From Shimizu Isao, “Hokusai ga mite kita giga-hon,” Hokusai Manga: The Origin of Manga (Hokusai Manga: Nihon manga no genten, Heibonsha, 2014, pp. 74-89.
Translators' introduction
Readers of TCJ.com will be familiar with Shimizu Isao, whose essays on Meiji-period cartooning have previously appeared on the website. Shimizu was greatly interested in early manga from the Edo Period, particularly that of Hokusai and his Hokusai Manga (1814-1878). Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), of course, is one of the most Japan’s famous artists, known for his Great Wave color print, a work perhaps only slightly less famous in the world than Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. In this chapter essay, Shimizu applies his knowledge of pre-modern Japanese art and visual-textual books to what artistic works and traditions shaped the creation of the fifteen-volume Hokusai Manga book series.
Hokusai Manga is, for some art historians and Manga Studies scholars, the origin of Japanese cartooning — if not of all Japanese comics. After all, “manga” is in the title. In his book Hokusai Manga: The Origin of Manga (Hokusai Manga: Nihon manga no genten, Heibonsha, 2014) from which this chapter (the fourth) is translated, Shimizu argues just that: in other words, contemporary manga does indeed derive from the ukiyo-e artist’s fifteen-volume picturebook series. Although many scholars both in Japan and outside of Japan now push back against that claim, there can be no denying that Shimizu was extremely influential in promoting this this thesis, given the number of art exhibitions both in Japan and in the West that make this connection. It is a dance that any Japanese art historian or Comics Studies scholar must engage in at some point.
Whether one agrees with Shimizu’s thesis or not, his argument here branches into an interesting discussion of what helped Hokusai originate his Hokusai Manga.1 Although the manga-origin thesis still is contested, this short essay from Shimizu’s book helps provide more information about how Hokusai developed his signature and bestselling picture-book series, copies of which made it to Europe in the early half of the 19th century and would go on to influence Western painters, such as Van Gogh, Manet, and Monet. What is most interesting here is how Shimizu traces back the pictures of Japan’s earlier “giga” (cartoon) book market that were developing in Japan’s early modern period. Today, comic fans enjoy spotting “comic swipes,” where John Byrne fans spot Jim Lee lifting a panel or pose from the master. Shimizu spotted similar direct influences or playful homages that even Hokusai made of his contemporaries. Hokusai’s influences are a veritable Who’s Who of popular Edo-Period early cartoonists and artists of, for lack of a better term, “proto-manga.” Shimizu’s discussion of these influences helps us better understand how cartooning really took off as a form of popular entertainment and a new kind of print media that perhaps did form a precursor for cartooning as Japan modernized in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The translators wish to thank the Shimizu family for allowing us to translate and publish the work of Shimizu Isao again in the Journal.
— Ayumi Naraoka and Jon Holt
The Commercialization of Giga
The sudden appearance of giga cartoon culture and the speed with which it grew are due to how giga books begin to be treated as commercial objects. Up until the Edo Period, hand-drawn giga pictures, like emaki-mono (picture scrolls), had been produced for a long time, but mainly they were drawn for patrons like the nobility, provincial governors (daimyō), military leaders, and abbots of Buddhist temples — in other words, that one part of the population that made up a special elite class. Without a doubt, such pictures only satisfied the demand of a select few of Japan’s total population.
However, as we enter the middle of the Edo Period [1600-1868], we see the start of the idea of producing giga cartoons for sale to be marketed at the general public in the form of woodblock-printed books. This is the birth of giga books (giga-hon) and giga ukiyo-e pictures. If there was a marketization of them, there must have been a demand for this effort in order for the publishers to make a profit from them. To pull that off, those publishers searched out for the best talent, they cultivated that talent, and they poured their energy into making hit books by thinking up all the great ideas they could really sell.
Many interesting giga books were published as a result of their efforts. We can expect that they began to catch the eye, too, of Katsushika Hokusai [1760-1849]. The books I’ll now introduce were ones that he probably saw because they became sensational hits in their times.
