Fukuda (Haritsu) Kodōjin (1865–1944) was part of the long tradition of Japanese literati poet-painters. While the Chinese literati ideal as it was understood by Japanese painters and poets of the nineteenth century was not particularly concerned with popularity or communicating to the masses, by Kodōjin’s time it must have been clear that the tradition had become an artifact of an earlier era. Was he a last great figure expressing himself in the centuries-old manner of the Chinese literatus, or was he a stubborn Luddite resisting the inevitable changes that were guiding Japan into the modern age? Was his art a final example of masterful understanding of the literati tradition of the preceding three centuries, or was it outdated and incompatible with Japan’s new social environment? These questions underlie the discussion of Kodōjin’s life in Old Taoist: The Art and Life of Kodōjin (1865–1944). Regardless of our answers to these questions we can appreciate his work, but depending on our stance, his images and poems assume the tone of nostalgic odes to the past or pointed critiques of the modernization of Japan. Stephen Addiss and Jonathan Chaves provide an intriguing introduction to the poetry and painting of Kodōjin. In this presentation,...