Tsutaya Jūzaburō kontentsu bijinesu no fūunji: tokubetsuten = Tsutaya Jūzaburō : creative visionary of Edo : special exhibition

Abstract

"Tsutaya Jūzaburō (1750-97, known by his acronym Tsutajū), was an exceptional figure in Japan's Edo period publishing industry. Tsutajū is renowned today for his discovery of Kitagawa Utamaro and Tōshūsai Sharaku, two globally recognized ukiyo-e artists. This exhibition provides a detailed examination of Tsutajū's activities and the city of Edo's diverse cultural developments, primarily in the Tenmei to Kansei eras (1781-1801). Tsutajū worked within the city of Edo's pleasure quarter and kabuki theater cultural hubs as he rode the wave of kyōka comic verse popularity and deepened his interactions with kyōka poetry masters and comic text authors. He stepped outside the Edo period's strict social hierarchies, building a boundless, inclusive human network spanning military class rulers and wealthy townspeople, popular actors, and comic text authors and artists. He then took it even further, mixing media as he broke new ground in Japan's publishing industry. Tsutajū's business acumen led to a succession of contents business innovations. Firmly rooted in his detailed understanding of how consumers think, these developments also reveal his boundless vitality, how he sought out what people enjoy, and what interests them"-- Message (page iii).