“The Eitaro Takenaka Memorial Museum in Yumura Grove” is on the upper levels of Mt. Yumura. From here one has a wide vista of the surrounding mountain ranges of Yamanashi Prefecture. The museum was opened on April 10th, 2004 to preserve and display the artistic works of Eitaro Takenaka for the coming generations.
He created illustrations for novels written by Rampo Edogawa, Masashi Yokomizo and Kyusaku Yumeno et al. who mainly wrote detective stories and mystery novels. Due to his unique illustration style, he became a focus of attention overnight in the 1930s, an era when a new cultural mood was evolving in Japan against the backdrop of the global depression. This was an age that gave rise to expressions based on English such as “Mobo” and “Moga” meaning “Modern Boys” and “Modern Girls”.
However, in 1935 Eitaro Takenaka stopped working as an illustrator at the peak of his popularity and said farewell to the world of book illustrating. During the Second World War he took up residence in Yamanashi Prefecture. After the end of the Pacific War he engaged in trade union activities and made a notable contribution to the working classes.
Some 30 years later, his eldest child, Ro Takenaka became one of Japan’s first documentary writers. Ro implored his father to recommence his artistic work.
As a result, Eitaro Takenaka painted the pictures featured in a movie made by Ro entitled The Nights of Curfew, based on the book by Hiroyuki Itsuki. Eitaro also undertook the overall design of the books written by Ro and created the colored illustrations for them as well as for Okinawan folksong record jackets.
Eitaro Takenaka’s original prewar illustrations and colored pictures displayed in this museum are all exquisite, magnificent and esthetically expressive, though some are somewhat bizarre. These works truly transcend the realms of realistic or abstract art genres and leave a powerful impression on the minds of those who see them.