Okay, I must admit, this next artist may be getting slightly off-topic for this blog, but ever since I discovered the wonderful world of Takeo Takei’s magical children’s illustrations while flipping through a digital copy of Shojo no Tomo, I.have.been.obsessed!! How had I not heard of such an amazing illustrator?!? I just had to post about him!
Takeo Takei (武井武雄, TAKEI Takeo, 1894-1983) was one of the most prominent children’s book illustrators in Japan, with a career spanning from the mid Taisho period in the 1920s, till his death in late Showa. He even invented the term ‘Doga’ meaning ‘pictures for children’. Looking at Takei’s work, it’s easy to see why his illustrations have been loved by children and adults alike. His unique and imaginative style shows clear influences of late impressionism, surrealism, and art deco. However, with a focus on art targeted at children, Takei blends those artistic styles with a sense of innocence and play, instantly transporting its viewers into a fantastic new world.
Takei was born in 1894 in the Nagano prefecture to a family of former shogun retainers. Often sick as a child, he spent his early childhood immersing himself in drawing and writing stories while home sick from school. His interest in western-style art began in middle school. From quite a young age, he was an ardent fan of Takehisa Yumeji and the poet, Kitahara Hakushu. He would later write in his memoirs that seeing “Yumeji Art Book Spring Volume (夢二画集春の巻) was a huge inspiration for him as an artist.
After graduating from high school, Takei was able to convince his reluctant father to allow him to study at the Tokyo Art School and moved to the big city in 1913. His main focus was the study of Yoga, western-style painting. This training would have a lasting impact on his artistic style. He married soon after graduating from art school in 1919 and took a job as an illustrator for the magazine Kodomo No Tomo (Children’s Friend) to help earn money to support his new wife and baby. This outlet proved to be a perfect medium for Takei to explore and showcase his amazing imagination and he continued to work in children’s illustration throughout his career.
Throughout the 1920s, Takei had no problem finding commissions and provided illustrations for works by the Japanese novelist and poet of children’s literature, Kenji Miyazawa, as well as non-Japanese stories such as ‘A Thousand on One Nights’ and fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson. However he is probably best known for his illustrations for the groundbreaking children’s magazine, Kodomo No Kuni (コドモノクニ、children’s work). This magazine was founded in 1922 and Takei provided the cover illustration for the first issue (farthest left of the covers shown below). It was one of the first children’s magazines to hire multiple artists rather than using a few in-house artists, and almost a quarter of the commissions were done by women. Kodomo No Kuni ran until 1944, with 287 volumes in total, and Takei contributed numerous illustrations as well as original stories throughout its run. In 1927, Takei, along with other contributing artists to Kodomo No Kuni started the Japanese children’s illustrators’ society(Nihon Doga Kyokai).
In addition to his children’s illustrations, Takei is also known for his series of 139 “kampon” art books created between 1935 and his death in 1983. In these art books, Takei explored a variety of methods from traditional techniques such as letterpress, woodblock, wood engraving, stencil, etching, lithography, and clay block-prints to non-traditional images of woven labels, painted glass, ceramic, and cello-slides. While often still child-oriented in theme, these books were an artistic playground in which Takei could explore new techniques and styles and stretch his imagination without the constraints of magazine publishers or genre limitations.
Takei’s work clearly inspired future illustrations and left a lasting impact on manga and anime design. I couldn’t find any direct evidence of his influence on the evolution of kawaii. However, during the 1920s and 30s, in addition to his numerous publications in children’s magazines, he also provided illustrations for shojo publications such as Shojo No Tomo. And he was influenced by the work of Yumeji Takehisa, continuing his legacy. Takei maintains high popularity in Japan today. You can view his work at the ILF Douga Museum of Art in Nagano, as well as other exhibitions that pop up across the country.
If you’re itching to explore more of his work online, I recommend checking out 50watts.com which has numerous posts showcasing a number of Takei’s from a variety of publications.
