Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The victory was a coincidence, but the defeat was inevitable.
00:07How did the artists who colored the history of Japan lose?
00:13What was the cause and mistake behind it?
00:18This time, we will focus on the defeat of the artist Utamaro Kitagawa,
00:24who was the pinnacle of the ukiyo-e world with his beautiful Okubie.
00:28A combination of Kitai's main producer Tsutajyu,
00:32he made hits one after another, but there was no bloodshed.
00:38What was the last stubbornness of the artist who continued to resist the regulations of the shogunate?
00:48Life philosophy learned from the failures of the defeated.
00:53Lessons from the Defeated Artists
01:03What do we learn from the failures of the artists in history?
01:09I'm Yuri Nakanishi, the host of the program.
01:14And I'm Jun Ito, a historian.
01:17Thank you for joining us today.
01:19Last time, we focused on the defeat of Tsutaya Juzaburo,
01:24but there were a lot of unique creators in Edo at that time.
01:28There were a lot.
01:30Originally, Edo did not have its own culture.
01:34The trend of Tsutaya was to establish their identity.
01:40That was the basis.
01:42Ukiyo-e, based on Nishikei, became a big trend.
01:47That's why Edo culture flourished.
01:49This person also seems to have a strong habit.
01:53This time, I would like to focus on the defeat of Ukiyo-e, Kitagawa Utamaro,
01:58who won the battle with Tsutaya Juzaburo.
02:03Utamaro is the founder of Ukiyo-e in Katsushika, Hokusai, Utagawa, and Hiroshige.
02:11Utamaro appeared in the world as a tag team with Tsutaya Juzaburo.
02:16How long did the relationship last?
02:19The relationship lasted from 1783 to 1793.
02:27It was about 10 to 11 years.
02:29It's surprisingly short.
02:31So they didn't form a tag team for a long time.
02:34Why did they break up?
02:36It's a bit of a mystery.
02:38This time, I would like to look for a lesson in order to live tomorrow
02:42while unraveling the defeat of Kitagawa Utamaro.
02:45First, let's look back at the life of Kitagawa Utamaro.
02:48Please take a look.
02:51Kitagawa Utamaro, known as the master of beauty painting,
02:56was born in Edo in 1753.
03:02Utamaro's youth was a time when various cultures and arts
03:06flourished by the commercial policy of Okitsugu Tanuma,
03:11the head of the Shogunate.
03:14Ukiyo-e, also known as Nishiki-e, was born around this time
03:19and spread rapidly.
03:22In the meantime, Utamaro enrolled in Sekien Toriyama,
03:26a painter of the Kano family,
03:30and made his debut in the name of Kitagawa Toyoaki around 1770.
03:36It was Tsutaju, also known as Tsutaya Juzaburo,
03:40who found Utamaro struggling with difficulty.
03:48Tsutaju made Utamaro live in his own shop
03:51and made him name Kitagawa, which was his own name.
03:57In 1788, Utamaro and Tsutaju became a couple
04:03and succeeded in making enhanced paintings such as Ehon Mushierami,
04:08which became a hit one after another.
04:12However, when the reform of Kansei began by the old beast Matsudaira Sadanobu,
04:18the publishing house was strictly regulated,
04:21and Tsutaju, a business partner, also lost a lot of property.
04:29Even so, Utamaro again teamed up with Tsutaju
04:33and created a new genre called Mijin Okubie,
04:37which recorded a huge hit before the wind.
04:40He suddenly became the first person to make a beautiful painting.
04:45However, when Tsutaju sold his paintings to Toshusai Sharaku,
04:49there was a crack in their relationship,
04:52and Tsutaju's death prevented them from getting married.
05:00Even after that, Utamaro,
05:02while fighting against the regulations of the government
05:05and his own ideas and lack of painting power,
05:08announced his work vigorously,
05:11but he was eventually banned from painting Mijin Okubie,
05:14and fell into a dilemma.
05:17Then, in 1804,
05:20Nishikie, the founder of Taikokyo,
05:22touched on the banning of Wakfu,
05:25and Utamaro was punished on the 50th day of Tejo
05:28after a tough investigation.
05:33It was the moment of Utamaro's defeat.
