Shōbidō (尚美堂) (publisher 1897 – 1999)

Links

Biography:

Tokyo publisher (Marks 479) who is only shown to have published works by Koitsu in the 1930s, but there must have been others considering the time frame. In fact, Kendall Brown lists Hasui prints produced by this house and others show works by Shotei Takahashi (aka Hiroaki). They are also known to have put out lithographs during the Russo-Japanese War in 1906 and during Japan's assault on China in the 1930s. There is a Shirō Kasamatsu at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston which they have listed as unattributed. That one shows the front of Shōbidō business establishment.

Below is information supposedly supplied by Toshi Doi:

Founder name was Tanaka Ryozo born in 1874, Kyoto who worked at a bookstore "Tsujimoto Shosho Do" in Osaka and moved to its Tokyo branch office. Then he finally succeeded in opening his own shop named "Tokyo Shobido Gakyoku" dealing with woodblock prints on April 3 in Meiji 30th year (1897) at Okemachi, Kyobashi, Tokyo Founding capital was 30 yen with only one cart and 600 woodblock prints for sale. In 1898 his shop was moved to Jinbocho at Kanda area, where he expanded his business line into promising post cards by new printing method. ( I believe that he could also continue his woodblock printing for Hasui, Koitsu, Shotei and other artists in 1930's.)

Just after the World War in 1945 his business was succeeded by Tanaka Teizo (his son?). In 1962 Tanaka Teizo formed a new community group of "Kanda Kai" starting to edit this town journal of "Kanda". Then after in 1977 Tanaka Sanae took over his office up to very recent date of 1999/06/30 in Kanda.