Traits of Japanese art, evolution, types and more

As a millennial culture, Japan has shown its art for all these years, learn with us through this interesting article, all about the millennium Art Japanese, developed over time in various periods and styles. Do not miss it!

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Japanese art

When talking about Japanese art we are talking about what was notified by this civilization over time in various phases and styles, which were temporarily unrolled with the social and cultural development of the Japanese people.

The variations that art in Japan is undergoing are consequences of its technological development, where we can realize the use of the country's raw material in its artistic expressions. As well as the so-called Western art, its most emblematic expressions were influenced by religion and political power.

One of the main characteristics of Japanese art is its eclecticism, coming from the different peoples and cultures that arrived on its shores over time: the first settlers who settled in Japan -known as Ainu- belonged to a North Caucasian branch and East Asia, probably arrived when Japan was still attached to the mainland.

The origin of these settlers is uncertain, and historians consider various hypotheses, from a Ural-Altaic race to a possible Indonesian or Mongolian origin. In any case, their culture seemed to correspond to the Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic.

Subsequently, various groups of the Malay race from Southeast Asia or the Pacific Islands arrived on Japanese shores, as well as in Korea and various parts of China, gradually being introduced from the south, displacing the Ainu. north of Japan, while in a later wave, various same-ethnic groups from China and Korea came to Japan.

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To this racial mix must be added the influence of other cultures: due to its insularity, Japan has been isolated for much of its history, but at intervals it has been influenced by mainland civilizations, especially China and Korea, especially since the V century.

Thus, the Japanese ancestral culture that emerged from successive outposts of immigration added a foreign influence, forging an eclectic art open to innovation and stylistic progress.

It is also interesting to note that much of the art produced in Japan is religiously based: to the region's typical Shinto religion, formed around the XNUMXst century, Buddhism was added around the XNUMXth century, forging a religious fusion that still endures. today and that has also left its reflection in art.

Japanese art is the consequence of these different cultures and traditions, interpreting in its own way the forms of art imported from other countries, which it achieves according to its conception of life and art, executing changes and simplifying its particular characteristics.

Like the elaborate Chinese Buddhist temples, which in Japan have gone through a metamorphosis of having to abandon certain elements of their art and join them with others, this expresses the union character of this art, so that it has always naturally taken something from another culture of other countries.

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Japanese art has in Japanese culture a great sense of meditation and the interrelation between man and nature, also represented in the objects that surround it, from the most ornate and emphatic to the most simple and everyday.

This is visible in the value given to imperfections, the ephemeral nature of things, the humanitarian sense that the Japanese establish with their environment. Just as in the tea ceremony, they value the calm and tranquility of this state of contemplation that they achieve with a simple ritual, based on simple components and a harmony of an asymmetrical and unfinished space.

For them, peace and balance are associated with warmth and comfort, qualities that in turn are a true reflection of their concept of beauty. Even at mealtime, it is not the amount of food or its presentation that matters, but the sensory perception of food and the aesthetic meaning it gives to any act.

Likewise, the artists and craftsmen of this country have a high degree of connection with their work, feeling the materials as an essential part of their lives and of their communication with the environment that surrounds them.

Foundations of Japanese art

Japanese art, like the rest of its philosophy -or, simply, its way of seeing life- is subject to intuition, lack of rationality, emotional expression and simplicity of actions and thoughts. often expressed symbolically.

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Two of the distinctive features of Japanese art are simplicity and naturalness: artistic expressions are a reflection of nature, so they do not require elaborate production, all this leads to the fact that what artists want is that what is outlined, suggested, be deciphered later by the viewer.

This simplicity has caused in painting a tendency to linear drawing, without perspective, with an abundance of empty spaces, which nevertheless integrate harmoniously into the whole. In architecture, it materializes in linear designs, with asymmetric planes, in a combination of dynamic and static elements.

In turn, this simplicity in Japanese art is linked to an innate simplicity in the relationship between art and nature, which is part of their idiosyncrasy, which is reflected in their lives, and they experience it with a delicate sensation of melancholy, almost sadness.

How the passing of the seasons gives them a sense of fleetingness, where you can see the evolution that exists in nature due to the ephemeral nature of life. This simplicity is reflected above all in the architecture, which integrates harmoniously into its surroundings, as indicated by the use of natural materials, without work, showing its rough, unfinished appearance. In Japan, nature, life, and art are inextricably linked, and artistic achievement is a symbol of the entire universe.

Japanese art seeks to achieve universal harmony, going beyond matter to find the generating principle of life. Japanese ornamentation seeks to find the meaning of life through art: The beauty of Japanese art is synonymous with harmony, creativity; it is a poetic impulse, a sensory path that leads to the realization of the work, which does not have an end in itself, but goes beyond.

What we call beauty is a philosophical category that refers us to existence: it resides in reaching meaning with the whole. As expressed by Suzuki Daisetsu: "beauty is not in the external form, but in the sense in which it is expressed."

Art does not begin with its sensible character, but with its suggestive attributes; It doesn't have to be exact, but show a gift that leads to wholeness. It aims to capture the essential through that part, which suggests the whole: the void is a complement to the existing Japanese.

