Celebrating originality and authorship, the sosaku hanga, or “creative print,” movement embraced the idea of transformation. From the mind of the artist, an image evolved through knife and ink, shaped by the artist's intention, emotion, and their relationship with their materials and tools. Diverse in style and subject, the prints of sosaku hanga movement are united through a heightened spontaneity and expressive attitude. Artists explored each stage of the creative process, carving and printing their work themselves. As new materials invited fresh exploration of scale and texture, innovative uses for old tools proved equally revolutionary. While the origins of the movement trace to the turn of the 20th century, sosaku hanga experienced its own transformation in audience, patronage, and acclaim following WWII. From international imagery to abstraction of home, matte monochrome to layered iridescence, the postwar prints of the movement laid the foundation for contemporary Japanese printmaking. Today, sosaku hanga can be found in important collections worldwide, such as the British Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Beginnings: Defining the Modern Print

In the early-20th century, two distinct print movements emerged in Japan. The shin hanga, or "new print," movement employed growing realism as artists reimagined popular ukiyo-e subject matter through a modern lens. The sosaku hanga, or "creative print," movement pulled from an increasingly global artistic vocabulary, drawing heavily from the European avant-garde and German Expressionism under the mantra of “self-drawn, self-carved, self-printed.” The printmaking process became fully participatory, as opposed to the traditional delegation of labor between artist, engraver, printer, and publisher found in ukiyo-e and maintained in shin hanga. As the artist Koshiro Onchi (1891-1955) describes in his essay The Modern Japanese Print: An Internal History of the Sosaku Hanga Movement (1953), each line carved, each impression pulled reflected a deliberate choice that left “no room for excuses.”(1)

While the movement began as early as 1904, sosaku hanga was slow to stir critical appeal within Japan.(2) Largely dismissed by the official art organizations and universities in Japan, the movement refined its ideals on the pages of art and poetry magazines, such as Hosun (1907) and Tsukubae (1914). By 1931, multiple artists’ organizations consolidated under the Japan Print Association (Nihon Hanga Kyokai). By the end of the decade the organization had achieved the movement’s long-held goals—they secured a printmaking course at Tokyo Imperial Academy, exhibited prints in national exhibitions, and nurtured an international interest in the movement. In 1934, the Japan Print Association mounted an exhibition in Paris. Held at the Musee des Art Decoratifs, the show was a great success and enjoyed a ten-city tour.(3) However, small edition sizes and a tepid reception in Japan prevented most sosaku hanga artists from supporting themselves through their art. Many worked as illustrators and designers as painting dominated the Japanese art institution.

Okiie Hashimoto. Hikone Castle, Shiga. 1942. Woodblock Print. Ronin Gallery. JPR-210071.

The Dark Valley: Under the Shadow of War

The period between 1940 and 1945 is often referred to as the “dark valley,” As Japan entered World War II, many artists participated in the war effort—whether by patriotism or political pressure—and adapted to wartime realities.(4) Some fled the city for the countryside. However, printmaking did not come to a halt. Many artists served the war effort by designing nationalistic imagery, by choice or duty. Yet, the sentiments of sosaku hanga persevered beneath the shadow of war. In 1939, Koshiro Onchi, considered a godfather of the movement, founded the First Thursday Society (Ichimokukai), bringing together artists to discuss, develop, and promote woodblock printmaking. Though prints of the “dark valley” do not necessarily depict militaristic subject matter, they reflect the realities of artists living through war. This can be found in the choice of patriotic subject matter, such as Japan’s great castles, or emotionally charged scenes imbued with the harsh reality of the times, as seen in Onchi’s iconic “Portrait of the Poet Hagiwara.” Though the movement endured throughout the war, it would not be after the war that sosaku hanga truly blossomed and achieved its current international reputation.

Onchi Koshiro. Portrait of the Poet Hagiwara Sakutaro. Memorial edition, 1955, printed by Koichi Hirai. Woodblock print. Ronin Gallery. JP-210069.

Jun’ichiro Sekino. Puppeteer Bungoro Yoshida in the Dressing Room. c. 1852 (first printed 1947). Woodblock print. Ronin Gallery. JPR-85718.

