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Book Review

Tribute to a Traditional

Japanese Art Form

By Thomas S Elias, USA
Photos courtesy William de Lange

t is ironic that virtually everyone involved in the art of bonsai and
stone appreciation is familiar with Japanese scrolls; however, most
practitioners know little about them or their larger role in Japanese
culture. This superficial knowledge is due, in large part, to the lack
Iof quality scholarly works available in the English language. The
deficiency is about to disappear now that we have William de Lange’s
newly published volume on Japanese scrolls. This carefully researched
book written by a true scholar of Japanese culture is excellent and should
be in the library of every student of Japanese arts and crafts.
The author, William de Lange, has devoted his adult life to the study
of Japanese life and culture. He studied English in his native country of
Holland before going to Japan as a teenager. During these years in Japan,
de Lange learned the art of scroll making and wrote articles for the Japan
Times Weekly to support himself. He returned to Holland to pursue a
degree in Japanese studies at the prestigious Leiden University. De Lange
returned to Japan in 1993 with a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry
of Education and spent almost seven years studying the art of Japanese
fencing and the lives of the samurai class. He also spent six months with
master scroll maker Teruo Takayanagi in Mobara in Chiba prefecture. In
preparing this book, de Lange sought to first fill the void of information
in English on Japanese scrolls and, secondly, to pay tribute to Takayanagi,
who received wide recognition in Japan for his artistry. He was a second
generation artisan of Japanese scrolls.
This book is divided into three main sections—history, art, and craft—
JAPANESE SCROLLS: with a series of essays in each of the sections. The author used Japanese
THEIR HISTORY, ART & CRAFT language references as his primary sources of information, complimented
By William de Lange with by several important English sources. The bulk of the information included
Teruo Takayanagi. 2016. in the final section on the craft of scrolls, came from de Lange’s personal
Floating Worlds Editions, Inc. observations and documentation of the processes used by Takayanagi as he
Warren, Connecticut. crafted several fine scrolls. Unfortunately, Takayanagi died before the book
247 pages. was published. His skills in selecting the appropriate materials for a scroll
ISBN: 978-1-891640-88-9. are meticulously documented in this book, truly a fine tribute to a tradi-
$60. tional art form that is being threatened by mass production techniques.
The opening section on the history of scrolls is replete with important
information. Scrolls, like so many others crafts, were imported from China
prior to the sixth century by monks and official embassies. By the Mu-
romachi (1392-1573 CE) and Momoyama (1573-1615) periods, hanging
scrolls were becoming accepted and more commonplace. De Lange makes
a strong case for new cultural influences that affected the acceptance of
hanging scrolls. They were the style of architecture and the tradition of
drinking tea, both imported to Japan from China primarily by Buddhist

42 | BCI | January/February/March 2017