05:37This time, Utamaro's own pride
05:39forced him to fight against the regulations of Wakfu,
05:42and Utamaro Kitagawa was defeated.
05:49Now, let's take a look at the main events of Utamaro Kitagawa's life.
05:54Utamaro's master was one of the most influential people in Japan.
06:00Yes, he was. His name was Sekien Toriyama.
06:04Sekien Toriyama did not draw beautiful women or actors
06:09as his main job.
06:12He drew Yagio Emaki, a famous yokai painting.
06:17Shigeru Mizuki and others highly praised his work.
06:21However, Utamaro's works were not influenced by Kano.
06:25Yes.
06:26In fact, Utamaro's works were influenced by
06:30Shunsho Tsukaha, Shigemasa Kitao, and Kiyonaga Torii.
06:35However, Utamaro did not stand out for a long time.
06:39Why?
06:40It was the fate of the school at that time.
06:43At that time, the school was under the master.
06:46They drew the portrait of the master,
06:49and they also did rough reading at the studio.
06:53It was a time when the level of education was normal.
06:56However, when Utamaro was young, it was quite natural to be a draftsman.
07:00Utamaro was lucky to be in a famous studio called Tsutaya.
07:06I see.
07:08What kind of drama was there until Utamaro, who had been a draftsman for a long time,
07:13met Tsutaya and reached the top of the Ukiyo-e world?
07:16And why did that relationship last?
07:19Please take a look at this.
07:22In 2016, in Paris, France,
07:25there was an event that caused a stir in the art world.
07:30Utamaro Kitagawa's Ukiyo-e,
07:32a deep-hidden love,
07:34was the best-selling painting in Japan at that time.
07:38It was sold for about 88 million yen.
07:45The beautiful painting drawn by Utamaro in the Edo period
07:48was something that ordinary people could easily buy and enjoy.
07:52Where is the charm of Utamaro's work that attracts people?
07:59I asked Tanabe, who is engaged in research on Ukiyo-e.
08:05When it comes to beautiful painting, it is beautiful.
08:09It is beautiful in a general way.
08:14When it comes to Utamaro,
08:17I think he was a talented artist who could observe and express
08:23the truth of a woman as a living person.
08:34Utamaro was born in the middle of the Edo period.
08:40In Edo at this time,
08:42samurai with economic power were also added,
08:46and a new culture beyond status was about to be born.
08:52When Utamaro was a boy,
08:54he started training at Toriyama Sekien in Edo City.
09:00It is also said that he was separated from his parents and abducted.
09:06Sekien published Utamaro as a boy.
09:12When Utamaro was a child, he was meticulous in everything.
09:16He was passionate about playing with sticks and crickets.
09:23It seems that Utamaro had a fine sense of observation of living things.
09:30After that, when Utamaro became a painter,
09:33he was entrusted with the illustration of reading books.
09:36He spent a training period of about 10 years in his 20s.
09:44At that time, in Edo,
09:46painters who drew colorful and beautiful paintings
09:49were gaining popularity in Nishiki-e.
09:56Especially, Torii Kiyonaga of the same age as Utamaro
10:00painted a beautiful painting of Hattoshin,
10:04which idealized the beauty of women.
10:09On the other hand, even in his 30s,
10:13Utamaro could not create a representative work.
10:19At that time, Utamaro met a person who changed his life.
10:26He was Tsutaju, also known as Tsutaya Juzaburo.
10:31At that time, Tsutaju was the founder of the publishing house,
10:36Fuuunji, which was creating a new culture from Yoshihara Yuukaku.
10:41Tsutaju reached out to Utamaro,
10:44who was worried about him,
10:47and made him live in his own shop.
10:52Mr. Yamamura, a historian and painter,
10:55talks about the relationship between Utamaro and Tsutaju.
10:59Utamaro's surname, Kitagawa,
11:02is the surname of the house where Tsutaya Juzaburo lived.
11:08It was a relationship that gave him his surname,
11:13and he quickly appreciated Utamaro's talent.
11:19Tsutaju, who made Utamaro paint western paintings,
11:23realized his unique talent that no other painter had.
