Japanese Art, Culture and Fashion during the Lifetime of Ogata Gekko (1859-1920) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Ogata Gekko was a very individualistic artist who had a rich style which was based on his upbringing. This applies to mainly being self-taught but this can be over-played because his free spirit was from within. Also, [...]
Mimesis – Bunraku Puppets and Living Dolls By toshidama There is a long tradition of puppetry in Japan that stretches back to the seventeenth century. Puppet theatre predates kabuki theatre and informed much of the style, dramas and conventions that kabukiadopted and made its own. Not only does puppet theatre (bunraku) have an important place in Japanese culture but so [...]
Japanese Art and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Power of Montmartre Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) adored Japanese ukiyo-e and many famous international artists also fell in love with this art form. Toulouse-Lautrec and his lifestyle would certainly have fit in well with the environment of Yoshiwara in Tokyo, which is [...]
Magic in Japan – The Body of the People By toshidama In this case not necessarily the physical body – I’m thinking here of the cultural body and how that relates to the people. When we look at the extraordinary corpus of Japanese woodblock prints from the nineteenth century we are struck firstly by its hermeticism. This [...]
Japanese Art and Claude Monet: Impressionism and the Land of the Rising Sun Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Claude Monet was very important within French Impressionism and despite new artistic movements like Cubism and Fauvism altering the artistic landscape, he remained firmly committed to Impressionist art. Another major art theme which would shape Claude [...]
Bathers and Echoes in Japanese Prints and Beyond By Alex Faulkner toshidama As regular readers will know, reference, allusion and quotation are an embedded part of Japanese visual culture. Indeed, the Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin recently put on a blockbuster show on this very theme, Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Tokugawa School. [...]
Art and History of Japan: Boy Emperor Antoku and the Taira and Minamoto Clans Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The boy Emperor Antoku tragically perished before reaching seven years of age because of the political convulsions of the late twelfth century in Japan. His death and that of loyalists within the Taira says much [...]
Japanese Art and the Individualism of Yorozu Tetsugoro Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Japanese art is extremely diverse and during the lifetime of Yorozu Tetsugoro he witnessed many changes (1885-1927) because the Meiji Period opened up Japan to new thought patterns. In the field of art this radically altered the art scene because the [...]
Impressionism and Art in Paris: Fujishima Takeji and Alfred Sisley Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Alfred Sisley and Fujishima Takeji were both born in the nineteenth century and their common factors apply to the stunning art they produced and the richness of Paris which influenced both artists. They both also studied at the Ecole des [...]
Kuniyoshi to Yoshitoshi – Reviving the Warrior Class By toshidama Cultures turn to mythologies for reassurance – myths define us like daydreams, they show us how we might be. In England, (where we were recently reminded of all those knights in armour at Prime Minister Thatcher’s funeral) pageant remains the drag anchor to change: nostalgia, the [...]
Japanese Art and Imperial Kyoto: Sukenobu, Ladies and Deeper Meaning Tomoko Hara Modern Tokyo Times Nishikawa Sukenobu was born in 1671 and until his death in the middle of the eighteenth century, this stunning artist opened up aspects of the role of women in Japanese society. Also, with Sukenobu being based in Kyoto then this [...]
Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum: Current Exhibition Runs Until April 30 Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum is a specialist museum which highlights the amazing beauty and craftsmanship of netsuke. Currently, the Spring Exhibition on the Theme of “Next Stage” runs until April 30and the next exhibition will [...]
| Today | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
 Partly Cloudy 75° | 59° |  Clear 77° | 61° | Chance of Rain 75° | 63° |
Japanese Yen Exchange Rate