• Date: 30th October 2020, 17:30-19:30
• Speaker: Tomoyuki Deguchi (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

The second and third decades of the Meiji Era (around 1890 to 1910) saw the flourishing of modern publishing in Japan. The publishing culture model that became the precursor of contemporary publishing was formed in this period. Needless to say, printed text was its central element, but we must not overlook the fact that frontispieces and illustrations also underwent remarkable changes. In contrast to the illustration culture in the period from the early Meiji Era to the 1880s (which carried on Edo traditions), this period brought wide-ranging experimentation ── the introduction of various printing techniques, use of Western-style artists and photographs, exploration of new ways to engage with literary works ── and the blossoming of a new, modern style of illustration. In this seminar, we will introduce these topics while exploring a variety of issues related to Meiji-era frontispieces and illustrations.