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In Eastern thought, there is a unity between matter and spirit, which prevails in contemplation and communion with nature, through inner adherence, of intuition. Japanese art (gei) has a more transcendent meaning, more intangible than the concept of applied art in the West: it is any manifestation of the mind, understood as vital energy, as the essence that gives life to our body that in fact develops and evolves, realizing a unity between body, mind and spirit.

The sense of Japanese art has developed over time: from its beginnings where the first traces of art and beauty existed, they date back to ancient times when the creative principles of Japanese culture were forged and those that were expressed in the most important works of literature of the country:

Kojiki, Nihonshoki and Man 'yōshū, the above are publications, the first two are about the first works of the history of Japan and the last one is about poems written during the first millennium, for that time the Sayashi thought prevailed ("pure , of course, fresh"), alluding to a kind of beauty characterized by simplicity, freshness, a certain naivety that comes with the use of light and natural materials such as Haniwa Figure Land or wood in architecture.

We can classify the Ise Shrine as the best representation of this style, made of cypress wood, which has been renovated every twenty years since the XNUMXth century to maintain its candor and freshness. From this notion arises one of the constants of Japanese art: the value attributed to the ephemeral, ephemeral, ephemeral beauty that develops over time.

In Man 'yōshū, sayakeshi is manifested in the affections of being faithful and tried, as well as in the description of how the components such as the sky and the sea, they gave him a sense of greatness that overwhelms man.

Sayakeshi is related to the concept of Naru ("becoming"), in which time is valued as a vital energy that converges in becoming, in the culmination of all actions and all lives.JAPANESE ART

Placing ourselves in the Nara and Heian periods, the artistic aspect of art evolved rapidly thanks to the first contact with Chinese culture, as well as the arrival of Buddhism. The main concept of this era was conscience, an emotional feeling that overwhelms the viewer and leads to a deep sense of empathy or pity.

It is related to other terms such as okashi, the one that attracts with its joy and pleasant character; omoshiroi, property of radiant things, which attract attention by their brilliance and clarity; the yūbi, concept of grace, of elegance; the yūga, a quality of refinement in beauty; the en, the attraction of the charm; the king, the beauty of calm; yasashi, the beauty of discretion; and the ushin, the deep sense of the artistic.

Murasaki Shikibu's story of Genji, which embodied a new aesthetic concept called mono-no-awareness -a term introduced by Motōri Norinaga-, which conveys a sense of melancholy, contemplative sadness derived from the transience of things, fleeting beauty that lasts a moment and remains in memory.

But above all it is a feeling of delicate melancholy that can lead to deep sadness when deeply feeling the exhaled beauty of all the beings of nature.

This philosophy of the "ideal pursuit" of beauty, of a meditative state where thought and the world of the senses meet, is characteristic of the innate Japanese delicacy for beauty, and is evident in the Hanami festival, the celebration of the cherry tree in blossom.

In the Japanese Middle Ages, the Kamakura, Muromachi and Momoyama periods, where the characteristic was military domination in the entirety of the country's feudal society, the concept of dō ("path") emerged, which generated a development of art for that time. , is shown in the ceremonial practice of social rites, as evidenced by shodō (calligraphy), chadō (tea ceremony), kadō or ikebana (the art of flower arranging), and kōdō (incense ceremony).

The practices do not matter the result, but rather the evolutionary process, the evolution in time - again the naru -, as well as the talent shown in the perfect execution of the rites, which denotes skill, as well as a spiritual commitment in the pursuit of perfection.

A variant of Buddhism called Zen, which emphasizes certain "rules of life" based on meditation, where the person loses self-awareness, had a decisive influence on these new concepts. Thus, all daily work transcends its material essence to signify a spiritual manifestation, which is reflected in the movement and ritual passage of time.

This concept is also reflected in gardening, which reaches such a degree of importance where the garden is a vision of the cosmos, with a great void (sea) that is filled with objects (islands), embodied in sand and rocks. , and where the vegetation evokes the passage of time.

The Zen ambivalence between the simplicity and the depth of a transcendent life imbues a spirit of "simple elegance" (wabi) not only in art, but also in behavior, social relationships, and the more everyday aspects of life. . Master Sesshū said that "Zen and art are one."

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This Zen is presented in seven ornamental facts: fukinsei, a way of denying the optimization to achieve the balance present in nature; kanso , take out what is left over and what you take out will make you discover the simplicity of nature.

Kokō (solitary dignity), a quality that people and objects acquire over time and give them a greater purity of their essence; shizen (naturalness), which is linked to sincerity, the natural is genuine and incorruptible; yūgen (depth), the real essence of things, which goes beyond their simple materiality, their superficial appearance.

Datsuzoku (detachment), freedom in the practice of the arts, whose mission is to free the mind, not control it – thus, art dispenses with all kinds of parameters and rules -; seiyaku (inner serenity), in a situation of stillness, calm, necessary for the six previous principles to flow.

It is especially the tea ceremony, where the Japanese concept of art and beauty is masterfully synthesized, creating an authentic aesthetic religion: "theism". This ceremony represents the cult of beauty in opposition to the vulgarity of everyday existence. His philosophy, both ethical and aesthetic, expresses the integral conception of man with nature.

