Kaburagi Kiyokata

▪ Japanese painter

original name  Kaburagi Ken'ichi  

born Aug. 31, 1878, Tokyo, Japan

died March 3, 1972, Kamakura

      Japanese painter known for his works depicting Tokyo and its people in the Meiji era (1868–1912).

      The son of a novelist-journalist, he began the study of painting in 1891 under Mizuno Toshikata, a painter in the tradition of ukiyo-e (paintings and wood-block prints of the “floating world”). Around the age of 17 he became a well-known illustrator for newspapers, and in 1900 he organized a group of painter friends, called Ugōkai (“the Rabble”), and aimed at improving the art of ukiyo-e, which had deteriorated into superficial genre painting and illustration. He succeeded in producing paintings of the new Tokyo and its daily life, giving it psychological depth and freshness. Among his representative works are Ichiyō joshi no haka (“The Grave of the Authoress Higuchi Ichiyō”), Hareyuku murasame (“The Clearing Up of a Passing Shower”), and Tsukiji Akashichō (i.e., a section of Tokyo).

* * *