Botanical art is the name for professional drawings of plants. Originally, botanical artists used to team up with botanists to make drawings of medicinal herbs in order to create a record to help people identify different plants. Chikabo Kumada has made countless book illustrations and picture books with his botanical illustrations. He’s been drawing the insects, animals, and plants which live in his garden and neighboring woodlands for seventy-one years. He’s ninety-seven years old now! Mr. Kumada is known in Japan as a pioneer of botanical art, and he continues his busy career to this day. We spoke to him this week about his thoughts and experiences.
Interview by Takafumi Suzuki
Translation by Claire Tanaka
Mr. Kumada, when did you start drawing illustrations of plants and insects?
I started to do it for work when I was twenty-six. I quit the graphic design company I’d been working at and switched careers without talking to my wife about it first. At that time, all the books had been burned in the war, and bunches of shoddy picture books had started coming in from the Kansai area and I thought, “This won’t do! I’ve got to draw some good picture books.” I love children. That’s why I started doing it. That was where my years of impoverishment began. (laughs)
You were a graphic designer before you started your career as a professional illustrator?
Back then, we didn’t use the English word “designer;” we called what I did a “zuan-ka.” At that time (the 1930s) even the modern idea of “advertising” was new. The firm I worked at, Nihon Kobo, was a groundbreaking company in Japan’s graphic design world. Ayao Yamana, who I considered a mentor, was of course very famous, but there were a lot of other very skilled people who came from there. People like Ken Domon and Yusaku Kamekura started there after me. I was particularly good friends with Domon. We were so busy, we worked every day from morning until the last train at night. We made good money too. (laughs)
It must have been uncommon to work in a field like art and design in those days.
I graduated from Tokyo Art University with a degree in industrial art, but normally, you can’t expect to earn a living after graduating from an art school. (laughs) My brother was a poet and I was an illustrator so our family had two freeloaders in it. My father was a very magnanimous man. He was really a free human being.
Did you father also work in an arts-related field?
No. My father was a doctor. He went all the way to Germany to study, and he opened a clinic in Japan. Just like in Kurosawa’s Red Beard, the people who couldn’t afford to pay he treated for free. He had a very humanistic and free heart. When I was a child, I was terribly weak physically, but my father never said anything to me about it. Everything, free, everything about him was really free. I think he really was happy just watching me play. Even now, I love my father more than anything in the world. Both my older brother and I were greatly influenced by the books and culture that my father brought home from overseas.
Have you been interested in plants and insects ever since you were a child?
I was very weak as a child so I couldn’t really play outside. If I wanted to play outside I would go into the garden outside the house and play surrounded by plants and insects. But I only really got turned on to the world of insects and plants when I was in Junior High School. At that time, we were made to “play war” under the command of a real commissioned officer, and I was lying on my belly in a grassy field and we were ambushed by the enemy, but I noticed how the grasshoppers, ants, and beetles just calmly went about their business and got sucked into their world. The next thing I knew, I was the only one left and everyone else had advanced past enemy lines. (laughs) They pulled me out of my hiding spot and dragged me in front of the teacher, and I said “I’m a wounded soldier.” Then the teacher didn’t get angry with me and actually he praised me. (laughs)
That sounds like a lovely experience.
God is watching over me. I was so weak as a child and I’ve lived to be 97, and I believe I’ve got God to thank. For example, one day when I was past 70 years of age, suddenly I got the urge to eat raw vegetables, even though I knew it would give me an upset stomach. My wife was worried and a bit scared for me, but I just munched away at those vegetables. And for some reason, my stomach was fine. And back in the war, I was about to get drafted but thanks to a soldier I met, he wrote some illness in my file so that I wouldn’t have to go out to the battlefield. I think that’s thanks to God helping me out when I was in a pinch.
God? Do you subscribe to any particular faith?
I’m fake Christian. (laughs) I just say God because I don’t know what else to call it. I’m talking about the great power of nature that controls all matter. When you draw plants and insects like me, you can feel it. I’ve been doing this work for more than eighty years now, but for me it’s like I am writing reports for God. Like I’m showing what kind of place this planet called Earth is. That’s why I’ve never once sold my originals. Though I’ve had lots of people who come saying “money is no object!” trying to buy them. (laughs)
I heard somewhere that your eyesight improved after you exceeded eighty years of age. Is that true?
