1956 Rare Book • MASKS by Seiroku Noma, Kodansha. Mad Men, Spirit Masks, Noh Masks

✳︎Book Title: Kodansha Edition Art Books Japanese Art Series MASKS
✳︎Author: Kiyoroku Noma (Former Head of Public Relations, National Museum, Art Critic)
✳︎Publisher: Kodansha
✳︎Publication Date: March 20, 1956 (First Edition)
✳︎Size: A5
✳︎Pages: 80p
✳︎Photography: Yoshio Takahashi (Kodansha Photography Department)
✳︎Photographs Included: 47 (19 color plates, 28 gravure and others)
✳︎Book Design: Nobuya Abe
✳︎Condition: No missing pages. Cover has tears and other damage. 〼
Please purchase only if you understand that this is a used book.

This book is part of Kodansha's Art Books Japanese Art Series, focusing on traditional Japanese masks. The cover features a powerful Gyodo-men (processional mask) from Oshitate Shrine, used in Noh and Kyogen theater to symbolically express emotions.

The value of this book lies in its luxurious gen-shoku ban (original color plate) printing method, fundamentally different from modern color printing.
In those days, before sophisticated offset printing was widespread, especially for illustrations where color reproduction was difficult, a technique called harikomi was used. This involved printing on separate sheets with advanced techniques and then artisans manually pasting each print onto the page. The thickness of the illustrations felt when turning the pages, the difference in paper texture, and the deep color saturation characteristic of the early Showa period give it a brilliance that cannot be experienced in digitized modern art books.

The masks featured are all ancient masks, carefully preserved and rarely exhibited, from places like Todai-ji Temple, Horyu-ji Temple, and Oshitate Shrine in Shiga.

The historical context of Kiyoroku Noma, a keen connoisseur of the time, compiling these masks together as the post-war period began to stabilize, is a captivating point for enthusiasts.

Nobuya Abe, a master of contemporary art, handled the surrealist book design. The deep lighting by Yoshio Takahashi brings out the living expressions of the masks with terrifying power. This book, a crystallization of craftsmanship, is impossible to reproduce with the same quality today.

◉Search Terms
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