Fuji Paradigms: Visions of Mt. Fuji
Curation: Izu Photo Museum, Helmut Völter
In cooperation with Gotemba City Board of Education, Fujisan Juku no Mori
January 17—July 5, 2015
Masanao Abe, Cloud Photograph 324, 4:23 p.m., March 22, 1934.
Mt. Fuji, with its beautifully symmetrical ridge lines, has been an enthralling subject since the invention of the photographic process. In the course of being photographed, and those images used extensively, an almost infinite number of times, a certain form became paradigmatic. This exhibition consists of two parts: Part 1 explores the genealogy of images of Fuji, and Part 2 introduces the work of the physicist Abe Masanao (1891-1966), who is known as the “Professor of Clouds.” Abe, who was born into an aristocratic family, invested his own funds to establish the Abe Cloud and Air Current Research Laboratory, in Gotemba, Shizuoka, in 1927. From this fixed point he carried out over fifteen years of observation of the clouds over Mt. Fuji. Abe was as much a scientist as he was an inventor—not only did he effectively combine two—and three-dimensional cinematography and photography in a very innovative and unique way, he also constructed parts of his photographic and measurement equipment by himself. This exhibition will present images in which he captured the ever-changing forms of the clouds above Fuji using time-lapse photography and other valuable materials, in the second of the Izu Photo Museum’s series of exhibitions of photographs of Mt. Fuji.


Part 1: Images of Mt. Fuji

Part 1 introduces paradigmatic images of Fuji, organized in terms of several patterns, based mainly on the Izu Photo Museum collection.

(1) Mt. Fuji and Tourism
Yokohama, Japan’s largest port open to international trade from the closing years of the Edo shogunate to Meiji, was the birthplace of the industry known as “Yokohama photography.” It originated when Felice Beato, an Italian-British photographer, opened a commercial photography studio in Yokohama and had the idea of selling albums of photographs of landscapes and people in Japan to foreign visitors there. The Japanese photographers who followed him expanded sales by combing hand-tinted photographs with traditional Japanese craft objects, such as maki-e lacquer album covers. Mt. Fuji, as the archetypical famous place in Japan, was a core motif in Yokohama photography. The impact of Yokohama photographs, which were exported in large numbers, was arguably a major factor in the establishment of an image of Japan as consisting of “Fujiyama and geisha.” When it became possible to print photographs, the shift to picture postcards spelled the demise of the Yokohama photograph.
Kimbei Kusakabe, Untitled (Woman with Parasol), 1880s-1890s. Hand tinted albumen print.

(2) Mt. Fuji and Mountain Climbing
Climbed as an act of worship. Particularly in the Edo period, confraternities of members of the Fuji devotional cult became extremely popular. They were so widespread that it was said, “Edo is vast, with 808 neighborhoods. The confraternities are numerous, with 808 units. Edo has 80,000 direct retainers of the shogun and 80,000  Fuji cult members.” At the end of Edo Period and Meiji Period, Felice Beato, Herbert George Ponting, and many other photographs made the climb, photographing the peak and other sights. In the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, stereographs were a popular way for people in Europe and America to experience three-dimensional views of scenes of exotic lands in the comfort of their homes. Mt. Fuji was photographed countless times for that purpose. Japan’s tallest peak became a popular destination for tourism and alpinism.

(3) The Mt. Fuji Mark
The first dream of the year is traditionally said to foretell what sort of year the dreamer will have. The luckiest are dreams of Mt. Fuji, hawks, and eggplants, in descending order. Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, with its ridge lines beautifully spreading out, is used as an auspicious symbol in many situations. Many photographers also used Mt. Fuji, an easily understood icon, as their studios’ trademark. Today, it is found on stamps, currency, and corporate logos.
Sunrise on an Ocean of Cloud Seen from Japan’s Sacred Volcano, photograph by Herbert G. Ponting, Illustrated London News, June 8, 1907.
Shimooka Renjo, Untitled (Master Gyokai Fukuda), c. 1869. Albumen print (carte de visite).

(4) Mt. Fuji and Expositions
The first international exposition that Japan officially participated in was the Vienna International Exposition of 1873, at which Yuichi Takahashi’s Great Fuji and Shibata Zeshin’s Lacquer Picture of Fuji and Tagonoura were shown. The haiku poet Masaoka Shiki wrote of the frequent appearances of Mt. Fuji at international exhibitions, “Taking the top prize when brought to expositions—the mountain that knows no bounds.” From Japan’s launch as a modern state, Mt. Fuji served as the national symbol on the international stage.
      The massive photomontage mural, Tourism Japan,
with Fuji at its center, was created for the 1937 Paris Exposition and aroused considerable discussion. For the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Japan committed its national prestige to the display of Graceful Peak: Mt. Fuji, then the world’s largest photomontage mural, which was to communicate the excellence of Japanese technology and the beauty of Mt. Fuji. The poster for the Grand International Exposition of Japan, commemorating the 2600th anniversary of the foundation of the Japanese Empire, planned for 1940, used a modern design combining Fuji and a golden kite, said to have perched on the bow of Emperor Jimmu, Japan’s first emperor. With the Second Sino-Japanese War intensifying, Japan, which had successfully bid to hold both an international exposition and the Olympics in 1940, relinquished its right to host them, and the dream of holding those two major events simultaneously ended. Japan postponed holding the Olympics and international expositions until after the war.
The Photographic Mural Graceful Peak: Mt. Fuji, Rokuo-sha, February 1, 1939. Pamphlet.

