Immersive Ukiyo-e (Part 2)

Letter from Japan #8

In Part 1, I showed you some ukiyo-e and asked you to imagine what would happen if the pictures could move.

Well, I got to experience exactly that!

This summer, I visited the Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition in Aomori.

Instead of simply looking at ukiyo-e pictures on paper, this exhibition brought them to life using moving images, projections, light and music.

As I walked through the exhibition, huge images surrounded me. I could see the artwork changing, moving and filling the whole space.

One of the most amazing parts was seeing Hokusai’s famous wave come to life.

I also saw huge pictures of Kabuki performers. The images appeared, changed and disappeared around me, almost as if I had stepped into the pictures.

There were also funny and playful images of 猫 (ねこ, neko), cats, 金魚 (きんぎょ, kingyo), goldfish, and everyday life.

What I found especially interesting was seeing the artwork change from a simple sketch into a colourful scene, and then watching it start to move.

Many ukiyo-e prints were made using woodblock printing. The process was a team effort. The artist designed the picture, the carver carved the design into wood, the printer printed the picture, and the publisher organised and sold the prints.

The four roles were:

• えし (eshi) – the artist, who designed the picture
• ほりし (horishi) – the carver, who carved the picture into the wood
• すりし (surishi) – the printer, who printed the picture
• はんもと (hanmoto) – the publisher, who organised and sold the prints

Hundreds of years later, the creators of this exhibition have taken these old ukiyo-e works and imagined them in a completely new way.

Instead of holding a small print in your hands or looking at one on a wall, you could almost step inside the artwork.

I loved seeing how something created hundreds of years ago could be brought to life for people today.

If you’re curious

You can see more about the exhibition here:

Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition: Aomori

A question for you

If you could make one ukiyo-e picture come to life, what would you choose?

Would you make the waves move, the people move, or perhaps make something completely new happen?