Wikipedia

Katsuji Matsumoto

Katsuji Matsumoto(Tùng bổn かつぢ,Matsumoto Katsuji,1904–1986)was a Japaneseillustratorandshōjo mangaartist.[a][b]Matsumoto's 16-pageThe Mysterious Clover(1934) is recognized as a pioneering work in the field of manga,[2][3]but he is best known for his shōjo mangaKurukuru Kurumi-chan,serialized from 1938 to 1940, and again from 1949 to 1954.[4][5]

Katsuji Matsumoto
Katsuji Matsumoto in an undated photograph
Born(1904-07-25)July 25, 1904
Kobe,Hyōgo Prefecture,Japan
DiedMay 13, 1986(1986-05-13)(aged 81)
Izu, Shizuoka,Japan
NationalityJapanese
Area(s)Illustrator, comics creator, designer
Notable works
Kurukuru Kurumi-chan
The Mysterious Clover

His illustrations were popular from the 1930s through the 1950s, and he contributed illustrations to numerous popular girls' novels by some of the period's most famous authors, includingYasunari KawabataandNobuko Yoshiya.[6][7]He was also a prolific illustrator of children's books and created merchandise for babies, small children, and girls.[6][7]The Gallery Katsuji Matsumoto in Tokyo is managed by his surviving children.[8]

Early life and professional debut

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Matsumoto was born in Kobe, the son of Toraji (Dần trị) and Ishi (いし) Matsumoto, but moved with his family to Tokyo at the age of eight.[1]: 121 At the age of 13, he began attending what was then called Rikkyō (St. Paul's) Middle School.[c]Through the introduction of a teacher at Rikkyō, Matsumoto began drawing illustrations for the magazineShinseinen(Tân thanh niên,"New Youth" )at the age of 17.[1]: 121 Matsumoto withdrew from Rikkyō at the age of 18 and began attending theKawabata ga gakkō(Xuyên đoan họa học giáo,"Kawabata Art School" ).[1]: 121 During this time he contributed drawings to such magazines asShōjo sekai(Thiếu nữ thế giới,"Girls' World" )andShōnen sekai(Thiếu niên thế giới,"Boys' World" ).[1]: 121 It was during this period that Matsumoto was inspired by illustratorKōji Fukiyato become an illustrator in the field of girls' media.[10](Matsumoto's younger sister, Ryōko (Long tử), would eventually marry Fukiya.)[1]: 92 

Following the devastation of Tokyo, including its publishing industry, in the1923 Great Kantō earthquake,Matsumoto decided to try his fortunes overseas, and managed to obtain free passage toShanghai.[1]: 94, 121 His hope was to eventually make his way toParis.In Shanghai, he earned money by contributing illustrations and articles to theShanhai nichinichi shinbun(Thượng hải nhật nhật tân văn,"Shanghai Daily Newspaper" ),but when he turned twenty years of age, he was forced to return to Japan to report for the draft. He was rejected for military service because he wasflat footed.[1]: 94, 121 

Early career and marriage

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A panel fromPoku-chan and the Artistcirca 1931

Matsumoto's first forum for steady work was the magazineShōjo Gahō(Thiếu nữ họa báo,"Girls' Illustrated" ),to which he contributed from 1928 to 1938.[1]: 124–125 Matsumoto first ventured into manga inShōjo Gahō,creating a series of illustrated narratives featuring a lively Chinese girl named Poku-chan, which was irregularly published between November 1930 and March 1934.[1]: 124–125 The Poku-chan strips were drawn in a stylized, almost abstract,Art Decomanner.[11]At around this time, Matsumoto took onToshiko Uedaas an apprentice.[12]

Matsumoto could draw in a wide range of styles, from the realistic to the near-abstract, but all of his work was distinguished by clean, almost geometrical lines and a strictlyModernsensibility. While he illustrated numerous dramatic girls' novels, his style was better suited to sunny, playful, or humorous work. In 1935, Matsumoto began to work for the magazine that would become his primary forum,Shōjo no tomo(Thiếu nữ の hữu,"Girls' Friend" ).Shōjo no tomo,with its modern, stylish image, was the ideal magazine for Matsumoto.[13]

