SHIBUNKAKU
思文閣

(b. 1958)
Honda Takeshi was born in 1958 in Yamaguchi Prefecture. For Honda, before the age of thirty, drawing and painting as a means of expressing his emotions was an activity limited to his free time. It was only after he moved to Tono, Iwate Prefecture, in 1987 that he fully embarked on a career as an artist. Since then, he has continued to depict the mountains in Tono in order to explore and question the interconnectedness among nature, environment and himself for more than 3 decades. Honda’s works are in the collections of major art museums in Japan and abroad, such as Iwate Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto Museum of Modern Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Drawing Center (New York), and others. He lives and works in Tono.

(1880–1977)
Kumagai Morikazu was born in Gifu Prefecture. After graduating from Tokyo School of Fine Arts, he was active at the Bunten (government-sponsored exhibitions), and for about five years worked as a woodcutter in the Kiso Mountains, following his mother’s death. Kumagai is widely recognized for a style distinguished by bright colors and clear forms. His later works, depicting familiar living things like flowers, insects, and birds, are cherished by people across all ages. He refused the Order of Culture, preferring to spend an artistic life free of official interference. Kumagai was often considered as ‘the recluse of the Japanese art world.’

(1912-1998)
Avant-garde calligrapher from Hyōgo Prefecture. Like fellow artist Inoue Yūichi, Morita studied under the calligraphy master Ueda Sōkyū. He co-founded the avant-garde group Bokujinkai together with Inoue and was the founder and editor of the journal Bokubi (Beauty of Ink), both of which revolutionized traditional Japanese calligraphy and spread knowledge of Japanese avant-garde calligraphy to an international audience. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor with Dark Blue Ribbon.