1. Chapter 28: Japan After 1336

2. Muromachi Period ( )
The Muromachi period ( ) marked the beginning of the rise of Zen Buddhism along with the traditional continuation of Pure Land and Esoteric Buddhism. This period encouraged trading with the Chinese and in due course, Muromachi paintings closely abided to Chinese works, although displaying a great variety in the styles and subjects of the pieces of art. One of the styles depicted in this period is the Haboku (splashed ink) style developed by monks where the image was visualized and applied onto the paper with broad, rapid strokes, sometimes even with ink dripping onto the paper. A style contrary to this is the Kano style where ink is applied in bold outlines and occasional light colors with precision to create a sharp effect.

3. Zen
Zen is a Buddhist tradition in the 14th century that taught that everyone has the potential for enlightenment, but worldly knowledge and mundane thought patterns suppress it. Meditation was stressed as a long-term practice leading to Enlightenment. Zen emphasized rigorous discipline and personal responsibility. By cultivating discipline and intense concentration, Buddhists can release themselves from the mundane world. Zen teachings view mental calm, lack of fear, and spontaneity as signs of a person’s advancement on the path to enlightenment. Zen training for monks takes place at temples, some of which have gardens designed in accord with Zen principles. For example, Saihoji’s gardens center on a pond in the shape of a Japanese character for “mind” or “spirit”, which is the perfect setting for monks to meditate.

4. Tosa vs. Kano School
The Tosa school, which dates from the early 15th century, specialized in traditional yamato-e style painting. Tosa paintings often used subjects taken from classical literature such as the celebrated Heian-period work, Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji). The use of gold and bright colors was one characteristic of Tosa paintings.
The Kano School pioneered a new style of ink painting that made creative use of empty space while at the same time displaying a knack for refined brushwork. Artwork displayed precision in applying ink in bold outlines and applying light colors and items to direct the focus onto certain items within the work.

5. Unification of Japan in the Momoyama period
After four decades of constant warfare, Tokugawa Leyasu, a warlord, seized power and achieved unification. Warlords constructed large castles to reinforce their power and commissioned lavish decorations characterized by a robust, opulent and dynamic style, with gold lavishly applied to architecture, furniture, paintings and garments. Lions became associated with power and bravery, fitting for a leader. On the other hand, there was also support for rustic simplicity.

6. Tea Ceremony
The Tea Ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity that involves the ceremonial preparation and presentation of powdered tea. It was influenced greatly by Zen Buddhism and Chinese culture and resulted in a huge impact in the art, architecture and culture of Japan. Tea houses, places where the Tea Ceremony took place, were built with tatomi (strong straw mats) and tokonoma (an alcove). They were usually painted with dark walls and were small in size to encourage intimacy between the guests and the host. Guests and hosts were also expected to enter the teahouse by crawling on one’s knees. This behavior exhibited humility and eliminated any social status differences. Art in teahouses was also affected by Chinese objects. The Kogan, a tea ceremony water jar, was painted with casual decorations and were glazed, and exhibited influences of the Zen culture.

7. Rimpa School
The traditional school of painting (Kano school) favored a strict transmission of style from teacher to student, unlike the Rimpa school. Artists came from merchant families and since they were supported by nobility, most works incorporated literary themes. Works of art originating from this school featured vivid colors, extensive use of gold and silver and different intricate designs.
Fig HONAMI KOETSU, Boat Bridge, writing box, Edo period, early 17th century
Koetsu’s Writing Box is an early work of the Rimpa School

8. Traditional Art with Crafts
The two artists, Honami Koetsu and Sotatsu, both drew on ancient traditions of painting and craft decoration to create their artwork. They ignored any set definitions for “art” and “craft” and by ignoring the boundaries between the two different types of art, they developed a style that shared characteristics from both.
Fig YOSA BUSON, Cuckoo Flying over New Verdure, Edo period, late 18th century.

9. Urban Population of Japan
The increase of an urban, educated population led to restlessness among commonersand less ranked samurai. People sought new ideas and images and their attention was directed primarily to China, but also to the west. Literati artists pursued painting as a proper function of an educated and civilized person. Urbanization also led to an increase in sensual pleasure/entertainment. Developments in the printing industry allowed for the mass production of books and printed images. Participants in the Ukiyo-e, or the “pictures of the floating world” were admirers of literature, music and art.