In 1932, at the age of 28, Matsumoto was wed to Ayako Nimori (Nhị sâm あや tử). They went on to have seven children (four boys, three girls) together. Because Ayako was an only child, the decision was made to have thefirstborn male child legally adopted by her parentsin order to carry on the Nimori name. On official records, therefore, Ki Nimori (Nhị sâm kỳ,born 1933) is listed as the younger brother of Ayako, and therefore the brother-in-law of Matsumoto.[d]

Major works

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The Mysterious Clover

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The cover ofThe Mysterious Clovercirca 1934

In 1934, Matsumoto drew his first full-fledged manga, a 16-page story titledNazo no kurōbaa(?( なぞ ) のクローバー,"The Mysterious Clover" ).Printed as an over-sized pamphlet with a sturdy cardboard cover, and included as a premium in the April issue ofShōjo no tomo,The Mysterious Cloverwas a variation onThe Scarlet PimpernelandZorro.The protagonist ofThe Mysterious Cloveris a young girl who protects the poor peasants from the cruel and greedy nobles. This work is remarkable for its use of varying angles, including bird's-eye views, and variation in the size of panels.[3]Sakō Shishido (Nhục hộ tả hành), influenced by American newspaper strips, had used similar techniques in his 1930Supiido Tarō(スピード thái lang,"Speed Tarō" ),but in a far cruder drawing style than Matsumoto's.[16]The Mysterious Cloverhad been neglected for decades by manga scholars until it was displayed at a 2006 exhibition at the Yayoi Art Museum, where it caught the eye ofFusanosuke Natsume,who then wrote about it on his blog and in a newspaper column.[2]

Kurukuru Kurumi-chan

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Matsumoto's most famous work is his mangaKurukuru Kurumi-chan(くるくるクルミちゃん),[e][1]: 24 which was serialized inShōjo no tomofrom January 1938 until December 1940. Featuring the daily antics of a little girl named Kurumi (クルミ,meaning "walnut" ), each episode was a self-contained story, usually running 4 pages and 22 panels. The strip rarely ventured far from everyday reality, and was characterized by a gradually building absurdity that rarely descended to simple slapstick.[4][5]

In the earliest episodes, Kurumi-chan is roughlyfour heads tall,and would seem to be roughly nine or ten years old. Over the years, though, Kurumi'sproportionschanged, until by the 1950s she had become an extremely stylized character no more than two heads high, and of unknown age.[4][5]

The strip was revived after the war in the magazineShōjo( "Girl" ) under the titleKurumi-chanand ran from November 1949 to February 1954.[1]: 122 

Book illustrations

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A page from Matsumoto's adaptation of "The Doll's House" circa 1955, showing the cheerful optimism of Matsumoto's characters.

While working onKurukuru Kurumi-chan,Matsumoto continued to do freestanding illustrations, in both color and black and white, and also to illustrate girls' fiction and poetry. Matsumoto was one of the most popular and influential illustrators working in girls' media, and he continued to be a popular illustrator through the early 1950s.[17][18]He worked with such prominent Japanese authors and poets asNobuko Yoshiyaand Yaso Saijō, and adapted many works by non-Japanese author's, includingKatherine Mansfield's short storyThe Doll's House,to the short-lived genre ofemonogatari(Hội vật ngữ,"picture stories" ).[19]: 34–48 

Although Matsumoto drew in a wide range of styles, certain features remain consistent. His characters have an air of intelligence without melancholy, and of cheerful optimism that is never saccharine.[13]Other popular illustrators of the day were better suited to the niches in which Matsumoto was not in his element. The multi-talented and enormously popularJun'ichi Nakahara(Trung nguyên thuần nhất) drew girls who were intelligent and stylish, but humor was not his forte.[20]In the genre of sentimental melodrama, according to Akiko Horiguchi, no one was more popular than Hiroshi Katsuyama ( thắng sơn ひろし).[21]But in an age when print media of all kinds were becoming increasingly visual, there was plenty of work to go around.[22]

