Japan Art and Kohfuku-ji Buddhist Temple
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
All three art pieces focus on the Kohfuku-ji (Kofuku-ji) Buddhist temple in Nara. This famous city in Japan is where Japanese high culture emerged – and not Kyoto.
The Kohfukuji website says, “During the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794-1180) periods the temple expanded rapidly under the patronage of the court and the powerful Fujiwara clan, and gradually merged with nearby Kasuga Shrine, the ancestral Shinto shrine of the Fujiwara family. As the dominant political force in the region, Kohfukuji was granted a shogunal mandate to oversee Yamato Province (modern-day Nara Prefecture) during the Kamakura (1185–1333) and Muromachi (1336–1573) periods.”
The first art piece is by Tomikichiro Tokuriki (1902-1999). He was born in the cultural city of Kyoto. Accordingly, it is easy to imagine Tokuriki being inspired by Ise, Kyoto, Koyasan, Nara, and the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage that blesses this part of Japan.
In the second art piece, Eiichi Kotozuka (1906-1981) focuses extensively on the pagoda angle. He was born in Osaka. Overall, he is noted for his sōsaku hanga (creative prints) prints – which often highlight the cultural dimensions of Japan.
The final art piece is by Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949). Accordingly, all three Japanese artists were born during the dynamic Meiji Period (1868-1912).
The highly acclaimed Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) influenced Kōitsu. Indeed, they worked together for just shy of 20 years.
Henjō (816-890) – a Buddhist monk and poet – wrote:
On his way to leave the world, a man
Comes to rest
Beneath the trees
But he finds no shade
For every Autumn leaf has fallen.
https://www.kohfukuji.com/english/
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