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 Tomohiro Osaki

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Tomohiro Osaki
Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2012
"The Mitsui Exhibition-ary of Japanese Art and Design"
Every museum-goer must have, at least once, experienced difficulty in understanding some of the complicated expository texts accompanying old art works.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2012
"GUTAI: The Spirit of an Era"
Founded by Jiro Yoshihara and Shozo Shimamoto in 1954, the Gutai was an avant-garde group of Kansai-based artists. "Gutai" literally means "embodiment" and it reflected the young artists' goal to allow the nature of their materials to help embody a spirit of artistic freedom. The group's manifesto prohibited...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2012
"Bologna Illustrators Exhibition"
The Italian city of Bologna has a special place in the hearts of children's book illustrators. This is where, since 1967, the annual International Children's Book Fair is hosted, and where the prestigious international illustration competition takes place.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2012
"The Nude"
Toward the end of the 19th century, a series of avant-garde art movements in Europe experimented with new ways to express the female nude. In Japan, however, the naked woman remained taboo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2012
"Japanese Ghosts and Eerie Creatures"
This exhibition invites visitors into a world of "comical horror" and highlights spooky works from the collection of well-known painter Kanpo Yoshikawa (1894-1978).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2012
"Shu Kubo: Paper Cutout Exhibition"
Paper-cutting artist Shu Kubo uses handmade washi (traditional Japanese paper) and combines it with various materials, including ordinary paper, fabric and even sand. His works are dynamic and realistic and his multi-media approach offers a wide range of colors and textures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2012
"Bernard Leach: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Leach's Career as a Painter"
While in his 20s, British potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979), who was brought up in East Asia, started to fraternize with some of Japan's most forward-thinking artists. His friendship with Soetsu Yanagi, the founder of mingei — a movement that advocated the "utilitarian beauty" of Japanese traditional...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2012
"Marc Chagall 2012: The Love Story"
Marc Chagall lived through the hardships of both world wars. Because of this life and his Belarusian-Russian-French roots, he moved many times — from Vitebsk in Belarus, where he grew up, to traveling between St. Petersburg, Berlin and Paris — until he was forced to flee German-occupied France for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2012
"Kiyomori Taira: The 50th Anniversary of the Birth of NHK Taiga Drama"
The hugely popular Japanese "Taiga Drama" on NHK TV, has turned 50 this year, and for the past half a century it has focused on a different historical character each year. This year, it follows Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181), a military leader who survived political upheavals at the end of the Heian Period...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2012
"From Renaissance to Rococo: Four Centuries of European Drawing, Painting and Sculpture"
The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany also brought about a merging of art collections in the East and West. At the heart of the capital city's art culture are the Berlin State Museums — 17 museums overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012
"Curator's Eye: Curators × Collection"
The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, which opened in 2005, has collected roughly 1,500 ceramic works that run the gamut from domestic to foreign and ancient to modern.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012
"MATSUMOTO Shunsuke: A Centennial Retrospective"
After a childhood illness left him deaf, Shunsuke Matsumoto (1912-1948) began to have aspirations to become a painter. He moved to Tokyo while still a high-school student and became friends with other artists, including Saburo Aso and Aimitsu. One of his works was accepted for the Nika Exhibition in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012
"Roses by Pierre-Joseph Redoute"
Pierre-Joseph Redoute (1759-1840) was a botanist and an official court artist to Queen Marie Antoinette of France. He worked through both the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror and, despite the political turmoil of the era, he was successful enough to become one of the most famous botanical painters...
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2012
"Keisai Eisen"
Ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Keisai Eisen (1791-1848) is particularly famous for his bijinga (pictures of beautiful women) for which he often accentuated his subjects' voluptuousness. As his reputation soared, he became a leading expert in the genre and published many popular bijinga nishiki-e (multi-colored...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2012
"Photography Today 4: In Their Persistent Endeavours to Meet the World"
This is the National Museum of Modern Art's fourth exhibition aimed at introducing Japanese contemporary photography through the works of young up-and-coming and mid-career artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2012
"One Hundred Images of Cats: Many Varieties of Cats by Kuniyoshi School"
Japan has long-been infatuated with cats, which are usually seen as creatures of good fortune. This exhibition is dedicated to ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) depicting felines at their cutest moments, such as playing with their fellow cats and struggling against the urge to doze off in front of their human...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2012
"Camille Pissarro: Patriarche de la Modernité"
As the oldest of the French Impressionist group, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was seen by many artists as a role model. He was also the only artist whose work was featured in all eight "official" Impressionist exhibitions in Paris — a testament to his dedication and skill.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2012
"Keiji Uematsu: Axis — Gravity, Anti Gravity"
What makes the work of Hyogo-native Keiji Uematsu unique is the way the sculptor takes everyday materials such as stone and wood, and fashions them in the most surreal way imaginable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2012
"The 120th Anniversary of the Birth of Fukuda Heihachiro: The Modern Nihonga, a Novel Sense of Design"
During the Taisho Era (1912-26), Japan grew economically and diplomatically as it opened up further to the West. Its bourgeois culture also blossomed and the liberal movement known as the Taisho Democracy ensued. Encouraged by such major changes in society, the art of nihonga (Japanese painting), once...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2012
"Uemura Shoen: Japanese Arts in Taisho Era — Struggle Between Tradition and Revolution"
Shoen Uemura (1875-1949) was the first woman in the history of Japan to win the Order of Culture for her contribution to nihonga (Japanese painting). She is particularly famous for her depictions of elegant Japanese women.

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