I hit the renaissance of my life when I turned seventy. That was when I really bloomed. Up until then it was like I had been like living in muddy water. (laughs) When I turned seventy, my works received recognition at an international picture book exhibition in Bologna, I got a lot of press and requests to speak publicly, and I got more work. When Italians and French people see my work, they say, “Mr. Kumada’s pictures are alive. The esprit is like that of Fabre.” Isn’t that nice? So my 80s were really like the bloom of youth for me. But when you reach such an age, you could really die at any moment. So I felt that it was important that I didn’t miss anything, and I took another close look around my garden. And that was when I realized I was able to see things in flowers and leaves that I hadn’t been able to see before, and my work got more detailed. Now when I look at the work I did when I was younger, it’s so amateurish that it embarrasses me. Most people rest on their laurels once they get into their seventies, but that was when life really started for me. (laughs)
Mr. Kumada’s beloved “Souvenirs Entomologiques” by Jean-Henri Fabre
He has many imported books thanks to his father’s influence
Do you have any kind of message you want to send out to the world through your detailed illustrations of insects and plants?
One is “Treasure the small living things.” When you have been drawing insects and flowers for as long as I have, you start to develop a sense of camaraderie; “I am an insect, the insect is me.” The source of life is the same for everything. Now, I even find cockroaches unbearably cute. I scatter breadcrumbs and talk to them, “We’ve survived another winter together!” I say. I believe that any living thing can be beautiful if you love it. Most mothers of small children hate insects. That’s why I draw insects larger than life on purpose. I do that so they can see what lovely eyes the insects have. That’s how many mothers have grown to like insects. Honeybees are particularly charming; they’re one of my favorites.
You like honeybees.
Well, their eyes are so cute! But I don’t like their workaholic nature. (laughs) These days there’s no space, no sweetness, it’s a nasty era. I find if I put my all into a drawing, it actually ruins the picture. There’s got to be an element of ease.
Even so, you’re very youthful considering that you’re ninety-seven years old!
I don’t drink energy drinks or do special exercises or anything. I’m like a leaf floating down a stream; I just go with the flow. It’s easier if you think of it as being moved by an outside force. (laughs) When people age or get successful, they start to think “This has to be a certain way.” But I don’t think of it that way and I haven’t come to any conclusions about anything even now. That’s how I stay alive. I’m still in the height of my career now. There’s no retirement for me. Age is something invented by people. I hate numbers. (laughs) Once you stop producing sparks, that’s the end.
What are you doing now that produces sparks, Mr. Kumada?
Oh, all kinds of things. (laughs) Starting next year there’s going to be a travelling exhibition sponsored by Asahi Shimbun, and the year after that, the year I turn one hundred, I’m having a homecoming exhibition in Yokohama. There are lots of other events planned as well. I’m currently working on illustrations for Fabre’s Souvenirs Entomologiques and I’d like to continue along that vein.
Mr. Kumada’s Garden
Chikabo Kumada
Born in 1911, in Yokohama, Kanagawa. Botanical Artist.
23 Comments
- Share and Enjoy:
PingMag MAKE is the sister site to PingMag. We use an interview format to put the spotlight on a wide range of people active in rural areas. We document the voices of these unknown heroes and broadcast them to the world. It’s the Japan-based magazine about people and making things, coming out once a week. We’re passing on the passion, ideas, skills, and life stories of people who are building today and exploring tomorrow: craftsmen, engineers, entrepreneurs, and inventors. Stay tuned!
Important Notice
31 Dec 2008
Looking at Tradition with a Scientific Heart: Ootsuji Asahi-do
16 Dec 2008
The Adventures of the Japan-made T-shirts: Kume
9 Dec 2008
Tying the Knot: Kikuyu
2 Dec 2008
The Stone Merchant: Sato Teiseki ten
25 Nov 2008
Preserving the Essence of the Kiri Tansu: Ogura Tansu Ten
18 Nov 2008
Natural Materials and Design: Tsuruya Shoten
11 Nov 2008
Learning From a Young Master: Ceramic Artist Ryota Aoki
4 Nov 2008
Tiny Works of Shogi Art: Tendo Satoh Takashi Shouten
28 Oct 2008
Tada Mokko: A Woodcrafter’s Tale
21 Oct 2008
What a lovely individual–and his drawings are exquisite!
