Kon Wajiro (1888-1973) was born in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. He is
known as the founder of "Modernology," a school of thought involving
the gathering (i.e. observation and recording) and analysis of data
regarding the changes in the cityscape and people of Tokyo as it rapidly
developed into a metropolis in the early Showa period (1926-1989). He
also left behind valuable research in the study of minka, or
traditional folk dwellings, which he began to show an interest in after
participating in activities initiated by the Hakubokai, a group of minka researchers led by Kunio Yanagita, the father of Japanese native folkloristics.
Kon was also an architect and designer who painted makeshift barracks
built along Tokyo's streets following the Great Kanto Earthquake in
1923; built experimental housing to make life easier for people living
in areas with heavy snowfalls; and designed cooperative workplaces for
villages. Following World War II, he introduced new fields of academia
such as Lifestyle Studies and Clothing Research that focused on aspects
of everyday lives. Kon's interest in a number of different fields was
rooted in his own way of life: traveling between cities and villages to
observe a wide range of lifestyles with an open mind, with the ultimate
goal of working with others to create new schemes of life best suited to
adapt to future trends.
This first-ever comprehensive retrospective of Kon Wajiro introduces
his unique artistic career through sketches, photographs, designs,
architectural drawings, and other materials meticulously selected from
the vast Kon Wajiro Collection housed in the Kogakuin University
Library, as well as models and dramatic re-enactments created
exclusively for this exhibition.
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