Its simplicity connects the little things with the cosmic order: life is an expression and actions always reflect a thought. The temporal is equal to the spiritual, the small is the great. This concept is also found in the tea room (sukiya), an ephemeral construction product of a poetic impulse, devoid of ornamentation, where the imperfect is venerated, and always leave something unfinished, which will complete the imagination.

The lack of symmetry is characteristic, due to Zen thinking that the pursuit of perfection is more important than itself. Beauty can only be discovered by those who complete through their reasoning what is missing.

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Finally, in the modern era -which began with the Edo period-, although previous ideas persist, new artistic classes are introduced, which are linked to the emergence of other social orders that arise as Japan modernizes: sui is a certain spiritual delicacy, found mainly in Osaka literature.

Iki thought is a dignified and direct grace, particularly present in kabuki; The karumi is a concept that defends lightness as something primordial, under which the "depth" of things is obtained, reflected in particular in the poetry of haiku, where Shiori is a nostalgic beauty.

"Nothing lasts, nothing is complete and nothing is perfect." These would be the three keys on which the «Wabi sabi» is based, a Japanese expression (or a type of aesthetic vision) that refers to the beauty of the imperfect, the incomplete and the changing, although it does refer to also in the beauty of the modest and humble, the unconventional. The philosophy of "wabi sabi" is to enjoy the present and find peace and harmony in nature and small things, and peacefully accept the natural cycle of growth and decline.

Underlying all these elements is the idea of ​​art as a creative process and not as a material realization. Okakura Kakuzō wrote that "only artists who believe in the innate warping of their soul are capable of real beauty."

Periodization of Japanese art

In this article, we will use a segmentation into large periods in terms of notable artistic changes and political movements. The selection generally varies according to the author's criteria, and many of them can also be subdivided. However, there are also differences regarding the start and end of some of these periods. We will take the one made by the archaeologist Charles T. Kelly, which is the following:

Japanese art in the plastic arts

During the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, it remained isolated from the continent, so all its production was its own, although of little importance. They were semi-sedentary societies, living in small villages with houses dug into the ground, obtaining their food resources mainly from the forest (deer, wild boar, nuts) and the sea (fish, crustaceans, marine mammals).

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These societies had an elaborate organization of work and were concerned with the measurement of time, as evidenced by several remains of circular stone arrangements at Oyu and Komakino, which acted as sundials. They apparently had standardized units of measurement, as evidenced by several buildings built to certain models.

In certain locations corresponding to this period, polished stone and bone artifacts, ceramics and anthropomorphic figures have been found. It should be noted that Jōmon pottery is the oldest man-made pottery: the earliest traces of rudimentary pottery date back to 11.000 BC, in small, hand-crafted utensils with polished sides and large interiors. , with a functional sense and austere decoration.

These remains correspond to a period called "prejōmon" (11000-7500 BC), followed by the "archaic" or "early" Jōmon (7500-2500 BC), where the most typical Jōmon pottery is made, made by hand and decorated. with incisions or traces of rope, on a base of a kind of deep jar-shaped vessels. The basic decoration consisted of prints made with cords of vegetable fibers, which were pressed onto the pottery before firing it.

In several areas these incisions have reached a high degree of elaboration, with perfectly chiseled edges, drawing a series of very intricate abstract lines. On rare occasions, remains of figurative scenes have been found, generally anthropomorphic and zoomorphic drawings (frogs, snakes), highlighting a hunting scene present in a vase found in Hirakubo, north of Honshū.

Finally, in "Late Jōmon" (2500-400 BC), vessels reverted to a more natural, less elaborate form, with round-bottomed bowls and vessels, narrow-necked amphorae, and bowls with handles. often with rods. or raised base. Jōmon pottery landmarks are: Taishakukyo, Torihama, Togari-ishi, Matsushima, Kamo, and Okinohara on Honshū Island; Sobata on the island of Kyūshū; and Hamanasuno and Tokoro on the island of Hokkaidō.

Apart from the vases, various figurines in human or animal form have been made in ceramic, made in several parts, so few remains of whole pieces have been found. Those in anthropomorphic form can have masculine or feminine attributes, and some of the androgynous sign have also been found.

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Some have swollen bellies, so they may have been associated with fertility worship. It is worth noting the precision of the details that some figures show, such as the careful hairstyles, tattoos and decorative dresses.

It seems that in these societies the adornment of the body was very significant, mainly in the ears, with ceramic earrings of various manufactures, adorned with reddish dyes. In Chiamigaito (Honshū Island) more than 1000 of these ornaments have been found, suggesting a local workshop for the elaboration of these products.

Various masks also date from this period, denoting individualized work on the faces. In the same way, different types of green jadeite beads were made, and they were familiar with lacquer work, as evidenced by several fasteners found at Torihama. Remains of swords, bones or ivory antlers have also been found.

Yayoi Period (500 BC-300 AD)

This period meant the definitive establishment of the agrarian society, which caused the deforestation of large extensions of the territory.

This transformation has led to an evolution of Japanese society in the technological, cultural and social fields, with greater social stratification and specialization of work, and has caused an increase in armed conflicts.

