Japan and the Green Tea Ceremony in history Olivier LeCourt and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese green tea ceremony is internationally famous because of the many angles to this rich cultural tradition. In historical terms this ceremony dates back to the ninth century and once the spiritual angle became associated then new dimensions [...]
Japanese art and Kuniyoshi: Serene Art During a Period of Change Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Kuniyoshi is amongst the crème de la crème of ukiyo-e because his art work was truly amazing and so powerful. Kuniyoshi, just like other famous Japanese artists like Ando Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai, was very diverse and the [...]
Japanese art and Kawanabe Kyosai: the power of folklore and culture Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai is extremely fascinating because of his individualistic spirit and this is witnessed in his art. Kyosai, just like the mysterious Tengu, belonged to two worlds and this applies to the old Edo period [...]
Japanese culture and history behind Green Tea Ceremony James Jomo and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese green tea ceremony dates back to the ninth century but modifications and reasons behind its popularity have changed. Matcha, powdered green tea, is served based on certain rites and the ritual nature is a vital element [...]
Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Japanese art: Images of tranquility and landscapes Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicted many images and covered various different subject matters. Therefore, the art of this stylish ukiyo-e artist in this article provides only a glimpse into the real Kuniyoshi. Kuniyoshi was born in 1797 and died in 1861 [...]
A Saga of Seduction in Japan: Tale of Genji (The first novel ever written) By Ledia Runnels Mysterious Japan Many things can be said of Murasaki Shikibu’s fictional account of the Heian aristocracy, set in eleventh century Japan. Yet the true heartbeat of The Tale of Genji, is the recurring rhythm of artful seduction that pulsates through Hikaru [...]
Japanese Green Tea Ceremony By Ledia Runnels Mysterious Japan Also called the “Way of Tea“, where matcha, powdered green tea, is presented in a ritualistic fashion. In Japan, the ceremony is called chanoyu or chadō, also pronounced sadō. The the art of the performance is called otemae . The primary influence for the ceremony is Zen Buddhism. Tea gatherings fall into two classifications: ochakai or chaji . Chakai [...]
Cezanne and Hokusai and the Mountainous Motif By toshidama Here are two great artists of the nineteenth century – innovators, visionaries and both of them artists of great influence. Both Hokusai and Cezanne have in different ways exerted huge influence over the course of art, certainly in the west during the crucial period of the avante [...]
Kunichika & Warhol – Seeing Stars By toshidama The superstar is no new phenomenon nor is the intimate relationship between entertainer and publicist a product only of modern mass media. I’m interested here in Kunichika and his close relationship with two very famous kabuki actors of the late nineteenth century; and how similar that [...]
Ogata Gekko: ukiyo-e and the self-taught artist Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Ogata Gekko lived between 1859 and 1920 and this period witnessed the modernization of Japan after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The same period would also see major changes in the art field because modern technology and international links would introduce major [...]
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: a glimpse into the rich art of a man of creativity Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was a great innovator of ukiyo-e and he produced around 10,000 prints. Yoshitoshi was born in 1839 and died in 1892 and his lifetime witnessed the old feudal ways of the Edo period and [...]
Boys and Girls: Gender, Kabuki and Japanese Prints By toshidama Japanese prints can be confusing territory for those seeking certainty. Artists of the ukiyo-e revelled in “look and compare” pictures or mitate-e as it is called. Borrowing from the traditions of poetry, mitate-e pictures play ironically with the knowingness of the audience, [...]
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