Tag: japan

Ishii Shigeo

Ishii Shigeo, “Fissure” from his 1955-1957 series “Violence”

Ishii Shigeo became a reportage painter not by visiting remote villages or participating in demonstrations, but by exploring his country’s uneasy subconscious. Hobbled by debilitating asthma after a nearly fatal childhood attack, Ishii studied classical painting as a teenager but developed a distinct style of social critique in his oil paintings and etchings through his association with Ikeda Tatsuo, Nakamura Hiroshi, and other reportage and avant-garde painters. Conflating his own excruciating affliction with his country’s postwar predicament, Ishii, who died at 28 in 1962, left a large body of work still mostly neglected.

Because Ishii’s father was a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance with a secure salary, his mother was able to nurse her frail son, providing him with art lessons to compensate for the formal education his illness frequently absented him from, and paying for art supplies as his talent and passion for his increasingly morose vision became apparent. His younger sister remembered Ishii reading the entire newspaper every day in grade school. “He was the first to go and get the newspaper. I think he had his antennae out, waiting for information.” His friend Ikeda Tatsuo recalled: “When I got to know him, he had a nihilistic way of talking and an ironic smile. But he was always making remarks that were right on target. He was only 20 years old, but he’d already read Jean Genet and used to quote him.”

Torii Gates

Photographer Unknown, “Torii Gates, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Mount Inari, Japan”

In the seventh century the Hata family began construction of the Fushimi Inari shrine. A shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of rice and sake. Over the centuries, as Japan slowly transformed itself from an agricultural nation to an industrial one, the shrine became important for providing luck in business. It is now one of Japan’s most visited shrine.

One of the main attractions is the climb to the top of the mount which is lined with over 4000 Torii gates. They form a glowing red tunnel that winds itself up the narrow mountain path. The oldest gates are from the 8th century, and new ones are added constantly. Each of the gates has been donated by a Japanese business to insure them luck.

Masako Kano

Masako Kano, “Cacti and Stars” , 2015 National Geographic Winner

Masako Kano is a poet and photographer. Born into a traditional Japanese family, upon finishing her Bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature at Oberlin University, Tokyo, Masako left both her country and an arranged marriage at the age of 21. She then completed her Master of Arts at Hofstra University, New York. In the summer of 1980 she met writer Richard Brautigan while on an exchange program at Colorado University. Mr. Brautigan made a strong impact on the style of her poems.

In 1988 she moved to London where she worked for twelve years as Director of Capital Markets for Swiss Bank Corporation and NatWest. In Europe Masako discovered her passion for contemporary photography and began to study the discipline at Christie’s. In 2000 Masako moved with her family to Argentina, where her English husband was pursuing his career and where she would immediately fall in love with the cultural and artistic diversity of Buenos Aires. She continued her studies in photography with Diego Ortíz Mugica and Professor Piroska Csúri in Argentina, returning to New York City in 2013 to attend the International Center of Photography.

Kodo, “O-Daiko”

Kodo, “O-Daiko”

Kodō is a professional taiko drumming troupe. Based on Sado Island, Japan, they have had a role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad. They regularly tour Japan, Europe, and the United States.

Although the main focus of the performance is taiko drumming, other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen make an appearance on stage as do traditional dance and vocal performance. Kodo’s performance include pieces based on the traditional rhythms of regional Japan, pieces composed for Kodo by contemporary songwriters, and pieces written by Kodo members themselves. The numbers that Kodo perform can change from concert to concert. Kodo’s performance normally lasts for about one hour and forty minutes.

In Japanese the word “Kodo” conveys two meanings: “heartbeat” the primal source of all rhythm and, read in a different way, the word can mean “children of the drum,” a reflection of Kodo’s desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child.