An Unexpected Renaissance: Sosaku Hanga of the 1940s & 1950s

While the movement offered no room for “excuses,” there was ample room for evolution. The American Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) brought with it an unexpected development—a renaissance of the sosaku hanga movement. Following the scarcity and compulsory nationalism of the war, the movement enjoyed an unprecedented period of prosperity and acclaim in the decades following WWII. As American GIs and other foreign visitors poured into Japan, their patronage enabled the movement to flourish. American collectors such as William Harnett, Oliver Statler, and James Michener all championed sosaku hanga amongst their colleagues and friends. During his tenure at the Army Education Center between 1946-49, Harnett organized exhibitions of sosaku hanga in Yokohama and Tokyo. Inspired by Harnett’s exhibition in Yokohama, Statler became a key supporter of the movement, inspiring collectors such as James Michener and acting as an intermediary between the printmakers and their growing audience of American collectors. As the artist Jun’ichiro Sekino wrote, “prints that had been buried in the dust in the attic or cupboard were being sold to Americans…for about 2000 yen a pile, so we began cleaning up our storage areas, digging for finished and unfinished works.(5)

Shiko Munakata. Samanthabhadra, Incarnation of Buddha's Fundamental Element, Makakayo (Mahakasyapa), and Anirhudda, Master of Supernatural Vision from the series Two Bodhisattvas and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha. Printed c. 1958. Woodblock print. Ronin Gallery. JP1-63114, JP-208880, JP-210324.

While American mythologizing drew the links between artistic freedom of the movement and democratic ideals of the United States, this self-aggrandizement ignored the history of the movement.(6) The influx of audience, interest, and capital allowed these artists to support themselves through their artwork as they pursued the ideals of sosaku hanga refined over 50 years. As travel restrictions were lifted in 1948, artists went abroad to exhibit their works and teach workshops to a growing international audience.(7) Yet as the popularity of sosaku hanga soared, the “self carved, self, printed” philosophy softened to meet demand.(8)

Koshiro Onchi. “Forme No. 10: Pilgrim for Color & Form.” 1950. Multiblock print. JP-211063.

The same year the Occupation came to an end, the 1951 São Paulo Biennial marked a critical victory to the sosaku hanga movement's recognition in Japan. As printmakers such as Kiyoshi Saito (1907-1997) brought home prizes, Japanese painters and sculptors left Brazil empty handed. This international victory marked a turning point for the sosaku hanga artists, as well as other Japanese printmakers. Growing international excitement for sosaku hanga led to domestic acknowledgement and support—as evidenced with the establishment of the Tokyo International Print Biennale in 1957. The movement's audience grew, sparking enthusiasm worldwide, and institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston developed robust collections of these modern prints. By the middle of the 20th century, an estimated 300 artists were active in the movement.(9) The emphasis on the individual, experimentation, and artistic autonomy that matured throughout the sosaku hanga movement courses throughout the Japanese printmaking community today.

Kiyoshi Saito. “Screen (Katsura Palace).” c. 1957. Woodblock print mounted on byobu (two-panel screen). Ronin Gallery. Exhibited in the 4th São Paulo Bienal in 1957. JPR-211030.

So what, you ask, is sosaku hanga? Come find out! In “No Room for Excuses” Sosaku Hanga of the 1940s &1950s. Ronin Gallery invites you to experience this renaissance era through the work of artists such as Koshiro Onchi, Shiko Munakata, Jun’ichiro Sekino, Kiyoshi Saito, Yoshitoshi Mori, and many more. Highlights include Saito’s byobu-mounted “Screen (Katsura Palace),” previously exhibited at the 1953 São Paulo Biennial, three of Shiko Munakata’s iconic figures from the Two Bodhisattvas and the Ten Disciples of Buddha, and a rare multiblock abstraction by the godfather of the movement, Onchi Koshiro. For, as Onchi wrote, “Actually there is no way for me to tell you about hanga’s real character. You must look for yourself, and you must “taste” it, for it is only by your own perception that you will understand it, and not by what anyone says in talking or writing about it.”(10)

“No Room for Excuses:” Sosaku Hanga of the 1940s & 1950s is on view in the gallery from March 8th through April 26th, 2024. Explore the online exhibition here.