Keiko Nakamura, Curator

Keiko Nakamura is the curator of Tokyo's Yayoi Museum, which is one of the best museums in Tokyo, with nostalgic exhibitions focusing on popular illustrators. In 2015 I wrote a review of an exhibition of the work of Sayume Tachibana for Metropolis Magazine. In preparation for this I also interviewed the museum's curator Keiko Nakamura.

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Liddell: Tachibana's paintings reflect an idea of women as attractive but dangerous. Was there any personal reason - such as an experience, a relationship, or a habit - that can explain Tachibana's fascination with this idea of woman?

Nakamura: Sayume suffered from heart failure since he was a small child. So he spent most of his time in childhood reading literature and folklore rather than running around like every other child does. Japanese folklore and tradition he loved are full of enchanting and bewitching beauty and he was strongly fascinated by these women and embodied them in his works of art.

At the same time, as he was told by doctors that he would not live until 20 years old because of his heart disease, he was obsessed with “the other world” after death. Female nymphs and ghosts living in another world were not only attractive but also familiar to Sayume who was feeling close to death all the time.

Liddell: When was he most active and successful? Was he recognized as a great artist at that time? How has reputation changed since then? How has his popularity changed over the years?

Nakamura: Apparently most of his Japanese paintings were produced from year 8 to 12 in the Taisho period (1919-1923). Unfortunately, however, many of them were lost or burnt out in the big earthquake in 1923 and war. So now we cannot overview his artworks as a whole. At that time, engaged in painting as an individual painter and illustrator, not belonging to any of the groups, he was not so highly praised as any great painter in his lifetime.

As for the illustrations for books and magazines, Sayume seemed most productive in 1916 and 1917 and from 1925 to 1928. His inconsistency and the intermittence of his production was partly caused by his physical weakness. As was mentioned above, Sayume was born with heart failure. He had to stop working on his art and take a rest when he felt seriously ill. This is one of the reasons for the misfortune that he could not get the reputation that he deserved.

Another reason for his misfortune was that he was born too early to receive the proper appreciation of his art. The fantastic and illusory air of his paintings was clearly against the tide of the age when militarism started prevailing in Japan from the beginning of the Showa Period (1925 onward). Under these circumstances, Sayume was not well known during his lifetime.

But in Japan today, free from any of the political restraints, let alone militarism, Sayume’s art attracts people, particularly young people living in the big city who are sensitive to the edge of the time. Like Vincent van Gogh and others, we know many cases to find great artists after their death. Sayume will be one of such examples, I believe.

Liddell: Many of the artworks are connected to books and literature. Was he simply reflecting literature or was it a two-way process? Did his art also influence literature and the works of writers?

Nakamura: Sayume was acquainted with his contemporary artists, like very popular detective stories writers, Edogawa Rampo and Yokomizo Seishi, whose fames were established at the time. Sayume and these writers shared their taste for a mysterious world. In that sense they may have effected each other, but we cannot definitely say that his art had a specific “impact” on his contemporary writers.

Liddell: Many of the works are "sexually charged." Did he have any problems with censors in those days? How were the standards of censorship in those days - strict or lenient? I believe they were more lenient but then became stricter later, but I am not sure.

Nakamura: One of his representative works ‘Suima (Water Sprite, lithograph, 1932)’ was prohibited from exhibiting and publishing. It is sure that the painting looks erotic with a stark naked woman in the water, but the reason for this prohibition was not solely due to its sexual charge, but maybe because the danger of this sensuality comes from the ambivalent feelings about death it represents——dread and fascination——deeply rooted at the bottom of our heart. People are afraid of death but at the same time they can sometimes find “rest and peace” in death.

1932 was the year when Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai was killed by young naval officers. That revolt called “The 5.15 Incident” was the turning point in Japanese modern history when the nation rapidly got militarized and the militaristic government tried to make the Japanese conform to one monolithic idea, militarism. Such government wanted to sweep away all those enigmatic and uncanny elements from the society. To the eyes of people today, Suima does not look so sexual. Without doubt, it is counted as a masterpiece of art in the 20th century Japan.

Liddell: His paintings have a unique character. One imagines that he had as unusual a personality as his art. What can you tell me about his personality? Was he as strange and unusual as his paintings suggest?

Nakamura: Sayume’s artworks surely have bizarre elements. People easily imagine an artist who created such enigmatic art should be eccentric and dangerous. On the contrary to the images evoked by his art, Sayume was quite a normal Japanese man who loved his family, with a wife and 4 kids, refrained from smoking and drinking, kept regular hours, and devoted himself to caring for his wife in bed at the age of 63. Particularly after her death, he was a very home-oriented father who did cooking, washing and cleaning. Far from being a pervert, Sayume was quite a gentle and nice man who often made people laugh with his good sense of humor.