Scenes of Last Tokyo
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- British Museum
Description
"Scenes of Last Tokyo" renders the city of Tokyo as a city of memory — the "last Tokyo" suggesting either a Tokyo at the end of its prewar existence (before wartime bombing transformed it) or a Tokyo disappearing under the pressure of postwar modernization. Kawakami, who produced his "Recollections of Tokyo" series in 1945 as the city was being bombed, had a particular sensitivity to Tokyo as a city that could be lost. His simplified, storybook rendering of its streets, shops, and cultural landmarks becomes an act of documentation as much as art.
More Prints by Sumio Kawakami
![Title unknown [Flowers in a vase] by Sumio Kawakami](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135636.jpg)
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
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View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
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Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
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Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
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Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Scenes of Last Tokyo was created by Sumio Kawakami (川上澄生).
Scenes of Last Tokyo depicts urban scenes, landscapes, and travel scenes, set at Tokyo.