In my final year at Oxford, I received a travel grant from Oxford's History of Art department to explore Japanese Art. This is one of the main reasons I could come to Japan and I was really thrilled when I received it!
There are so many museums and galleries in Tokyo and I went to as many as I could without feeling overwhelmed. It's also really great to have a purpose other than just travelling when abroad, because, as many of the people I've met have mentioned, sightseeing and visiting temples day after day can get a bit wearing after a while. It took me ages to find an internet cafe to continue writing my blog, and I am now sat in a bizarre 24 hour manga-cafe in Hiroshima!
In this post I wanted to write about some of the art I saw chronologically, and ended up writing a lot about the historical context - Japanese history is so interesting and unique, and understanding it has really helped me to understand the art better.
In this post I wanted to write about some of the art I saw chronologically, and ended up writing a lot about the historical context - Japanese history is so interesting and unique, and understanding it has really helped me to understand the art better.
 |
| Seated Nikko Bosatsu, 8th century, Nara period Tokyo National Museum |
After the Nara period came the Heian period (794-1192), which is considered the golden (and last) era of classical Japanese culture. So it's no wonder that the capital of Japan during that time was Kyoto, the second most popular destination in Japan after Disneyland Tokyo. During this period, esoteric Buddhism was introduced to Japan resulting in the development of new forms of art. I really liked the illustrated scrolls which portrayed the origins of temples and shrines and, in the second half of the Heian period, illustrated poems and literary works. The calligraphy itself is beautiful, and combined with delicate illustrations, the scrolls are amazing.
The Kamakura period (1192-1333) marks the beginning of medieval Japan and the introduction of Zen Buddhism from China, which emphasised the practice of meditation. My couchsurfing host Hayato shared his own traumatic experiences of Zen with me and told me about the time his class at elementary school was forced to meditate for 5 hours or risked being smacked on the shoulder by a monk using a keisaku, "a flat wooden stick or slat used during periods of meditation to remedy sleepiness or lapses of concentration" (wikipedia). What a way to achieve peace of mind and unity with nature! The Kamakura period also marks the first shogunal (military) government of Japan, after the Minamoto clan seized power through military force and established the new capital in Kamakura. While Japan remained an imperial dynasty (and still is today), the power transferred from the emperor and the imperial court to military clans and their armies of samurai warriors.
The art of ink painting was one of the main cultural influences that arrived in Japan from China along with Zen, and became one of the major genres of Japanese paintings. This continued through the Nanbokucha (1333-1392) and Muromachi (1392-1573) periods and I definitely fell in love with a set of ink-painted screens from the Muromachi period called "Landscape of the Four Seasons", a typical theme from the period. The level of detail the artist Yogetsu achieved in the two six-panel screens was incredible. The different textures of the water, mountains, trees, people and buildings created a beautiful contrast of sharp detail against a hazy, distant background. I spent a long time picking out the little details and scenes which you don't notice at first glance.
 |
| Landscape of the Four Seasons by Yogetsu, 15th century, ink and light colour on paper, Tokyo National Museum |
 |
| Close up of a scene from the other screen |
The beauty of these screens completely contradict the historical events of the Muramachi period, during which Japan was at civil war. By 1477 there were hundreds of independent states throughout Japan ruled by daimyo - feudal lords who fought for control of the country. Awesomely enough, this is also where ninjas came from, who were hired by the daimyo as skilled spies and assassins. During all of this, the first ever Europeans to set foot in Japan (Portugese traders on a Chinese ship that was blown off course and landed on a Japanese island) sparked the introduction of muskets and Christianity to the country.
During the following Azuchi-Momoyama period, Japan began to be reunified, and after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the famous Edo period (based in modern-day Tokyo) began under the rule of the Tokugawa clan who ruled for an uninterrupted 268 years of relative peace and stability. Correspondingly, the arts flourished including the theatre of kabuki, haiku poetry and the publishing industry. Wealthy merchants patronised these arts and were known for their hedonistic lifestyles, employing courtesans and geisha entertainers. This lifestyle was referred to as ukiyo - "floating world". The characteristic art form of the Edo period is the ukiyo-e woodblock print, the popularity of which swiftly spurred the development of coloured woodblock art. Many of these were mass-produced for the consumption of common people and depicted scenes of ordinary people's lives and landscapes.
One of the most famous ukiyo-e artists is Katsushika Hokusai, who created the famous Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. I went to the Ota Memorial Museum of Art which has a collection of 12,000 ukiyo-e pieces (about 70 of which are put on display at any time). I was really lucky, because one of the impressions of Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa was currently on display when I was there, which is arguably the most famous piece of Japanese art. It is part of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series and shows Mount Fuji in the background and thirty people in three boats hanging onto their oars as a wave is about to crash over them. I love the tension in the print, which is so alive that you feel like the wave is about to crash and splash out of the picture. I also like that Mount Fuji almost looks like it is part of the waves, and so small in contrast to the vast empty space above and around it. It definitely makes a nice change to the endless paintings of Mount Fuji filling the frame that I've seen in many of the museums here!
 |
| The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai, published between 1830 and 1833 |
 |
| Nakamura Nakazo I (kabuki actor, born 1736) Katuskawa Shunsho |
As I've mentioned before, the Japanese are all obsessed with the Edo period during which Japan's population doubled to thirty million and literacy rates increased drastically. But to remain so stable, the Tokugawa rule preserved a strict social hierarchy and was brutal, handing out harsh punishments for minor crimes and ritualising the ancient form of suicide through self-disembowelment as a punishment for criminals from the higher classes. The third Tokugawa shogun implemented the closed country isolationist policy, which forbade Japanese citizens from leaving the country and highly restricted international trade. Trade was only carried out with the Netherlands, China and Korea, and outside influences were kept limited. However, Japan did export goods to Europe and in the 19th century ukiyo-e prints became widely popular in Europe and influenced and inspired many of the Impressionists and post-Impressionists, including van Gogh, Monet and Renoir. Van Gogh made copies of two Hiroshige prints (see below) and coined the term Japonaiserie to express the influence of Japanese art. In one of his letters he wrote "all my work is based to some extent on Japanese art".
 |
| The Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige) Vincent van Gogh, 1887 |
 |
| Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake, Hiroshige, 1857 |
The end of the Edo period began in 1853 when the American Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan with a fleet of gunboats and demanded that Japan end its isolationist policy and open it's ports to American trade under threat of destruction. （U-S-A! U-S-A!) The shogunate was forced to give in to these demands thereby angering many people, which lead to the overthrowing of the shogunate and the reinstatement of the emperor as the nominal supreme power in Japan. This was the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912). In 1869 the imperial family moved to Edo and renamed it Tokyo. The Meiji government promoted westernisation and there was an influx of western goods which were widely popular. This was also a time of expansion abroad using military force. By the end of the period, Japan had fought wars with China and Russia, thereby conquering Taiwan and Korea.
 |
| Nude Beauty, Testugoro Yorozu, 1912、MOMAT |
The effect of westernisation can definitely be seen in Japanese art from this period. While European artists were influenced by ukiyo-e prints, after the end of Japan's isolation, Japanese artists explored western techniques and drew inspiration from western artists. I saw Nude Beauty in the Museum of Modern Art Tokyo and immediately noticed the similarity of technique to van Gogh, especially in the grass the painter's wife is lying on. The artist, Yorozu, also departed from traditional Japanese mediums like hanging scrolls and decorative screens and instead used oil on canvas. The painting also marks the beginning of the Taisho period (1912-1926) in which Japan developed stronger democratic institutions and gained international influence, siding with the Allies during WW1 and gaining new colonies in the South Pacific which were seized from Germany. Due to this increased democratisation, the individual became more important during this era, and this can definitely be seen in the painting. The woman clearly departs from the traditional Japanese image of beauty, with her awkward position, armpit hair, and lack of traditional clothing and make-up.
 |
| The Boys' Festival (1936) and Doll Festival (1934) Kiyokata Kaburaki, MOMAT |
The Showa period (1926-1989) followed the Taisho period. The years leading to WW2 were characterised by a rise in extreme nationalism and expansionist wars. After their catastrophic defeat in the war, Japan was occupied by foreign powers for the only time in their history. (I want to write more about Hiroshima and art in the Second World War in another post.) The art I've seen from this period is very varied, from traditional Nihonga (Japanese-style paintings) to western-style paintings and forms in between. I especially enjoyed pieces which experimented with the traditional Japanese style. The pieces on the right from the 1930s, for example, use the traditional form of the hanging scroll with a twist, experimenting with space and framing. I really liked the one on the left, The Boys' Festival, where the frame seems almost more important than what would traditionally be the focus of the piece, even overlapping and intruding on the centerpiece. The bold colours of the frame also go against tradition - usually the frame is a dull-coloured pattern which complements the painting but doesn't draw away from it.
Japan is now in the Heisei period (1989-) and while I haven't yet had the opportunity to travel to any of the other periods, I can confirm first-hand that the Heisei period is brilliant. I have seen loads of contemporary Japanese art and will definitely be writing more about it, because I find contemporary art particularly interesting, but here's one to leave you with. The museum's description explains the title of Rose Colours Ahead, Behind by stating that the various rose-coloured forms in the painting "occupy positions not readily distinguished as ahead or behind on the picture plane." As soon as I saw it, I thought the title was a brilliant pun based on the fact that the two big shapes could either be the backs of two heads, or a pair of buttocks. Is my mind just in the gutter, or did the museum experts fail to identify the true meaning of this work?
 |
| Rose Colours Ahead, Behind", Toeko Tatsuno, 2011 Muuseum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo |
