Artists

Tanaka Kakashi

Tanaka Kakashi (田中案山子, 1906–1970) was a Nihonga painter in Tōkyō. He exhibited eight times at the Inten and was among the co-founders of the Shinkō Bijutsuin in 1937.

Published on: Jun 24, 2025

Kakemono by Tanaka Kakashi: open peony blossom, painted in ink. — Peony in ink – kakemono by Tanaka Kakashi (田中案山子), Shōwa period (detail)

In a nutshell

Tanaka Kakashi (田中案山子) was a Japanese Nihonga painter (1906–1970). He was born in Ōme in present-day Tōkyō and held the civilian name Tadao. As a student of Tanaka Ichian, he initially exhibited at the Inten, where he was accepted eight times and received the status of In'yū. In 1937 he was among the co-founders of the Shinkō Bijutsuin, a breakaway from the established exhibition system. He died on May 14, 1970, at his home in Setagaya of pulmonary emphysema at the age of 64.

Tanaka Kakashi (田中案山子): Nihonga Painter Between Inten and Shinkō Bijutsuin

Tanaka Kakashi (田中案山子, 1906–1970) was a Japanese Nihonga painter. He was born in 1906 in Ōme, which today belongs to Tōkyō, and bore the civil name Tadao (格男). The artist name 案山子 literally means "scarecrow" – an unusual, markedly modest choice for a painter.

Training Under Tanaka Ichian and the Path Through the Inten

Kakashi was a student of Tanaka Ichian. He began his career through the Inten, the exhibition of the Nihon Bijutsuin, where he was accepted eight times and attained the status of In'yū – a rank of affiliation below full membership, denoting a lasting connection to the institution.

Co-Founder of the Shinkō Bijutsuin in 1937

In 1937, Kakashi was among the founders of the Shinkō Bijutsuin. Such new foundations were common in the 1930s: younger painters, for whom advancement within the established exhibition societies proceeded too slowly or whose views met with resistance there, created their own forums. Later, Kakashi was associated with the Daitō Nanshū-in. He died on May 14, 1970, of pulmonary emphysema at his home in Tōkyō's Setagaya ward, at the age of 64; the obituary in the Nihon Bijutsu Nenkan records these details.

The Single Blossom Within the Picture Field

A peony that fills almost the entire picture field, without landscape accompaniment and without a bird: this concentration on a single motif clearly distinguishes the Nihonga of the Shōwa period from the narrative flower-and-bird paintings of the Edo period. The pictorial composition draws nearer, the framing becomes tighter, and what remains must carry the whole on its own. Executed in ink, there is the additional factor that the blossom derives its form only through gradations of gray – the fullness of the leaves arises from graduated wetness, not from contour.