11:28He observed the people in front of him closely,
11:32and he had the power to capture their gestures and expressions
11:35and draw them vividly.
11:39Utamaro was very good at observing people.
11:45He carefully observed the people in front of him,
11:50and drew them vividly.
11:53I think that is his unique strength.
11:59Tsutaju launched a new project
12:03to make good use of Utamaro's talent.
12:07He tried to make Utamaro paint
12:12with the techniques of Tsutaju and Tsutaya Juzaburo.
12:19This is the book, Ehon Mushi-erami,
12:22which is based on the love story of a caterpillar.
12:28Utamaro's favorite insects are described in great detail,
12:32and it is an exquisite book that uses the advanced techniques of digging and fishing.
12:37It seems that the teachers also used skins.
12:43Utamaro has a seal under his name
12:46in a series of enhanced picture books.
12:52It is a proof of Utamaro's pride
12:56that he built his own world as a painter.
13:02Tsutaju tried to sell Utamaro.
13:05Without Tsutaju,
13:08Utamaro, a world-famous painter, would not have existed.
13:14However, this enhanced boom ended abruptly.
13:20The trigger was the reform of Kansei by the old beast, Matsudaira Sazanobu.
13:28Yoshiwara lost his popularity
13:31and the teachers who were from Bushi retired one after another,
13:36and some of them were said to have committed suicide.
13:42Eventually, Tsutaju also had a hand in Kansei,
13:46and even if the book he had started disturbed the atmosphere,
13:50he would receive a severe punishment of collecting half of his property.
14:01Utamaro lost his order from Tsutaju,
14:04and he could no longer paint.
14:09Where and what was he doing in this blank space?
14:19Uzumagawa, where the city of Kura, Toshigi, flows.
14:24It is said that Utamaro lived on this land, away from Edo.
14:32Toshigi was connected to Edo by the water from Uzumagawa,
14:37and flourished as a small island in the northeastern Kanto region.
14:43This is the Toshigi Utamaro Museum,
14:47which studies the relationship between Utamaro and Toshigi.
14:51I asked the director, Mr. Abe, why Utamaro was in Toshigi.
14:58Toshigi's merchants made money from Utamaro,
15:04and Utamaro drew pictures of Utamaro,
15:08and they put their own paintings on the wall.
15:11I can guess that there was a kind of patron-like relationship.
15:19One of Toshigi's merchants, who sent wood and rice to Edo to make money,
15:24the fourth generation, Zen no Kihei,
15:27is also known as Tokunari Tsuyo-tei,
15:31and it is said that this family of Zen invited Utamaro to Toshigi.
15:38And it is speculated that Utamaro used to draw
15:42meat-like pictures that he didn't usually draw on this land.
15:47In reality, the picture is 3 meters wide and 2 meters tall,
15:51and it is a work of meat.
15:55It cost a lot of money,
15:58and it is speculated that Toshigi's merchants
16:02spent a lot of money on it.
16:07At that time, meat-like pictures were drawn on the land,
16:11and in Ukiyo-e history,
16:13only wealthy guests were allowed to draw meat-like pictures.
16:22However, Utamaro was still a well-known figure,
16:27and he did not gain much recognition as a Ukiyo-e artist.
16:33Utamaro had a great pride
16:39in drawing meat-like pictures.
16:47In the end, Utamaro left Toshigi
16:50and chose the path of Ukiyo-e,
16:53where he drew pictures for the people of Edo.
17:09Chapter 2
17:14Utamaro, who spent his time in Toshigi,
17:17returns to Edo.
17:23The Tsutajyu, which he visited for the first time in a long time,
17:26was still in good health, even though half of its property was confiscated.
17:32The two again form a tag team.
17:35Chapter 3
17:38Utamaro had to draw beautiful pictures that would sell well.
17:43Utamaro realized that the beauty of his face
17:47was second to none,
17:52while his previous works were full-bodied.
17:57In this way, revolutionary beautiful pictures were born.
18:02This is Okubie, whose face is captured in the screen.
18:08Utamaro was the first to incorporate Okubie
18:12into the beauty of beautiful pictures
18:15in his previous works, which were full-bodied.
18:21Utamaro draws a real town girl
18:24who works in a tea shop.
18:28Each face is not the same as the previous beautiful pictures,
18:33but it is a new beautiful picture
18:36that can only be done by Utamaro,
18:39who draws the difference in personality
18:42with the nuance of subtle lines.
18:46The town girl's beautiful pictures,
18:49which are rare to see among the common people,
18:52are not the high-class friendship of Yoshiwara,
18:55but the popularity of Utamaro.
18:58People are crazy about the model girl in the tea shop.
19:01It is said that Utamaro has gained popularity as an idol.
19:06It seems that Utamaro has become very popular.
19:09I think that Utamaro was the most supported
19:12by the merchants who became famous here.
19:19Utamaro Kitagawa became a popular person in Edo
19:22during the Edo period.
19:26In the Nishiki-e, which was drawn at that time,
19:29Utamaro does what ordinary painters never do.
19:34He draws his own figure in the picture.
19:40In this way, Utamaro was at his best.
19:45However, something happens to this popularity.
19:52Bakufu, who promotes the reform of Kansei,
19:55forbids the town girl's name to the beautiful picture
19:58in order to protect the air.
20:04Tsutaju, who is a member of the Han family,
20:07gives the name of the Han family.
20:11However, without the name,
20:14the value of the beautiful picture sold by the actual model will be halved.
20:19Even so, Tsutaju couldn't ignore the strictness of the Bakufu.
20:27While Utamaro's beautiful picture is becoming a target,
20:32I think I should keep a distance.
20:39Utamaro's beautiful picture may not be able to continue to be sold.
20:45At that time, a new talent appeared in front of Tsutaju,
20:49which is different from Utamaro.
20:54It is Sharaku Toshusai.
20:58He is a painter who boldly exaggerates and draws a lively actor.
21:02He is a painter who has never been seen before.
21:08Tsutaju doesn't care about the beauty of the Bakufu,
21:11but he falls in love with the talent that is close to the true appearance of the actor,
21:16and publishes a large number of pictures of Sharaku's actor.
21:22The impact was huge and caused a great response.
21:28However, after only 10 months of activity,
21:32Sharaku also disappeared.
21:37On the other hand, Utamaro has no intention of giving up the beauty of the Bakufu.
21:46Utamaro left Tsutaju, who had been working on a single work for two years and three nights,
21:51and started to work with another partner.
21:56I think that Utamaro was jealous of Tsutaju,
22:00who was working on a single work for Sharaku,
22:05who was a new talent.
22:10What he drew there was not a high-class heroine or a town girl,
22:15but a lively figure of a heroine of the lowest class in Yoshiwara,
22:19expressing sadness and suffering.
22:25Utamaro began to pursue what he wanted to do,
22:29such as an adventurous theme that is not limited to being popular.
22:37Utamaro, who left Tsutaju and became a master of beauty painting,
22:43will suffer from such pride later on.
22:50Utamaro Kitagawa
22:52Utamaro Kitagawa had a very strong image of beauty painting.
22:57However, when I saw his early works,
23:01I was impressed by the difference in his impression.
23:05I found it very interesting that his style of painting was changing.
23:09Utamaro's observation was extraordinary.
23:12I think he was a genius.
23:15Where did he observe women's facial expressions and gestures?
23:20I think it was because Tsutaju was from Yoshiwara.
23:25Tsutaju could worship freely in Yoshiwara,
23:29so he could take Utamaro there and train women.
23:36When Sharaku appeared, he must have been jealous.
23:42He must have had a complicated mind.
23:45Creators are very self-centered.
23:49They want to be a special being for themselves.
23:53They want people to see them forever.
23:59I think Tsutaju was jealous of Sharaku.
24:04He probably thought,
24:08I see.
24:09Even a rich man would be jealous of a newbie.
24:14I can understand his feelings.
24:17Tsutaju always said,
24:19You are a genius.
24:21He said, You are a genius.
24:24When he parted with Tsutaju,
24:26he couldn't hear such words anymore.
24:29Then his confidence was shaken.
24:32Even a talentless man has to be supported by others.
24:39If you forget to thank your partner,
24:43it's not a good thing.
24:49After parting with his ideal partner,
24:52Utamaro began to walk on his own path with great pride.
