August 1954 From the left: Sugimoto Kenkichi, Aizu Yaichi
Brief history and description
Artist. Born in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Was known as a western artist, but was also active in a wide range of fields, such as illustrations and graphic design, etc. His representative works include Hakubutsukan Chokokushitsu, and the Osaka Shitennoji Temple Shotoku Taishi Eden, etc.
Relationship with Yaichi
Yaichi and Sugimoto produced the illustrated poetry collection Kasugano (1954) in a joint project.
Comment by Yaichi
I had enormous interest in the skills of the artist Sugimoto. (Quoted from Aizu Yaichi’s letter to Kamitsukasa Kaiun as of April 27, 1946.)
Comment by Kenkichi
Rokumeishu by Shusou Doujin was my bible. I kept it with me whenever I was walking around Nara, during which I was always humming. Reciting Yaichi’s poetry out loud always increased the level at which I was moved. (Quoted from Yahan Sangatsudo.)
Representative works
Jointly-produced illustrated poetry collection Kasugano. A jointly-produced collection of poetry containing 21 illustrations and published in 1954. The suggestion for going ahead with this book was raised several times from 1946, and it was finally completed in 1954 after many complications.
