Visual Literacy Exercise

This visual literacy exercise, is based on selected woodblock prints from a famous series depicting scenic views of the Fifty Three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusantsugi in Japanese).

They were completed originally during the middle of the nineteenth century by the Japanese print artist Hiroshige Ando.

As you proceed, you will be asked to --

1. Examine a set of fifteen woodblock prints, do not write anything at this stage.

2. Complete the initial written exercise which follows.

3. Review the woodblock print set a second time.

4. Complete a second written exercise.

Instructions

Look closely at each of the images in the following series of woodblock prints.

Take as long as you wish with each print.

Question

List the basic features of Japanese geography you observed in the group of woodblock prints.

Question

Describe evidence as to how the Japanese fit into and utilize their natural environment.

Question

Describe the Japanese climate

Question

Describe evidence encountered of Japanese adaptation to climatic variations.

Part Two

Instructions

Please review the images as you did before.

Notice this time that site is identified, captions are provided and a selection of visual details are included with each print.

Y UI PRINT SEVENTEEN IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Travellers venture to the edge of the cliff (at the far left of the print) to view what most considered the best scenic panorama along the

entire Tokaido highway: Mt. Fuj i looming in the background beyond Suruga Bay.

Cliffside travellers viewing Mt. Fuji and Suruga Bay

SOME VISUAL DETAILS:

Mt. Fuji Sailboats on Suruga Bay

K A N A G AWA PRINT FOUR IN THE REISHO SERIES

Two-story teahouses provide respite to Tokaido travellers, offer ing both refreshment and commanding views of Edo Bay.

Open-walled teahouses overlooking Edo Bay

O ISO PRINT NINE IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

An isolated village over looks a scenic coastal shore on Sagami Bay, a spot of times mentioned in traditional poetry.

Stacks of drying rice straw

A rural village street

Fishing boats at sea

Straw coats and hats

H A R A PRINT FOURTEEN IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Two female travellers accompanied by a male servant / porter, all with broad straw sun hats, pause briefly to converse against the

backdrop provided by Mt. Fuj i and nearby rice fields.

Servant / porter with bamboo carrying pole and woven rattan containers

Rice fields

ISH I YA K USH I PRINT FORTY-FIVE IN THE HOEIDO SERIES A peaceful village and surrounding rice fields

cluster around a famous Buddhist temple complex framed against the base of nearby foothills.

Thatch roofs against nearby foothills

Yakushiji temple complex Two porters with a single carrying pole

Peasant farmers at work in the rice fields

Y OSH I WA R A PRINT FIFTEEN IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

A portion of the highway lined with pine trees shades horseback-riding travellers and provides a distant glimpse of Mt. Fuj i.

Packhorse with paying passengers aboard

NUMAZU PRINT THIRTEEN IN THE GYOSHO SERIES

Travelling musicians car rying samisen (a long-necked str inged instrument of Chinese origin) pass a rural homestead surrounded by

a woven rattan fence. Inside the compound the owner ar ranges drying racks.

A woven rattan fence

Homeowner at work arranging drying racks

A band of travelling female musicians

F UJISAWA PRINT SEVEN IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Pilgrims ar rive to visit Yugyoji (a renowned Buddhist temple founded in 1325 located on the hillside over looking the village) or the Enoshima Benten Jinja, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Goddess of

Music located beyond the torii gateway in the foreground.

Hillside temple complex

Fujisawa village

Religious pilgrims

Torii gateway to Shinto shrine

K A N AYA PRINT TWENTY-FIVE IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

With the help of porters, travellers wade or are car ried across the r iver and the expansive nearby flood plain.

River porters and their customers

Wide dry river flood plain

O K A B E PRINT TWENTY-TWO IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Dense forest and climbing vines surround travellers making thei r way through a threatening mountain pass alongside a stone-banked

stream.

Stone-lined stream bank

Porters at work

Travellers with backpacks

SH O N O PRINT FORTY-SIX IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

A sudden summer thunderstorm catches raingear-clad porters car rying a sedan chair.

Straw raingear and umbrella

Y O K K A I C H I PRINT FORTY-FOUR IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Early Spring winds catch a traveller's straw hat along the nar row coastal road where a ser ies of tiny bridges have been built over small

streams flowing across low coastal lands in the area.