One of the most memorable drums of many taiko ensembles is the ōdaiko (大太鼓). For many, the ōdaiko solo is the embodiment of power due to the size of the drum, the volume, and the endurance it takes to perform. The ōdaiko is the largest drum of all taiko, if not the entire world. The largest ōdaiko are too big to move and permanently reside inside a temple or shrine.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Maneki Neko

Maneki Neko, Edo Period, Japan, 8.3 Inches High x 6.3  Wide x 4.3

Maneki Neko beckoned guests and customers into inns and shops. Most were humble creatures and very few early examples exist. Instead of raising a paw to call money like his brethren, this cat tips a right ear, curling it forward in welcome.

This okimono is in the form of a cat with its paw resting on a Shinto shrine bell, the bell articulated to open sideways revealing a compass. The cat is made of cast, cold-chiseled and gilt bronze with inlaid glass eyes; the compass is made of cast, cold-chiseled and gilt bronze with a glass cover. The reverse has holes for pin attachments for a now missing base. This was crafted in the Edo period, 1700 to 1830.

It may be that this feline sculpture beckoned for a dealer in scientific instruments, compasses, telescopes and microscopes. If so, only the metropolis of Edo (now modern Tokyo) would have supported such a specialist shop. Such a merchant would travel to visit feudal daimyo clients, almost the only people with the means to purchase his wares and afford the medium of gilt bronze. They loved surprises and fashionable karakuri or mechanical toys.

Bronze Rabbit Okimono

Artist Unknown, Bronze Rabbit Okimono

Okimono in the form of an alarmed plump rabbit, made of cast and cold chiseled bronze with touches of gilt. This okimono is unsigned. It was probably cast in the late Edo period of Japan (early 19th century).

The bronze and gilding have taken on a warm softness with age. The rabbit is five inches high by four and a half inches long and three inches wide.

Chiharu Shiota

Chiharu Shiota, “Traces of Memory”, 2013 Installation at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh

When Shiota visited the Mattress Factory in 2011, she was inspired by the old Victorian rowhouse at 516 Sampsonia and curious about the previous inhabitants and their lives. “I work always with someone’s memory because it is strong and it exists but I cannot touch the memory,” says Shiota about her work in an interview with Felice and Shannon of the Mattress Factory Education Department.

She describes her use of black yarn as a 3D drawing material that she weaves through the air to create space, and sees the act of weaving the yarn in these spaces as a way to give form to memory and create a new world. For Shiota, the yarn gives form to unsent feelings, memories, and history. Once the installation is cut down, the memory of the installation is what remains.

Human relationships are complex, and she describes the yarn as analogous to human connections:   “The string makes tension or is tangled or is loose. The string is like feeling or relationship to people, and the relationship is connected, or loose or tight. I feel like this is just like a mirror of my feelings.”

Note: Chiharu Shiota is one of my favorite sculptors/installers. There are three more posts on this blog of other installations.

Inuyama Castle

Inuyama Castle, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Inuyama Castle is one of only 12 surviving Japanese castles built before the Edp Period. The castle is often claimed as the oldest castle in Japan. Its original construction was completed in 1440. According to ‘Engishiki, a Helan Period book, Haritsuna Shrine, a Shinto shrine, was moved to make way for the castle. That structure has been heavily augmented over time, and the current towers were completed in 1537, by Oda Nobuyasu. Though the antiquated architectural style of the watchtower atop the tench has in the past led many historians to believe this to be the oldest extant tench in Japan, that honor goes to Maruoka Castle, built in 1576. Construction on the main tenshu (donjon) at Inuyama began in 1601, and continued through 1620.

The castle was the center of power for the Naruse Clan, retainers of the Matsudaira clan and rulers of the Inyama Domain. Inuyama Castle was unique in Japan in that it was privately owned. The donjon (tenshu) has been designated as national treasure. However, it was seized by the Japanese government as part of the Meiji Restoration. In 1891, the castle was damaged in the Great Nobi earthquake, and it was returned to the Naruse family in 1895, on the condition that they repair and maintain it. In 2004, ownership of the castle was turned over to a foundation set up by the Aichi Prefecture’s Board of Education.

