DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 470 399 SO 034 129

AUTHOR Guth, Christine; Henderson, Anne; Hinish, Heidi; Moore,Barbara

TITLE Edo: Art in Japan 1615-1868. Teaching Program.

INSTITUTION National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.PUB DATE 1998-00-00

NOTE 52p.

AVAILABLE FROM National Gallery of Art, 2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD20785. Tel: 202-737-4215; e-mail: info@nga.gov; Web site:http://www.nga.gov/ .

PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052)EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC03 Plus Postage..

DESCRIPTORS *Art Activities; *Art Education; *Art History; *CulturalContext; Foreign Countries; Interdisciplinary Approach;Language Arts; Mathematics; Secondary Education; SocialStudies

IDENTIFIERS Japan; *Japanese Art

ABSTRACT

The Edo period in Japan (1615-1868) saw the flowering of manyforms of cultural expression, colorful and boisterous, muted and restrained,that today is thought of as typically Japanese. These include kabuki and nodrama, the tea ceremony, martial arts, woodblock prints, and porcelain. Thisculturally diverse and vibrant period gets its name from the city of Edo, nowknown as TOkyo. This teaching guide to the art of "Edo" first presents ahistorical overview of the period. The guide is then divided into 11'sections: (1) .7Edo Style"; (2) "Samurai"; (3) "Work"; (4) "Religion"; (5)

"Travel"; (6) "Entertainment"; (7) "Glossary"; (8) "Chronology"; (9)

"Activities "; (10) "Further Reading"; and (11) "Slide List." It includes manycolor illustrations. Activities are designed for beginner, intermediate, oradvanced learners; curriculum connections are suggested for art, languagearts, mathematics, or social studies. (BT)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

Edo: Art in Japan 1615-1868. TeachingProgram.

Christine GuthAnne Henderson

Heidi HinishBarbara Moore

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

2

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

a. This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

Teaching Program

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The exhibitionEdo: Art in Japan 1615 1868

is made possible by NTT

Exhibition dates:15 November 1998 through15 February 1999

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This teaching program was written for theeducation division by Christine Guth, an inde-pendent scholar. Since receiving her Ph.D. inFine Arts from Harvard University in 1976, shehas taught at institutions such as Harvard,Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania.Her recent publications include Art, Tea, andIndustry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle

(Princeton, 1993) and Art of Edo Japan: The Artist

and the City, 1615-1868 (New York, 1996).

Concept development and teaching activitiesby Anne Henderson, Heidi Hinish, and Barbara

Moore.

Thanks to Leo Kasun, Elisa Patterson, RuthPerlin, Renata Sant'anna, Takahide Tsuchiya,and Susan Witmer for their assistance withthis project.

Produced by Donna Mann.Designed by Carol Beehler.

NOTES TO THE READER

The Japanese government has designatednumerous works of art as National Treasures,Important Cultural Properties, or Important ArtObjects because of their artistic quality, historicvalue, and rarity. Several works with these des-ignations are included in this publication.

Dimensions are in centimeters, followed byinches in parentheses, height preceding width,and width preceding depth.

Cover: Watanabe ShikO, Mount Yoshino, early

eighteenth century, detail from a pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, and gold on paper,Private Collection, Kyoto

Title page: Dish with radish and waves design,

c. 168os -169os, Nabeshima ware porcelain,Imaemon Museum of Ceramic Antiques, Saga

Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved.Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art,

Washington

CONTENTS

Edo: Art in Japan 16'5 1868 0 4

Edo Style o ro

Samurai o 15

Work o 19

Religion o 23

Travel 0 28

Entertainment o 33

Glossary o 39

Chronology o 40

Activities o 42

Further Reading o 44

Slide List o 46

7

FIGURE I

Nonomura Ninsei (d. 1695),Tea bowl with crescent moonand waves design, c. 1656,stoneware with polychromeoverglaze enamels, diameter12.5 (4'/8), Tokyo National

Museum

EDO: ART IN JAPAN 1615 - 1868

7 HE EDO PERIOD (1615 1868)

saw the flowering of manyforms of cultural expression,

both colorful and boisterous, mutedand restrained, that we think of todayas typically Japanese. These includekabuki and no drama, the tea cere-mony (see fig. 1), the martial arts,woodblock prints, and porcelain. Thisculturally diverse and extraordinarilyvibrant period gets its name from thecity of Edo, now known as Tokyo,which became the seat of the govern-ment when Tokugawa Ieyasu (15421616) unified the country after a cen-tury and a half of warfare.

The Tokugawa regime was for-mally established in 1603, when theemperor, in recognition of Ieyasu'ssupremacy on the battlefield,appointed him shogun, the highestrank in the military order, and thetitular head of the military govern-

84 Edo: Art in Japan

ment. The emperor was a figureheadwho commanded no political author-ity, but his approval was necessaryto legitimize the shogun. By puttingin place a highly centralized admin-istrative organization and strictlycontrolling Japan's contacts withother countries, Ieyasu and fifteensuccessive generations of Tokugawashogun ensured peace and stabilityfor an unprecedented two and ahalf centuries.

The Tokugawa rulers exercisedauthority through their roughly 25ofeudal vassals, known as daimyo, towhom they granted fiefs throughoutthe country. In return, these feudallords were expected to lend militaryassistance when required, to serve theshogun in various administrativecapacities, and to provide ceremonialentertainments and gifts. Their fiefswere strategically allocated to keeppotentially dangerous rivals as farfrom Edo as possible. To ensure thatthey did not establish provincialpower bases that might challengeshogunal authority, the daimyo had tospend alternate years in residence inEdo. Even when they returned home,they had to leave wives and family ashostages in Edo.

By 172o Edo, the nation's adminis-trative capital, had a population ofmore than one million inhabitantsexceeding that of London or Paris atthe time. Kyoto, a city of temples andshrines, the residence of the emperor,and the leading center of arts andcrafts production, had a population ofclose to 400,00o. Osaka, popularlyknown as the nation's kitchenbecause it was the hub of rice trade

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and shipping, also had around 400,000inhabitants. These metropolises,along with the smaller cities andtowns that sprang up across theJapanese archipelago, combined to

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make Japan one of the most urban-ized countries in the world (see fig. 2).

The growth of a money economyand resulting concentration of wealthin the urban setting led to a dramatic

FIGURE 2

9 Edo: Art in Japan 5

6 Edo: Art in Japan

shift in cultural power over the courseof the Edo period. Although the rulingwarrior or samurai class was at thepinnacle of the social hierarchy, fol-lowed by farmers, artisans, and mer-chants, its members were largelydependent on fixed stipends from riceproduction. The same was true of thecourt nobility and clergy. The money-based income of merchants and arti-sans, on the other hand, was variableand therefore more responsive toinflationary pressures. Although polit-ical power was monopolized by thesamurai, artisans and merchantsvastly outnumbered them andbecame more affluent and influentialas patrons of the arts.

Through their enthusiastic sup-port of visual and performing arts,such as woodblock prints and kabukitheater, this new urban economicelite had a lasting impact on the dis-tinctive cultural style of the Edoperiod. But traditional patterns ofpatronage did not disappear. Thesamurai class required a wide rangeof paintings and other arts to decoratetheir residences. To fill these needs,they retained hereditary lineages ofartists, such as the Kano school ofpainters, whose themes and stylesdictated official taste of the period.Religious institutions employed car-penters to build new halls and sculp-tors, painters, and other craftsmen tofill them. Members of the imperialfamily, though financially dependenton the shogunate, also continuedto support the arts. Following hermarriage to Emperor Gomizunoo in1620, TOfukumon'in (1607 1678)

employed many of Kyoto's most cre-

1 0

ative weavers, dyers, and designers tosupply her luxurious, trendsettingwardrobe.

Despite the phenomenal growth oftowns and cities, more than eightypercent of the population continuedto make a living by farming. Rice wasthe dominant crop, but to supplementthis, many farmers began to diversify,planting cash crops such as cotton,rapeseed, or tobacco and producinggoods such as cotton fabrics. The eco-nomic benefits of these developmentsenabled some farmers to acquirewealth enough to devote themselvesto cultural pursuits such as poetry,painting, and calligraphy, previouslyenjoyed only by the urban elite.Literati painters such as Ike Taiga(1723 1776) and Yosa Buson (17161783) traveled to rural areas to provideinstruction as well as to find newmarkets for their work.