(5) Mt. Fuji and Propaganda
Mt. Fuji has long been revered and worshiped as a sacred mountain. During the war, photographs of soldiers standing in front of Mt. Fuji, rising to its magnificent heights, were often used as propaganda to arouse the will to fight. The Japanese military drilled on a maneuvering ground at the foot of the mountain, Susono, where many barracks were also built. Mt. Fuji was assigned the role of sacred mountain protecting “Japan, land of the gods.” As the fighting worsened, military units were formed carrying the name “Fuji.”


(6) Mt. Fuji and Transportation
Mt. Fuji, standing alone, over 3,000 meters high, is visible from sea, which is rare for major peaks. The strong impression foreigners arriving in Japan by ship received from viewing the mountain from the sea is clear in the frequency with which that experience is mentioned in their travel diaries. In 1889, the Tokaido railway line connecting Tokyo and Kobe opened, and many Japanese were able to experience seeing the mountain through train windows. Late in World War II, the peak of Mt. Fuji, emerging above the clouds, was a signpost for U.S. bombers flying north from the Marianas, a “lighthouse in the sky.” When the formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, Mt. Fuji, unusually for that time of year, was fully visible. Photographs combining the Allied Fleet and Mt. Fuji become popular symbols of “Victory over Japan Day.”
Asahi Graph, combined December 30, 1942 and January 6, 1943 edition.
Photographer unknown, Untitled (B-29 and Mt. Fuji), 1945. Gelatin silver print.


Part 2: Mt. Fuji and Atmospheric Science: Masanao Abe‘s Research
Co-curator: Helmut Völter

Part 2 introduces the world of Masanao Abe, known as the “Professor of Clouds.” He carried out scientific research on how to use cinematography and photography to make the currents of air in the environs of Mt. Fuji visible and left the world a huge number of photographs, sketches, and topographic maps.

Masanao Abe
The Abe Cloud and Air Current Research Laboratory, ca. 1930.
Masanao Abe, 1891-1966
The eleventh-generation head of the Abe family, lords of the former Fukuyama domain, Masanao Abe became fascinated by movies after being taken to see moving pictures as a child by his father, Masatake Abe. While at Tokyo Imperial University, Torahiko Terada’s advice to research clouds inspired Abe to devote his life to research. In 1927, he founded a private observatory, the Abe Cloud and Air Current Research Laboratory, in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, where he carried out fixed-point observation of the clouds on Mt. Fuji. (The laboratory closed in 1945.) He not only purchased the most advanced equipment abroad but also created his own observation devices for his research on clouds. In 1947, he became the first research director of Japan’s Central Meteorological Observatory. In 1955, he opened the private Abe Kindergarten in Tokyo. His research made a contribution in explaining the causes of the sudden mid-air disintegration and crash of a British BOAC Boeing 707 passenger aircraft near Mt. Fuji in 1966. His publications include Distribution and Movement of Cloud around Mt. Fuji Studied through Photographs (1937) and Tsurushigumo (Rotor Clouds, 1969). At the closure of the Abe Cloud and Air Current Research Museum,, some of his research materials and observation equipment were donated to the city of Gotemba.

Masanao Abe, Two assistants of Masanao Abe launching a pilot balloon, ca. 1932.
• Such balloons were used to measure the wind speed in different heights.
Masanao Abe, film sequence (details), November and December, 1932.
• Using time-lapse photography made it possible to observe the continuous movements of the clouds.
Quotations from Masanao Abe


Clouds are guides indicating the state of the atmosphere, which is invisible to our eyes. To speak in terms of the art of the conjurerer, the clouds are the resulting “performance,” the atmospheric currents are the source and mechanism.



Why I did research incorporating cinematography? I was already attached to movies. It might be more appropriate to say that I was obsessed with film for decades rather than that I tackled researching clouds for decades.



I used a tent when shooting at first, but realized that I could not do what I hoped to using that makeshift approach. Instead, I built a small laboratory dedicated to photographic observation at Niihashi in Gotemba, with stereographic and movie cameras, anemometers and other equipment permanently installed there. I did not conduct observations at one place but also often climbed to take photographs.


To investigate how cloud forms change as they move, it is advisable to use a method to detect that movement quickly. Ordinarily movies are shot at sixteen or twenty-four frames per second, but with time-lapse photography, the film is quite slow, one frame every few seconds.



(Rotor Clouds, 1969)



Related Events:
Curators’ Talk
Welcoming co-curator Helmut Völter
January 17, 2015, 2:15 – (about one hour)
Free of charge; reservations not required. Participants must have an admission ticket to the museum valid for that day. Please gather in front of the museum reception counter.


Curator’s Talk
A curator will introduce the exhibits.
February 21, March 21, April 25, May 23, and June 20, 2015 (all Saturdays).
The talks will begin at 2:15 p.m. on each date and last about half an hour.


Workshop
Making Stereographic Photographs
March 14, 2015 (Saturday), 2:15 – 4:00 p.m.
For children and adults
Maximum participants: 15
Fee: ¥1,000 (Those accompanying a participant must have an admission ticket to the museum valid for that day.)
Reservations required. Please reserve your place by telephoning 055-989-8780.


"The Movement of Clouds around Mount Fuji/Photographed and Filmed by Masanao Abe"
Author: Helmut Völter
Size: 340 x 240 mm
Pages: 224
Language: English
Price: 50€ (scheduled)
Publishing date: February, 2014 (scheduled)
Published by Spector Books



"Visions of Fuji: An Incurable Malady of Modern Japan"
Boook Design: Takuma Hayashi (Deco design)
Size: 240 × 200 mm
Pages: 244, Hard cover
Bilingual: Japanese/English
Publisher: Izu Photo Museum and NOHARA
December 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-4-904257-10-4
Price: 3600yen (before-tax price)