Children's books and infant merchandise

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In 1955, Matsumoto abandoned manga altogether. Although he continued to do illustration work in a variety of styles, his focus shifted to the kind of hyper-stylized, wryly adorable character epitomized by the later Kurumi-chan. His target audience accordingly shifted from preteen and low-teen girls to toddlers and young mothers. In addition to illustrating new and original children's books, Matsumoto illustrated numerous classics, includingLittle Red Riding Hood(1955),Andrew Lang'sBlue Fairy Book(1959, translated byYasunari Kawabata), and various other collections of classic Japanese and European fairy tales.[19]: 81–89 

In 1960, Matsumoto founded Katsu Productions (Khắc プロダクション), which specialized in illustrations for infants and toddlers and designing various infant merchandise. This merchandise was spectacularly popular. Amateur manga scholar and blogger "lacopen" commented that "When I was a child, [Matsumoto's baby] goods were all the rage, so much so that it is no exaggeration to say they were everywhere."[23]His designs for the infant merchandise company known originally as "Sanshin. Inc." were perhaps the mostly widely consumed and recognized, and it has been suggested that the company changed its name to Combi (コンビ) in 1961,[24]which comes from the English "combination" and is used in Japanese to mean "duo" ) in response to the popularity of the infant duo, "Haamu" (ハーム) and "Monii" (モニー), created by Matsumoto and featured on a wide array of the company's products.[1]: 68–69 

Retirement and death

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In 1971, now in his late 60s, Matsumoto built an atelier,"Chijunbō"(Trĩ duẩn phòng,"Young Bamboo Shoot Studio" )in Kamishiraiwa (Thượng bạch nhamon theIzu Peninsula,where he turned his creative talents from the modern and cosmopolitan to the traditional and provincial. Using the bamboo that was so plentiful in the area, he designed a variety of toys and objects that could easily be reproduced by the local farmers to sell as souvenirs. For this work, Matsumoto was given a commendation by theShizuoka Prefecturalgovernment.[1]: 120 Although these works seem strikingly at odds with Matsumoto's cosmopolitan image, he in fact had always had an eye for the traditional, and was particularly fond of collecting carefully selected Japanese and Korean pottery and furniture. Modern or traditional, Western or Eastern, the common thread that runs through Matsumoto's aesthetic sense, and his work, is an appreciation of that which is refined, simple, elegant, and unpretentious.[1]: 74–75 [8][25]

In 1986, Matsumoto suffered the last of a series of strokes, and was hospitalized, never to fully regain consciousness again. The stylish Matsumoto had been famously fastidious throughout his life, and his daughter, Meiko, has written that she was startled to notice that on his hospital bed, where Matsumoto lay unconscious and barely responsive, he had been using his remaining good hand to remove the pills that had formed on the old hospital blanket. Furthermore, although doctors said he had lost his sight, Matsumoto would open his eyes, and, as if looking in a mirror, would straighten the hairs of his mustache with his fingers as he had habitually done for years.[26]Matsumoto died at the age of 81. His cremated remains are interred in the Fuji Cemetery inGotemba, Shizuoka,at the foot ofMount Fuji.[8]

Estate

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Matsumoto's children, in addition to Ki Nimori, are, in order of birth: Ikki Matsumoto (Tùng bổn nhất kỵ,born 1935, deceased); Rumi O'Brien (オブライエン lưu mỹ,born 1937, living in the U.S.A.); Motoi Matsumoto (Tùng bổn cơ,born 1939); Ken Matsumoto (Tùng bổn hiền,born 1941, deceased); Meiko Matsumoto (Tùng bổn minh tử,born 1943); and Michie Utsuhara (Vũ tân nguyên sung địa vinh,born 1945). Two of the first successful femaleshōjo mangaartists of the postwar period,Toshiko Uedaand Setsuko Tamura, were his apprentices. Michie, Matsumoto's youngest child, along with several of her siblings and Matsumoto's grandchildren, manages the Gallery Katsuji Matsumoto (ギャラリーまつもとかつぢ), soon to be renamed the Katsuji Matsumoto Archives (Tùng bổn かつぢ tư liêu quán), theofficial Katsuji Matsumoto websiteand itson-line shop,and also writes "Kurumi-chan nikki(クルミちゃん nhật ký,"Kurumi-chan Diary" ).The gallery is located at 4-14-18 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 158-0094.[8]

