But there was another, lesser-known side to Jobs’ interest in Japanese culture. He was an ardent fan and collector of shin-hanga, or modern woodbloc

The secret passion of Steve Jobs

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2021-07-01 09:30:05

But there was another, lesser-known side to Jobs’ interest in Japanese culture. He was an ardent fan and collector of shin-hanga, or modern woodblock prints.

When Jobs unveiled the first Macintosh computer to the media in January 1984, the screen displayed an image of a woodblock print: “A Woman Combing Her Hair”, by Hashiguchi Goyo.

Jobs bought two prints of the piece, in June 1983 and February 1984. It’s assumed he kept one for himself and the other for his company.

The work is an example of shin-hanga, woodblock prints produced in the early 20th century. They are characterized by their use of modern colors and mark a transition from the traditional ukiyo-e prints that were popular from the early 17th to late 19th century.

Shin-hanga were often used in posters and calendars to attract tourists to Japan. They were displayed at exhibitions in the US, which led to them being more popular abroad than in Japan. The peak of the shin-hanga movement was in the mid-1930s.

In March 1983, three young men visited a well-known gallery in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district. They wore jeans and t-shirts. One of them was Steve Jobs, the 28-year-old chairman of Apple. The other two were co-founder Steve Wozniak and Rod Holt, a colleague.