BABA Noboru Exhibit “The Eleven Cats” Come to the Museum Nyago! Nyago! Nyago!

July 29 (Wed) – September 6 (Sun) 2009 *The museum will remain open during the entire 40 day exhibit. Hours: 9:00 – 18:00 (Admission until 17:30) Location: Aomori Museum of Art Special Exhibit Gallery Admission: General 800 Yen (600 Yen) University and High School Students 500 Yen (400 Yen) Junior High and Elementary School Students 200 Yen (100 Yen) *During Children’s Museum Days (July 29-August 23) admission for Elementary and Junior High School Students is free. *Amounts given in parentheses are admission for groups of 20 people or greater and must be purchased ahead of time. Tickets for elementary school students and junior high school students may not be purchased in advance. *Persons with disability may be accompanied by 1 attendant for free of charge. *Admission to the permanent collection is free for schools visiting the museum.

Flyer (PDF/1.32MB)

BABA Noboru (1927-2001) was a manga artist as well as a picture book artist, whose works continued to be loved by many to this day.

Born in Sannohe Town of Aomori Prefecture, BABA moved to Tokyo after becoming friends with SHIRAKI Shigeru, a writer of children’s literature from the same hometown, and started his career as a manga artist. After producing the popular children’s manga works such as “Posto-kun” and “Būtan”, BABA expanded his field of work to include newspapers and weekly magazines, gaining support from multiple generations. BABA also was active in the world of picture books, in particular, his work, “Jūippiki no Neko” (Eleven Hungry Cats) was made into a 6 volume series, which has been a record breaking long-running bestseller, selling over 3 million copies.

This exhibit introduces the work of BABA Noboru in its entirety, and is also the first retrospective exhibit of BABA Noboru. Coming and going between the two genres of manga and picture books, BABA spent his life illustrating works filled with humor and warmth. This exhibit introduces his work, beginning with the “Jūippiki no Neko” (Eleven Cats) series, and includes never before seen precious materials from his early career such as manga originals, rough sketches, and the notes of the artist.

Outline of the Exhibit

“Ōgon Washi” (Golden Eagle) circa 1948, Shobunsha

“Posto-kun” original, 1954

“Būtan” original, 1954

“Jūippiki no Neko to Ahōdori” (Eleven Cats and an Albatross) rough sketch, 1972

Exhibit Details

Aomori Museum of Art