Feature in “Imperial Craft Art, Vol. 8, No. 11” (published in December 1934)
Taiwa Matsuoka’s Articles
The article describes why Matsuoka started his Urushi-e career. It also describes topics such as colored Urushi and the methods used to dry Urushi paintings. This is a message from a fine artist written more than seventy years ago. In the year this article was published, Matsuoka had a one-man exhibit of his Urushi artworks.
Featured in Atelier fine-arts magazine, January 1935 issue
Urushi is a product of Asia, and Japan is the most suitable place for the birth of Urushi-e. He describes the attractiveness of Urushi-e as a fine art.
Featured in January 1962 issue of Japan Urushi Craft
Matsuoka established the Japan Urushi-e Association in 1936, before the outbreak of WWII, and established the Japan Urushi Fine Arts Association in 1955, a decade after the end of the war. Through these associations he participated in group exhibits. This article describes his thoughts on the annual group exhibits held at Mitsukoshi (held from 1955 to 1963).
Featured in September 1963 issue of Japan Urushi Craft
It had been forty years since he started his career in Urushi artwork, but his exhibits (including group events) had been held only in the Kanto area (the Greater Tokyo region). The article describes his first exhibit in the Kansai area (Greater Osaka, or the western region of Japan), including episodes such as an encounter with a visitor from the area near his hometown in Nara.
Excerpts from the art collection book “Taiwa Matsuoka” (published in August 1973)
Matsuoka was seventy-nine years old when this article was published. He recalls his Urushi artwork career in the time span of half a century. He also describes his intention to continue his renewed study. Matsuoka passed away five years later at the age of eighty-four, but his quest for Urushi was never tarnished.
Membership Magazine “Urushi Culture” No. 5, Japan Cultural Heritage Urushi Association, May 1, 1976
Though Matsuoka had numerous articles featured in various magazines, this is the last article to appear before his departure. He describes his home region of Nara, and how since ancient times it accommodated an Urushi village.