Kurara: Hokusai no musume

In The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter, we step into the captivating world of Katsushika Oi, a ukiyo-e artist and the third daughter of the renowned Katsushika Hokusai. There's no need to introduce Hokusai - his works are emblematic of Japanese art and culture. While Oi may not have achieved the same level of fame as her father, anyone who delves into her art will undoubtedly recognize her undeniable talent.

From a young age, Oi followed in her father's footsteps, exhibiting a deep fascination for the world of painting. As she matured, she divorced her husband only a few years after marriage and returned home to care for and assist her father. Oi played a vital role in supporting Hokusai in completing his series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.

As Hokusai grew older and could no longer wield his brush with the same freedom, Oi took on the role of his "hand", meticulously crafting artworks on his behalf. It was during this time that her own passionate affair with colors began to flourish, eventually leading her to develop her unique style. Hokusai once humbly remarked, "The beauties I draw cannot compare to those drawn by Oi." Indeed, Oi excelled in the art of drawing both beautiful women and calligraphy.

Oi inherited not only her father's artistic talent but also his free-spirited nature. Both cared little for material possessions, and household chores were a mere afterthought. They would lose themselves in painting, often forgetting to prepare meals and instead buying ready-made food from a nearby market. After a time, when their living conditions had become utterly chaotic and unmanageable, they would pack up and move to a new location.

In the modern era, their unconventional lifestyle might be considered merely artistic eccentricity. However, in the 19th century, in a society deeply rooted in gender biases, particularly in Japan, these actions might have elicited more than a few raised eyebrows. But Oi remained unconcerned; her world was the world of art. Even when love left her disappointed, and even when others, including her own mother, failed to comprehend her, in her eyes, the radiant sun continued to light her path, guiding her through life's hurdles.

Yet, with Hokusai's passing, Oi's life took an unexpected turn. The details of this change remain shrouded in mystery. It is known that she lived the remainder of her life in solitude and passed away just a few years later. It can be surmised that for a middle-aged woman who knew only the art of brush and ink, and found herself without a support system in a rigid feudal society, life must have been far from easy.

While the film mentions her lonely death, the true events that followed Hokusai's passing remain elusive. Nonetheless, even if she humbly lingered in her father's shadow, Katsushika Oi undoubtedly left a unique and indelible mark on the world of Japanese art. Her talent and her lifestyle that transcended the conventions of her time, forever safeguard her name from fading into obscurity.

This is a well-done docudrama about both father and daughter Japanese artists Katsushikas who produced some of Japans most recognized art - even until today.

HOWEVER - I did not see the dazzle in the daughter's life - at all. And there is nothing wrong with that. She was devoted to art and to her father. She learned at the foot of a master - literally - and she actually appreciated it and took full advantage of it.

It gave a taste of her life outside the art studio, which was ... meh. Absolutely nothing to write home about.

The acting and cinematography was excellent. The street scenes good.

This is a slow going film. Nothing fancy or fast. It's an interesting story about fascinating people who has the gift of making incredible images from paper, brushes and paint.

How lucky are we to still have access to that art!!

This movie was so beautifully written, I absolutely love Period Pieces,I learn so much about different cultures and their wonderful art, music, techniques, sometimes I wish I could travel to these place and study under their guidance, of the future children of these entirely wonderful people, they intrigue me, put me in wonderment of their accomplishments. There is always dedication, and sheer compassion for their crafts. I admire this, the Asian culture greatly, this is how much this movie and many others have inspired me to be just as they are, love loved, loved this movie. I have given this a 10 star score, it deserves a 20 star score in my opinion.

"Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter" (2017) is a two-part TV drama from NHK that covers over 30 years in the life of Oei Katsushika, daughter of the great Japanese woodblock print artist Hokusai (1760-1849), and tells it in a relatively short running time (ca. 75 min.). Oei worked as Hokusai's assistant, contributing to many of his paintings, along with a team of other staff who filled in the details on much of Hokusai's work, which constitute, arguably, the greatest body of Japanese art of the first half of the 19th century. There is a bit of romantic drama involving Zenjiro, a one-time assistant to Hokusai, who recognizes Oei's extraordinary talent and is able to discern which parts of Hokusai's paintings were done by her. He urges her to strike out on her own, but she continues to work by her father's side.

We see a lot of their actual work displayed on screen (borrowed from various collections), as well as scenes demonstrating the day-to-day process of conceiving, sketching and executing the work, both standalone paintings and woodblock prints. There is even a fascinating bit of history involving a Dutch client, Dr. Siebold, who commissions a series of "ranga" paintings (i.e. Western style) from Hokusai. The customer even visits the shop in one scene, at a time when Japan was officially "closed" to the west. As this scene shows, the Japanese knew a lot more about developments in the west at the time than Europeans or Americans did about Japan.

Oei is played by Aoi Miyazaki, who gained a lot of fans when she played one of the title characters in NANA (2005), one of a pair of 20-year-olds with the same name, but wildly different personalities, who separately strike out for Tokyo at the same time and wind up as best friends and roommates. Miyazaki perfectly embodied the more wide-eyed, effervescent and romantically gullible Nana, while pop star Mika Nakashima played the cooler, more sardonic, punk rock-styled Nana. Ryuhei Matsuda, who played the rock star boyfriend of the second Nana, is here in this TV movie as Zenjiro.

In this TV drama, Miyazaki plays an older, more worldly and self-aware character. She expertly conveys to the viewer what makes Oei tick and the sheer joy and excitement she gets from the act of painting and the discoveries of the properties of color, light and shadow and how to use them to make better paintings. She moves and reacts to people with a self-assurance and lack of formality that mark quite a contrast with our image of proper Japanese women from that time. It's quite refreshing.

There was an anime feature from 2015 called MISS HOKUSAI which takes place a few years earlier than the drama and has some parallel elements, but doesn't explore Oei's character with the depth this drama does. Still, it does have some lovely imagery and artwork and is worth seeing as a supplement to this.

NHK ran both parts of this drama on their streaming website. Part 1 came with a five-minute documentary segment in London showing Ms. Miyazaki visiting the British Museum, which was hosting a Hokusai exhibit at the time. She interviews Prof. Angus Lockyer, a lecturer on history at the University of London, who was a consultant for the exhibit and speaks fluent Japanese. She also interviews an unidentified owner of the Gallery of Japanese Art.