Tsutomu Nihel

Manga Architecture by Tsutomu Nihel

Tsutomu Nihel, born in 1971, is a Japanese manga artist. His cyber-punk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans overseas where his manga “Blame!”, “Kinghts of Sidonia”, and “Biomega” were published by Vertical Incorporated and Viz Media.

Nihel’s first study was architecture: this influence has shown up in his manga work of depictions of huge structures. This is one of the general themes that make his manga unique.

Wakizashi, Nobukuni School

Wakizashi, Unsigned, Mumei (Nobukuni School), End of Namboku Period, 1380 AD, Second Generation of the Nobukuni School in Kyoto

Nobukuni was likely a son or grandson of Ryokai Hisanobu of the Rai school based in Kyoto. He later studied under Sadamune of Kamakura in Soshu province (present-day Sagami, Kanagawa prefecture).

This is a remarkable sword that was made over 600 years ago in Kyoto by the revered Nobukuni school of Yamashiro province (present-day southern Kyoto prefecture). The name originally inscribed on this sword disappeared in the process of shortening what was once a wider and longer naginata. The sword is in near pristine condition despite being centuries old.

The Sanskrit character engravings on both sides of this sword are simply magnificent. One one side of the sword it reads “Fudomyoo” (The Fire God worshiped by the Samurai) who changed himself into a sword. The symbolic engraving features a dragon trying to swallow the sword. The other side features the bonji character and (blood) grooves that served to lighten the sword and provide decoration. This bonji character was used by Buddhist monks as offerings to the gods.

Many scholars agree that Nobukuni produced some of the finest engravings the Japanese Samurai sword world has ever seen. One very important detail to note is that this sword was tested by Yamano Kaemon who was the leader in his Yamano school – a school that was responsible for testing of swords for sharpness and smooth cutting ability. To test this sword, he cleanly cut through one arm and through the torso of a dead human being (near the waistline).

Gold letters on the tang of this sword acknowledge that a highly respected person inspected and certified this sword. The test would have occurred in the Edo period (1700s-1800s). There were 3 main schools for testing in Edo Period at the time, namely Nakagawa, Yamano, and Yamada.

This sword is a shortened naginata. A remarkably similar looking Nobukuni Wakizashi sword from the same era (likely the same swordsmith) can be found in the Kyoto National Museum.

Felice Beato

Photography of Samurai by Felice Beato

Felice Beato, who was born in Venice but became a British citizen by virtue of his family’s residence in Corfu which was a UK protectorate at the time, began his photographic career with a trip to Constantinople, now Istanbul, alongside Robertson who later became his business partner and brother-in-law.
When war broke out in the Crimea in 1855, Beato journeyed to Balaklava to document the progress of the conflict – and, in the process, became one of the world’s first war photographers.

Later, he journeyed to India before arriving in China in 1860 where he photographed the progress of the Anglo-French military expedition slugging it out against the indigenous Qing Dynasty in the Second Opium War.
His photographs of China, some of the earliest ever taken, include numerous shots of Victorian Hong Kong and a gruesome set featuring the Taku Forts surrounded by the bodies of Chinese troops who died defending them against the British.

Three years later, Beato moved to Japan where he remained until 1877. Based in Yokohama, he was given an unusually large amount of freedom by the ruling Shogunate which allowed him to tour the country, taking photos as he went. The photographs, which date from between 1863 and 1877, taken by Felice Beato are among the earliest examples of coloured photography ever produced.

Yoko Kanno, “Macross Frontier” Concert

Yoko Kanno, “Macross Frontier” Concert

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks on anime films, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf’s Rain, Kids on the Slope, Zankyō no Terror, and has worked with the directors Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichiro Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori.

Kanno has also composed music for pop artists Maaya Sakamoto and Kyōko Koizumi. She is also a keyboardist, and is the frontwoman for the Seatbelts, who perform many of Kanno’s compositions and soundtracks.

If you have not heard any of her work, well, you are definitely missing something major. She is probably one of the best composers out there. Her anime work is outstanding. Lots of her songs on this posting.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)