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The Japanese archipelago was dotted with small states formed around clans (uji), among which the Yamato predominated, which gave rise to the imperial family. Then Shintoism appeared, a mythological religion that brought down the emperor of Amaterasu, the sun goddess.

This religion promoted the real sense of purity and freshness of Japanese art, with a preference for pure materials and without decoration, with a sense of integration with nature (kami or superconsciousness). From the XNUMXst century BC. C. began to introduce continental civilization, due to relations with China and Korea.

The Yayoi culture appeared on the island of Kyūshū around 400-300 BC. C., and moved to Honshū, where it gradually replaced the Jōmon culture. During this period, a kind of large burial with a chamber and a mound decorated with terracotta cylinders with human and animal figures was extended.

Villages were surrounded by ditches, and various agricultural implements (including a crescent-shaped stone tool used for harvesting) appeared, as well as various weapons, such as bows and arrows with polished stone tips.

In Pottery, the following objects were specially produced: Jars, Vases, Plates, Cups and Bottles with certain particularities. They had a polished surface, with a simple decoration, mostly incisions, dotted and zigzag streamers, the most used object was a glass whose name was Tsubo.

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He highlighted the work with metals, mainly bronze, such as the so-called dotaku bells, which served as ceremonial objects, decorated with spirals (ryusui) in the form of running water, or animals in relief (mainly deer, birds, insects and amphibians), as well as scenes of hunting, fishing and agricultural work, especially those related to rice.

The deer seems to have had a special meaning, perhaps linked to a certain deity: in many places a multitude of deer shoulder blades have been found with incisions or marks made with fire, which is said to be linked to a type of ritual.

Other decorative items found at Yayoi sites include: mirrors, swords, various beads, and magatama (cashew-shaped pieces of jade and agate, which served as fertility gems).

Kofun period (300-552)

This era marked the consolidation of the Imperial Central State, which controlled important resources, such as iron and gold. The architecture developed preferably in the cemetery, with typical chamber and passage tombs called kofun ("old tomb"), on which large mounds of earth were raised.

The burials of the emperors Ōjin (346-395) and Nintoku (395-427) are striking, where a great variety of objects were found, among which there were; jewelry, figures made of various materials especially terracotta figures.

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These statuettes were about sixty centimeters tall, practically expressionless, just a few slits in the eyes and mouth, although they are a very relevant example of the art of this time.

According to their clothing and utensils, various trades stand out in these characters, such as farmers, militiamen, monks, provincial women, minstrels, etc.

At the end of this period, figures of animals also appeared, including deer, dogs, horses, boars, cats, chickens, sheep and fish, denoting the importance of the military settlement of the time, whose stylistic features are linked to the Silla culture. from Korea, as well as a type of pottery called Sueki, which is dark and very fine, with tinkling accessories.

Social differentiation has led to the isolation of the ruling classes in exclusive neighborhoods of cities, such as Yoshinogari, to end up permanently segregated in isolated neighborhoods such as Mitsudera or the palace complexes of Kansai, Ikaruga and Asuka-Itabuki.

As for religious architecture, the early Shinto temples (jinja) were made of wood, on a raised base and exposed walls or sliding partitions, with bases that supported the sloping roof.

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One of its characteristic components is the torii, an entrance arch that marks the entrance to a sacred place. Note Ise Shrine, which has been rebuilt every twenty years since the XNUMXth century.

The main building (Shoden) has a raised floor and a gabled roof, with nine bases, which is accessed by an external staircase. It is in the shinmei zukuri style, which reflects the late Shinto style, before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan.

Another mythical temple of uncertain origin is the Izumo Taisha, near Matsue, a legendary temple founded by Amaterasu. It is in the taisha zukuri style, it is regarded as the oldest among the shrines, the main attraction is the elevation of the building on pilasters, with a staircase as the main access, and simple wood finishes without painting.

According to the manuscripts found, the original sanctuary had a height of 50 meters, but due to a fire it was rebuilt with a height of 25 meters. The buildings were Honden ("inner sanctuary") and Hayden ("outer sanctuary"). Kinpusen-ji, the main temple of shugendō, an ascetic religion combining Shinto, Buddhism, and animist beliefs, also belongs to this period.

In this period we find the first samples of painting, as in the Ōtsuka Royal Funeral and the dolmen-shaped tombs of Kyūshū (XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries), decorated with scenes of trapped prey, battles, steeds, birds and ships, or with spirals and concentric circles.

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They were wall paintings, made of hematite red, carbon black, ocher yellow, kaolin white, and chlorite green. One of the characteristic designs of this period is the so-called chokomon, made up of straight lines and arches drawn on diagonals or crosses, and present on the walls of tombs, sarcophagi, Haniwa statues and bronze mirrors.

Asuka period (552-710)

Yamato conceived of a centralized kingdom on the Chinese model, embodied in the laws of Shōtoku-Taishi (604) and Taika of 646. The introduction of Buddhism produced a great artistic and aesthetic impact in Japan, with a great influence of Chinese art.

Then came the reign of Prince Shōtoku (573-621), who favored Buddhism and culture in general, and was fruitful for art. The architecture was represented in the temples and monasteries, it has been mostly lost, assuming the replacement of simple Shinto lines with the magnificence coming from the mainland.