A nationwide system of roadwaysand waterways fostered communi-cation, commerce, and culturalexchange between city and country.Traffic went both ways. Urban fash-ions were quickly taken up in theprovinces, and rural folk paintingsand textiles found favor in the cities.This flow of culture between themetropolis and the peripheryenriched the lives of individuals andfostered the growth of shared culturalvalues throughout the Japaneseislands.

There was also regular, if carefullycontrolled, trade with China, Korea,and the West, primarily through thesouthern port of Nagasaki. TheTokugawa had banned the Portugueseand Spanish from Japanese ports

because of their efforts to gain con-verts to Catholicism, but they per-mitted trade with the Dutch, whowere less interested in promoting reli-gion. After 172o, when restrictions onimported books were lifted, providingthey had no religiously subversivecontent, a wide range of foreign booksand pictures filtered into the country.These fueled the thirst for knowledgeand novelty, contributing significantlyto the rich cultural mix of the period.In the 182os, for instance, the intro-duction of an imported aniline dyeknown as Prussian or Berlin blue con-tributed to a craze for prints thatmade extensive use of this startlinglydeep and permanent color (see fig. 3).

With the spread of educationalopportunities and the diffusion ofinexpensive books, literacy soaredamong men, women, and children ofall classes. Education, once limited towarriors and courtiers, now becameavailable through temple schools aswell as private academies. Learning toread and write required mastery ofChinese characters as well as two syl-labic systems. Although Chinese andJapanese belong to different linguisticsystems, Japan had adopted Chinesecharacters, supplementing them witha complex phonetic syllabary. Thepublication of easy-to-read novels,instructional manuals, and collectionsof poetry, many of them with livelyillustrations, helped to make readingone of the most popular leisure activi-ties in town and country.

China, long Japan's cultural men-tor, continued to play an importantrole, especially in the intellectual andartistic spheres. The Tokugawa regime

adopted Confucianism as the stateideology. The government foundit especially appealing because un-like Buddhism and Shinto, the twoother prevailing ethical systems, itaddressed political and moral con-cerns in a highly pragmatic way. TheConfucian value system undergirdedthe Tokugawa social hierarchy as wellas the emphasis on filial piety and

11

FIGURE 3

Katsushika Hokusai (17601849), Amida Waterfall on theKiso Highway, from A Tour

of Waterfalls in Various

Provinces, c. 1833 - 1834, colorwoodblock print, 37.5 x 24.8

(1434 x 04, Private Collection,

California

Edo: Art in Japan 7

FIGURE 4

Ogata Korin (1658 - 1716) and

Ogata Kenzan (1663 -1743),

Square dish with cranedesign, c. 171o, stoneware and

underglaze iron oxide, width22.2 (834), Fujita Museum of

Art, Osaka, Important CulturalProperty

8 Edo: Art in Japan

loyalty to one's superior. The moraliz-ing themes common in paintingscommissioned by the shogun, daimyo,and their vassals served to reinforceConfucian ethical values.

Many artistic developments of theperiod were informed by a dynamictension between Chinese and indige-nous aesthetic values that had charac-terized Japanese culture since ancienttimes. Painters of the orthodox Kanoschool specialized in pictorial themesand ink painting styles of Chinese ori-gin; so too did the more individualis-tic painters of the literati school. Yetboth groups also incorporated ele-ments of Japanese aesthetics. WhileChinese pictorial traditions tended toemphasize the potential of the brushto create expressive line and texture,Japanese aesthetics gave priority tocolor and surface. The interplaybetween these approaches was not

12

limited to the pictorial arts, but wasalso manifested in other media, espe-cially ceramics (see figs. 4, 5).

The Edo period was characterizedby a highly integrated approach to thearts. The Western distinction betweenthe "fine arts" of painting and sculp-ture and the "applied arts" of ceram-ics, metalwork, and lacquer wasunknown. Many artists worked in sev-eral media. Those of the Rinpa school,for instance, were accomplishedpainters and calligraphers as well asdesigners of textiles, lacquer, andceramics. Nor was there a sharp dis-tinction between the visual, literary,and the performing arts. The tea cere-mony is among the many art formsthat combine both performative andvisual elements.

Most artists, whether painters,sculptors, potters, lacquerers, orweavers, were organized into heredi-

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tary workshops, some of which lastedfor many generations. These werestructured along familial lines, withmost members related by blood ormarriage; and those who were notrelated adopted the same familyname. These occupational groups jeal-ously guarded their trade secrets,handing them down from master todisciple. The Kano school of paintersand Goto school of armorers, whichprimarily served members of thesamurai class, flourished throughoutthe Edo period. Woodblock print work-shops were more dependent on thefickle tastes of the public and rarelylasted more than a generation or two.This familial system was the normamong other cultural groups as well.Schools of tea, calligraphy, swords-manship, and poetry were similarlyorganized into artistic lineages, some-times with many branches across thecountry. Those desiring to learn a par-ticular skill paid a fee to study underone of their officially licensed mas-ters. Mastery in one or more such artswas deemed essential to the develop-ment of aesthetic sensibility andcultural literacy. 0

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FIGURE 5

Dish with lotus leaf andgeometric pattern, late 16405,Hizen ware, porcelain withunderglaze cobalt blue andpolychrome overglaze enam-els, diameter 33 (i3), IdemitsuMuseum of Arts, Tokyo

Edo: Art in Japan 9

to Edo Style

EDO STYLE

7 HEN WE refer to a person's"style," we are usuallydescribing the way he or

she behaves, talks, and dresses. Styleis an expression of both individualand collective identity, and as such itis shaped by and reflective of manyfactors ethnic, religious, regional,social, occupational, and historical.These variables must be kept in mindwhen trying to discern the distin-guishing features of Japanese styleduring the two and a half centuries ofthe Edo period. What we now charac-terize as "Edo style" is in fact a blendof many different cultural traditions,indigenous and foreign, elite and pop-ular, old and new.

The term "Edo style" may be con-fusing, since Edo can refer both to thecity known today as Tokyo and to theperiod when its status as shogunalcapital made it the nation's politicaland economic hub. Although Edobecame Japan's largest city, by com-parison with Kyoto, it was a cheekyupstart. The cultural style that devel-oped in Edo celebrated this youthfulvigor. Residents of Edo prided them-selves on their modern sensibilitytheir openness to innovations, theirbravado, their love of extravagant dis-play. This aesthetic outlook was instriking contrast to that prevailing inKyoto and nearby Osaka. Kyoto tradi-tionally was the home of the emperorand the nobility, and its residentsidentified deeply with the eleganceand refinement of this time-honoredcourtly tradition. Rivalry between thebrash young capital in the northeastand its older counterparts to thesouthwest was central to the culturaldynamics of the Edo period.

14

An acute preoccupation with see-ing and being seen is among the mostnotable characteristics of Edo periodstyle, transcending such regional dif-ferences. The Edo world thrived onthe spectacular, and the relationshipbetween art and life was constantlybeing defined and redefined byimages ranging from portraits of cour-tesans and actors, to scenic views ofChina and textile designs. This fasci-nation with the visual also spurredartistic experiments with unusualforms and materials, with the fantas-tic and the grotesque, and with theminiature and the gigantic. The highlevel of ornamental refinement andtechnical perfection in the design ofeven the smallest articles of daily lifeis further evidence of this tendency.

Aesthetic rebellion against thetight socio-political controls main-tained by the Tokugawa governmentwas another distinguishing feature ofEdo style. This spirit of subversionappeared in all media and was givenexpression in many ways, both subtleand blatantly defiant. The popularityof ceramics, lacquer, and textiles withRinpa style designs had anti-shogunalovertones because of their associationwith the tradition of the imperialcourt; these aristocratic values repre-sented an artistic alternative thatchallenged those promulgated by thesamurai class. This aestheticism wascentral to the visual arts, performingarts, and fashions in the pleasurequarters. Further evidence of thisdefiance of the cultural values of theTokugawa shogunate can be found inthe exceptional delight both artistsand their audiences took in artful dis-plays of novelty, eccentricity, fantasy,and visual and verbal puns. 0

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Kosode with net pattern,chrysanthemums, and characters

1668 1704

lie-dyeing, stenciled imitation tie-dyeing,and silk and metallic thread embroidery onfigured silk satin158.5 x 139.6 (623/8 x 55)

Tokyo National Museum

Most men and women, regardless ofstatus, wore kosode, which wereloose, straight-seamed garments,crossed left over right in front andtied at the waist precursors of themodern kimono. While its cutchanged little over the course of theEdo period, the techniques and stylesof decoration varied widely in keepingwith changing fashions and individ-ual tastes. The dynamic design of thiswoman's kosode, produced using acombination of weaving, dyeing, andembroidery techniques, reflects thesophisticated approach popular in thelast quarter of the seventeenth cen-tury one of the creative high pointsof the Edo period.