Illustrated One Hundred Monsters Parade (Gazu hyakki yagyō [also known as Ehon hyakki yagyō]), authored by Toriyama Sekien and published in 1776 (Figure 1).2 This book series was a major hit within the genre of monster pictures (bakemono-e or yōkai-e) in the Edo Period. Famous yōkai, like the Dog God (inugami), the rope-necked lady (rokurokubi), and the strange nurarihyon made their appearances in this book by Sekien. Unlike the monsters of “One Hundred Monsters Parade” texts from the earlier Medieval Period, there is much more diversity and originality in how these creatures were drawn. Now, Sekien’s text is a foundational reference work to understand monster prints. Many believe that this work exerted influence on Hokusai’s own One Hundred Ghost Stories series.
Picturebook of Water and Sky (Ehon mizu ya sora), created by [Matsuya] Nichōsai in 1780 (Figure 2), is a collection of actor prints (yakusha-e) in the giga cartoon style. The freshness and modern look of his drawings exerted influence later on the Taishō-Shōwa [20th-century] artist Okamoto Ippei. Nichōsai himself was influenced by Yosa Buson and Ueda Kōchō. It is generally accepted that Nichōsai is responsible for further refining the Toba-e style.
Elegant Stories of Finely Patterned Kimono (Komon gawa), published in 1790, was a work by Santō Kyōden3 (also known as Kitao Masanobu). Kyōden combined designs done in the giga style for brocade cloth with clothing sample-book style using actual textile pieces incorporated into the book. Superb examples include images like “Monkey Shibori” (“Enkō-shibori”) (Figure 3), where Kyōden makes a monkey’s paw into a design. For the title, the author made a pun out of the words Komongawa for momongaa (“flying squirrel”).
Abbreviated Picture Style (Ryakugashiki, 1795) is a work by Kuwagata Keisai4 (also known by the name Kitao Masayoshi) (Figure 4). The artist drew with a very light touch all kinds of things, including people, flora, trees, birds, famous places, fish, and insects. Truly, this is a primer of giga. The themes of this book were so various that Abbreviated Picture Style got its own series with different works. We know it had a huge success because the word ryaku-ga then spread all over Japan.
Bunpō’s Rapid Pictures (Bunpō soga) is a work by Kawamura Bunpō5 and published in 1800 (Figure 5). In it, he drew the lively quality of the people of the urban areas going about their lives all with Bunpō’s giga cartoon touch. On any one page, Bunpō crams in a large number of people sketches, but his images have good organization. He conveys to his reader the absolute fun of giga cartoons. This is a charming collection of pictures at which one never gets tired of looking.
Aoi’s Record of Beauties (Kishi enpu, also known as Kuruwa-jū enpu) was a creation of Sōkyūshi6 and published in 1803. In images like “Courtesans Applying Their Makeup,” “A Customers Upsets the Reception,” and such, the artist sketches the everyday life of the pleasure quarters (kuruwa). So accurately and realistically does Sōkyūshi depict the geisha and their intimate customers through their relaxed, casual poses. It is a masterpiece of giga sketches of the red-light district.
Garden of Crazy Pictures (Kyōgaen) was created by Maki Bokusen and published in 1809. We can enjoy the sense of humor it has that seems much like today’s cartoon manga, such as in his “Facial Exercises,” “Long Arms, Long Legs,” and “Stunts of the [Long-Nosed] Tengu.” As I touched on in the first chapter of this book, we know that Hokusai stayed at Bokusen’s house [in Nagoya] and saw this work at that time.8 from 1814, the same year that the first volume of Hokusai Manga appeared, so it is possible that Hokusai knew of this work’s reputation and perhaps that is why he decided to use the word “manga” for his book, too. Aikawa depicts the everyday life of working women. It was published in the three major cities of Edo [Tokyo], Kyoto, and Osaka.
