Iizuka Shōkansai

IIZUKA Shōkansai (Shigetoshi, 1919-2004)

Iizuka Shigetoshi was Rōkansai’s second son and received a degree in painting from the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1942, prior to serving in World War II.

Upon his return in 1946, he abandoned the ambition of becoming a painter after his older brother Mikio passed away, and began to study the art of bamboo under the strict supervision of his father.

He was a prize winner at the Nitten exhibition in 1948, and his works were exhibited there twenty times.

He took the name Shōkansai, which had been his deceased brother’s, in the following year.

His works at this time had a resolutely modern character and he experimented with various materials. However, the “call of the bamboo” was too powerful and his creations conflicted with the artisanal nature of the art form.

After a four year absence, he re-entered the Dentokogei competition for traditional arts and was awarded the Minister of Education’s prize in 1974.

𝐈𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐨̄𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐢 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 (𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐡𝐨̄).