Posted by: Heather T. on October 1st, 2008 at 12:30 am
Mr. Kumada, you sir, are a beautiful man.
What an uplifting interview. Please pass on my love and best wishes to this great and special man.
Kg.
Posted by: Kim Guthrie on October 1st, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I lost my words! Beautiful old guy!!
Posted by: Jin on October 3rd, 2008 at 12:43 am
I just love this type of art. Brilliant stuff!
sean
Posted by: Sean on October 4th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Mr. Kumada:
You are one in a million! May you live as long as you want! Beautiful mind, beautiful art! Another living legend from Japan!
Posted by: Espinosa, Erlinda on October 5th, 2008 at 5:14 am
[…] The beauty of botany [PingMag MAKE] […]
Posted by: The Litmus « The Dapper Alchemist on October 7th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Incredible man. This was so inspiring to me. Thank you for the interview.
Posted by: Jessant on October 13th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Wow, very inspiring interview. It’s amazing how someone at age 97 finds the energy and inspiration to do such splendid work!
Once again, thanks to Pingmag Make for making this kind of interviews happen.
Posted by: pricca on October 21st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
[…] From an interview with Chikabo Kumada (what a cool name), ‘97 year old botanical art maestro,’ Pingmag Make […]
Posted by: Speaking of … ☼5 « ※●⁂ on November 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Although his technique is quite textured, he reminds me a lot of guys like Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro.
A master.
Posted by: neil on November 24th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Thank you for introducing me to this vibrant artist. I feel so inspired by his life and work!
Posted by: Becky on November 28th, 2008 at 3:23 am
Wow….I really would love to meet Chikabo….he is awesome!!!!!! Everything about him!
Posted by: Kim Deane on December 2nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
What a beautiful man, a fantastic interview. Thank you.
Posted by: Jamie Watson on December 14th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Another priveledged man living a priviledged life. Let’s just say ‘good luck to him’ instead of putting him up on some kind of pedestal. Keep it real people . . . Peace.
Posted by: get_real@hotmail.com on January 6th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Great piece, very inspiring
Thanks ever so much
Posted by: Yuki Takeuchi on January 6th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Wow. Talk about inspirational.
Just when I was feeling down in the dumps, I somehow stumble onto this post. Maybe God intended it. =)
Posted by: Ervin P on January 6th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[…] really enjoyed this interview with 97-year-old Chikabo Kumada, a botanical artist in Japan. His philosophy about life is every […]
Posted by: My Media Mirror » Blog Archive » 97-year-old Botanical Artist on January 6th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
[…] really enjoyed this interview with 97-year-old Chikabo Kumada, a botanical artist in Japan. His philosophy about life is every […]
Posted by: My Media Mirror » Blog Archive » 97-year-old Botanical Artist on January 6th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
[…] картины. Человек он чудесный, привожу небольшую часть интервью с ним: Мистер Кумада, когда вы решили рисовать иллюстрации с […]
Posted by: Увлекательная биология « Wattmagazine — создает напряжение on January 7th, 2009 at 1:16 am
[…] this interview, but this is a nice reminder to always trust in the Universe and follow my heart. An Interview with Kumada Chikabo Tags: […]
Posted by: a very lazy girl | Interview with a 97 Year Old Botanical Art Maestro on January 7th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Awesome! beautiful lifestory from a talented man.
Posted by: Anonymous on January 7th, 2009 at 10:01 am
you sir is an inspiration but in what city do you live is that i have a homework from school and i need to find that out?
Posted by: unknown on May 7th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Mr. Chikabo Kumada died today at the age of 98.
An exhibition of his work started yesterday and goes until August 24 (2009) in Tokyo…at least he could see the opening day of the exhibition.
Posted by: Tokyo Five on August 13th, 2009 at 11:01 pm