by ISHII Yoshio (b. 1899)
Showa 15, 1940
Gold and silver makie,
44.5 x 30.5 x 22 (h) cm.
Signed
A monumental work of classical form that captures the colonial ambition and military confidence of Imperial Japan in 1940. The “Great Empire of Japan”, Dai Nippon Teikoku, already included Korea and Manchuria, and would shortly provoke the disastrous Pacific War. 1940 was seen as an auspicious year, marking the 2600th year of the Imperial Calendar, that was dated from the accession of Japan’s legendary first Emperor – Jimmu Tenno – on 11th February 660 BCE. In honour of this, the annual government-sponsored Teiten art exhibition, was renamed the Hoshukuten, and included this work by Ishii. It speaks of Imperial power.
Soaring and diving high above clouds and towering mountain ranges, a series of birds, each with symbolic significance, is created in takamakie over a togadashie ground. The central panel shows a golden kite, kinshi, forever associated with military achievement and imperial rule, its blindingly bright golden appearance having been credited with helping Emperor Jimmu subdue a military adversary.
The theme continues around the side panels. Two depict the mythical phoenix, ho-o, considered to be messengers from the gods, an important Buddhist symbol and, in Japan, symbolic of imperial authority. A pair of golden pheasants, kinkei, reinforce the message as acknowledged symbols of Japanese imperial authority. Lastly, a hototoguisu, a songbird with militaristic association. Legend has it that the 16th-century warlords Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were each asked what they would do if the hototoguisu didn’t sing. Nobunaga declared that it should be killed, Hideyoshi suggested that he would make it sing, while Ieyasu merely stated that you should just wait and it would sing – thus displaying the diplomatic skills that were to keep the Tokugawa family in power through the 250-year Edo period.
Ishii Yoshio (art name Seishi) was born in Takaoka city. Enrolling in the Lacquer Department of the Tokyo Art School, Tokyo Bijitsu Gakko, in 1919, he went on to study under his father, lacquerist Ishii Kichijiro, before joining the Japan Lacquer Association, Nihon Shitsugei Kyokai. Evacuated from Tokyo during the war he joined the Ibaraki Craft Association, Ibaraki kogeikai, founded by pioneering modern ceramicist Itaya Hazan. His work is recorded as having been shown twelve times at the Teiten, Bunten, and Nitten exhibitions.