As the most outstanding building of this period, we must name the temple of Hōryū-ji (607), representative of the Kudara style (Paekche in Korea). It was made on the grounds of the Wakakusadera temple, erected by Shōtoku and burned by his opponents in 670.

Built with axial planimetry, it consists of a set of buildings where the pagoda (Tō), the Yumedono ("hall of dreams")) and the Kondō ("golden hall") are located. It is in Chinese style, using for the first time a ceramic tile roof.

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One of the features of this extraordinary example is the Itsukushima Shrine (593), made on water, in Seto, where the Gojūnotō, the Tahōtō and various honden are noted. Due to its beauty it was named a World Heritage Site in 1996 by the UN.

Buddhist-themed sculpture was made of wood or bronze: the first Buddha figures were imported from the mainland, but later a large number of Chinese and Korean artists settled in Japan.

The image of Kannon, the Japanese name of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (called Guan Yin in Chinese), has proliferated under the name of Bodhisattva Kannon, the work of the Korean Tori; the Kannon located in the Yumedono temple of Hōryū-ji; and Kannon of Kudara (623th century), by an unknown artist. Another important work is the Triad of Sâkyamuni (XNUMX), in bronze, by Tori Busshi installed in the temple of Hōryū-ji.

In general, they were works of a severe, angular and archaic style, inspired by the Korean Koguryŏ style, as seen in the work of Shiba Tori, which marked the "official style" of the Asuka period: the Great Asuka Buddha (Hoko temple -ji, 606), Yakushi Buddha (607), Kannon Guze (621), Triad Shaka (623).

Another artist who followed this style was Aya no Yamaguchi no Okuchi Atahi, author of The Four Celestial Guardians (shitenno) of the Golden Hall of Hōryū-ji (645), which despite the very old style presents a more rounded volumetric evolution, with more expressive faces.

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The painting influenced by Chinese motifs, made in ink or mineral dyes used on silk or paper, on parchment scrolls or hung on the wall. It denotes a great sense of drawing, with works of great originality, such as the Tamamushi reliquary (Hōryū-ji), in camphor and cypress wood, with bronze filigree bands, representing various scenes in oil on lacquered wood, in a technique called mitsuda-i from Persia and related to Chinese painting of the Wei dynasty.

At the base of the reliquary is a jataka (account of the Buddha's past lives), showing the prince Mahasattva consecrating his own flesh to a hungry tigress. Around this time, calligraphy began to gain prominence, being accorded the same artistic level as figurative images.

Silk tapestries were also noted, such as the Mandala Tenkoku made to Shōtoku (622). Ceramics, which could be glazed or not, had little local production, being the most valued Chinese imports.

Nara period (710-794)

During this period, the capital was established at Nara (710), the first fixed capital of the mikado. At this time, Buddhist art was at its height, continuing the Chinese influence with great intensity: the Japanese saw in Chinese art a harmony and perfection similar to the European taste for classical Greco-Roman art.

The few examples of architecture from the period are monumental buildings, such as the East Yakushi-ji Pagoda, the Tōshōdai-ji, Tōdai-ji, and Kōfuku-ji temples, and the Shōso-in Imperial Storehouse in Nara, which preserves many objects from art from the time of Emperor Shōmu (724-749), with works from China, Persia, and Central Asia. The city of Nara was built according to a grid layout, modeled after Chang'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty.

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The imperial palace was accorded the same importance as the main monastery, Tōdai-ji (745-752), built according to a symmetrical plan in a large enclosure with twin pagodas, and featuring the Daibutsuden, the "great hall of the Buddha". «. with a large 15 meter bronze statue of Buddha Vairocana (Dainichi in Japanese), donated by Emperor Shōmu in 743. Rebuilt in 1700, the Daibutsuden is the largest wooden building in the world.

Another important temple is Hokkedō, which boasts another magnificent statue, Kannon Fukukenjaku, an eight-armed lacquered bodhisattva standing four meters tall. high and Tang influence, which is noticeable in the serenity and placidity of the facial features.

In contrast, the East Yakushi-ji Pagoda was an attempt by Japanese architects to find their own style, moving away from Chinese influence. It stands out for its verticality, with alternating covers of different sizes, which gives it the appearance of a calligraphic sign.

In its structure, the eaves and balconies stand out, formed by interlocking wooden bars, in white and brown. Inside it houses the image of the Yakushi Nyorai ("Medicine Buddha"). It is listed as a World Heritage Site under the name Historical Monuments of Ancient Nara.

The Tōshōdai-ji (759) had the same degree of national assimilation, showing a clear contrast between the Kondō ("golden hall"), with its Chinese-influenced solidity, symmetry, and verticality, and the Kodō ("lecture hall"). ”), of greater simplicity and horizontality that denote the aboriginal tradition.

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Another exhibitor was the Kiyomizu-dera (778), whose main building stands out for its huge railing, supported by hundreds of pillars, which stands out on the hill and offers impressive views of the city of Kyoto. This temple was one of the candidates for the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World, although it was not chosen.

