was a Japanese artist and author who from 1897 – 1942 was based in London. During the Edwardian years of 1903 – 1915 he was the most well known Japanese person living in London, and was widely praised for bridging the Japanese and Western artistic aesthetic in his artwork, particularly in his depiction of London's fog, gaslights and wet streets, which became his hallmark. Like his contemporaries Whistler and Monet, he viewed the London fog from an outsider's point of view and marvelled at the effect it had on light, both natural and artificial. Markino became known affectionately as Heiji of London Fog, and wrote: 'I think London without mists would be like a bride without a trousseau'. His autobiography A Japanese Artist in London, published in 1910 and written in an eccentric style, described his years of extreme poverty in London while trying to establish himself as an illustrator and artist. From his early years he was fascinated by Western culture and remained a committed Anglophile all his life.
Biography Markino was born in the town of Koromo, Toyota, Aichi, Japan, named Makino Heijirō at birth. He was the youngest of 3 children, Yoshi (the oldest daughter) and Toshitarō (the oldest son). His mother was Makino Katsu, and his father was Makino Toshimoto, who founded and taught at their Koromo Primary School. His grandfather was an artist named Bai Yen.Stead's Review, Volume 23, William Henry Fitchett, Henry Stead, William H. Judkins, pp. 288 The Makino family was an old samurai family (see Chōnin) – although as a result of changes in the structure of Japanese society, the samurai class had been abolished by 1873.The Moving Pageant: A Literary Sourcebook on London Street-life, 1700–1914, Rick Allen, 1998, pp. 228
In July 1875, he began his education at the Koromo School in Japan, and in 1880 started to study Bunjinga with his brother under Tamegai Chikko until graduating in October 1883. From August 1884, he taught at the Otani School in Chita-gun, resigning in the autumn of that year, when he was adopted into the Isogai family (who were distant relatives), changing his name to Makino Yoshio. He then began working in Hagiwara Primary School until he moved to live with his biological father in Toyoaki City. In 1886, he became an assistant teacher at Haruki Primary School, working and living with his brother Toshitarō. It was in 1886 that Markino started to learn Yōga sketching techniques under Nozaki Kanekiyo and Mizuno Manji. In October 1887, he began working as a designer for the Nagoya Design Company in Nagoya.
In November 1887, he began studies at the Nagoya Eiwa School under a scholarship from American Protestant missionaries, studying English and the Chinese classics. In 1889, he applied to join the military but was rejected after failing the physical examination. In 1890, he borrowed money from his sister (then Fujishima Kyo), so he could stay in Yokohama with his cousin Hotta Maki, graduating that summer from Nagoya Eiwa.
Markino was curious about, and attracted to, Western culture and in 1893, aged 24, he obtained a travel permit to the United States to study. He left Japan from Yokohama on The Peru, arriving in San Francisco in July 1893. Through a letter of introduction to the Japanese Consul of San Francisco, he gained assistance from Suzuki Utsujirō who encouraged Markino to pursue his artistic career.
In November 1893, Markino started his tuition at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. In 1894, he received news that his father had died. In April 1895, Yone Noguchi visited Markino. During this time he mastered his 'silk veil' technique allowing him to depict his signature fog and mist watercolour style 'to paint the thick fog that rolled in from the sea at certain times of the year'. This technique was to play an important part in the development of his style in the later artworks produced in London.London Fog: The Biography, Christine L. Corton, 2015, pp. 190
In June 1897, after being introduced by correspondence with Sakurai Shozo to Hayashi Tadamasa, a Paris-based Japanese art dealer, he travelled to New York, where in August he met Miyake Katsumi (a yoga style painter) at the Japan Assembly Hall.
While in the United States between 1893 and 1897, Markino worked in numerous jobs and suffered racial discrimination. He was spat on in public in CaliforniaEdwardian London through Japanese Eyes: The Art and Writings of Yoshio Markino, 1897–1915, William Rodner, 2012, pp. 6 (where anti-Japanese sentiment was high due to the growing population of Issei). He experienced limited opportunities based on his societal status, and difficulty finding decent employers, working as a house-boy for a dollar and a half a day.The Japanese Community in Pre-War Britain: From Integration to Disintegration, Keiko Itoh, 2013, pp. 111 He was insulted further when his first employer refused to learn his Japanese name saying it was too difficult to remember and instead referred to him as 'Charlie'.When I was a child, Yoshio Markino, 1912, pp. 216 Speaking to the reporter Frank Harris on religious intolerance, he noted 'the Christian hypocrisy is far worse in America than in England. When I used to say in San Francisco that I was not a Christian, they used to turn from me as if I had said I was decaying. It is an ignorant, thoughtless people.'The Academy and Literature, Volume 79, Frank Harris, 1910, pp.583
In November 1897, Markino travelled from New York to Paris to meet Tadamasa Hayashi, a prominent dealer in Japanese art, but by that time Hayashi had returned to Japan. By December, Markino had decided to move to London on the advice of Ide Umataro, who he had met during his time studying art. From 1898, he began working in the Japanese Naval Inspector's Office in London by day and studying at the South Kensington College of Science by night. In March 1898, he began studying at the Goldsmith Technical College. In 1900, he switched to the Central School of Art and Design where he worked as an artist's model and later designed tomb-stone markers for just 3 months, as he had offended conservative religious mourners by his depiction of angels as 'ballet dancers'. Incredibly poor, he would often visit publishers for day-to-day work. He walked everywhere as he had no money for the public transport, and lived on 'Bovril and rice'. He kept a studio at 39 Redcliffe Road, South Kensington, while living in Brixton.
