The Genesis of Manga –Publisher Yurakusha and “Tokyo Pack”
Nov 27 - Mar 23
The exhibition at the Benrido Collotype Gallery will feature the unique publisher Yurakusha, founded by Benrido's founder in Tokyo, and the Tokyo Pack, a pioneering manga magazine published by the company that was so popular that the word "pack" became synonymous with manga in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Founded in the Meiji period, Benrido inherited and developed the collotype, which has become rare worldwide but has had many faces throughout its long history.
Founder Yajiro Nakamura (pseudonymous: Yuraku) founded Benrido in 1887 when he was 14, handed over management to his brothers in 1901, and founded the publishing company “Yurakusha” in Tokyo in 1903. "Tokyo Pack" published with Kitazawa Rakuten, considered the first Japanese professional cartoonist, was Japan's first full-page multi-color large-format lithograph manga magazine. In this exhibition, you can see all 227 covers of the first period from the first issue in 1905 to 1912, which reflect the world of the time in one place. It's amazing!
Shueisha Manga Art Heritage is a project to preserve and pass on the cultural heritage of manga, which the company regards as an art form that should be handed from generation to generation.
One of these projects is "The Millennium Series." One of the means chosen to transmit manga to the next millennia is the collotype, which has been used for more than a century to reproduce cultural properties. Among them, we will exhibit for the first time "Kokui Shonen Zu" (boy in black clothes) produced in Benrido in 2022 from "Bleach" by Kubo Taito, with the cooperation of Shueisha.
Please enjoy the genesis of manga and its succession to the future!
Hours
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Closed 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Closed
Sunday, Holidays
Closed during the New Year holidays.
Fee
Free
Venue
Benrido Collotype Gallery
302 Benzaitencho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 604-0093
Access
7 minute walk from exit 4 at Marutamachi Station on the Karasuma subway line.