Kyoto in Art: Buddhism, Shinto, and the Dreamlike World of Inagaki Toshijiro
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Inagaki Toshijiro (1902–1963) was born in Kyoto, a city where artistic refinement, religious tradition, nature, and the passage of centuries remain deeply intertwined. His distinctive artistic world developed through katazome, the Japanese technique of dyeing fabrics through the use of stencils and resist paste. Yet his creativity was not confined to textiles. During the early post-war period, he also produced a small number of woodblock prints, revealing another dimension of his artistic imagination.
The Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art observes that, “Inagaki’s works show not only a high level of technical perfection, such as the skillful incorporation of tsuri (‘bridges’ that connect different designs and designs to the stencil frame) into the design; they also reveal a sense of playfulness, as seen in the artist’s inclusion of dye rubbings, blots and other chance elements that occur during the production process.”
Thus, technical mastery and spontaneity exist together in his art. Precision provides the foundation, while the unexpected movements and traces of the creative process breathe life into the finished work.
All three of these delightful art pieces evoke the religious and cultural spirit of Kyoto. The first incorporates Buddhist imagery and sensibilities, while the final work turns toward Shinto, the indigenous spiritual tradition of Japan. In this manner, Inagaki’s art becomes more than an exercise in colour and design. It opens a quiet window into the spiritual landscape of Kyoto, where Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, gardens, mountains, and the rhythms of nature have long formed part of the city’s cultural soul.
Yet in the second artwork, the young maiko, a young apprentice geisha, immediately captures the eye. Her magnificent kimono and delicate colours introduce another dimension of Kyoto’s traditional culture. There is something almost dreamlike in her presence, as though she has stepped momentarily from another age into the modern world. Her beauty is not merely ornamental; the kimono, colours, patterns, and composed elegance speak to the extraordinary cultural refinement associated with Kyoto.
Inagaki was also an esteemed kimono designer, and nature remained important to his artistic vision. He selected plants from the countryside surrounding Kyoto and used them in creating the dyes for his work. Consequently, the landscape itself became part of the artistic process. Flowers, vegetation, seasonal colours, and the changing appearance of the natural world were transformed into pigments and patterns, allowing nature to pass quietly from the countryside into the world of Japanese art.
This connection between nature, faith, and beauty is particularly important when contemplating Kyoto. Buddhism and Shinto may emerge differently within the three works, yet both resonate with an older Japanese sensitivity toward the sacred presence of the natural world. A temple, a pagoda, a shrine, a tree, a mountain, or even the colours of a kimono can become part of a wider cultural conversation between humanity and the spiritual realm.
Inagaki Toshijiro therefore creates a world where art, religion, nature, and high culture gently converge. His Kyoto is not simply a geographical place. It is a dreamlike landscape of memory and tradition, where Buddhist contemplation, Shinto spirituality, the beauty of the kimono, and the colours of the surrounding countryside continue to speak to one another. In these works, the old cultural heart of Japan does not appear frozen in the past. Instead, it remains alive through colour, form, faith, and beauty.
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi’s website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK