NASHVILLE, TN.- An exhibition of high quality reproduction prints, taken from woodblocks created by the acclaimed 18th century artist Sharaku presented alongside interpretative works by contemporary Japanese graphic and fine artists, opens at the Tennessee State Museum on February 18. Sharaku Interpreted by Japan’s Contemporary Artists, which is free to the public, is sponsored by the Consulate-General of Japan and The Japan Foundation. The exhibition takes as its theme Toshusai Sharaku, known throughout Japan and the world for his bust portraits of Kabuki actors. Sharaku is widely considered to be one of the great masters of ukiyo-e (woodblock) printing in Japan. Little is actually known of him; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known with any certainty. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just 10 months in the mid-Edo period of Japanese history, from middle 1794 to