Marc Petitjean - Back to Japan: The Life and Art of Master Kimono Painter Kunihiko Moriguchi

PRAISE FOR

BACK TO JAPAN

Marc Petitjeans wonderfully compact book delivers an intimate account of the kimono in modern times from the unique perspective of one of its most esteemed practitioners, kimono painter and Living National Treasure Kunihiko Moriguchi. More than his kimono designs, we learn about the place of the kimono and its arts in contemporary times through Moriguchis eyes from growing up as the son of a renowned kimono painter during the postwar poverty of Japan, escaping to Paris to find a new context for his art, and returning to Japan to define his arts own context. Back to Japan centers on this life-changing decision. Petitjean gives a candid portrayal of his friend and artist who fiercely protected his creative voice while proudly carrying on the artistic tradition in kimono of permanent innovation.

VIVIAN LI , Lupe Murchison Curator of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art, and coauthor of Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso

Kimono designer Kunihiko Moriguchi is a Living National Treasure, the highest cultural recognition bestowed in Japan. But he is not simply preserving a tradition. He has absorbed a modern Western aesthetic, creating his own unique style. This is the story of how he grew up enfolded in a traditional family, learning skills from his father, then leaping into the art world of Paris in the 1960s, only to discover that his true calling lay back home in Kyoto. A rare cosmopolitan figure in the world of Japanese traditional crafts deemed worthy of Intangible Cultural Heritage status, Moriguchi is portrayed through the eyes of his French friend, filmmaker Marc Petitjean, for whom Moriguchi is a portal for understanding deep Japanese sensibilities. An intimate and engrossing portrait of an artists life within French and Japanese culture.

LIZA DALBY , author of Geisha and The Tale of Murasaki

Marc Petitjeans Back to Japan: The Life and Art of Master Kimono Painter Kunihiko Moriguchi is an exquisite journey into the life trajectory and work ethos of Moriguchi. While painting a vivid portrait of the master, Petitjean also describes the eternal conflicts of modernity vs. tradition, art and artisanal thought processes, and cross-cultural otherness. This book is a rare glimpse into this rarified world and is written with sensitivity and skill.

MANAMI OKAZAKI , author of Kimono Now

Back to Japan highlights the way art crosses borders temporal and geographical and weaves together friendships and family legacies. At once moving and profound, the book follows the life course of a son who, in sacrificing his own passions, discovers new modes of expression in the elegant folds and shadows of traditional yuzen dyeing. Marc Petitjeans riveting portrait of textile artist Kunihiko Moriguchi is more than biography; it is a testimony to the dynamic dignity this art requires.

REBECCA COPELAND , Professor of Japanese Literature, Washington University in St. Louis, and author of The Kimono Tattoo

Through his personal interaction with the textile artist, Marc Petitjean narrates a captivating biographical story of Kunihiko Moriguchi, who is a direct successor of the long history and technique of yuzen, a paste-resist method of dyeing invented in the second half of the sixteenth century. Moriguchi combined Japanese tradition and Western modernity to create unique and original geometrical designs that are now his trademark. The book details his upbringing in Kyoto, his experiences in France, and influences from his mentors, such as his father and Balthus, all of which shaped who he is today as Japans Living National Treasure. The book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in Japanese art and culture.

YUNIYA KAWAMURA , Professor of Sociology, Fashion Institute of Technology, and author of The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion

Marc Petitjean takes readers on a remarkable journey into the life and art of Kunihiko Moriguchi, a Living National Treasure and one of the great masters of yuzen. From the galleries of Paris to the strict workshops of Kyoto, Back to Japan offers an intimate glimpse of an artist who at once preserves and revolutionizes a centuries-old art form. Petitjeans poetic and heartfelt prose, along with Moriguchis extraordinary creations, will linger in your imagination long after you close the pages.

VIRGINIA SOENKSEN , Director, Madison Art Collection and Lisanby Museum, and coauthor of Textiles of Japan

ALSO BY MARC PETITJEAN

The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris

Copyright Arla, 2020

English translation copyright Other Press, 2021

Originally published in 2020 as LAmi japonais: Kunihiko Moriguchi, Trsor vivant, peintre de kimonos by Arla, Paris

Production editor: Yvonne E. Crdenas

Text designer: Julie Fry

This book was set in Legacy and Nobel.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. For information write to Other Press LLC, 267 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Or visit our Web site: www.otherpress.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Names: Petitjean, Marc, author. | Hunter, Adriana, translator. | Petitjean, Marc. Ami japonais.

Title: Back to Japan : the life and art of master kimono painter Kunihiko Moriguchi / Marc Petitjean; translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. Other titles: Ami japonais. English

Description: New York : Other Press, [2021]New York : Other Press, [2021] | Originally published in 2020 as LAmi japonais: Kunihiko Moriguchi, trsor vivant, peintre de Kimonos by Arla, Paris.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021008267 (print) | LCCN 2021008268 (ebook) | ISBN 9781635420906 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781635420913 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH : Moriguchi, Kunihiko, 1941 | Textile designers Japan Biography. | Expatriate designers France Paris Biography. | Jy Mukei Bunkazai Hojishakai Biography.

Classification: LCC NK 9502.5. M 67 O 4813 2021 (print) | LCC NK 9502.5. M 67 (ebook) | DDC 746.092 [ B ] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008267

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008268

Ebook ISBN9781635420913

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TO FREYDELYNE AND KEIKO