Hoshi Joichi 星襄一
星襄一 Hoshi Joichi (1913-1979)
He has been called a "Tree Woodblock Print Artist" for his numerous woodblock prints with tree motifs. After graduating from Tainan Normal School, he worked in elementary education there for 13 years. After the war, he left Taiwan and returned to his hometown of Niigata, where he studied stencil printmaking. He then entered the Western Painting Department of Musashino Art School and graduated at the age of 42. After graduation, he returned to printmaking and exhibited his works at the Kokuga-kai and the Exhibition of the Japan Print Association, etc. From 1935, he continued to participate in international exhibitions such as the Tokyo International Print Biennale and the Sao Paulo International Print Biennale, and his reputation grew worldwide. In his early years, he used abstract expressions but gradually began to depict specific motifs such as stars and horizons, and eventually, his subject matter became trees. The trees that Hoshi depicts, with their unique tension and mystery, are spiritual trees that symbolize something rather than specific trees that exist in reality and evoke in us a sense of praying to God. Throughout his life, he pursued the theme of "nostalgia for nature and mankind" and built his world.
He has been called a "Tree Woodblock Print Artist" for his numerous woodblock prints with tree motifs. After graduating from Tainan Normal School, he worked in elementary education there for 13 years. After the war, he left Taiwan and returned to his hometown of Niigata, where he studied stencil printmaking. He then entered the Western Painting Department of Musashino Art School and graduated at the age of 42. After graduation, he returned to printmaking and exhibited his works at the Kokuga-kai and the Exhibition of the Japan Print Association, etc. From 1935, he continued to participate in international exhibitions such as the Tokyo International Print Biennale and the Sao Paulo International Print Biennale, and his reputation grew worldwide. In his early years, he used abstract expressions but gradually began to depict specific motifs such as stars and horizons, and eventually, his subject matter became trees. The trees that Hoshi depicts, with their unique tension and mystery, are spiritual trees that symbolize something rather than specific trees that exist in reality and evoke in us a sense of praying to God. Throughout his life, he pursued the theme of "nostalgia for nature and mankind" and built his world.
