Japanese Art in a Changing Environment: Kuniyoshi, Landscapes and Tranquility Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Kuniyoshi is among the crème de la crème of ukiyo-e artists because his work was truly amazing and so powerful. Kuniyoshi, just like other famous Japanese artists like Ando Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai, was very diverse. Also, the winds of [...]
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 Shunga Prints – Art or Pornography? By toshidama It is the fashion, especially among connoisseurs, to make distinctions between erotica and pornography. However, it seems to me disingenuous to describe some images as pornographic and others as erotic when the distinction is only contextual or at least subjective. In the field of Japanese art, shunga is 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 [...]
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 Folklore and Art: Kyosai and the World of the Tengu 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 [...]
Heirinji Zen Temple and Tranquil Grounds: Japanese Tourism on the Edge of Tokyo Tomoko Hara Modern Tokyo Times The stunning Heirinji Zen Temple is located in Niiza and while this part of Saitama prefecture may not appear to be out of the ordinary, the same can’t be said about this temple which is blessed with [...]
Women and the Floating World By toshidama I guess it is to be both anticipated and regretted that the women of Japan who were once the great writers and poets and priestesses, not to say robbers and warriors of their culture, should have been reduced by the middle of the nineteenth century to the status of ornament [...]
West Meets East in Japanese Prints (earlier than expected) by toshidama Most people tend to think of Japan as being sealed from the rest of the world until Commander Perry’s famous gunboat diplomacy of 1854. This is true in the main but there are notable examples of Dutch fraternisation prior to the reforms that led to Japan’s [...]
Influence of China on Japanese art and culture: Ike No Taiga Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Japanese art is very distinctive and contrasts greatly with classical European art and clearly religious differences, environmental factors, distance, limited social interaction between both poles and other important factors is behind this. Ike No Taiga exemplifies the vast [...]
Japanese culture and tradition: hanabi taikai Rhiannon Thomas Modern Tokyo Times In July and August, fireworks light up the skies of Japan almost every night. Firework festivals, known in Japanese as hanabi taikai, are some of the most popular events on the Japanese calendar, and while Westerners might associate the summer months with lazy days [...]
Japanese history and Oda Nobunaga: a visionary, innovator, and open to Christianity Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In all societies remarkable leaders emerge despite the constraints of culture, customs, religion and other factors. In Japan this certainly applies to Oda Nobunaga who was born in 1534 and died in 1582. Oda Nobunaga had a [...]
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