A fine copy of Serizawa's lovely book dedicated to Okinawan craft and culture.
Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984) was one of the preeminent Japanese craftspeople of the 20th century, and was honoured with Living National Treasure status in 1956. Serizawa was born in Shizuoka to a family of kimono merchants and grew up surrounded by exquisite textiles. In 1928 he encountered bingata – a form of stencil dyed textiles from Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands) – for the first time, which had a profound effect on him. Moved by the intricacy of patterns and vibrant colours, Serizawa began to study katazome stencil dyeing himself and pioneered the create use of this dyeing method on paper. He is equally known for his textile work and works on paper, including individual prints and bound volumes.
In the present book, Serizawa takes us on an evocative, crafts-focused tour of Okinawa. We are first introduced to people carrying local goods above their heads, then to a bustling open market. He then illustrates 'Daiichi' or 'the great market' with covered stalls selling hats, textiles, vegetables among other things. One spread is dedicated to bingata textiles, with vignettes showing the dyeing process, while another harness darker, more muted tones to illustrate Okinawan pottery. In the final few spreads we are shown Shuri castle, temple life and traditional housing.
Owing to the popularity of this book, the Osaka-based published Gohashi produced a reprint in 1985. More recently, in 2022, the Shizuoka City Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum held a special exhibition, 'Keisuke Serizawa and Okinawa', which featured a copy of the present book.
Rare, especially in this condition. Only 2 copies recorded outside of Japan in OCLC (Harvard and University of Michigan).