For its part, Rinnō-ji is famous for the Sanbutsudō, where there are three statues of Amida, Senjūkannon and Batōkannon. As a Shinto shrine, the Fushimi Inari-taisha (711) stands out, dedicated to the spirit of Inari, particularly named for the thousands of red torii that mark the way along the hill on which the shrine stands.

The representation of the Buddha has achieved great development in sculpture, with statues of great beauty: Sho Kannon, Buddha of Tachibana, Bodhisattva Gakko of Tōdai-ji. In the Hakuhō period (645-710), the suppression of the Soga clan and imperial consolidation led to the end of Korean influence and its replacement by Chinese (Tang dynasty), producing a series of works of greater magnificence and realism, with rounder and more graceful forms.

This change is noticeable in a portion of Yakushi-ji gilded bronze statues, formed by the seated Buddha (Yakushi) accompanied by the bodhisattvas Nikko ("Sunlight") and Gakko ("Moonlight"), who show greater dynamism in his contrapposto position, and greater facial expressiveness.

At Hōryū-ji, the Tori style of Korean origin continued, as in the Kannon Yumegatari and the Amida Triad of the Lady Tachibana locket. At Tōshōdai-ji Temple there is a series of large statues, made of hollow dried lacquer, highlighting the central Buddha Rushana (759), which is 3,4 meters tall. There are also representations of guardian spirits (Meikira Taisho), kings (Komokuten), etc. They are works in wood, bronze, raw clay or dry lacquer, of great realism.

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The painting is represented by a Hōryū-ji wall decoration (late XNUMXth century), such as the Kondō frescoes, which bear similarities to those of Ajantā in India. Various typologies have also emerged, such as kakemono ("hanging painting") and emakimono ("roller painting"), stories painted on a roll of paper or silk, with texts explaining the different scenes, called sutras.

In the Nara Shōso-in, there are a number of secular-themed paintings, with different types and themes: plants, animals, landscapes, and metal objects. In the middle of the period, the Tang dynasty school of painting came into vogue, as can be seen in the Takamatsuzuka tomb murals, which date from around 700.

By the Taiho-ryo decree of 701, the painter's profession is regulated in the craft corporations. controlled by the Department of Painters (takumi-no-tuskasa), under the Ministry of the Interior. These associations were in charge of decorating palaces and temples, and their structure lasted until the Meiji era. Pottery has evolved remarkably through various techniques imported from China, such as the use of bright colors applied to clay.

Heian period (794-1185)

In this period the government of the Fujiwara clan took place, which established a centralized government inspired by the Chinese government, with its capital in Heian (now Kyoto). The great feudal lords (daimyō) arose and the figure of the samurai appeared.

At about this time, the graphology called Hiragana emerged, which adapted Chinese calligraphy to the polysyllabic language used in Japan, using Chinese characters for the phonetic values ​​of the syllables. The breakdown of relations with China produced a more distinctly Japanese art, with a secular art emerging alongside religious art that would be a faithful reflection of the nationalism of the imperial court.

Buddhist iconography underwent a new development with the importation of two new sects from the mainland, Tendai and Shingon, based on Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, which incorporated Shinto elements and produced a religious syncretism characteristic of this time.

The architecture underwent a change in the plan of the monasteries, which were erected in isolated places, intended for meditation. The most important temples are Enryaku-ji (788), Kongōbu-ji (816), and the Murō-ji pagoda-shrine. Enryaku-ji, located in the vicinity of Mount Hiei, is one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, declared a World Heritage Site in 1994.

It was founded in 788 by Saichō, who introduced the Tendai Buddhist Sect to Japan. Enryaku-ji had some 3.000 temples, and was a great center of power in its day, with most of its buildings destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571.

Of the part that has survived, the Saitō ("western hall") stands out today and the Tōdō ("eastern hall"), where the Konpon chūdō is located, the most representative construction of Enryaku ji, where a statue of Buddha is kept. sculpted by Saichō himself, the Yakushi Nyorai.

The sculpture has suffered a slight decline compared to previous times. Again, representations of the Buddha (Nyoirin-Kannon; Yakushi Nyorai from the Jingo-ji temple in Kyoto; Amida Nyorai from the Byōdō-in monastery), as well as certain Shinto goddesses (Kichijoten, goddess of happiness, equivalent to Lakshmī India).

JAPANESE ART

The excessive rigidity of the Buddhist religion limits the spontaneity of the artist, who limits himself to rigid artistic canons that undermine his creative freedom. During 859 and 877, the Jogan style is produced, distinguished by images of an almost intimidating gravity, with a certain introspective and mysterious air, such as the Shaka Nyorai of Murō-ji.

During the Fujiwara period, the school founded by Jōchō at Byōdō-in rose to fame, with a more elegant and slender style than Jogan's sculpture, expressing perfect body shapes and a great sense of movement.

Jōchō's workshop introduced the yosegi and warihagi techniques, which consisted of dividing the figure into two blocks that were then joined together to sculpt them, thus avoiding subsequent cracking, one of the main problems with large figures. These techniques also allow serial mounting and were developed with great success in the Kei school of the Kamakura period.

Yamato-e painting thrives particularly on the handwritten scrolls called emaki, which combine pictorial scenes with elegant Katakana calligraphy. These scrolls recounted historical or literary passages, such as The Tale of Genji, a novel by Murasaki Shikibu from the late XNUMXth century.

