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. [...]
Japanese Art and Yumeji Takehisa: Complex Political Forces and Shusui Kotoku Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yumeji Takehisa produced many stunning pieces of art but just like Shusui Kotoku, the revolutionary anarchist, and friend, he was caught up in the world of political intrigues and clashes of culture. His friendship with Shusui Kotoku meant [...]
Art of Japan and Yumeji Takehisa: Hope Engulfed by Sorrow Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yumeji Takehisa was born in 1884 and died at the age of 49 in 1934. The last decade of his life was often traumatic because many areas of bleakness would engulf this gifted artist. This applies to natural events, [...]
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 [...]
Japanese Art and Yōshū Chikanobu: From Edo to Meiji Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times This is a brief glimpse into the art work of Yoshu Chikanobu (Chikanobu Toyohara) who witnessed major changes in Japan. He lived between 1838 and 1912 and this period in Japanese history is very dynamic. This applies to the ending [...]
Japanese Art and the World of Yakusha-e: The Quiet Artist of the Utagawa School Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Toyokuni changed the emphasis of his art from bijin-ga – images of beautiful ladies – to focusing on yakusha-e. It was his art of yakusha-e which opened up new doors and which he became [...]
Japanese art, Bijinga and Landscapes by Shinsui Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The artist Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) left a lasting legacy because he produced many stunning works of art. His art work came to the fore during the Taisho and Showa period in Japan and he became famous for stunning images of beautiful women. [...]
Japanese Art and the World of Bijinga: Torii Kiyonaga Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The world of ukiyo-e is extremely fascinating because of the array of subjects which were portrayed in the Edo and Meiji periods of Japanese history. Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) especially excelled in the area of bijinga (beautiful women) art. This is [...]
Japanese Art and the World of Ukiyo-e: International Impact and Pushing the Boundaries Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese art form called ukiyo-e relates to many aspects of Japanese culture throughout the Edo and Meiji period. This is because this amazing art form was expansive and despite government interference from time to [...]
The Enigmatic Japanese Cuckoo By toshidama For those familiar with, or interested in Japanese woodblock prints, the image of the falling cuckoo (above) will perhaps be familiar but perplexing. This enigmatic bird, drawn identically each time, appears in woodblock prints from the early 1830’s right into the twentieth century. The bird is sometimes (as in the case [...]
Japanese art and Saburosuke Okada: The Allure of Paris Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Saburosuke Okada (1869-1939) was born one year after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and he would witness many changes throughout his life. This applies to the Meiji period, Taisho era, and the early part of the Showa period. Throughout these [...]
Japanese and Western Art: Asai Chu and the Eclipse of Ukiyo-e Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Meiji Restoration of 1868 led to many social convulsions and like all revolutionary periods you had many winners and losers. This applies to individuals who could adapt to the rapid changes in society and the art [...]
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