Shirakaba

• Published: 1910-1923
• Japanese: 白樺 (Shirakaba)

Shirakaba, or "White Birch," was one of the preeminent literary magazines of the Taishô period, or at least one of those considered most significant by scholars today.

The magazine was compiled by a group of writers, cultural critics and the like known as the Shirakaba Society. While other movements of that time emphasized proletariat attitudes and concerns, the members of the Shirakaba Society were interested chiefly in inner exploration, self-expression, and personal understanding. The magazine included, alongside other content, images of Impressionist and otherwise avant-garde European artworks, translations of writings on art and society by European writers, and the Shirakaba Society's members' own commentaries and critiques on similar subjects.

References

• Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 214.