In March 1901, the Naval Inspector's Office closed due to completing the order of warships which were being sent to Japan. Although given £30 severance pay to cover the return fare to Japan, Markino decided to stay in London where he spent most of his subsequent life and career. He instead spent the money on art supplies and rent.Yone Noguchi: The Stream of Fate (Volume One: The Western Sea), Edward Marx, 2019, pp. 283 Given his financial straits, Markino became downtrodden. He was eventually encouraged by Henry Wilson who was fond of Japanese art. Wilson promised to introduce Markino to Charles Holmes, the editor of The Studio,Yone Noguchi: The Stream of Fate (Volume One: The Western Sea), Edward Marx, 2019, pp. 284 who was also known to be fond of the vogue for Japanese woodcuts.
In November 1901, his works were published in The Studio, introducing Markino as an artist to the British public. In December, he met Hirobumi Ito. In February 1902, he published Japanese Children's Stories with the publisher Grants Richard, and provided illustrations for King Magazine. By October 1902, his work began to become increasingly popular. From November 1902, he began living with Noguchi in Brixton. At this stage in his career, Markino frequently had little income. In 1903, his work appeared in The English Illustrated Magazine and he illustrated Noguchi's From the Eastern Sea for Unicorn Press. In August his work was published in the Magazine of Art, whose editor Marion Spielmann was fond of Markino's sketches. He took him under his wing and introduced Markino to a wider Edwardian social circle, while encouraging him to draw, paint and write. Spielmann also introduced him to Douglas Sladen, who would invite Markino to his Kensington home for tea and art parties.The Japanese Community in Pre-War Britain: From Integration to Disintegration, Keiko Itoh, 2013, pp. 112
In 1904, the Japanese artist Hara Bushō moved in with Markino until May 1905. In September 1905, Markino was nominated as a judge for the Venice Great Art Exposition representing the British Art Association. Based on the recommendation of Spielmann, he received a membership as a research student of national museums in Britain.
On the 8th May 1907, his illustrations of London, were published in The Colour of London to widespread critical acclaim. At the same time, the book's illustrations were shown at an exhibition of his works in Clifford Gallery in Haymarket. However, from May until June of that year, he was hospitalized in West London due to complications from a gastrointestinal operation.
In August 1907, Markino returned to Paris when his publishers asked him to produce The Colour of Paris as a companion volume to The Colour of London. He stayed in Paris until June 1908, and during this period met Auguste Rodin at the home of Leon Benedite. In late 1908, The Colour of Paris was published in England by Chatto and Windus.
Markino lived in Rome from October 1908 to May 1909 to illustrate the final volume in a three part book series The Colour of Rome, which was published by Chatto and Windus later in 1909. From July to October 1910, he stayed with his friends the Sladens and the writer Olave Potter, researching for illustrations to accompany Potter's book A Little Pilgrimage in Italy. Olave and Markino were said to have been romantically involved at the time.The Japanese Community in Pre-War Britain: From Integration to Disintegration, Keiko Itoh, 2013,
In May 1909, he returned to Paris from Rome, staying till June of that year. He returned to London in September to work on Oxford from Within, and stayed in Oxford to research the new book. In 1910, with the publication of A Japanese artist in London and Oxford from Within, he guided friends around the Japan–British Exhibition, and he appeared in that year's Who's Who (and the years following until 1949). From late 1910, he traveled with the suffragette Christabel Pankhurst lecturing on women's voting rights in the United Kingdom.Edwardian London through Japanese Eyes: The Art and Writings of Yoshio Markino, 1897–1915, William Rodner, 2012, pp. 195 – 196 During this time, Makino anglicised his name to Markino to prevent it being mispronounced as Maykino.
In 1911, he produced a painting of Windsor Castle to celebrate Queen Mary's coronation, which was given to the Queen and published in The English Review. Later in the year he also presented to Queen Mary an engraving of Buckingham Palace from Green Park. 1912 was to prove his most productive period of writing, with the publication of My Idealed John Bullesses, When I was a Child, and The Charm of London, followed in 1913 by Recollections and Reflections of a Japanese Artist.
With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Markino stopped sketching outdoors due to restrictions imposed on foreign nationals by the British government, and took up the study of English literature, philosophy, Greek and Latin. In 1915, Markino lectured on ethics and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. In the same year, he contributed the stage design for a production of Madame Butterfly at the London Opera House for Vladimir Rosing's Allied Opera Season.Musical America, 26 June 1915 p. 11 From 1918 he continued to write, paint and lecture, although his popularity had started to wane with the death of influential friends in World War I.