Japanese horticulture is known for intense specialization with certain plants; chrysanthemums are an example. Less well known is a more recent – less than one hundred years old – infatuation with orchids. Much of this is due to one man, Shataro Kaga (1888-1954), a banker by trade, who established a major orchid nursery at Oyamazaki near Kyoto in the 1920s.
Kaga hired a business partner who was skilled at orchid cultivation, while he concentrated on the promotion of the orchids grown and the hybrids developed at Oyamazaki. For marketing, he turned to the long practiced Japanese art of wood block printing. He was fortunate to find a skilled artist, Zuigetsu Ikeda (1877-1944) who created many watercolor images that were the basis for these prints.
This story and the art are captured in “Rankafu: Orchid Print Album,” a publication by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew featuring several authors. They argue that the practice of woodblock art, which has an equivalent form in Europe, reached an epitome in Japan. “The quartet of publisher, artist, carver, and printer all contribute to the quality of the woodblock print. It is rare that these four stars are in such perfect alignment that an exceptional example of this art form is created. The Rankafu woodblock print set is such a type example.”
It took long determination by Kaga to achieve his goal with the dangers for his country during World War II (and to himself, for his quiet opposition to the war). The prints were not issued until 1946 but became prized collector items. In “Rankafu,” the complete set of 83 prints are presented together along with many watercolors by Ikeda that were not developed into woodblocks. It is a beautiful book, but also a fascinating story of the intense, collective effort by many to produce lasting beauty.
Excerpted from the Summer 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin