Ippei Okamoto

Manga artist. Born in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Grew up in Kyobashi, Tokyo from the age of three, he graduated from Commercial and Industrial Middle School in 1903 (Meiji 36) and received instruction in Western painting from Takeuchi Keishu, Tokunaga Ryushu, and Fujishima Takeji. In 1906 he entered the Western Painting Department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and while still a student, his work "Tunnel Alley" was selected for the Imperial Exhibition. After graduating from the school in 1910, he worked on the ceiling paintings, stage backgrounds, and set design for the newly built Imperial Theater under Wada Eisaku, and then in 1912 he joined the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun Company, where he began drawing manga. His elegant and refined style of drawing and humorous, humane writing made him popular with the masses. His common man's sensibility against authority was keenly displayed in his political cartoons, which led to cartoons, which had previously been looked down upon as caricatures, being recognized as art for the common people, and he made a great achievement in setting the precedent for the social and political satire cartoons and caricatures that are now commonplace. His books include "World Manga Travels" and "The Restoration of Yajikita" (both 1924), and "Ippei Zenshu" (Complete Works of Ippei), 15 volumes in total (1929-30). His wife was Okamoto Kanoko, a famous novelist and poet, and the painter Okamoto Taro was his son.

[Shinichi Nagai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

漫画家。北海道函館(はこだて)に生まれる。3歳のときから東京・京橋で育ち、1903年（明治36）商工中学校を卒業後、武内桂舟(けいしゅう)、徳永柳州、藤島武二(たけじ)について洋画の指導を受けた。06年東京美術学校西洋画科に入学、在校中帝展へ『トンネル横町』を出品入選した。10年美校卒業後、和田英作のもとで新築の帝国劇場の天井画、舞台背景・装置の仕事に携わり、ついで12年東京朝日新聞社に入社、漫画に筆を振るった。その洒脱(しゃだつ)で洗練された画調と、人間味に富んだユーモラスな文章は大衆の人気を集めた。また権力に抗する庶民的な感覚は、政治漫画において鋭く発揮され、それまでポンチ絵と見下されていた漫画を庶民の芸術として認めさせ、今日一般化した社会・政治風刺の漫画、戯画の先鞭(せんべん)をなす功績を残した。著書に『世界漫画漫遊』『弥次喜多(やじきた)再興』（ともに1924）『一平全集』全15巻（1929～30）などがある。小説家、歌人として有名な岡本かの子はその妻、画家岡本太郎は息子。

［永井信一］

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