Japanese Woodblock Print, 1946, published by Takamizawa Honsha for Fugaku Shuppan-sha

SIZE IN INCHES: chuban, 10.75 x 8 inches

COMMENTS: Nihon Minzoku Zufu (Pictures of Japanese Native Customs). From the series of 12 prints done by well known sosaku hanga artists right after World War II.

"Festival in Urasa" - The Festival in Urasa is held at Urasa in Echigo province on the 3rd of March. At sunset, many young men who are scarcely clothed, gather in Rashamon-do pavilion. They wrestle in the small pavilion. When dawn comes, they will dedicate a large candle, sake and other products to the god. After that, they will throw the sake cups. The bi-standers will compete to pick them up for good luck. This festival is peculiar because it is held during the most snowy time of the year.

SENPAN MAEKAWA (1888-1960) was born as the son of a shopkeeper family in Kyoto. He studied art and took a job as a cartoonist for a satirical magazine. Later he had even a cartoon series of his own in a Sunday newspaper about a clumsy bear. Maekawa Senpan made his first print in Sosaku Hanga style in 1919. After the end of the Pacific war he became famous with prints in cheerful colors showing customs and festivities of the common people in the countryside.

VG, minor flaws