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PREFACE

This book represents an attempt to fill a long-felt need for an account of the history of Japanese art which would deal with the crafts as well as with the so-called fine arts and carry the story of Japanese art up to the present day instead of ending with the death of Hiroshige. It was written in Japan while I served as professor of art history at the International Christian University in Tokyo and was able to examine most of the masterpieces of Japanese art in the original.

It would be impossible to list the many people who through their help and advice contributed to the completion of this book. But above all I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to my wife, who with untiring patience revised the manuscript, my assistant, Miss Mio Onchi, who helped me with the Japanese literature, and my secretary, Miss Fumiko Tomoyama, who typed the manuscript. I am also deeply indebted to the staff of the Bijutsu Kenkyujo (Art Research Institute) and the Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsu-kan (Tokyo National Museum) for their help in matters of scholarship. I should like to express my gratitude to the collectors who let me reproduce works from their collections and to the Art Research Institute, the Tokyo National Museum, the Sakamoto Photograph Company, the Asuka-en Photograph Company, Mr. Bunji Kobayashi, Mr. Shu Ito, Mr. Lloyd Craighill, and Mr. William Moore for supplying the photographs which are reproduced. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Bijutsu Shuppan-sha and the Heibon-sha for their kindness in letting me use their color plates.

Tokyo, Japan Hugo Munsterberg