A windswept traveller A windblown straw hat

Boat masts and a coastal fishing village Coastal marshes

M ISH I M A PRINT TWELVE IN THE HOEIDO SERIES

Travellers and porters set out in the misty early morning.

K ago sedan chair bearers

Misty figures in the dawn

SH O N O PRINT FORTY-SIX IN THE REISHO SERIES

Near a rural village community, travellers and local peasant farmers warm themselves against the early Spring chill.

An early Spring fire's warming heat

ISH I YA K USH I PRINT FORTY-FIVE IN THE GYOSHO SERIES

Winter travellers wear broad brimmed hats and straw coats against the snow and cold.

Winter travellers in snow gear

Question

What new information did you observed in the pictures concerning Japanese geography and climate, and evidence of human adaptation thereto,. Compare these responses with those you made earlier.

Question

Which half of the exercise was easier for you to handle? Why?

What observations about the best way to approach visual materials emerge from the exercise you have just completed?

Now compare your answers with the following

Geographical Features

mountains and rocky crags

volcanoes

hills and plains

forests (deciduous and evergreen)

rich vegetation

oceans, rivers and streams

marshes, swamps, and broad flood plains.

Evidence of Human Adaptation

boats: sail (wind powered), ocean-going fishing vessels, skiffs

fishing and farming villages clustered against hillsides and along ocean coasts

paddy fields

narrow roads and mountain paths

Evidence of Human Adaptation

pedestrian traffic, horses (pack and passenger)

porters, carrying poles, backpacks, walking sticks

groves of planted trees

natural building materials: straw thatch, wood, paper, stone.

Climate

a temperate, four season climate

rain, wind, snow, fog / mist

heat and humidity.

Evidence of Human Adaptation

buildings open to outside air

paper / wood walls

loose clothing and loin cloths (summer)

padded clothing (winter)

straw hats (sun, rain, snow) and coats (rain, snow), umbrellas (oil, paper)

Evidence of Human Adaptation

rice (paddies), small scale and labour intensive agriculture

steep-pitched roofs (to ward off winter snow and heavy rains)

warming fires

bridges over narrow streams / portage over flood-prone rivers

flood control projects (stone stream edges, wooden swamp edges).

Question

Why do the traditional Japanese homes, temples and other structures found in the prints appear to be built of wood, paper and thatch rather than of abundantly available natural stone?

Some answers...

Structures built of wood and thatch are less vulnerable to the devastating and life-threatening effects of earthquake, typhoon and volcanic eruption (all common occurrences in Japan).

Collapsing houses of wood, paper and thatch are less likely to kill their inhabitants than are stone structures. They can be more easily rebuilt as well, using readily-available local materials.

Question

Why do rural households appear to cluster together at the base of hill and mountain side rather than being scattered across the landscape in the midst of their fields?

How does this observation tie into the obvious absence of wheeled vehicles on the Tokaido (despite the fact that the Japanese knew the use of the wheel from very early in their history)?

Some answers...

Clustered housing makes possible fuller use of scarce level agricultural land. Narrow pathways also allow more land to be devoted to agricultural use; wagons or carriages would represent a wasteful mode of transportation under such circumstances.

Question

What does the absence of chimneys suggest about both climate and the utilization of central heating?

Some answers...

Summer heat and humidity seem to be more purposefully and functionally dealt with than is winter cold.

Dealing with chill temperatures appears to involve warming the individual person rather than the entire structure.

Evaluation

The exercise you have just completed suggests the following:

1. Have questions in mind when reviewing visual materials so as to have something to watch for as you view them.

2. Know what you are looking for -- ask the right questions of the material.

3. Review visual materials more than once to catch all available information

4. Another pass through the "data base" often increases retention of the information imbedded in the material and suggests comparative insights not always apparent the first time around.

5. Learn to make inferences from observed data and to form hypotheses / inquiry questions that can be tested by reference to more conventional written sources and materials.

6. Deal with what is not present in visual information as well as with what is found: no chimneys; no cathedrals; no parks; no central squares; no wheeled vehicles; no machines nor mechanized power sources.

7. Use effective associated written materials: captions and other explanatory aids (as well as outside readings) can add to your sense of how best to observe the materials being studied.