Canadian artist wins top prize of 1,000,000 yen in Essay Contest
David Bull, a citizen of Canada and Britain, received 1,000,000 yen, the top award, for his winning essay in the fourth annual "Save the Earth" contest on Saturday at the Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters in Tokyo.
In his essay, "The Neighbourhood We All Share," Bull stressed the importance of broadening the public's environmental awareness from the local neighbourhood level to a global scale. The 43-year-old woodblock artist lives in Hamura Tokyo.
Bull's essay won the Environment Agency Director General's Prize. The contest was sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
TV Listings
The 'Woodblock Shimbun' has a full selection of TV programs on file. Videos available include some of David's news appearances, complete feature programs, and some short documentaries on his work. The files are in QuickTime format, and can be easily viewed with your browser.
Program listings are on the Index page ... 
'Youngest' Ukiyo-e Craftsman
Ukiyoe, the Japanese art form most familiar to foreigners, was not always highly appreciated. In its earlier days during the Edo period, ukiyoe prints were used to wrap fish, similar to how people use newspaper comics to wrap garbage. Though its reputation gradually improved, mainly due to its popularity with Westerners, it may be to no avail. Ukiyoe and the traditional woodblock printmaking craft is dying in Japan. With less than 40 members in the crafts guild, all of them over 60 years old, and no apprentices, this art form is close to extinction. (1992)
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Shokunin vs Craftsman
During the seven years that I have been living here in Japan and studying woodblock printmaking, I have visited many shokunin and have enjoyed long discusions with them about their life and work. I have been surprised by many of the things they have said, and have come to realize that their thinking is sometimes quite different from my Western conceptions of a craftsman. (1993)
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Japanese Art with a Canadian Touch
A British-born artist from Canada is holding an exhibition of his 60 works of ukiyoe woodblock prints, part of his 10-year project to carve and print the Hyakunin Isshu poem collection. (1998)
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