Hatsuyama Shigeru

Illustrations by Hatsuyama Shigeru for the legendary illustrated magazine Kodomo no kuni ("Children's Land"), 1928–36

1931 Bio of Hatsuyama Shigeru (sometimes "Hatuyama," 初山滋) (1897–1973) from Kodomo No Kuni:Hatsuyama was born in Asakusa, Tokyo in 1897. In 1906 he studied yamato-e painting for three months under Araki Tanrei, a Kano-school painter in Yanaka (Tokyo), and in 1907 he painted kimono patterns at a workshop in Kanda-Imagawabashi. He studied the style of painter Ogata Korin (1658-1716). In 1911 he became a disciple of Ikawa Sengai, a Japanese-style painter known for his bijinga (images of beautiful women). In 1919, following the founding of the children's magazine Otogi no sekai [Fairy World] (Bunkodo), Hatsuyama did the illustrations for its cover from the inaugural to the very last issue which came out in October 1923. There's also a longer bio at The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints. Many of his books have been reprinted In Japan (I've been collecting them). And about the site that houses 9000 images from the almost 300 issues of Kodomo no kuni: "This program was created as part of the Picture Book Gallery project of the International Library of Children's Literature to introduce in digital form the story of the picture book genre from its beginnings until the present. The program was designed to reproduce the works contained in the journal Kodomo no kuni [Children's Land] and convert them to digital images, which have been edited and titled and made available to the public as a virtual exhibit." Previously: Hatsuyama's Thumbelina and Takei No Kuni.