Tsuruya Kokei (b. 1946)

Born Mitsui Gei in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1946, Tsuruya Kokei comes from a family of artists. His grandfather was a respected oil painter and his father exhibited and founded the Bijutsu Dantai art group. Although he received no formal training, Kokei was fond of drawing as a child. Upon finishing junior college, he supported his family as a salaried worker. In 1978, at age 32, he got the idea of making woodblock prints depicting popular, present-day Kabuki actors.

He started by imitating the okubi-e prints of Sharaku, the master of actor prints who only worked for eleven months during 1795-96. Encouraged by Takeomi Nagayama, president of the Kabuki-za Theater located in Tokyo, Kokei continued to produce actor prints which were primarily sold at the theater itself. Kokei designs each print, carves the woodblocks and then prints the work himself using Ganpi paper, an extremely thin, resilient paper which is considered to be the most difficult of mediums.

Kokei usually spends 40 days completing one edition of 72 prints: 10 days creating the design, 10 days carving the woodblocks and 20 days printing, including a delicate mica background. When he finishes printing, he chops each print with his seal, numbers the prints and then destroys the woodblocks.

Tsuruya Kokei has a unique niche among modern Japanese artists, providing a lasting record of contemporary Kabuki actors through his dramatic and masterful prints.

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Kataoka Gado XIII as Oen of the Izutsuya in Fuingiri   Nakamura Jakuemon IV as the Lady's Maid Chidori in "Genta Kando"   Nakamura Shikan VII as Kuzunoha, Wife of Yasuna in reality a white fox, in "Kuzunoha"   Nakamura Tomijuro V as Ko no Morono in Act 3   Bando Tamasaburo V as the Courtesan Okaru in Act 7   Kataoka Nizaemon XIII as Oboshi Yuranosuke in Act 4   Sukedakaya Kodenji II as Ono Kudayu in Act 7   Onoe Tatsunosuke I as Ono Sadakuro in Act 5   Sawamura Tanosuke VI as Osono, Wife of Amakawaya Gihei in Act 10   Nakamura Tomijuro V as Tominomori Sukeemon in "Genroku Chushingura"   Ichikawa Danshiro IV as the Ferryman Tonbei in "Yaguchi no Watashi"   Nakamura Kichiemon II as Musahibo Benkei in "Kanjincho"

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Artist Bio Index:

18th & 19th C. Artists:				Hiroshige Chikanobu Eisen Eizan Gakutei Hirosada Hiroshige II Hokusai Kunichika Kunisada Kuniyoshi Kyosai (Gyosai) Shunsho Toyokuni I Toyokuni III Yoshitoshi
20th C. Artists:				Bertha Lum Charles Bartlett Chiura Obata Clifton Karhu Cyrus Leroy Baldridge Elizabeth Keith Hajime Namiki Haku Maki Hashiguchi Goyo Helen Hyde Hiroshi Yoshida Ito Shinsui Joichi Hoshi Katsunori Hamanishi Kawase Hasui Kawase Hasui   (Posthumous) Kiyoshi Saito Koshiro Onchi Ohara Shoson   (Koson) Paul Jacoulet Ryohei Tanaka Sadao Watanabe Shigeki Kuroda Shinichi Nakazawa Shiro Kasamatsu Yamamoto Shoun Sugiura Tadashi Nakayama Takahashi Hiroaki   (Shotei) Toko Shinoda Tomoo Inagaki Toraji Ishikawa Torii Kotondo Toshi Yoshida Tsuchiya Koitsu Tsuruya Kokei Umetaro Azechi Unichi Hiratsuka Yoshitoshi Mori Yuji Hiratsuka
China Trade:				Auguste Borget Chinese School Edward Hildebrandt Thomas Allom William Alexander
Modern Originals:				Carol Jessen
Natural History:				J. James Audubon Mark Catesby John Gould
Antique Maps:				Conrad Lotter Gilles Robert Gerard de Jode Henricus Hondius Jan Huygen John Tallis Matthaeus Seutter Nicolas Sanson

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