University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
For Immediate Release:	November 25, 1998
Contact: Ann Brandman, 956-9883

Utagawaha Monjinkai of Japan presents 50 original ukiyo-e woodblock prints to the University of Hawai'i Media Advisory / Photo Opportunity: Media representatives are welcome at the presentation, December 2, 11 a.m. in the Bachman Hall office of UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer. On Wednesday, December 2, the University of Hawai'i will receive a gift of 50 ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Utagawaha Monjinkai of Japan. Mrs. Yoko Ikeno, president of the Utagawa Society of Japan, will make the presentation in full formal kimono to University of Hawai'i President Kenneth P. Mortimer. The ukiyo-e prints are significant to both Japanese and European culture, having inspired a number of impressionist artists, notably Vincent Van Gogh, who was himself a collector of the prints. Mrs. Ikeno is working to bring to Hawai'i an exhibit of ukiyo-e prints that originally belonged to Van Gogh and are currently stored in a vault on the island of Malta. The Utagawa school is the largest Japanese ukiyo-e group of artists. In 1990, Dr. Tadashi Goino, first chairman of the Utagawaha Monjinkai, organized artists, researchers, collectors, devotees and foreign academicians to research and collect the Utagawa school's ukiyo-e. He hoped to enlarge recognition of school's influence on linking Japanese and European culture, and to revive the essence of Japanese culture in today's society. In addition, Dr. Goino researched and restored to the ukiyo-e collection prints that had been collected by Vincent Van Gogh. Through the years, the Utagawaha Monjinkai has planned and held various exhibitions in Japan. These aimed to dispel the notion of "west high, east low" and to bring to the attention of the Japanese people the strong influence Japanese art has had on other cultures and art forms. Exhibitions have also been organized in the United States, Europe, Russia and elsewhere around the globe. Dr. Goino is planning to give a lecture on his work with the Utagawa ukiyo-e prints at the University of Hawai'i Outreach College this spring.

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