Shizuoka City Keisuke Serizawa Museum of Art
Located in Toro Park in Shizuoka City, the Keisuke Serizawa Museum of Art is an art museum where visitors can enjoy works donated by Keisuke Serizawa, a dyeing craftsman and living national treasure, to his hometown of Shizuoka City, as well as his collection of crafts from around the world.
Keisuke Serizawa’s works, with their distinctive characters and bold designs, still have many fans. Have you ever heard of Keisuke Serizawa, a dye craftsman who has many fans not only in Japan but also abroad? Even if you don’t know his name, you must have come across his designs at some point.
Serizawa was a central figure in the folk art movement of the Taisho and early Showa eras, along with Yanagi Muneyoshi and Hamada Shoji, and is known for a style that finds “utility beauty” in handcrafted everyday items used in everyday life, and that uses Japanese landscapes, flora and fauna, and characters as motifs, but also has a somewhat modern feel. He is known for his style, which is based on motifs of Japanese landscapes, flora, fauna, and characters, yet has a modern feel. Serizawa’s fresh colors and warm patterns, which are not bound by the conventional framework of dyeing, are loved by many people, and in 1956, he was recognized as a Living National Treasure for his katae-dyeing work.
The collection consists of about 800 Serizawa’s works and about 4,500 items from his collection. It is well known that he was influenced by Okinawan Bingata and Ainu culture, but he also looked around the world. I think he had a very sharp and strong eye,” said Seiichiro Shiratori, director of the museum.
An Art Museum Blended into Everyday Life
The works on display range from folding screens, kimonos, obi belts, noren (curtains), and other typical works of dyeing and craftsmanship, to matchboxes, calendars, wrapping paper, book bindings, sake labels, and more, and many visitors are surprised to discover that they were also his works.
The colors and compositions are fresh and dynamic. The colors and compositions are so fresh and dynamic, and I wonder what they would have looked like if he had designed something modern.
Looking at his wide range of works, it is clear that Serizawa was also active as a graphic designer in the modern sense of the word. His collection of crafts and folk art from around the world, which even Yanagi Muneyoshi admired, is also impressive. He called his collection “another creation,” and one cannot help but be impressed by how he was able to collect so many things from so many different countries at a time when it was not as easy to travel abroad as it is today. A visit to “Keisuke Serizawa’s House,” which was moved from Tokyo as an annex to the museum, offers a glimpse into the life of a dyeing artist in the past. This is where Keisuke Serizawa worked out his ideas for his works and carved patterns, and is also filled with his collection of furniture, woodwork, dye, ceramics, toys, and other artifacts from around the world.
Since the museum is located in a park, natural materials such as stone, wood, and water were chosen to blend in with the natural surroundings, creating a relaxing and rich atmosphere suitable for viewing his works. It is not a fancy tourist attraction, but it is an art museum that makes you want to visit again when the exhibits change or when events are held.