24:57But there was a big obstacle waiting for him.
25:02He couldn't overcome his talent and vitality.
25:08Even after parting with his ideal partner, Tsutaju,
25:12Utamaro continued to draw with his outstanding drawing skills and pride.
25:18He pursued a new expression in wooden painting.
25:27This is the Takahashi Studio,
25:30which has been teaching wooden painting techniques
25:33for more than 160 years since the Ansei period in Edo.
25:40The representative of Takahashi-san
25:43talks about the characteristics of Utamaro's wooden painting.
25:47Thin hair.
25:50I think this is the best feature.
25:55In Utamaro's beautiful painting,
25:58he uses a technique called Yaege,
26:01which makes the hairline of the hair look beautiful.
26:04This is too fine to draw cleanly even with a brush.
26:12He expresses this with the digging and rubbing of the Hanga.
26:18How many 1mm pieces should I divide?
26:21I divide 4 pieces into 1mm pieces.
26:26It's easier to do this by digging the wood.
26:32This Yaege cannot be expressed beautifully with a single rub.
26:37You need to adjust the amount of charcoal
26:40and practice over and over again.
26:47Utamaro doesn't think about the labor of the craftsman,
26:50but rather he is a painter who makes difficult orders.
26:56When I told the craftsman
26:59that I would make something like this Yaege,
27:02I think the craftsman didn't understand
27:06how I felt.
27:11Utamaro does what he wants to do.
27:14When it is forbidden by the government
27:17to put a model's name in a beautiful painting,
27:19he resists with a strange painting.
27:25Nappa is Naniwaya in Niwa and Ya.
27:29Okita is Okita in Oki and Tambo in the sea.
27:33Naniwaya and Okita are combined.
27:36This Hanji painting is full of the idea
27:39that even if the name is bad, the painting is good.
27:45This is a battle with the government.
27:48Utamaro is a rebellious painter.
27:51He is a rebellious painter.
27:54Let's say he is a rebellious painter.
27:59At that time, Torii Kiyonaga, who was the biggest rival,
28:03retired from Yukiyo-e.
28:06Utamaro became the pinnacle of beautiful painting
28:09with his ability and popularity.
28:12When a painter imitating Utamaro's painting
28:15appears in his paintings,
28:18Utamaro laughs at the people around him
28:21and starts to write his own self-praise in the painting.
28:28Utamaro is the best at beautiful painting
28:31without imitation or copying.
28:37If I draw on my living brush,
28:40I can draw the best beauty.
28:43My quality is as high as a flower.
28:49In Yukiyo-e, a world of fierce competition,
28:52Utamaro is at the top of the winning group.
28:58On the other hand, the government
29:01keeps on gathering popularity for Utamaro
29:04and prohibits him from painting Hanji.
29:07Then, Utamaro starts to draw
29:10his everyday life as a woman,
29:13not as a beautiful painter.
29:18Utamaro is good at acting like a woman,
29:21but in his serious work,
29:24he shows his sexiness.
29:32At that time,
29:35there is a shocking news.
29:39It was a bad omen for Tsuta-jyu.
29:50At the time of the Edo publishing house's seal,
29:53Tsutaya Juzaburo died at the age of 48.
29:59It was the third year since Utamaro left Tsuta-jyu.
30:02It was the death of a great hero
30:05who built an era together.
30:11However, even when he died,
30:14Utamaro's brush was never dull.
30:19This is a work he drew when Tsuta-jyu died.
30:24He drew a woman who was close to a nude
30:27while taking a break from work
30:31in the middle of the night.
30:41It is rare to see such a bold depiction
30:44in a painting for the general public.
30:47There is no doubt in the painting
30:50that he was afraid of the government's eyes.
30:55No one could stop Utamaro
30:58from drawing what he wanted to draw.
31:03When I look at him as a publisher,
31:06I think he is a dangerous person.
31:09I think Utamaro is a person who
31:12has not read the atmosphere of the world.
31:15He draws what he wants to draw.
31:18He is a popular person,
31:21so he forgives half of it.
31:28Two years after the death of Tsuta-jyu,
31:31the government finally banned
31:34the beautiful Okubie herself.
31:37How could he avoid the government's eyes?
31:42Utamaro, whose great name is Okubie,
31:45finally began to struggle.
31:52There is a fairy tale called
31:55Yamanba and Kintaro.
31:58He is a character in a fairy tale.
32:02He gives a long sermon
32:05in the name of teaching a woman
32:08who is not lazy.
32:12However, the woman depicted there
32:15did not have a lively expression.
32:20Anyway, I lost interest
32:24in the character of Yamanba.
32:27Maybe I left it to my apprentice.
32:38Utamaro, who became a great veteran in his 50s,
32:41answered the order of his master,
32:44and drew pictures other than beautiful women.
32:49At that time, trouble occurs.
32:53In a picture book introducing Yoshiwara,
32:56the author, Ikku,
32:59claimed that the book sold well
33:02was in his own text,
33:05and fought hard with Utamaro,
33:08who was in charge of the picture.
33:12Just like Utamaro,
33:15Ikku, who was found by Tsuta-jyu,
33:18was a great hit in Hizakurige,
33:21and was a famous painter.
33:24He was a popular painter,
33:27and a great painter of beautiful women.
33:30Utamaro could not afford
33:33to lose the battle.
33:42In May of the same year,
33:45Utamaro was at the peak of his life.
33:52Nishikie, who was in charge of Taikouki,
33:55which was popular at that time,
33:58was told by his father
34:01that he should not draw real samurai,
34:04and he was interrogated harshly.
34:08It was not a beautiful painting he was good at,
34:11but a work that was popular at the time,
34:14and he was criticized for it.
34:18Utamaro was deeply defeated.
34:24Utamaro was sentenced
34:27to 50 years in prison.
34:30He was at home, but he was deprived of his freedom,
34:33and he could not draw.
34:39This sentence
34:42made Utamaro lose his willpower.
34:48Because I confessed,
34:51Taikouki was completely defeated,
34:54and I did a miserable thing to Hanmoto.
34:58If Tsutajyu, who was in charge of Nehashi,
35:01was alive, he might have been avoided.
35:05Tsutajyu's production
35:08was necessary for Utamaro.
35:11Utamaro had Tsutajyu,
35:14and I think this was the reason
35:17why he lost his willpower.
35:22Utamaro Kitagawa
35:25lost his willpower
35:28in the face of adversity.
35:32His pride as a star painter
35:35might have clouded his vision of reality.
35:38Artist and expressionists
35:41don't have to limit
35:44what they want to express.
35:47I don't think there's anything
35:50more painful than that.
35:53It must have been painful.
35:56You made a work that provoked Bakufu.
35:59How did you feel about it?
36:02Utamaro didn't feel
36:05that he provoked Bakufu.
36:11He thought that Bakufu wouldn't
36:14look at him as much as he did.
36:17He thought that Bakufu wouldn't
36:20forgive him because he painted
36:23such a wonderful painting.
36:26However, Bakufu didn't know
36:29the value of a painting.
36:32He only thought of Bakufu as a painting.
36:35I'm curious.
36:38You painted a work
36:41with Utamaro as the theme.
36:44Why did you choose the theme of Bakufu?
36:48Here is Jun Ito's point of view
36:51of the back of history
36:54from the perspective of a historian.
36:57I think Utamaro was shown
37:01as a man of great talent.
37:04He admired the culture of Momoyama.
37:07What kind of era was Utamaro's era?
37:10Edo lost its splendor in the Meireki period.
37:13It was a city that was
37:16quite empty and dry.
37:19Utamaro, who was politically inferior,
37:22admired the culture of Momoyama.
37:25He waited for a failure
37:28and was caught by the people
37:31who wanted him to succeed.
37:34He wanted to paint as a pure artist.
37:37That's what I think.
37:40Utamaro's arrogant belief
37:43that he was special
37:46was the root of his illness.
37:49He closed his eyes to the crisis
37:52and did whatever he wanted.
37:55Bakufu punished Utamaro,
37:58who was the richest man in Japan.
38:01It was too painful for a veteran painter
38:04who had reached his peak.
38:07Still, Utamaro showed his last will as an artist.
38:10Please take a look.