10. Westernization
Near the end of the 1870’s, Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate fell due to its inability to open up Japan to the Western world. Socereingity was restored to the imperial throne, but with an emperor’s cabinet holding most of the power. This cabinet, consisting of many leaders, hoped to catch up with the modern world and aimed to be a Wester “civilized” nation.
During this time (Mejia Period ), oil painting became a major genre. It was a Western import and had a drastic change to the old Japanese art. As seen by the picture on the next slide, many aspects of Japanese art were lost do to oil painting.

11. Westernization (con.)
In the Oiran, the garments of the women were still portrayed as abstract, but the portraiture failed to emphasize the features of the figure (as ukiyo-e artists did). Instead, it focused more on the analytical aspect of the future and resembled the paintings of Western portraiture.
Fig TAKAHASHI YUICHI, Oiran (Grand Courtesan), Mejia Period, 1872.

12. Resistance to Westernization
Despite the enthusiasm for Westernization of Japan, many were concerned about the loss of Japan identity and culture. American professor, Ernest Fenollasa, and his student, Okakura Kakuzo, founded a university, as a result, that encouraged the usage of Western techniques in Japanese style paintings. This style became known as nihonga (Japanese painting) unlike yoga (Western painting).

13. Folk Art and Refined Rusticity
The philosopher Yanagi Soetsu portrayed and ideal of beauty inspired by the JapaneseTea Ceremony, that it can only be achieved by making functional objects made of natural materials by anonymous artists. Hamada Shoji gained international fame due to the production of his pottery. He traveled to England in 1920 and established a community of ceramists dedicated to the mingei aesthetic. This further extended the concept of Japanese ceramics. Rusticity is the texture and form of the particular ceramic piece. This was a technical brilliance of the Chinese consistent with Zen concepts and it had begun to take value in Japanese and Korean wares, an important philosophical and aesthetic component in the development of ceramic works in the Muromachi period.

14. N: Evening Bell at the Clock
D: ca. 1765
P/S: Edo Period
A: Suzuki Harunobu
M/T: Woodblock Print
F: Prints for house embellishment, aesthetic pleasure
C: Found in the series of Eight Views of the Parlor
DT: flatness of depicted objects, rich color like traditional court paintings, black outlines separating distinct colors, typical elevated viewpoint of Japanese women
Idea: Image incorporates the refined techniques characteristic of nishiki-e

15. N: Dish
D: 1962
P/S: Showa Period
A: Hamada Shoji
M/T: stoneware darker/coarser than porcelain
F: Collected as traditional Japanese pottery
C: N/A
DT: black trails on translucent glaze, less decoration than porcelain, coarser, darker, and heavier than porcelain, casual slip designs
Idea: Showed the mingei aesthetic from Japan’s folk art movement

16. N: Chinese Lions
D: late 16th century
P/S: Momoyama period
A: Kano Eitoku
M/T: color, ink, gold leaf, six-panel screen
F: Decorated the interior of castles
C: Possibly created for Toyotomi Hideyoshi
DT: Chinese lions represented power and bravery for a Momoyama warlord, boldly outlined forms on a gold ground, minimal setting elements, powerfully muscled bodies defined by broad contour lines
Idea: Chinese lions were an important symbolic motif, fitting for military leaders.

17. Kutsugen by Yokoyama Taikan (Meiji Period 1898)
Hades Abducting Persephone (Macedonian Court Art mid-fourth century BC) • Wall painting in tomb 1 (Vergina, Greece) • 3’ 3 1⁄2” • Use of foreshortening and shading; 3⁄4 views of both figures and the chariot; short dark brush strokes • Appears to be bursting out into the viewer’s space • Depicts Hades holding the terrified, seminude Persephone and steering his chariot • Reference to the story which explained the reason for summer and winter
Kutsugen by Yokoyama Taikan (Meiji Period 1898)
• Silk Scroll painting
• 4’ 4” x 9’6”
• Combines a low horizon line and subtle shading effects taken from Western painting and traditional East Asian techniques, including strong ink brushwork, washes of water/glue based pigments, and heavy mineral pigment applications
• Composition in one main corner
• Depicts a Chinese poet who had fallen out of favor with the Emperor and committed suicide. He is standing strong against the strong winds
behind him.
• Analogy to a real-life situation: Okaru, an artist, was being persecuted because of his artistic principles.

18. Winice Hui
Hillary Thi
Christina Duong
Mayuresh Mujumdar
Period 4 APAH