientists, technicians and artists during the Meiji period. For the art sector, the Italians had an influential role in teaching Western arts in Japan.4 While Fujikake Shizuya in Japanese Wood-block Prints writes that the artist assumed the name Narazaki Eishō in 1922, the publisher Watanabe maintains that he did not assume that name until 1932.