38:13Utamaro was severely punished
38:16and died two years later.
38:19In recent years,
38:22we have learned that
38:25Utamaro continued to paint
38:28even in his final years.
38:31There is a theory
38:34that some of his works
38:37were painted in Tochigi.
38:40In the Tochigi Museum of Art,
38:43three portraits of Utamaro
38:46are on display.
38:55The first one is called
38:58The Moon on the Shinagawa River.
39:01It depicts the open seating
39:04of a tea house on the Shinagawa River
39:07next to Yoshiwara.
39:10Next to it is The Flower of Yoshiwara,
39:13which depicts the flower season
39:16that Utamaro got used to.
39:19All the male guests are painted
39:22as if they were women.
39:29The next one is called
39:32The Snow on the Fukagawa River.
39:35It depicts the friends on the Fukagawa River
39:38who are Yoshiwara's rivals.
39:44After his disappearance,
39:47Katai, a student artist,
39:50was asked about the charm
39:53of his work,
39:56which was rediscovered in 2012.
39:59When I look at this picture,
40:02I can not only enjoy looking at it,
40:05but I can also feel
40:08the life of Utamaro
40:11as a painter.
40:14I feel like I can not take my hands off of it.
40:17I can feel the hard work
40:20of Utamaro.
40:28Utamaro Kitagawa
40:31showed his pride as a painter until the end.
40:34His work became famous
40:37and was exported abroad.
40:40It created a boom in Japan
40:43and had a great impact on culture and art.
40:48I think it was a work
40:51that was easy to accept in the West.
40:54It was Utamaro's work
40:57that attracted the attention
41:00of the Japanese people
41:03in the modern era
41:06when they did not care about
41:09the appearance of women.
41:12Compared to other female painters,
41:15there is a sense of elegance
41:18and elegance.
41:21But I think the elegance
41:24does not deteriorate at all.
41:27If you keep looking at it,
41:30you will get used to it.
41:33Each of Utamaro's beautiful paintings
41:36make us fall in love with women.
41:44Utamaro believed in his painting ability
41:47more than anyone else
41:50and continued to resist the force of the government.
41:54No matter what era it was,
41:57Utamaro loved and looked at
42:00the women who lived their lives
42:03as if they were his own.
42:10I thought he would have been shocked
42:13when he was punished.
42:16But he did not give up.
42:19He continued to draw until the trial.
42:22I was relieved to hear that.
42:25Utamaro continued to draw
42:28what he wanted to draw.
42:32I think Utamaro went through
42:35a lot in his life.
42:38I don't think Utamaro's paintings
42:41have a lot of claims.
42:44I think it is right to enjoy
42:47the greatness of Utamaro's paintings
42:50at the stage of his life.
42:53I get the impression that
42:56Utamaro is a lonely person in his later years.
42:59Of course, Utamaro was a lonely person.
43:02But the path is not always the same.
43:05If you keep doing the same combination,
43:08of course, you will run out of breath
43:11and you will have emotional problems.
43:14And the style of the work will be the same.
43:17Even if you are very determined,
43:20it is better to keep a little distance
43:23and reach a new level.
43:26Utamaro, please tell us about your life lessons.
43:29I learned from my mistakes.
43:32There was a time when Utamaro
43:35left the way of drawing
43:38to Tsutaya.
43:41So I learned from my mistakes.
43:44I didn't think about
43:47where to draw and
43:50where to buy the anger of Bakufu.
43:53I was so focused on my work
43:56that I didn't want to do anything else.
43:59So I understand his feelings very well.
44:02When you are immersed in your own world,
44:05you tend to lose sight of the surroundings.
44:08No matter what happens,
44:11let's try to check the movements of the world as much as possible.
44:14This is a lesson from Utamaro's defeat.
44:18What do you think of Utamaro's paintings?
44:21All the women in Utamaro's paintings
44:24are elegant.
44:27And they are very graceful.
44:30I was impressed by the way they
44:33captured the moment.
44:36I felt it again today.
44:39Even though we live in a different era,
44:42I think the beauty of art is that
44:45we can learn from each other.
44:48Thank you, Mr. Saito.
44:54A lesson from Utamaro's defeat.
44:57See you next time.