The rebuslike design of Chinesecharacters and pictorial motifsalludes to an unidentified classicalpoem that would have been familiarto educated persons at the time. Thepresence of chrysanthemums sug-gests that its theme was autumnaland its mood melancholy. Such strik-ing designs were popular in the fash-ion world because they allowed thewearers to display their cultivationand cultural literacy.

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'7 4.riat.

What is lacquer?Lacquer is the sap of the lac tree, which is poisonous. The sapis mixed with mineral and vegetable dyes to produce differentcolors, such as red, black, green, yellow, and brown. When many

coats of lacquer are applied to wood, paper, or other materialsand allowed to dry, they create a hard and waterproof surface.Sometimes color or metal dust is added while the surface is stillwet to create sumptuous, decorative effects. Articles coated withlacquer ranged from soup bowls and chopsticks to writing boxes

and tables.

12 Edo Style16

SLIDE 2

Writing box with crane design in thestyle of Ogata Karin

Eighteenth centuryLacquer

4.8 X 24.2 X 21.8 (I% X 9V2 x 8' /)

Tokyo National Museum

Lacquer writing boxes were treasuredaccessories of daily life with bothpractical and symbolic value. Made tohold the implements of writing andpainting brush, inkstone, inkstick,and waterdropper they were statussymbols of the cultivated man orwoman.

The asymmetrical arrangement ofcranes in flight seen here is character-istic of the aesthetics of the Rinpaschool, which first developed amonga circle of craftsmen in sixteenth-century Kyoto and reached artisticfruition a century later in the workof KOrin and his brother Kenzan.Because these artists drew inspirationfrom the literary and artistic tradi-tions associated with the imperialcourt, the Rinpa style had connota-tions of courtly elegance that made itvery attractive to many social con-stituencies. The motifs and designprinciples developed by Rinpa artistsreadily lent themselves to adaptationin many media, including textiles,ceramics, metalwork, and lacquer,and were rapidly diffused throughoutJapan.

SLIDE 3

Dish with radish and waves designc. 1680 i69os

Nabeshima warePorcelain with underglaze cobalt blue andoverglaze enamelsDiameter 20.4 (8%)

Imaemon Museum of Ceramic Antiques, Saga

A single giant radish (daikon) curvesaround the rim of this plate, with itsbroad leaves cascading down towardthe center. The remainder of the plateis covered with a pattern of smallwaves whose soothing rhythms are insharp contrast to the drama and mon-umentality of the radish. Radisheswere humble fare, a staple in the dietsof people of all walks of life, butbecause of their phallic connotationsthey were also auspicious motifs.

This porcelain plate is a strikingexample of the tableware made forthe Nabeshima, daimyo whosedomain was situated in northernKyushu, the source of Japan's finestporcelain-making clays. Nabeshimawares were made to exceptionallyhigh standards of workmanship anduniformity in a limited range of sizesand shapes because they werereserved for official use or gift giving.Unlike other porcelains, they were notexported to the West during the Edoperiod.

BEST COPY AVM LE 17Edo Style 13

How are woodblock prints made?Woodblock prints are the products of a collaborative effort. Theyinvolve an artist who creates a line drawing; a carver who cuts thedesign into blocks of wood; a printer who produces the finalimpression by applying ink to the woodblocks and transferring theimage to paper; and a publisher who finances and sells the print.In preparing a multicolor print, a separate block is used for eachcolor. Sometimes as many as fifteen blocks may be required.

14 Edo Style lq

SLIDE 4

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 1861)

He Looks Fierce, but He's Reallya Nice Person

from an untitled series of composite portraitsc. 1847 1848

Color woodblock printApprox. 38 x 26 (15 x 10)Private Collection, Hy6go

In the second quarter of the nine-teenth century many woodblock printartists began to explore subjects suchas landscape, historical figures, andeven playfully subversive themes thatpreviously appeared rarely or not atall in the print repertory. Kuniyoshi,one of the most inventive artists ofhis generation, specialized in wittypictures that turned the viewingexperience into a kind of game. Manyof his designs incorporated elementsfrom European prints; this one, forinstance, is influenced by the fruitand vegetable composites of the six-teenth-century Italian painterGiuseppe Arcimboldo.

This playful composition showsthe head and hand of a samuraiformed from an assemblage of bodies.It is accompanied by a title and themoralizing statement, "Many peoplehave come together to make a trulyfine person, but in the end, it's truefor everyone, without receiving some-thing from others, one cannot becomea good person." Using these verbaland visual clues, the informed viewermight have identified this picture as aclever allusion to a fierce but kindlytwelfth-century warrior.

SAMURAI

FTHE SAMURAI CLASS, represent-

ing a mere seven to ten percentof the population, owed its

power and status to its prowess on thebattle-field. But with the advent ofnationwide peace, these warriors wereforced to become civil bureaucrats.Although they continued to practicethe military arts, they also appliedthemselves increasingly to the arts ofpeace that were deemed necessary tocarry out their administrative duties.In 1615 Tokugawa Ieyasu promulgateda code for the warrior class that stipu-lated: "The arts of peace and war,including archery and horsemanship,should be pursued singlemindedly.From days [of old] the rule has been topractice the 'arts of peace on the lefthand and the arts of war on the right':both must be mastered" (Tsunoda etal., 1964, 326). In keeping with thisinjunction, most samurai studiedChinese history and literature andtook up at least one of the four tradi-tional gentlemanly arts of painting,calligraphy, poetry, and chess. Yet pre-serving all the symbolic trappings oftheir military tradition remained para-mount.

Growing distance from the reali-ties of war contributed to the idealiza-tion of the martial life. The cult ofBushiclo, the way of the warrior,encapsulated many principles centralto this martial ideal. It emphasizedvalor and loyalty to one's feudal lordas well as the samurai's obligation toprovide moral and political leader-ship. Although these values had longbeen part of the warrior's ethic,Bushido assumed its mature form inthe Edo period only through the influ-

ence of Confucianism.In the absence of actual warfare,

samurai developed elaborate ritualsthrough which to display their martialspirit. They demonstrated their skill athorseback riding, shooting with a bowand arrow, and, of course, swords-manship at ceremonial sportingevents. To create an impressive spec-tacle, daimyo donned armor whenmarching between Edo and their feu-dal domains. Since functional consid-erations were secondary, these wereoften highly decorative and finelycrafted of the most costly materials(see fig. 6). A pair of matching swords,one large and one small, the badge ofsamurai status, was worn at all times.Because of their symbolic value andintrinsic beauty, samurai of meansoften amassed many more swordsthan they could actually use. Ancientswords, such as those made by thelegendary swordsmith Masamune,were especially treasured by suchcollectors. 0

19

FIGURE 6

Nib' cuirass armor, iron, lac-quer, silk, leather, and boar'shair (on helmet), height ofcuirass and skirt 65.2 (2554),

Tokyo National Museum

Unlike most Japanese armor,which is fashioned from mul-tiple iron plates covered withlacquer and laced togetherwith leather cords or silkbraid, this one is made withtwo large sheets of iron forthe front and back. These ironsheets are hammered into theshape of a naked torso withgrotesquely exaggerated ribs,breasts, and navel, like thoseof the Nio, the bare-chested,muscular figures that standguard at the entrances toBuddhist temples. Theunusual construction of thisarmor and helmet may reflectthe influence of Europeanarmor. Both were designed towithstand gunfire.