Among all these giga books listed here, with the exception of Picturebook of Water and Sky and Garden of Crazy Pictures, even today one could find these books in used bookstores. I suppose that is because they were published in such great numbers. Plus, there are a number of research books on them and even facsimile editions published, so it is possible for the average person to catch sight of them. We can recognize how once the techniques of expression of these giga books were established, they set a high standard for painters and ukiyo-e artists in terms of being masters of visual expression.
In particular, those books by Nichōsai, Kawamura Bunpō, and Kuwagata Keisai were nearly perfect and each made a huge impression on their readers. These three artists drew with such superb visually expressive power, which could be readily understood by an audience. Also, each artist had his own individual style. On the other hand, when it comes to the books of Toriyama Sekien and Santō Kyōden, we sense the amazing visual power and creativity of these two artists. Lastly, the works of Sōkyūshi, Maki Bokusen, and Aikawa Minwa make us realize the depths and breadths of their views of Japanese customs and society through their ability to visually depict them.
Hokusai’s Focus on Garden of Crazy Pictures
One wonders what attracted Hokusai to these giga books. I get the feeling that instead of the kinds of expressions of simplified and refined cartoons, Hokusai was more interested in the kind of depictions of the people and their customs done by Sōkyūshi, Maki Bokusen, and Aikawa Minwa. In particular, I bet Hokusai showed his appreciation for Bokusen’s Garden of Crazy Pictures for its new kind of visual expression and its ability to produce laughter from its readers.
Actually, when we look at Hokusai Manga, we can see quite a few images where one can easily imagine that Hokusai probably used Garden for reference. Let’s look at some of those images in Figures 4-9 through 4-18.
In Figure 10, “Six Parts,” Hokusai gives us human expression done in [six] different panels, where the subject is using his hands or a string, etc., to force his face to look differently. However, I cannot help but think Hokusai took a hint for this from Bokusen (Figure 9).
In Figure 11, Bokusen’s image has a completely modern feeling to it because of its utterly unrealistic and hyperbolic expression. And in Figure 12, too, Hokusai seems to have borrowed from Bokusen that idea for his “Barbarian Moxibustion” (from volume 12).
In Figure 14, “The Stunts of the Tengu” (from volume 12), even though Hokusai’s version is a cartoon giga done in a two-page spread (mi-hiraki), it seems like Hokusai got the idea from Bokusen’s version (Figure 13).
In Figure 16, “Looking for Work” (“Aburemono,” or “unemployed”), we have Hokusai getting his idea from Garden and simply enlarging the image. Hokusai took the “horse’s ass” [from Bokusen] and made a funny leap in logic by adding to it “the horse that the bride rides home on,” so the image becomes a real hoot. In this way, Hokusai took Bokusen’s original image (Figure 15) and improved on its humor.
An even higher upping of the game is done by Hokusai in his “Flower Thief” image (Figure 18, from volume 15). Hokusai depicts a man running away from a wedding ceremony with the bride, a woman he loves, but a woman who is far beyond his station in life. In images like this, Hokusai gives the viewer an outlook on life that runs counter to the cruel logic that society and daily routine normally forces on people. An even sharper bit of fun here is how little does the man knows that the women he’s fallen in love with is really not that much of a looker, which adds more humor to the picture. I have a feeling that Hokusai got the idea for his picture from Bokusen’s image (Figure 17).
From this one picture, a long and intense drama can be visualized in the mind of the reader. Are these two men old acquaintances? Was this their first game together? Was the game a close one, or, was a complete rout? I think that from an image like this Hokusai learned the fundamentals of giga cartooning: in any sketch, the artist has to instill a sense of drama.
As a way to conclude my point, let me offer up one last work, Hokusai’s “Food Sneak” (“Kakure-gui,” from volume 12) as an example of a picture from that artistic approach. The shape of the person sneaking down some food is seen through the light and silhouetting of her form by the lantern. Thus, Hokusai’s humor comes from this person herself having no idea that she can still be seen eating by others.
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The post The Giga Cartoon Books That Hokusai Saw appeared first on The Comics Journal.
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