was a Japanese sculptor and painter.

Life and work

Funakoshi was born in what is now the town of Ichinohe in the

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

in northern

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island ...

. Later he attended middle school in

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

where the painter Shunsuke Matsumoto was among his schoolmates. In 1939 Funakoshi joined the ''Shin Seisaku Kyōkai'' (, "association for new art") and helped to organize its sculpture division. Together with Matsumoto he held a shared exhibition in Morioka in 1941. Both artist remained friends until Matsumoto's early death in 1948.''Funakoshi Yasutake''
– website of the Iwate Museum of Art (retrieved 2013-4-22) In 1950 Funakoshi showed the sculpture ''Azalea'' at the 14th exhibition of the ''Shin Seisaku Kyōkai''. The sculpture was subsequently bought by the ministry of education. In the same year he converted to Catholicism and his new faith proved to have a profound influence on his work, which started to feature Christian motives. From 1958 to 1962 he created the sculptures ''

Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan The were a group of Catholics who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597, in Nagasaki, Japan. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of the Catholic Church in Japan. A promising beginning to Catholic missions in Ja ...

'' and later the ''Hara-no-Jo'' (, Christian

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

). For the former sculpture he was awarded the ''Takamura Kōtarō Prize'' () and the pope bestowed the Order of St. Gregory the Great on him in 1964. For the latter sculpture he received the ''Nakahara-Teijirō-Prize'' () in 1972.Louis Frédéric: ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Harvard University Press 2002, , S. 220 () In addition to his work as an artist Funakoshi worked as a lecturer in his later life as well. From 1967 to 1980 he was a professor at the and from 1980 to 1983 at the . After his retirement in 1983 he became an honorary professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1987 he suffered a stroke, which forced him to switch to his left hand for his future art work. Funakoshi died in 2002 in Tokyo at the age of 89. Among other well known works of Funakoshi are the sculptures ''Spring'' and the ''Statue of Tatsuko''. For ''Spring'' he received the Hasegawa-Hitoshi-Memorial-Prize and it was installed on the Heimai bridge in

Kushiro is a Cities of Japan, city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Mea ...

in 1977. The ''Statue of Tatsuko'' is golden bronze statue located at the shore of Lake Tazawa, where it was unveiled on April 12, 1968.http://www.city.semboku.akita.jp/en/sightseeing/spot/04_tatsukozou.html (retrieved 2013-4-22) The sculptor

Katsura Funakoshi is a Japanese sculptor. Funakoshi is considered a leading name in the field of visual arts in his country. His father, Yasutake Funakoshi, was also a sculptor and soon he felt the same vocation. He studied in the University of Art and Design ...

is his son.

References

*Louis Frédéric: ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Harvard University Press 2002, , p. 220 ()

External links

''Funakoshi Yasutake''
– website of the Iwate Museum of Art

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funakoshi, Yasutake Japanese Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism People from Iwate Prefecture 1912 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Japanese sculptors Catholic sculptors