Samurai 15

2016 Samurai

SLIDE 5

Miyamoto Musashi (1584 1645)

Hotei and Fighting CocksSeventeenth centuryHanging scroll; ink on paper71 x 32.7 (28 x I27/8)

Fukuoka Art MuseumImportant Art Object

A bulging sack over his shoulders anda staff propping up his arms, Hotei,one of the seven gods of good fortune,looks down benignly at a pair of fight-ing cocks. A semi-legendary figure inthe Buddhist pantheon of saints andsages, who was popularly believed tobestow wealth and good luck, Hoteiwas a frequent subject for amateurink painters. A masterless samurai,Miyamoto Musashi was one of thegreatest swordsmen of his day. Healso studied Zen Buddhism and culti-vated the arts, becoming highlyaccomplished in the minimalist stylefavored by monk painters of the Zensect. In this unusual work, executedwith only a few simple brushstrokesand broad washes of ink, he invitesthe viewer to contemplate the possi-bility of reconciling the pursuit ofBuddhist enlightenment with that ofthe martial arts.

SLIDE 6

Helmet with rabbit's earsSixteenth centuryWood and/or papier mache, iron, lacquer, andsilver foil

Height of helmet bowl 39.5 ( 5 '/,)

National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba

Presenting an imposing appearancewas important to warriors in times ofwar and peace. As the opportunitiesto display prowess on the battlefieldwaned, warriors increasingly soughtto draw attention to themselves bycommissioning inventively shapedhelmets that emphasized craftsman-ship at the expense of protectivefunction. This helmet combines tallrabbit's ears made from papier machecovered with silver foil and lacquer, ametal brow plate hammered intowrinkles, and a crescent moon ofleather decorated with silver leaf.Although the effect may appearhumorous to the modern viewer, thewearer may have chosen this designbecause the rabbit and the moon hadconnotations of immortality.

21Samurai 17

2218 Samurai

SLIDE 7

Jinbaori with ship's sailsEighteenth centuryWool and other textiles85 x ioo (33'/ x 393/0)

Maeda Ikutokukai Foundation, Tokyo

Amply proportioned garments likethis were originally designed to beworn over armor, to protect theirwearers from ram and cold. Yet designrather than function was uppermostin the mind of the craftsman whofashioned this garment for MaedaShigehiro, daimyo of Kaga domain. Itseye-catching design shows Europeanships with wind-filled sails and crest-ing waves on the back, and sleevesdecorated with a dramatic sawtoothmotif. The material from which thiscoat was made, its shape, and themotifs decorating it reveal the influ-ence of the Portuguese and Spanish,who introduced both wool andEuropean fashions to Japan during thesixteenth century. Although Portu-guese ships were not permitted entryinto Japanese ports during the Edoperiod, their striking appearance andexotic connotations made themenduring decorative motifs.

WORK

URING THE EDO period an

individual's occupationdetermined his or her social

status, and class consciousness wasclosely allied to professional identity.The Tokugawa shogunate recognizedfour hereditary occupational groups,in descending order samurai,farmer, artisan, and merchant, withcourtiers and monks included in thehigh-ranking samurai class. Despitethe popular esteem they enjoyed,entertainers, as well as those whosework was associated with death, wereclassified as outcasts. The emperor,believed to be descended from thegods, also stood outside the four-partsocial hierarchy. Physical mobility andintermarriage between classes wasdiscouraged, although it did occurincreasingly in the nineteenth centuryas impoverished farmers migrated tothe city and samurai seeking financialstability married their daughters towealthy merchants.

Confucian teachings held thatpeace and prosperity would prevailthroughout the land if the ruler waswise and moral and his people livedin conformance with the naturalorder. This implied acceptance ofone's assigned place in society.Pictures of people at work (see fig. 7)are among the array of socio-politicalsymbols that promoted this ideal.

In keeping with Confucian values,the shogunate promulgated the imageof Japan as an agrarian society, anideal that was given artistic expres-sion in the many scenes of farmers atwork. Such views often incorporatedseasonal markers, such as cherryblossoms for spring and red maple

leaves for autumn, both for theirvisual beauty and to suggest the cycli-cal nature of life. Long scrolls andscreens displaying the rich variety ofartisan workshops and commercialtrades typical of the urban environ-ment had ideological overtones, butthey were also commissioned asemblems of occupational pride.

Because of the rigid social hierar-chy, clothes and other attributes ofclass also took on enormous symbolicimportance in Edo society. The gov-ernment issued guidelines for thematerials, colors, and styles appropri-ate to each class. Only samurai, forinstance, were allowed to wear silkand to carry two swords, the heredi-tary emblems of their identity as war-riors. Merchants rebelled againstthese restrictions by displaying theirwealth in cotton garments dyed incostly colors with bold, inventivedesigns. Even workers' garments boreprofessional crests and other forms ofdecoration. 0

FIGURE 7

Occupations and Activities ofEach Month, mid-eighteenthcentury, detail from a pair ofsix-panel screens; ink, color,and gold on paper, each 79.4 x235.8 (311. x 927/a), The Sakai

Museum, Osaka

The adoption of an elevatedvantage point provides apanoramic view of a bustlingmetropolis. Streets teemingwith pedestrians flanked byrows of shops suggest thedynamic energy and prosper-ity of the city. The unrulyvitality of street life is insharp contrast to the disci-plined industry of craftsmenand tradesmen at work intheir neat, tatami-mattedworkplaces.

Edo period artists oftenused a temporal scheme toorganize and add interest totheir depiction of occupa-tional activities. Here the pas-sage of time is marked byallusions to seasonal festivalsand other ritual and secularactivities.

23Work 19

How were folding screens used?Screens, usually designed in pairs of two, four, or six panels each,

were a favorite format for the Japanese painter. They had bothpractical and decorative functions, providing privacy at night and

preventing drafts in the winter, while adding visual interest to aroom. When the shogun held an audience, his importance wasunderscored by placing a painted screen behind him. When not inuse, screens could be easily folded and put away.

o Work 24

SLIDE 8

Kusumi Morikage (c. 1620 1690)

Rice Cultivation in the Four SeasonsDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;ink and light color on paperEach 151 x 347 (59% x 136%)Kyoto National MuseumImportant Cultural Property

The farmer at work was a time-honored theme in Japanese art, evoca-tive of the seasonal beauties of thecountryside and of annual ritualcycles. In the Edo period these ritualstook on political meaning as well,because of the importance of agricul-ture in Tokugawa ideology. The idyllicrepresentation of farm life in thevisual arts, however, was in sharpcontrast to its harsh realities.

In this pair of screens a flowingstream in the foreground and rollinghills in the background link views offarmers ploughing, planting, tending,harvesting, and threshing rice. Thisdetail from the left corner of the left-hand screen shows a farmhousewhere the rice is being bundled whilea woman with a child on her backlooks on. The lightness of touchespecially the deft handling of thepale ink washes and delicate bands ofgold mist is characteristic of thestyle of Kusumi Morikage, an artistactive in the northern domain of theMaeda, one of the wealthiest daimyofamilies of this era.

SLIDE 9

Kosode with design of RiceCultivation in the Four Seasons

Early nineteenth centuryPaste-resist dye on figured silk satin167.2 x 124 (65% X 487/a)

Tokyo National Museum

Rice, the primary standard of wealthin Edo society, was rich in religious,political, and aesthetic overtones thatmade it a favorite motif in all media.The affluent owner of this robe mayhave selected this motif for its conno-tations of prosperity as well as its evo-cation of the attractions of rural life.By the nineteenth century overcrowd-ing and other conditions of urban lifefueled nostalgia for the beauties ofthe natural world.

Decorative considerations ratherthan the realities of rice cultivationhave guided the arrangement of thescenes on the front and back of thisgarment. The pale blue of the raisedpaths separating the rice paddiesframes each activity while at thesame time serving as a visual threadthat weaves together the variousscenes in this intricate composition.

25Work 2I

2622 Work

SLIDE 10Fireman's jacket with design ofwaves and dragon

Paste-resist dye on plain-weave cotton, quilted

81.9 X 94 (32V. X 37)Tokyo National Museum

Since many buildings in the Edoperiod were made of wood and paper,cities were subject to frequent, oftencatastrophic fires. The firemen whorisked their lives to douse theseflames, displaying extraordinary brav-ery, became popular heroes.

Firemen wore heavily padded andquilted jackets, trousers, hoods, andgloves that were doused with water toshield them from heat and flames.These garments were often decoratedwith motifs believed to provide sym-bolic protection. Because of theirassociation with rain and water, drag-ons were deemed an especially auspi-cious motif for firefighters.

