A 10-minute walk from JR Takefu Station, in an area of the city where traditional streets still remain, is the birthplace of Chihiro Iwasaki, one of Japan's most famous picture book artists.

Many people may associate Chihiro Iwasaki with her watercolor paintings depicting children in soft colors. Her works, which she has continued to draw in the hope of "bringing peace and happiness to all the children of the world." continue to touch the hearts of viewers even after the passage of time.

Chihiro lived in Takefu (now Echizen City) for a short period of time, actually from birth to three months old. Takefu, however, was a memorable place for Chihiro's mother, Fumie Iwasaki, who greatly influenced Chihiro's work and way of life.

"Chihiro's mother was a very nice person."
said Satomi Yoda, a curator in Echizen City. Involved in an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki's birth in Echizen City in 2018, she conducted literature research on Chihiro Iwasaki and her mother, Fumie, and interviewed people with connections to them.

▲Chihiro's mother Fumie's photo on display

Her mother, Fumie, is an indispensable part of Chihiro's story.

"Ms.Fumie valued a cultured and liberal upbringing, taking Chihiro to the Imperial Hotel for Christmas when she was very young, and having an organ in the house for her to learn music. Chihiro was good at sports due to Fumie's love of mountain climbing, and at that time, where everyone was still wearing kimonos, she often wore clothes imported from overseas or handmade by Fumie. She was also famous for being fashionable."

In Chihiro's works, children appear in beautiful colors, modern designs, and very comfortable-looking clothes, which is a true indication of the fashion sense she has cultivated since she was a child. Also, her active use of painting materials developed in the West may have had more than a little to do with his exposure to foreign cultures from an early age.

Chihiro has painted works full of love and rich sensitivity. What kind of person was her mother Fumie, who had a great influence on her?

Fumie was born in 1890 (Meiji 23) to an educated family in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. She excelled from an early age, and as a first-year student at Nara Women's University, she aspired to become a teacher. After graduation, she was assigned to a women's school in Takefu.

At that time, after the Russo-Japanese War, there was a growing momentum for girls' education in Japan, and Takefu was able to fulfill its long-held wish to open the "Takefu Girls Business School". Fumie, who had achieved excellent grades, was recommended by Nara Women's Higher Normal School to work there on her own.

Fumie, lively and warm-hearted, was trusted by the principal and students, and was appointed the first prefect of the boarding house attached to the girls' school.

"Fumie spent six years in Takefu, and she enjoyed her time at the dormitory house very much. She wrote in the alumni magazine.'Never before had I lived such an interesting, warm, and joyful life.'"

▲Photos of the dormitory where Fumie spent her time are also on display.

Five years after being transferred to Takefu, Fumie married Kurashina Masakatsu, a naval engineer also from Nagano, and adopted him as her son-in-law. However, Fumie remained in Takefu to continue her teaching job. Four days after the wedding, they were to live apart, and the newlyweds started their lives as newlyweds from a separated marriage.

Their marriage was decided by their parents, and they had never met until the ceremony. However, as they lived apart, they exchanged frequent letters, and their marital bond gradually deepened.

"The first time we got married, our letters were distant from each other, but the longer we were married, the more our letters became like love letters." she said. "It is wonderful to have such a relationship where love begins after marriage." smiles Ms.Yoda.

Fumie, who was pregnant eventually resigned as a dormitory superintendent and moved to Tenno-cho, where "the house where Chihiro was born" is now located, and safely gave birth to Chihiro. To my surprise, she returned to work a month or two after giving birth and spent her days nursing between classes and traveling back and forth between school and home.

▲Mother Fumie holding Chihiro, February 1919

About three months after Chihiro was born, Fumie left Takefu for Tokyo when her husband Masakatsu, who had been on a tour in Siberia, returned home. She taught for more than 20 years after leaving Takefu, but she and Chihiro continued to interact with Takefu students until her later years, including attending alumni reunions. Fumie's first assignment in Takefu must have been an irreplaceable place.

Later, Chihiro Iwasaki, who left many works as a picture book artist, died of primary liver cancer at the age of 55. Fumie passed away three years later in 1977 at the age of 86.

The Chihiro's Birth House Memorial Museum is now open to the public as a memorial museum, showing what it was like when Fumie and Chihiro lived there.

The memorial hall recreates the atmosphere of the Taisho period (1912-1926), when Chihiro's mother, Fumie, lived in the house, as well as the studio that Chihiro had in her Tokyo home. The gallery holds seasonal exhibitions of Chihiro's works, and many Chihiro Iwasaki fans visit from outside the prefecture.

▲Japanese-style room inspired by the room where her mother, Fumie, spent her time when she was assigned to Takefu.

The "Chihiro's Birth House Memorial Museum" retains the atmosphere of those days, and a quiet time flows through the house. Surrounded by Chihiro's worldview, visitors are encouraged to reflect on the time Fumie and Chihiro spent together.

▲Chihiro Iwasaki April 1973

Text / Ai Ishihara