Authors

Discussion

This presentation is intended to examine “Perspective of New Russian Art” (in Japanese, 1925), the fourth volume of the series of “New Russian Brochures” (1924–1927), written by NOBORI Shomu (1878–1959), a Japanese translator and scholar of Russian literature, in order to clarify how the discourse and illustrations of art works appearing in the brochure influenced Japanese avant-garde art at that time.

  NOBORI Shomu studied the Russian language at a seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tokyo. He visited Russia in 1923 and subsequently published the first volume of his eight-volume “New Russian Brochure,” which played an important role in advancing cultural interactions between Japan and Russia, as studies have noted. However, the significance of these eight volumes in the context of modern Japanese artists’ interpretations of Russian avant-garde art has not been clarified. The brochures cover not only Russian contemporary literature but also NOBORI’s travel experiences in the USSR, as well as theater and dance; film; stage art; and proletarian cultural theories, including the latest topics of art and culture at that time. The fourth volume, on which this study focuses, consists of illustrations and commentaries, and, surprisingly, 235 published illustrations. NOBORI’s work refers to avant-garde Russian art, and the works of Russian Constructivist art appearing in this brochure are thought to have particularly influenced Japanese modern art: abstract paintings, three-dimensional works, and installations. 

   This paper examines how the content of this brochure inspired new tendencies in Japanese modern art and sheds light on the utopian imagination of post-revolutionary Soviet society and culture that young Japanese artists shared at the time. Additionally, the paper discusses the crucial role that Russia and Soviet Art played in Japanese culture during the 1920s, the ideological framework that served as a background for artistic expression, and the conflict between Communism and Anarchism, placing them in the context of Russo–Japanese cultural exchanges. Finally, this paper reframes the significance of avant-garde art movements and their political backgrounds amid the disruption and frenzy that both countries experienced during the 1920s.