Katazome calendar: Takeshi Nishijima

This folio of stenciled prints is the work of a katazome artist who designed a number of calendars that were produced from 1969 or 1970 to 1980 (and perhaps outside that range of years as well). If he is the same Takeshi Nishijima listed on Artfacts.Net then he was born in 1929 and died in 2003.

According to the descriptive text that accompanies the folio, Nishijima was both a professor of art at Kyoto University and "a graphic and textile designer [who] exhibited in numerous one man shows and won the coveted Grand Prize at the Kyoto Art Exhibit." He was associated with Haruo Kuriyama of the Wazome Kogei company, which was probably the publisher of this calendar. I've been told that Kuriyama was a friend of Keisuke Serizawa, the best known katazome artist, who produced calendars annually beginning in 1946.

Given the similarity in technique and layout between the work of the two calendar makers, Nishijima may well have studied with Serizawa; if so, he was also effectively a competitor, as Serizawa's calendars continued to appear through the 1970s. His work isn't as intricate as Serizawa's, which shows a greater fondness for rich geometrical ornament, and it appears to have received little attention outside of Japan. These calendars were, nevertheless, clearly aimed at Western audiences, as all the names of the months are in English.

Grateful acknowledgment is due to the printmaker Brian Garner for providing these images. I have cropped them square for the web, but they were printed on handmade paper and the bottom edges are in fact untrimmed. Below each image I have added the interpretive text for each month that was provided by the publisher on a separate sheet (see the last image below).


"During January people come to pray at Heian Shrine, Kyoto, for peace and good luck throughout the year."


"February brings tranquility in Plum Tree Park at Tsukigase, Kyoto."


"March is the time when water orchids rise to impart a springlike charm and grace."


"In April the tree peony is a delightful harbinger of the joys of spring."


"The rose which blooms in May is the universal symbol of love."


"June tells of farm dwellings at the castle town, near Nara prefecture."


"As summer progresses into July we are present as a storm passes, with clouds running at the ridge."


"The first yield of fruit in August tends to refresh the eye as well as the palate."


"September is the month for typhoons. Here willow trees sway in the wind at Nijo Castle, Kyoto, to protest the approaching violence."


"October's autumn flowers are handsomely framed by a Chinese jar of the Sung era."


"The sunset symbolizes approach of the year's end. The landscape of Japanese inland sea Seto is November's setting."


"As December arrives we note that Kyoto's farmers have completed their work. The harvest is in and we see a serene community of farmhouses."


Here are some katazome links:

• Explanations of the technique at Wikipedia and by John Marshall.
  
  
• George Baxley has information on Keisuke Serizawa's calendars, with numerous examples.
  
  
• Kit Eastman is an American illustrator who employs the katazome technique.
  
  
• Another artist, M. Joan Lintault, has several interesting posts on her work with the technique.
  
  
• The Japan Society has organized an outstanding exhibition dedicated to Keisuke Serizawa, which runs through January 17, 2010. A catalog is available from Yale University Press.
  
  
• And finally, my earlier posts, with illustrations of a full calendar set possibly by Serizawa, another set that is probably by Takeshi Nishijima, and a review of the Japan Society show.