Numerous histories of Futurism in Japan have been written, both within larger reconstructions of the history of the so-called 'historical avant-gardes' in the country and as separate surveys. The Japanese bibliography on the subject is extensive, as are the results of research conducted on primary sources. A number of presentations are also available in European languages (see the references at the end of this entry). What follows is indebted to such sources (and in particular to the research

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... dertaken by Toshiharu Omuka),1 which are frequently rich in detail on single episodes or authors. The reader is therefore invited to refer to them for further information. Another introductory remark is appropriate: many of these histories, as will be mine, are primarily focussed on the vicissitudes of the avant-garde movements active in Tokyo, the capital. From a historical perspective, this is partially justified by the centralism of the Japanese cultural world. In a manner that has frequently been seen as running in parallel to the rôle played by Paris in the French context, some of the most influential and prestigious cultural institutions of the country (museums, art schools, publishing companies, newspapers and magazines, universities, art galleries, etc.) are concentrated in Tokyo. Nonetheless, it should be remembered that one of the most recent trends in scholarship on Japanese avant-gardes is concerned with the art scenes of other cultural centres, such as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, as well as with minor centres and the cultural scenes of the territories which, until the Second World War, were subject to Japanese colonial rule. In this respect, one of the most promising perspectives for research is the study of avant-garde networks within East Asian countries.