Footnotes

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  1. ^Although he generally wrote his given name inhiragana,かつぢ,his legal given name, pronounced the same, was written inkanji,Thắng trị.[1]: 121 
  2. ^The Matsumoto Katsuji tùng bổn thắng trị of this article should not be confused with animation director Matsumoto Katsuji tùng bổn thắng thứ who has worked on theSailor Moonanime (note difference in the fourth kanji).
  3. ^The school is today known as Rikkyō (St. Paul's) Junior & Senior High School in Ikebukuro. In the prewar period,chūgakkō(Trung học giáo,"middle school" )referred to what would today be considered an academically elite high school or "prep school."[9]
  4. ^Under theJapaneseiefamily systemthat was the law of the land prior to the end of World War II, it was common in cases where there was no male heir for a groom to be legally adopted by his bride's parents and become the successor to her family name. Since Katsuji was himself the eldest son of and successor to the Matsumoto family, this was not an option.[8][14][15]
  5. ^"Kurukuru" --くるくる--means "spinning" or "winding", "-chan" --ちゃん--is a diminutive honorific that can be translated as "little" or "dear".

References

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  1. ^abcdefghijklmnoUchida, Shizue (2006).Tùng bổn かつぢ---- chiêu hòa の khả ái い!をつくったイラストレーター[Katsuji Matsumoto: The Illustrator Who Created the Showa Era's 'Cute!']. Kawade Shobō Shinsha.ISBN4-309-72751-4.
  2. ^abFusanosuke, Natsume(May 30, 2006). "Tảo かった tùng bổn かつぢの hoạt kịch biểu hiện" [Katsuji Matsumoto's Cutting-Edge Expression of Dramatic Action].Mainichi Shimbun.
  3. ^abThorn, Rachel(March 15, 2008).The Multi-Faceted Universe of Shōjo Manga.Le manga, 60 ans après..., Paris.Archivedfrom the original on October 2, 2013.
  4. ^abcMatsumoto, Katsuji (1987).くるくるクルミちゃん[Kurukuru Kurumi-chan]. Vol. 1. Kokusho Kankoukai.ISBN978-4-336-02277-6.
  5. ^abcMatsumoto, Katsuji (1987).くるくるクルミちゃん[Kurukuru Kurumi-chan]. Vol. 2. Kokusho Kankoukai.ISBN978-4-336-02278-3.
  6. ^ab"Tùng bổn かつぢの thế giới"[Katsuji Matsumoto's World]. Matsumoto Estate. Archived fromthe originalon July 13, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 2,2008.
  7. ^abThorn, Rachel(2006)."Pre-World War II Shōjo Manga and Illustrations".Archived fromthe originalon January 28, 2013.RetrievedSeptember 2,2008.
  8. ^abcdeDetails regarding Matsumoto's parents, exact date of birth and date of death, education, children, publication history ofKurukuru Kurumi-chan,atelier activities, and personality and habits were provided toRachel Thornin three personal e-mails from Matsumoto's daughter Michie Utsuhara ( vũ tân nguyên sung địa vinh ), dated July 22, 23, and 28, 2008. These facts can be verified by Ms. Utsuhara, who is President of Mastumoto Katsuji Art Promotion, Inc. The telephone/fax number is +81-3-3707-3503, and the address is 4-14-18 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 158-0094, Japan. She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
  9. ^Uchida, Shizue (2005).Nữ học sinh thủ trướng 〜 đại chính ・ chiêu hòa ất nữ らいふ[A Schoolgirl's Handbook: A Maiden's Life in theTaishoandShowaPeriods]. Kawade Shobō Shinsha. pp. 18–19.ISBN4-309-72742-5.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  10. ^Hiramatsu, Yoshiyuki.Thiếu nữ の minh るい mộng を truy cầu ーー tùng bổn かつぢの thế giới[In Pursuit of the Cheerful Dreams of Girls: The World of Katsuji Matsumoto].Sanrio.p. 19.
