Japanese Art, Traditional Fashion and a Living Connection in Modern Japan Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Ukiyo-e art in Japan focused on many themes during its “golden period” in the Edo period and carried on into the Meiji era. The world of Japan comes alive visually within many areas of ukiyo-e art because of [...]
Art and Fashion in the Eyes of Yōshū Chikanobu: Edo, Meiji and Western Influence Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In modern day Japan the fashion scene is electric in major cities like Kobe, Osaka, and Tokyo. This applies to crème de la crème fashion and independent styles and the fusion of Japanese fashion, European [...]
David Bowie… Pop Goes Kabuki By toshidama Ukiyo-e artists have used kabuki, (traditional Japanese theatre) as subject matter for their woodblock prints more or less since its inception in the seventeenth century. David Bowie started experimenting with kabuki for his stage shows in 1973. By the time of his Aladdin Sane tour he was wearing actual kabuki costumes [...]
Japanese Culture and Tradition: Hanabi Taikai Hiroshi Saito and Sarah Deschamps Modern Tokyo Times The hanabi taikai season will witness countless firework festivals all over Japan throughout July and August. Therefore, whole communities will be gearing up for another hanabi taikai season all over this country whereby people can enjoy amazing firework displays. For tourists [...]
Japanese Ukiyo-e in a Changing Artistic Landscape: Chikanobu and the Impact of Modernity Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yoshu Chikanobu (Toyohara Chikanobu) lived between 1838 and 1912 and much of his art highlights the changing nature of Japan. The opening up of the land of the rising sun after the Meiji Restoration provided many [...]
Impressions of Women – Ukiyo-e and Impressionism By toshidama It’s handy to think of national (or even nationalistic) characteristics in art; I’m thinking of books such as Pevsner’s The Englishness of English Art from 1955 for example. The reality is that people talk to each other; artists, architects, producers and makers have a constant dialogue; dialogue informs the [...]
Japanese Culture: Honoring the Spirits of the Ancestors during Obon Rhiannon Thomas Modern Tokyo Times Obon is a traditional Buddhist festival in Japan to honor the spirits of ancestors. Although it is not an official holiday in Japan, Obon is a popular time for family reunions, when people return home to visit and clean their [...]
Japan Art: Erotic Art, Sexuality and Landscapes by Ando Hiroshige Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Ando Hiroshige is deemed to be one of the finest artists to bless the country of Japan and his art influenced famous artists like Van Gogh. Hiroshige leaves a lasting impression because of the work he produced. However, the [...]
Tall Tales and Japanese Woodblock Prints Alex Faulkner By toshidama Some stories persist; immune to cultural change, embroidered and adapted to different times, rising and falling in popularity and sometimes losing touch completely with their origins and their roots. None of this matters of course, what matters is what people make of a story, how cultures [...]
Bonsai Trees in Japanese Prints – Small is Beautiful By toshidama I suppose that if you were to ask most people about traditional Japanese culture, they would talk about geishas and samurai, sushi, kimonos and bonsai trees. It’s likely though that few people would know much about the bonsai tree and probably would not have seen one. [...]
Japanese Art and Culture: Impact of Oda Nobunaga and Rich Art of Kano Eitoku Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In modern Japan the importance of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) and his legacy remains extremely strong even today. After all, he laid the foundation stone for the future centralized Japan despite certain limitations during the Tokugawa [...]
Japanese Artist born in Kyoto: Mystery of Paris, Japan Art and Yasui Sotaro Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yasui Sotaro (1888-1955) was born in Kyoto and he is famous for yoga(Western-style) portraiture. It is clear that this talented individual understood his vocation because he pursued a career in art despite his family desiring a [...]
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