RELIGION

LTHOUGH EDO society is often

described as secular, religiousfaith permeated many forms

of cultural expression. The most directmanifestations of prevailing beliefsand practices are devotional paintingsand statues depicting Buddhist andShinto gods and visualizations ofheaven and hell in which sentientbeings are reborn according to thedeeds they performed during theirlifetimes. Such images were createdprimarily by professional artists spe-cializing in religious subjects, fordisplay, worship, and instruction intemples and shrines. In addition,there also developed a large body ofimagery that was more reflective ofthe daily lives of the populace. Theseincluded woodblock prints recountingthe lives of Buddhist saints, calli-graphic scrolls depicting Buddhistproverbs, panoramic screens of devo-tees on pilgrimage to or attending thetemple and shrine festivals, and evenillustrated books poking fun atrevered deities. Mythical figures pos-sessed of supernatural powersinspired by Chinese Daoist traditionwere also popular in painting andprints (see fig. 8).

Until the Meiji period (18681912), when Buddhism and Shintowere officially separated, these twofaiths were woven together like thewarp and woof of a richly texturedfabric. While Buddhism had foreignroots, having been introduced toJapan via China and the Koreanpeninsula, Shinto was of indigenousorigin. Most religious institutionsincluded halls where believers couldoffer prayers to both Buddhist and

L','ETst I !,..4"?,',

Shinto gods. Despite considerableoverlap, the two faiths fulfilled com-plementary spiritual functions, withShinto stressing well-being in thisworld and Buddhist in the next.

Although many schools of Budd-hism flourished in Japan, no singleone dominated the cultural life of theEdo period, partly owing to the factthat the shogunate placed all of theBuddhist institutions under its directcontrol for fear that they might exert

27

FIGURE 8

Soga Shohaku (173o 1781),

Daoist Immortals, 1764,detail from a pair of six-panelscreens; ink and color onpaper, each 163.2 x 364 (64'4 x

1433/.), Private Collection,

Kyoto

Shohaku drew on the rich loreof the Chinese tradition forhis painting, often investinghis subjects with bizarrehumor and exuberant energy.

Religion 23

undue influence on the populace. Themajor religious schools that were inexistence at the outset of the Edoperiod the Esoteric Shingon, whichemphasized the power of ritual; thePure Land, which promised salvationand rebirth in paradise through faithin the Buddha Amida; and Zen, whichemphasized contemplation and self-discipline all continued to enjoylarge followings. Of these, Zen had themost profound impact on the devel-opment of the arts. The themes andstyles of monochrome ink painting,the aesthetics of the tea ceremony,and the philosophical underpinningsof the martial arts are all indebted toZen Buddhism.

2824 Religion

Religious institutions in provincialand rural regions gained power andinfluence in the Edo period. In thesenew centers innovative forms of artis-tic expression arose, breathing newlife into traditional themes and styles.Itinerant monks such as Hakuin(1685 1769), Enko(1632 - 1695), andMokujiki (1718 181o) helped theirfollowers visualize the divine andunderstand Buddhist teachingsthrough deceptively artless, oftenirreverent paintings, calligraphy, andsculpture. 0

SLIDE I I

Gion FestivalSeventeenth centuryDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;ink, color, and gold on paperEach 152.5 x 356.5 (6o x 1403/8)

Kyoto National Museum

Panoramic views of Buddhist templeand Shinto shrine festivals, crowdedwith people from all walks of life,were a favorite motif in Edo screenpainting. Artists often painted inworkshops near the sites depicted toencourage travelers and pilgrims tovisit.

The Gion Festival has been held inKyoto every summer since the ninthcentury in honor of the god believedto protect the city against pestilence.In the detail of the screen seen here, aparade of large-wheeled, toweringfloats, the highlight of the festival,winds through the narrow streets ofthe city. Districts competed with oneanother in the lavishness and origi-nality of their floats, some even deco-rated with ornate tapestries fromBelgium. Young men today still vie forthe honor of participating in this col-orful and physically grueling event.

29Religion 25

26 Religion 30

SLIDE I2Hakuin Ekaku (1685 1768)

Daruma (Bodhidharma)Hanging scroll; ink on paper134.2 x 91.8 (527/8x 36%)

Seikenji, Shizuoka

His glaring eyes, beard, and earrings,emblematic of his exotic ethnic back-ground and spiritual powers, makeDaruma easy to recognize.

Daruma (also known as Bodhi-dharma) is the legendary Indianfounder of Zen Buddhism. Introducedto Japan from China in the twelfthcentury, Zen became a powerful forcein the development of Sino-Japaneseliterary and pictorial arts. Initially itwas patronized chiefly by the nobilityand military elite, but during the Edoperiod provincial Zen temples, suchas the Shoinji in Nara, where Hakuinwas a monk, began to devote moreattention to the needs of the masses.

Hakuin took up painting both as aspiritual exercise and to providevisual aids for explaining Buddhistteachings. Most of his works arepainted in black ink, with only a fewbroad, wet brushstrokes. Despite itsreductive style, this portrayal is a con-vincing evocation of the intensity andsteadfastness of the meditationsthrough which Daruma achievedenlightenment.

SLIDE 13

Attributed to Katsushika Hokusai(176o 1849)

Buddhist Priest Warding off a Demonc. 1845

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

x 240 (59 x 94 %)

S'Ojiji, Tokyo

Hokusai is best known in the West asa designer of woodblock prints (seeslide 16), but he was also a prolificand innovative painter with a tastefor the supernatural. Many of hispaintings date from the end of his life,and are signed "The old man madabout painting." In this large, strikingcomposition, painted in primarycolors with rippling brushstrokes, aBuddhist priest uses the power ofprayer to challenge a colossal horned

demon. While the demon confrontshis prey with the instruments ofbattle a staff and rope the seatedmonk repels him with the sacredscroll he holds in his raised hands.The jet-black sky and grotesquelydeformed dog wrapped around a fun-gus-encrusted tree enhance the senseof drama and menace that pervadesthis scene.

Although the identity of the pray-ing monk is uncertain, he has tradi-tionally been identified as Kobe)Daishi (774 835), founder of theEsoteric Shingon sect, and one of themost deeply revered monks in Japan.This painting was originally mountedas a framed panel and hung under theeaves of the temple.

31 Religion 27

TRAVEL

IrfpRAVEL WAS a recurring theme

in Japanese literature and artwell before the seventeenth

century; it was limited primarily tomembers of the military and courtnobility on official business or pil-grimage, and to Buddhist priests seek-ing converts. With the advent ofnationwide peace, the creation of newroads, and the availability of lodgings,travel became easier and safer. Risingstandards of living and newfoundleisure also made it possible for ordi-nary people to travel for pleasure. Thevolume of traffic on the nation'smajor highways was so heavy thatEngelbert Kaempher, a German physi-cian in Japan between 1690 and 1692,described Japan as a country of peopleconstantly on the move.

Much of this travel was associatedwith the practice of "alternate atten-dance," which required daimyo tospend every other year serving the

shogun in Edo. But by the eighteenthcentury many tourists were also onthe road. Some set off to see thesights in the nation's three greatcities, Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Thesouthern city of Nagasaki, the soleport officially open to foreign trade,was a special magnet for those eagerto learn more about the culture ofChina, Korea, and the West. Othersmade pilgrimages to historic religiouscenters, such as the shrines at Ise, orto Mount Fuji. Still others journeyedto scenic spots celebrated in classicalliterature. Some even reenacted thetravels of famous poets of the past,including the haiku master Basho'sjourney into the "Deep North," as theregion north of Edo was then known.

Like tourists today, Edo periodtravelers took to the road with illus-trated guidebooks in hand. Purchasingsouvenirs and gifts for friends andfamily along the way was also an

3228 Travel

indispensable part of the tourist expe-rience. Shops catering to this clientelecould be found in cities as well asalong the major highways. Inexpen-sive woodblock prints from seriessuch as Hiroshige's One HundredFamous Views of Edo were frequentlypurchased by visitors to that greatmetropolis. Popular souvenirs fromKyoto included a rich variety of paint-ings, ceramics, lacquer, and silks.

Artists shaped and responded tothe growth of travel in many ways.They recorded the impressive and col-orful processions of daimyo and theirretinues often numbering in thehundreds en route between Edoand their provincial domains. They setoff to see the country for themselves,painting evocative sketches that cap-tured both the poetry and the realityof the people and places they encoun-tered (see fig. 9). In the latter part ofthe Edo period a growing preoccupa-

tion with objective reality led manyartists to record their observationsusing the techniques of Westernperspective. 0

33

FIGURE 9

Maruyama Okyo (1733 1795),

Both Banks of the Yodo River,

1765, detail from a handscroll;ink and color on silk, 40.2 x1690.5 (15% x 665%), The Arc-

en-Ciel Foundation, Tokyo

The Yodo River was a majorartery for commercial trafficand travel between Kyoto andOsaka. The many scenic sightsalong its banks also made itpopular for pleasure boating.