Although the text was the work of renowned scribes, the images were typically executed by courtesans of the court, such as Ki no Tsubone and Nagato no Tsubone, assuming a sample of feminine aesthetics that would have great relevance in today's Japanese Art.

JAPANESE ART

At this time, a classification of paintings according to gender began, which marked a perceptible distinction between the public, where the masculine was under Chinese influence, and the feminine and more aesthetic was artistically Japanese.

In onna-e, in addition to the History of Genji, the Heike Nogyo (Lotus Sutra) stands out, commissioned by the Taira clan for the Itsukushima shrine, where they are embodied in various scrolls on the salvation of souls proclaimed by Buddhism.

On the other hand, this The otoko-e was more narrative and energetic than the ona-e, more full of action, with more realism and movement, as in the Shigisan Engi scrolls, about the miracles of the monk Myoren; the Ban Danigon E-kotoba, about a war between rival clans in the XNUMXth century; and the Chōjugiga, scenes of animals with a caricatured sign and a satirical tone, criticizing the aristocracy.

Kamakura period (1185-1392)

After several disputes between the feudal clans, the Minamoto was imposed, which established the shogunate, a form of government with a military court. At this time, the Zen sect was introduced to Japan, which would heavily influence figurative art. The architecture was simpler, more functional, less luxurious and ornate.

Zen rule brought about the so-called Kara-yo style: Zen places of worship followed the Chinese axial planimetry technique, although the main building was not the temple, but the reading room, and the place of honor was not occupied by a statue. Buddha, but by a small throne where the abbot taught his disciples.

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The five great temple complex of Sanjūsangen-dō, in Kyoto (1266), as well as the monasteries Kennin-ji (1202) and Tōfuku-ji (1243) in Kyoto, and Kenchō-ji (1253) and Engaku-ji ( 1282) in Kamakura.

The Kōtoku-in (1252) is famous for its large and heavy bronze statue of Amida Buddha, making it the second largest Buddha in Japan after Tōdai-ji.

In 1234, Chion-in Temple, seat of Jōdo shū Buddhism, was built, distinguished by its colossal main gate (Sanmon), the largest structure of its kind in Japan.

One of the last representatives of this period was the Hongan-ji (1321), which consists of two main temples: the Nishi Hongan-ji, which includes the Goei-dō and Amida-dō, along with a tea pavilion and two stages of the Noh theater, one of which claims to be the oldest still living; and Higashi Hongan-ji, home of the famous Shosei-en.

The sculpture acquired a great realism, finding the artist greater freedom of creation, as evidenced by the portraits of nobles and soldiers, such as that of Uesugi Shigusa (by an anonymous artist), a fourteenth-century military man.

JAPANESE ART

Zen works centered on the representation of their masters, in a kind of statue called shinzo, such as that of master Muji Ichien (1312, by an anonymous author), in polychrome wood, which represents the Zen master sitting on a throne, in an attitude of meditation relaxed.

The Kei School of Nara, heir to the Jōchō School of the Heian period, was particularly important for the quality of its works, where the sculptor Unkei, author of the statues of the monks Muchaku and Sesshin (Kōfuku-ji of Nara), also as images of Kongo Rikishi (guardian spirits), such as the two colossal statues located at the entrance of the 8-meter-high Tōdai-ji temple (1199).

Unkei's style, influenced by Song dynasty Chinese sculpture, was highly realistic while capturing the most detailed physiognomic study with the emotional expression and inner spirituality of the depicted individual.

Dark crystals were even embedded in the eyes, to give greater expressiveness. Unkei's work marked the beginning of Japanese portraiture. His son Tankei, author of Kannon Senju for Sanjūsangen-dō, continued his work.

The painting was characterized by increased realism and psychological introspection. Landscaping (Nachi Waterfall) and portrait Monk Myoe in Contemplation, by Enichi-bo Jonin; set of portraits from Jingo-ji Temple in Kyoto, by Fujiwara Takanobu; Goshin's portrait of Emperor Hanazono, were mainly developed.

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The yamato-e mode continued and the images were explained in scrolls, many of them several meters long. These manuscripts depicted details of everyday life, urban or rural scenes, or illustrated historical events, such as the 1159 Kyoto War between rival branches of the Imperial Family.

They were presented in continuous scenes, following a narrative order, with an elevated panorama, in a straight line. The illustrated scrolls of the events of the Heiji era (Heiji monogatari) and the Kegon Engi scrolls of Enichi-bo Jonin stand out.

The painting associated with the Zen organization was more directly Chinese-influenced, with a technique more of simple Chinese ink lines following the Zen dictum that "too many colors blind the eye."

Muromachi period (1392-1573)

The shogunate is in the hands of the Ashikaga, whose infighting favors the growing power of the daimyō, who divides the land. The architecture was more elegant and quintessentially Japanese, featuring stately mansions, monasteries such as Zuihoji, and temples such as Shōkoku-ji (1382), Kinkaku-ji or the Golden Pavilion (1397), and Ginkaku-ji. o Silver Pavilion (1489), in Kyoto.

