New art movements in the Taisho period (大正期新興美術運動)
New art movements in the Taisho period refers to avant-garde art movements under strong influence of overseas art trends (particularly Mirai-ha [Futurism] and Dada) in the Taisho period (from the late 1910s to the early 1920s, but mainly in the early 1920s).
The origins and development of such movements were greatly influenced by Russian Futurism following a visit to Japan of David Burliuk (Давид Бурлюк, 1882 - 1967) and Victor Palimov (Bиктор Пальмов, 1888 - 1929) in 1920, and by the return of Tomoyoshi MURAYAMA from Germany in 1923.
The following groups can be specifically listed as bearers of the movements:
Miraiha-Bijutsu-Kyokai (Futurist Art Association) (Gyo FUMON, Shuichiro KINOSHITA [1896 - 1991], Masamu YANASE, Kamenosuke OGATA, Shuzo OURA, Mofu ASANO [1900 - 1984], and others) was established in 1920. Action (Harue KOGA, Tai KANBARA, Kigen NAKAGAWA [1892 - 1972], Toki OKAMOTO {1903 - 1986], Tomoe YABE [1892 - 1981], Kenkichi YOSHIDA [1897 - 1982], Mofu ASANO, Minoru NAKAHARA [1893 - 1990], Junnosuke YOKOYAMA [1903 - 1971], Jiro YOSHIMURA [1899 - 1942], and others) was formed in 1922. MAVO (formed by Masamu YANASE, Tomoyoshi MURAYAMA, Kamenosuke OGATA, Shuzo OURA [1890 - 1928], and Shinro KADOWAKI and also Tatsuo OKADA [dates unknown], Masao KATO [1898-1987], Michinao TAKAMIZAWA [1899 - 1989], Tatsuo TODA [1904 - 1988], and Kimimaro YABASHI [1902 - 1964]) was formed in 1923.
Daiichi-Sakka-Domei (First Writers Alliance, or DSD), which had five groups and 34 members, including Shou OTA, Sanki KOBAYASHI, Nichibon SATO, Hajime MATSUSHIMA, Aokusa YOSHIKAWA, and Mitsuru MANO [all from Seiju-sha], Kiichi MURAKUMO, Tomeyoshi ARAKI, Kazuyoshi TANAKA, and Zennosuke TAMAMURA [all from Kogen-kai], Choyo TAKAGI, Shinpu YAMAUCHI, Koichi IKEDA, Nanjinshi MORITANI, Dachu NISHIMURA, and Michie TORII [all from Soku-Hogakai], Gentaro KOBAYASHI and Nio MIZUSHIMA [all from Koju-sha], Kojiro FUNASAKI, Misao MATSUDA, and Saburo ENOMOTO [all from Akahito-sha]) was formed in late June of 1922.
Although these groups united for a common purpose in October 1924 (as "Sanka" [Sanka-Zokei-Bijutsu-kyokai]), they soon collapsed in 1925 and gradually split (as below) after the movements of the groups such as "Zokei" (Asano, Kanbara, Okamoto, Yabe, Yoshida, Yoshimura, Kinnosuke SAKUNO, Yoshihiko YOSHIHARA, Keiji SAITO, Tetsuo ASUKA [1895 - 1997], Teiichi MAKISHIMA, and others) in 1925 and "Tan-i Sanka" (Nakahara, Oura, Sadanosuke NAKATA, Bunzo OKAMURA [Bunzo YAMAGUCHI, 1902 - 1978], and others) in 1926.
To Surrealism (Harue KOGA, Minoru NAKAHARA, Kigen NAKAGAWA and others)
To Proletarian art (Masamu YANASE, Toki OKAMOTO and others)
To areas other than art, such as theatre, poetry, criticism and literature (Tomoyoshi MURAYAMA, Tai KANBARA, and others)
Moreover, 'Gekijo (theater) no Sanka' is by "Sanka" (1925) as well as by "Tan-i Sanka" (1927).
The names of the movements were strongly advocated in the following bulky work "Study of New Art Movements in the Taisho Period," by Toshiharu OMUKA (which was first published in 1995).
Traditionally, a perception of 'art in the 1920s' (a perception to collect every piece of mainly avant-garde art trend in the 1920s) has been asserted in Japan as well, and a perception of 'new art movements in the Taisho period' includes the following criticism to 'art in the 1920s':
There is no inevitable meaning in the period of '1920s' (it is not necessarily divided properly from 1920 to 1929). It simply collected the art trend in this period without concern for its artistic lineage or other aspects.