This scroll reveals Okyo'sefforts to integrate the resultsof his personal observationswith a more traditional con-ceptual approach to painting.Using the Western techniqueof vanishing point perspectivein combination with the con-ventions of Sino-Japanesemaps, it shows both the nearand far banks of the YodoRiver from an elevated viewpoint. The long, narrow for-mat, read from right to left,also enables the viewer torecreate mentally the experi-ence of traveling along theriver.

Throughout his careerOkyo experimented with awide range of pictorial stylesand techniques to producebold figural, flower-and-bird,and landscape paintings. Thefounder of one of Kyoto's lead-ing schools of painting, hehad a profound and enduringinfluence. Nihonga, aJapanese style of painting stillpracticed today, is deeplyindebted to his aestheticvision.

Travel 29

3o Travel

SLIDE 14

Watanabe ShikO (1683 1755)

Mount YoshinoEarly eighteenth centuryDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;ink, color, and gold on paperEach 150 x 362 (59 x 1421/2)

Private Collection, Kyoto

Time-honored religious, literary, andpolitical associations would havemade the mountains depicted in thispair of screens easily recognizable tomost Edo period viewers. Famous fortheir purifying hot springs and theirmany shrines and temples, theYoshino mountains have been a pop-ular pilgrim destination since ancienttimes. Generations of poets extolled

34

the beauty of the blossoming cherries,and in 1594 Tokugawa Ieyasu's prede-cessor, the great military leaderToyotomi Hideyoshi (1536 1598), and

his entourage made a spring outingthere that was later remembered inscreen paintings.

The stylized interplay of simplifiedforms and sumptuous decorativeeffects of this composition is charac-teristic of the work of the Rinpaschool, which included Ogata Karinand his younger brother Kenzan (seefigs. 4, 5, and slides 2, Is). AlthoughWatanabe Shiko painted in manystyles, this work is especially indebtedto K6rin.

SLIDE 15

Ogata Kenzan (1663 1743)

The Eight-Fold BridgeHanging scroll; ink and light color on paper

35.6 x 40.6 (14 x i6)Private Collection, Kyoto

Important Cultural Property

Painting, calligraphy, and poetry aremasterfully combined here to createa composition of great lyrical power.Its source of inspiration is an incidentin the Tales of Ise, a tenth-centuryaccount of the fictional courtierAriwara no Narihira's travels in east-ern Japan. At Yatsuhashi, so namedfor the eight-plank bridge spanning amarsh overgrown with irises, Narihiraand his friends composed a poem toexpress their nostalgia for Kyoto,beginning each line with one of thefive syllables from the word for iris,kakitsubata.

This theme was a favorite of manyartists of the Edo period, but espe-cially those residing in Kyoto, whichlost its cultural supremacy when Edowas made the shogunal headquarters.Both Kenzan, the creator of this scroll,and his older brother KOrin renderedit time and again in their painting,ceramic, and lacquer designs.

35 Travel 3

atrwillimmiamo

SLIDE 16

Katsushika Hokusai (I760 - 1849)Sudden Wind on a Clear Day

from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

c. 1830 1832

Color woodblock printApprox 26 x 38 (I o1/4 x 15)

Tokyo National Museum

Breathtaking in its simplicity andclarity, this woodblock print capturesthe sweeping view of Mount Fuji thattravelers, then as now, hope for butrarely see. As the title indicates, theartist has commemorated thisnational landmark just as a wind hascleared away the clouds that oftenhide its snow-covered peak. Althoughmany artists represented Mount Fuji,Hokusai was the first to capture itschanging moods, in different seasons,at various times of day, and under dif-ferent weather conditions, in paint-ings, prints, and book illustrations.The mountain's red coloring here sug-gests dawn.

3632 Travel

The object of worship sinceancient times, Mount Fuji was anespecially popular subject in the artsof the Edo period. Since its namesounds similar to the Japanese wordfor "no death," the sight of Mount Fujiwas thought to bring good luck andlong life. On a clear day, the volcano'sconical form was visible from the cityof Edo, and in the summer months,when its upper reaches were bare ofsnow, many pilgrims climbed it in thehopes of attaining immortality.

ENTERTAINMENT

11NTERTAINMENT WAS an indis-

pensable ingredient in theurban cultural mix of Edo

period Japan. Every city had an offi-cially licensed pleasure quarter wheremen could socialize and be amused bytalented courtesans. Edo and Osakaboasted kabuki theaters where thenation's favorite actors performed.Open areas along the riverbanks orsurrounding temples and shrines werepacked with shops, sideshows, andfood stalls that drew people from eventhe most humble backgrounds.Temporary arenas for sumo wrestlingtournaments, a wildly popular profes-sional sport, were set up several timesa year in locations throughout thecountry (see fig. io). Even the residentsof the smallest towns and villagescould count on periodic visits fromitinerant theater and dance troupesand enjoy the ritual dance dramasperformed at temples and shrines.

Affluent merchants played a lead-ing role in creating and supporting thevibrant urban culture that developedin the city. Denied a say in running thecountry, despite their role in its econ-omy, merchants threw their energiesinto the practice and patronage of cul-tural pursuits traditionally monopo-lized by the elite. They becamedevotees of the theater, pleasure quar-ters, and restaurants fashionablerealms where the normal order ofsociety was turned upside down andtaste rather than status ruled. Floutingthe dress codes imposed on them bythe government, they also becamearbiters of male and female fashion.

Despite official exhortations thatthey refrain from such frivolous diver-

sions, samurai also participated inthese "popular" activities. Attendingperformances of stately no drama,ceremonial teas, and other officiallysanctioned entertainments was aduty, but the more free-wheelingdiversions available in the heart of thecity exerted an irresistible appeal.Many kabuki plays dramatized the all-too-common conflict between duty

37

FIGURE I 0

Katsukawa Shun'ei (17621819), The Sumo WrestlersKajihama and Jinmaku, 179o,color woodblock print, approx.38 x 26 (15 x 10'4), Tokyo

National Museum

Entertainment 33

and human emotions that resultedwhen a samurai fell in love with abeautiful courtesan.

The Yoshiwara pleasure quarterbecame the hub of the popular cul-ture that flourished in Edo. Thewomen who populated this walledcompound, situated at the outskirts ofthe city, ranged from prostitutes andteahouse waitresses to haughty cour-tesans, whose beauty, taste in dress,and skill in the arts made them thecultural icons of their day. This wasthe environment that came to becalled the "floating world." As onecontemporary writer put it, it was aplace where people "lived only for themoment, floating along like a gourdon a stream." The paintings and printsglorifying the lives of courtesans and

3834 Entertainment

kabuki actors came to be calledukiyoe, or "pictures of the floatingworld." Ukiyoe was originally aBuddhist term with connotations ofsorrow and transience, but in its newusage it signified the hedonistic andfleeting delights of the pleasure quar-ters. Artists who capitalized on thepublic's fascination with this milieuignored its darker realities.

Demand for images of the plea-sure quarters was widespread andmass-produced woodblock printswere inexpensive enough for every-one to buy. Like modem-day film andtelevision stars, courtesans and actorswere glamorous trendsetters whoseadmirers could take vicarious plea-sure in studying their lifestyles. 0

SLIDE 1 7

No mask: Asakura jo (old man)Seventeenth centuryCarved wood, gesso, and pigment19.7 x 16.2 (73/. x 63/.)

Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art

The masks worn by the protagonistsin no drama are among the finestmanifestations of Edo period sculp-ture. Finely modeled and delicatelypainted, they portray a wide range ofstandardized types and emotionalstates. While masks used for femaleroles suggest timeless, idealized femi-nine beauty, those used for male rolesare more sharply differentiated andexpressive. This mask, worn by acharacter playing an old man, hasdeeply furrowed brows, sunkencheeks, and a beard and hair made ofhorsehair.

Institutionalized as part of the cer-emonial entertainments hosted byshogun and daimyo, no is a theater ofstately, elegant understatement thatcombines mime, dance, and chantingwith elaborate costumes and stylizedmasks. Since no is performed on awooden stage with few props, thecolors and patterns of the costumesas well as the subtle emotionalnuances of the masks are of specialimportance.

