Meguro Museum of Art Collection Exhibition: "Tokyo Puck" and Its Era + Special Exhibition: Rakuten Kitazawa's "Kodomo no Tomo"

About this event

'Tokyo Puck', which was launched in 1905 as Japan's first full-color manga magazine, vividly conveyed the social conditions and people's lives of the time through vibrant colors and humorous satirical cartoons. This exhibition mainly introduces original drawings of 'Tokyo Puck' from the collection of the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo, created during a turbulent era spanning the post-Great Kanto Earthquake reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the path toward war. The figures of people living their daily lives with anxieties and confusion amid social changes overlap with us today across time. Satirical cartoons have sharply, and sometimes humorously, documented the contradictions of society and people's true feelings. From the pages of 'Tokyo Puck', one can sense the emotions of people and the social atmosphere of that time, which cannot be fully seen through history textbooks alone. In addition, this year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rakuten Kitazawa, the founder of 'Tokyo Puck' and known as Japan's first professional cartoonist. In conjunction with this, original drawings from 'Kodomo no Tomo', a children's picture magazine where Kitazawa served as head of illustration, will be specially exhibited. Through these warm and friendly works drawn for children, visitors can also catch a glimpse of Rakuten Kitazawa's charm that differs from his satirical cartoons. Through the work of 'Tokyo Puck' and Rakuten Kitazawa, this exhibition looks back from a modern perspective at what people 100 years ago laughed at, got angry about, and what kind of future they wished for.

Venue

Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo

2-4-36 Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0063