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By Matthew O’Mara

VANCOUVER —  This isn’t your typical exhibition of ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Starting January 9th, The West Vancouver Museum will be hosting Ukiyoe Spectacular an exhibit that will be showcasing over one hundred colourful and unusual woodblock prints.

The prints included in the exhibition depict all of the traditional subjects you would expect: samurai, beautiful women, kabuki actors, but they also reveal facets of the social and political issues of the time.

According to a press release from The West Vancouver Museum, the censorship imposed by the Tokugawa government at the time played a huge role in creating new trends seen in the woodblock prints.

The Cat-Witch from the Fifty-Three Stages

The exhibition also celebrates the 125th anniversary of consular relations between Canada and Japan. As well, there are a number of events associated with the exhibition included a few talks and demonstrations. For more see below:

Japanese Woodcut Printmaking Demonstration
Shinsuke Minegishi, Print Media Arts Instructor, Emily Carr University Art and Design
January 25, 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the West Vancouver Museum

Demonstration and lecture on Japanese style woodcut printing with water-base inks. Shinsuke Minegishi will discuss the traditional way of block creation and printing related equipment.

Japanese Folklore and Popular Customs Appearing in the Ukiyoe Spectacular
Dr. Jan Walls, Professor Emeritus, Humanities, SFU
February 1, 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Nikkei Museum
February 8, 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the West Vancouver Museum 

Examples from the exhibition will be highlighted to illustrate logographic word play (moji-asobi), pictures composed of kanji and/or kana (moji-e), cat lore and monster lore, whole creatures presented as parts of larger whole creatures, and playful teaching tools.

Kuniyoshi’s Comic Prints: Exploring the Roots of Manga in Edo-Period Ukiyoe
Maiko Behr, Japanese Art Consultant and Translator
March 2, 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Nikkei Museum
March 8, 2 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the West Vancouver Museum

This talk will explore definitions of the comic genre, tracing the term “manga” and characteristic features of its style and subject matter into the past. Closer examination of the humorous, bizarre, and often cryptic imagery of 19th-century woodblock prints illuminate intriguing connections to the world of manga comics.