History of Japanese Art after 1945

History of Japanese Art after 1945 is a compilation of essays that surveys the development of art in Japan since WWII. The original Japanese work, which has become essential reading for those with an interest in modern contemporary Japanese art and is a foundational resource for students and researchers, spans the 150 years from the 1850s to the 2010s. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific period and written by a specialist on the subject matter.

For this English edition, overseen by Art Platform Japan, three chapters on the post-1945 era were selected. The first discusses the formation and evolution of Japanese contemporary art from 1945 to the late 1970s; the second deals with the rise of the fine art museum, which ran from the late 1970s to the 1990s, during which this idea came into focus; and the last chapter covers recent art from the 1990s to the 2010s. These three chapters are preceded by a new introduction, which briefly comments on the English edition, provides a contextual overview of the Japanese edition, and elaborates on the formation of the concept of art (bijutsu) in modern Japan. This edition provides valuable reading material that offers a deeper insight into contemporary Japanese art.

With an introduction by Kajiya Kenji