  11. ^Thorn, Rachel(2006-02-24).Commercialization & the Loss of Innocence: Children's Manga from the 1920s to the Present.Comics and Childhood: The Fourth Annual Conference on Comics.University of Florida,Gainesville.
  12. ^Thorn, Rachel(June 12, 2017)."Before the Forty-Niners".Archived fromthe originalon August 1, 2017.RetrievedAugust 8,2017.
  13. ^abEndoh, Hiroko (2004).『 thiếu nữ の hữu 』とその thời đại ーー biên tập giả の dũng khí nội sơn cơ[Shōjo no tomoand Era: An Editor's Courage Motoi Uchiyama]. Honnoizumisha. pp. 55–59.ISBN978-4-88023-821-0.
  14. ^Kurosu, Satomi; Ochiai, Emiko (March 30, 2001). "Adoption as an Heirship Strategy under Demographic Constraints: a Case from Nineteenth-Century Japan". International Center for Japanese Studies.Journal of Family History.20(3): 261–288.doi:10.1177/036319909502000303.ISSN1552-5473.S2CID145451908.
  15. ^Saito, Osamu (March 30, 2001)."Two kinds of stem-family system? Traditional Japan and Europe compared"(PDF).Institute of Economic Research,Hitotsubashi University.Continuity and Change.13(1): 167–186.doi:10.1017/S0268416098003087.ISSN1469-218X.S2CID55888114.
  16. ^Shishido, Sakoh (1988).スピード thái lang[Speed Tarō]. San'ichi Shobō.ISBN978-4-380-88549-5.
  17. ^Kondoh, Tomie (1992).Đại chính ・ chiêu hòa thiếu niên thiếu nữ tạp chí danh tràng diện tập[A Collection of Memorable Scenes from Boys' and Girls' Magazines of theTaishoandShowaPeriods].Gakken.p. 47.
  18. ^Takahashi, Yohji (1984).Hội bổn II[Picture Books II]. Bessatsu Taiyō. Heibonsha. p. 36.
  19. ^abHiramatsu, Yoshiyuki.Thiếu nữ の minh るい mộng を truy cầu ーー tùng bổn かつぢの thế giới[In Pursuit of the Cheerful Dreams of Girls: The World of Katsuji Matsumoto].Sanrio.
  20. ^Yanase, Takashi(1986).よみがえれ! Trừ tình họa mỹ thiếu nữ の vân thuyết 〜 trừ tình họa のルーツから tân cảm 覚 phái の đản sinh まで[Revive! Lyrical Illustration--Legend of the beautiful girl: From the Roots of Lyrical Illustration to the Birth of Neo Sensualism].Sanrio.p. 54.ISBN4-387-86065-0.
  21. ^Horiuchi, Akiko (2003).Ất nữ のロマンス thủ trướng[A Maiden's Romance Handbook]. Kawade Shobō Shinsha. p. 36.ISBN4-309-72732-8.
  22. ^Yonezawa, Yoshihiro(1991).Tử cung の chiêu hòa sử ── thiếu nữ マンガの thế giới I chiêu hòa 20 niên 〜37 niên[A Children's History of Showa-Era Japan: The World of Shōjo Manga I, 1945-1962]. Bessatsu Taiyō. Heibonsha. p. 36.ISBN978-4-582-94239-2.
  23. ^Tùng bổn かつぢ triển へ hành く ( 続き )[Go to Katsuji Matsumoto Exhibition (continued)] (in Japanese).Nifty Corporation.May 21, 2006.Archivedfrom the original on July 10, 2012.
  24. ^"Corporate History".Combi Corporation.Konami.Archivedfrom the original on September 13, 2012.RetrievedAugust 26,2008.
  25. ^"かつぢの ái したものたち"[The Objects Katsuji Loved]. Matsumoto Estate. Archived fromthe originalon April 25, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 2,2008.
  26. ^"クルミちゃん nhật ký phụ の tử".kurumifriend.blog122.fc2.com.

Further reading

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  • Shimonaka, Kunihiko ( hạ trung bang ngạn ), ed. (1979)Meisaku sashie zenshū dai yon kan: Shōwa senzen shōnen shōjo hen(Danh tác 挿 hội toàn tập đệ tứ quyển 〜 chiêu hòa chiến tiền thiếu niên thiếu nữ thiên,"Complete Collection of Memorable Book Illustrations, Volume 4: PrewarShowa PeriodBoys' and Girls' Works "),Tokyo: Heibonsha (Bình phàm xã).
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