Hi hi! Jess here!
I first moved to Japan in August 2012 after successfully landing a spot on the JET Programme, which places English speakers in assistant teaching positions all over Japan. I stayed on the program for the maximum five years, working closely with children and teenagers from first to ninth grade. After that I spent a while working part-time in an all-English preschool and kindergarten.
I open with this because I want to express how much experience I’ve had with young children, and how they have touched my life, not only during my years in Japan, but even since my high school years, when I worked with a local daycare while studying child development. Children are incredible. Their personalities shine even from the youngest of ages, as they experience an enormous world and learn to move and speak, to work and to play, and express themselves.
We visited the Chihiro Art Museum in Tokyo, an entire museum dedicated to the work of one artist: Chihiro Iwasaki. This artist created illustrations for publications like women’s magazines and newspapers before moving on to work for and about children. At a time when children’s picture books were experiencing a turning point in Japan, shifting from the written word to focusing on storytelling through the artwork, Chihiro’s work touched many people, with soft colors, simple shapes and subtle suggestions of light.
Just one of Chihiro’s many sweet and imaginative illustrations.
Though this was my first time to the museum, there was something familiar in Chihiro’s artwork to me. I’m pretty sure it was my first time seeing her work, so what was it? I think the feeling may have had something to do with my own experience working with children. Her work captured, with wondrous skill, the innocence and pure curiosity of little ones, those absolutely charming qualities of children that had brought a smile to my face and a tightening in my chest again and again over my years of playing and talking with them.
The museum has a particular perspective, in that it carefully considers not only its adult visitors, but the eyes that Chihiro’s art was originally created for: the eyes of little children. The artwork is displayed at a lower height than regular visitors of museums would find familiar, so that it can be appreciated regardless of stature. The lighting is soft and the atmosphere comfortable. It’s quiet, but not stuffy. Picture books are displayed on low stands against nearly every wall, as if to say to young ones, “read me!” (I’m fairly short myself, and my inner child has a pretty strong presence in my life…I definitely thumbed through a few of the books.)
There are actually two branches of the museum – one in Tokyo, and the other in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture. The one in Tokyo, which we visited, actually used to be Chihiro’s own home, which is reflected in the garden where her favorite flowers are still grown, and a replica of her studio, which I could have spent my time in all day if given the chance.
Hopping around in the garden.
That’s me in the doorway, imagining what it would have been like to be able to sit with Chihiro and watch her work.
I think I would have loved to have become acquainted with Chihiro’s work as a child. I have a great fondness for watercolor, and for the kinds of subtle expression she was so adept at creating. I feel like her art reflects the way children see the world – in great, vivid swathes of color, with tiny details kept to a minimum, like the way her lines are often left unconnected, just there enough to let you know there is a hand, or a hat, or a face. That said, that’s only one style Chihiro was so wonderful at producing; she worked in a variety of styles to create her illustrations, and each is a masterful display of imagination and skill in creating interesting and engaging artwork for children.
One of my favorite pieces, Mother’s Day.
As I said in our video this time, I was particularly moved by this museum, in no small part due to my experiences working with children. But as I also said, even if you don’t have children (or are not a child), your inner child will definitely connect with Chihiro’s artwork, and I think you might feel that same familiarity with her illustrations, even if you’ve never seen them before. I highly recommend this wonderful place.
The Chihiro Art Museum is usually open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, though due to coronavirus measures, currently closes at 4:00 pm with admission ending at 3:30. It is closed on Mondays, and closed the weekday following a public holiday (the museum is open during the holiday itself). Admission is ¥1,000 for adults, and free for high school age and younger.
Chihiro Art Museum Tokyo
4-7-2 Shimo-Shakujii
Nerima-ku, Tokyo 177-0042
