Modernism, Nationalism And Gender: Crafting 'modern' Japonisme

摘要

This article attempts to bring out the vital role Imai Kazuko, who studied in Europe (Prague National Craft Institute, Itten Schule and Reimann Schule) in the early 1930s, played in Japan's national representation through craftworks. Her experience in Europe was reflected in the Jiyu Gakuen Institute for Art and Craft Studies and also in contemporary design education. Jiyu Gakuen assumed craftwork to be a profession for independent women, and the institute worked towards this aim, the outcomes of which were appropriated to the national policy of exporting crafts, which was the government's aspiration for the recreation of national identity and the promotion of a 'modern' version of Japonisme.