,[1

39Entertainment 35

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36 Entertainment40

SLIDE 18

Kabuki costume with targetand arrows

Nineteenth centurySilk and metallic thread embroideredappliqués with ink on silk satin'lox 131 (43V,x 50/8)Tokyo National Museum

While the roots of no can be traced tothe patronage of fourteenth-centuryshogun, kabuki originated in publicentertainments first held on tempo-rary stages set up on riverbanks or ontemple compounds in the sixteenthcentury. Initially both sexes per-formed, but after the Tokugawashogunate banned women becausethey were too provocative, menassumed female as well as male roles.

Action-filled and melodramatic,kabuki was a major form of popularentertainment throughout the Edoperiod. Like no, it is a highly stylizedform, but kabuki actors have fargreater liberty in interpreting theirroles. Dazzling costumes that couldbe seen by audiences in dimly littheaters were an important compo-nent of kabuki's dramatic appeal. Thearrow-pierced target strategicallyplaced on the back and two additionalarrows on the front of this robe makeit exceptionally eye-catching.

SLIDE 19

Hikone Screenc. 162os 164os

Detail from one of six panels (originallyconnected in screen format); ink, color,and gold on paperAssembled 94.6 x 274.8 (37% x io8V8)

Hikone Castle Museum, ShigaNational Treasure

These figures, set against a backdropformed by the application of squaresof gold foil, are frozen in a tableauthat hints of amorous pleasures andat the same time parodies the tradi-tional cultural pursuits of music,board games, painting, and calligra-phy. The only distinct object in thebackground is a folding screen with aChinese landscape, but the fashion-able attire and hairstyles of the sub-jects intimate that it is the interior ofa house of pleasure. Games are sug-gested by the men and women play-ing sugoroku (a board game much likebackgammon), and music by theshamisen, a stringed instrument usedprimarily by women of the pleasurequarters.

This screen has long beenregarded as a pivotal work in the shiftfrom landscape to figural themes inEdo painting. Although it is unsigned,it is likely to have been painted by anartist of the Kano school, whosemembers served as official painters tothe shogun and daimyo. The screen iscommonly known as the Hikone Screenbecause it belonged to a daimyo fam-ily of the Hikone fief near Kyoto.

41Entertainment 37

38 Entertainment42

SLIDE 20

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1754 1806)

The Fancy-Free 'Typefrom Ten Types of Female Physiognomy

c. 1792 1793

Color woodblock print with mica

37.8 24.3 (14% x 9 V2)

Tokyo National MuseumImportant Cultural Property

Utamaro, perhaps the most celebratedartist of the floating world, producedmany paintings and prints of tall, ele-gant courtesans dressed in gorgeousrobes. He also was the first to explorethe female personality in half-lengthand bust portraits, formats previouslyused exclusively for the portrayal ofkabuki actors, and to enhance themwith mirrorlike mica backgrounds.This print, from a series the artistnever completed, captures a womanat an unguarded moment, just as shehas emerged, glowing and slightlydisheveled, from the bath. The captionabove her head identifies her asuwaki, a word that has connotationsof flirtatiousness, fickleness, and evenpromiscuity. This characterization isrevealed through her slightly avertedeyes and coquettish pose as well asthe disarray of her clothing, hairpins,and combs.

GLOSSARY

Bushido martial code for samurai,formalized in the Edo period

Confucianism Chinese ethical systemadopted as state ideology by theTokugawa rulers

daimyo feudal lord of one of approxi-mately 250 domains in Edo Japan

kabuki popular theater of the Edoperiod

Kano hereditary school of painterspatronized chiefly by the samurai

kosode garment commonly wornby both men and women in the Edoperiod; precursor of the modernkimono

no stately theatrical form patronizedchiefly by the court and samurai

Rinpa design approach developed inKyoto, popularized by Ogata Karin andhis brother Kenzan

samurai warrior; highest-rankingclass of Edo society

Shingon school of Buddhism thatstresses secret rituals of the body,mind, and speech

Shinto indigenous religion of Japanthat coexisted and merged withBuddhism

shogun title given supreme militaryleader during the Edo period

Tokugawa family name of the rulingdynasty during the Edo period

ukiyoe "pictures of the floatingworld," depicting courtesans andkabuki actors

Yoshiwara Edo's major licensed plea-sure quarter

Zen school of Buddhism that wasespecially influential in the culturalrealm

43Glossary 39

CHRONOLOGY

1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats his rivals at the battle ofSekigahara and gains control over Japan.

1603 Ieyasu establishes the Tokugawa shogunate.

1612 The shogunate prohibits Christianity.

1615 Osaka Castle falls to the Tokugawa, making theirunification of Japan complete.

1624 The first kabuki theater, Nakamura, opens in Edo.

1629 The government creates the first fire-fighting brigadesto protect Edo Castle.

1635 The shogunate demands alternate-year attendanceof daimyo in Edo.

Overseas travel is banned.

1639 The shogunate permits foreign trade with only theChinese and the Dutch out of the port of Nagasaki.

1657 Great Meireki Fire destroys half of Edo.

1663 Merchants organize an express messenger system ofrunners between Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

1673 Mitsui family of merchants establishes dry-goodsstores in Kyoto and Edo.

1688 - 1704 Art, literature, kabuki, and bunraku (puppet theater)

flourish in the Genroku era.

1707 Mount Fuji erupts.

1718 Townspeople establish fire-fighting brigades in Edo.

1765 Suzuki Harunobu creates color woodblock prints.

1772 Fire destroys more than half the city of Edo.

1788 Great Kyoto Fire.

1794 - 1795 Toshusai Sharaku produces kabuki actor prints.

183os Katsushika Hokusai's series of prints, Thirty-six Views

of Mount Fuji.

Ando Hiroshige's series of prints, Fifty-three Stationsof the TokaidO.

1853 Commodore Perry's ships arrive from the United

States.

186os Japanese prints, exported to Europe, exert profoundinfluence on Western artists.

1867 Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun, returns

political authority to the emperor.

1868 Imperial rule is restored (Meiji Restoration).Edo is renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital").

4440 Chronology

Detail from Occupations andActivities of Each Month, TheSakai Museum, Osaka (seealso fig. 7)

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Activities are designed forBeginner, Intermediate, orAdvanced learners.Curriculum connectionsare suggested for Art,Language Arts, Math, or

Social Studies.

42 Activities

ACTIVITIES

Robes Beginner, ArtTraditional Japanese robe designswere often based on seasonal motifs,such as Kosode with net pattern,chrysanthemums, and characters andKosode with design of Rice Cultivation in

the Four Seasons (slides 1, 9). Have stu-dents create a Japanese robe, selectinga theme for the class as the basis fortheir designs. Cut two pieces of paperto form the front and back of the gar-ment and join them with glue or tapeat the top and sides. Cut an openingat the front. Now create a design thatcontinues from front to back or thatcombines words and pictures. Be sureto include a belt.

Folding ScreensBeginner/Intermediate, Math, Art

Folding screens were often used to tellstories or to show landscapes in vari-ous seasons. Usually they weredesigned in pairs of six panels each.Have students, working in groups orindividually, fold two sheets of heavypaper or cardboard like an accordion,each with six "panels," which willallow the screens to stand. Using col-ored pencils, pens, and markers, theycan create scenes that continueacross both panels. Remind studentsto arrange the scenes, Japanese style,from right to left! Experiment withcompositions that flow across morethan one panel. Keep in mind thevisual changes that occur when apainting is lying flat on the table andwhen it is standing up in a zigzag. Forexamples, refer to Rice Cultivation inthe Four Seasons and Mount Yoshino(slides 8, 14) .

46

Professions Beginner/Intermediate,Art, Social Studies

Work was a major theme in Edoperiod art. Many paintings presentedbird's-eye views of streets filled withworkshops of the professions of theday as seen in Occupations andActivities of Each Month (fig. 7). Ask stu-dents to select a profession from thelist below. Beginner students maywrite a description or draw a pictureof the profession, while intermediateand advanced students may researcha profession. Some questions to con-sider are: What was the profession'sstatus during the Edo period? Whatwas its role in Edo society? Was thisprofession confined to one area of Edoor did it exist throughout the region?Does the profession exist today? If so,in what form? What are the similari-ties and differences between Edo andmodern U.S. systems of commerce? Agood place to begin research is theU.S.-Japan Organization's Web site athttp://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu

Actors (yakusha)Blacksmiths (kaji)Bucketmakers (okeya)Carpenters (daiku)Farmers (nomin)Firemen (hikeshi)Fishermen (gyomin)Gunsmiths (teppokaji)Hotelkeepers (yadoya)Matmakers (tatamiya)Potters (yoko)Restauranteurs (rydriya)Silversmiths (ginzaikuya)Street Vendors (roten shOnin)

Vocabulary Beginner/Intermediate,Language Arts

Many Japanese words have enteredthe English vocabulary. Have studentsreview the glossary and list wordsthey have heard before and put theminto context. Discuss other Japanesewords they may know for example,haiku or karate. Have beginner stu-dents look for them in the dictionary.Have intermediate students researchindividual terms and prepare oral pre-sentations with poster illustrations oftheir terms for example, Zen orsamurai.

Poetry Beginner/Intermediate,Language Arts

The most famous Japanese poeticform is the haiku. Haiku poems areonly three lines long with a 5-7-5 syl-labic pattern. Here is an example orig-inally written in Japanese by KagamiShiko (1665 1731):

Even though afar,A feeling of coolness comes

From those mountain pines.

By the sixteenth century haikuhad become a national fad. Majorthemes convey the ideas of what,when, and where using symbolic lan-guage. For example, clouds connotesummer, and frogs connote latespring. Ask students to create a haikupoem, employing symbols to expresstheir ideas.

Souvenirs Intermediate,Language Arts

Edo tourists brought back woodblockprints and other mementos from pop-ular sites such as Mount Fuji, depictedin Sudden Wind on a Clear Day (seeslide 16). Ask students to bring in sou-venirs from trips they have taken,including ticket stubs, snow domes,postcards, etc. Then have studentswrite an essay about their souvenir,discussing its origin, why they keep it,what it means to them.

Motif Intermediate/Advanced, Art

Many Japanese artists worked in morethan one medium, adapting the samemotif for use in paintings, ceramics,and textiles. Have students select asimple motif such as a flower or ananimal and create a design suitablefor the square or rectangular formatof a hanging scroll. Then, ask studentsto adapt it to the circular format of aplate, or to the shape of a kimono.Students may discuss the kinds ofchanges that will make their designslook equally attractive in each format.

Masks Intermediate/Advanced, Art,Performing Arts

NO masks portray a wide range ofstandardized types and emotionalstates, such as NO mask: Asakura JO(see slide 17). Ask students to researchno drama and the role of the mask.Then have students create no masksout of papier mache or colored paperand tag board, representing variousemotions (reference: Smith andHazen, 1994).

47 Activities 43

Style Advanced, Social Studies

Review/discuss with students the dif-ferent components and details of Edostyle as described in the teachingpacket. Ask students to research stylein eighteenth-century America andcompare the two contemporaneouscultures. Have students write or dis-cuss the results. Then ask students toimagine how historians, in the year2150, will describe American styletoday. It may be difficult for everyoneto agree on what defines "Americanstyle." Have students, working ingroups or individually, create a maga-zine, commercial, Web site, or musicvideo presenting key characteristics ofcontemporary American style.

4844 Further Reading

FURTHER READING

Books

Addiss, Stephen, with Audrey YoshikoSeo. How to Look at Japanese Art. NewYork, 1996.

Friedman, Mildred, ed. Tokyo: Form andSpirit. Minneapolis & New York, 1986.

Guth, Christine. Art of Edo Japan: TheArtist and the City 1615-1868. NewYork, 1996.

Mason, Penelope. History of JapaneseArt. New York, 1993.

Smith, A.G., and Josey Hazen. Cut andMake Japanese Masks. Mineola, NY,1994.

Tsunoda, Ryusaku, et al. Sources ofJapanese Tradition. New York, 1964.

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture.Honolulu, 1984.

Web sites

http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsuhttp://www.askasia.org

Detail from Occupations andActivities of Each Month, TheSakai Museum, Osaka (seealso fig. 7)

SLIDE LIST

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

SLIDE LIST

SLIDE IKosode with net pattern,chrysanthemums, and characters1668 1704

Tie-dyeing, stenciled imitation tie-dyeing,and silk and metallic thread embroidery on figuredsilk satin158.5 x 139.6 (623/8x 55)

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE 2Writing box with crane design in thestyle of Ogata KarinEighteenth centuryLacquer

4.8 x 24.2 x 21.8 x x 8'4)

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE 3Dish with radish and waves designc. 168o - 169os

Nabeshima warePorcelain with underglaze cobalt blue andoverglaze enamelsDiameter 20.4 (8' /a)

Imaemon Museum of Ceramic Antiques, Saga

SLIDE 4Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 1861)He Looks Fierce, but He's Reallya Nice Personfrom an untitled series of composite portraitsc. 1847 1848

Color woodblock printApprox. 38 x 26 (15 x NA)

Private Collection, Hyogo

SLIDE 5Miyamoto Musashi (1584 1645)Hotei and Fighting CocksSeventeenth centuryHanging scroll; ink on paper71 x 32.7 (28 x 12%)

Fukuoka Art MuseumImportant Art Object

5046 Slide List

SLIDE 6Helmet with rabbit's earsSixteenth centuryWood and/or papier macho, iron, lacquer, andsilver foil

Height of helmet bowl 39.5 (15'/,)

National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba

SLIDE 7Jinbaori with ship's sailsEighteenth centuryWool and other textiles85 x too (33% x 393/8)

Maeda Ikutokukai Foundation, Tokyo

SLIDE 8Kusumi Morikage (c. 1620 169o)Rice Cultivation in the Four SeasonsDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;

ink and light color on paper

Each r5i x 347 (59% x 136s/8)

Kyoto National Museum

Important Cultural Property

SLIDE 9Kosode with design of Rice Cultivationin the Four SeasonsEarly nineteenth centuryPaste-resist dye on figured silk satin167.2 x 124 (65'/a x 48'/a)

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE I0Fireman's jacket with design of wavesand dragonPaste-resist dye on plain-weave cotton, quilted81.9 x 94 (32V. x 37)

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE I IGion FestivalSeventeenth centuryDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;ink, color, and gold on paperEach 152.5 x 356.5 (6o x 14o3/8)

Kyoto National Museum

SLIDE 12Hakuin Ekaku (1685 1768)Daruma (Bodhidharma)Hanging scroll; ink on paper134.2 x 91.8 (52% x 3 6 Ve)

Seikenji, Shizuoka

SLIDE 13Attributed to Katsushika Hokusai(1760 1849)Buddhist Priest Warding off a Demonc. 1845

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper150 x 240 (59 X 94%)

SOjiji, Tokyo

SLIDE 14Watanabe Shiko (1683 - 1755)Mount YoshinoEarly eighteenth centuryDetail from a pair of six-panel screens;ink, color, and gold on paperEach 15o x 362 (59 x 142'/.)

Private Collection, Kyoto

SLIDE 15Ogata Kenzan (1663 1743)The Eight-Fold BridgeHanging scroll; ink and light color on paper

35.6 x 40.6 (i4 x 16)Private Collection, Kyoto

Important Cultural Property

SLIDE 16Katsushika Hokusai (1760 1849)Sudden Wind on a Clear Dayfrom Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

C. 1830 1832

Color woodblock printApprox 26 x 38 (1o1/4 x

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE 17No mask: Asakura jo (old man)Seventeenth centuryCarved wood, gesso, and pigment

19.7 x 16.2 (73/. x 63/8)

Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art

SLIDE 18Kabuki costume with targetand arrowsNineteenth centurySilk and metallic thread embroidered appliquéswith ink on silk satin110 x 131 (43% x 515/8)

Tokyo National Museum

SLIDE 19Hikone Screenc. 162os 164os

Detail from one of six panels (originally connectedin screen format); ink, color, and gold on paper

Assembled 94.6 x 274.8 (37% x 108%)Hikone Castle Museum, ShigaNational Treasure

SLIDE 20Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1754 1806)The Fancy-Free Typefrom Ten 'Types of Female Physiognomy

C. 1792 1793

Color woodblock print with mica

37.8 x 24.3 (147/. x 9%)

Tokyo National Museum

Important Cultural Property

51Slide List 47

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