Kinkaku-ji was built as a rest village for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his domain called Kitayama. His son converted the building into a temple for the Rinzai sect. It is a three-story building, the first two covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a sheriden, which protects the relics of the Buddha.

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It also contains various statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva, and a golden fenghuang stands on the roof. It also has a beautiful adjoining garden, with a pond called Kyōko-chi, with many islands and stones representing the Buddhist creation story.

For its part, the Ginkaku-ji was built by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who sought to imitate the Kinkaku-ji built by his ancestor Yoshimitsu, but unfortunately he could not cover the building with silver as planned.

Also characteristic of the architecture of this period is the appearance of the tokonoma, a room reserved for the contemplation of a painting or a flower arrangement, in keeping with the Zen aesthetic. Also, the tatami, a type of mat made of rice straw, was introduced, which made the interior of the Japanese house more pleasant.

At this time, the art of gardening developed in particular, laying the artistic and aesthetic foundations of the Japanese garden. Two main modes emerged: tsukiyama, around a hill and a lake; and hiraniwa, a flat garden of raked sand, with stones, trees and wells.

The most common vegetation is made up of bamboo and various types of flowers and trees, either evergreen, such as the Japanese black pine, or deciduous, such as the Japanese maple, elements such as ferns and foams are also valued.

Bonsai is another typical element of gardening and interior design. Gardens often include a lake or pond, various types of pavilions (usually for the tea ceremony), and stone lanterns. One of the typical characteristics of the Japanese garden, as in the rest of its art, is its imperfect, unfinished and asymmetrical appearance.

There are different types of gardens: “walking”, which can be seen walking along a path or around a pond; of the «living room», which can be seen from a fixed place, generally a pavilion or a machiya-type hut.

Te (rōji), around a path leading to the tea room, with bakdosin tiles or stones marking the path; and “contemplation” (karesansui, “mountain and water landscape”), which is the most typical Zen garden, seen from a platform located in Zen monasteries.

A good example is the so-called waterless landscape of the Ryōan-ji garden in Kyoto by the painter and poet Sōami (1480), which represents a sea, made of raked sand, full of islands, which are rocks. , forming a whole that combines reality and illusion and that invites calm and reflection.

A resurgence of painting was noted, framed in the Zen aesthetic, which received the Chinese influence of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, reflected mainly in decorative art.

The gouache technique was introduced, a perfect transcription of the Zen doctrine, which seeks to reflect in the landscapes what they mean, rather than what they represent.

The figure of the bunjinso emerged, the "intellectual monk" who created his own works, scholars and followers of Chinese techniques in monochrome ink, in brief and diffuse brushstrokes, who reflected in his works natural elements such as pines, reeds, orchids, bamboos, rocks, trees, birds and human figures immersed in nature, in an attitude of meditation.

In Japan, this Chinese ink technique was called sumi-e. Based on the seven aesthetic principles of Zen, sumi-e sought to reflect the most intense internal emotions through simplicity and elegance, in simple and modest lines that transcend their outward appearance to signify a state of communion with nature.

Sumi-e was a means (dō) to find inner spirituality, this was used by monks. The particularities of the ink, subtle and diffuse, allowed the artist to capture the essence of things, in a simple and natural impression, but at the same time deep and transcendent.

It is an instinctive art of rapid execution, impossible to retouch, a fact that unites it with life, where it is impossible to return to what has been done. Each path carries vital energy (ki), since it is an act of creation, where the mind is put into action and the process matters more than the result.

The most important representatives of sumi-e were: Muto Shui, Josetsu, Shūbun, Sesson Shukei and, above all, Sesshū Tōyō, author of portraits and landscapes, the first artist to paint while alive. Sesshū was a Gaso, a monk-painter, who traveled to China between 1467 and 1469, where he studied art and natural landscape.

His landscapes are composed of linear structures, illuminated by a sudden light that reflects the Zen concept of the transcendent moment. These are landscapes with the presence of anecdotal elements, such as temples in the distance or small human figures, framed in remote places such as cliffs.

A new genre of poetic painting has also emerged, shinjuku, where a landscape illustrates a naturalistically inspired poem. Also worth mentioning is the Kanō School, founded by Kanō Masanobu, which applies the gouache technique to traditional subjects, illustrating sacred, national and landscape themes.

The wash was also applied to the painted screens and panels of the fusuma sliding doors, hallmarks of Japanese interior design. In ceramics, the Seto school stands out, the most popular typology being the tenmoku. Lacquer and metal objects are also notable examples from this period.

Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603)

By this time, Japan was once again unified by Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who eliminated the daimyō and came to power.

His mandate coincided with the arrival of Portuguese merchants and Jesuit missionaries, who introduced Christianity to the country, although reaching only a minority.

The artistic production of this time moved away from the Buddhist aesthetic, emphasizing traditional Japanese values, with an explosive style. The invasion of Korea in 1592 caused the forced relocation of many Korean artists to Japan, who lived in pottery production centers isolated from the rest.

Also, during this period, the first western influences were received, reflected in the Namban style, developed in miniaturist sculpture, with a secular theme, decorative porcelain objects and folding screens decorated in the Yamato-e style, in bright colors and gold leaf, in scenes that tell the story of the arrival of Europeans on the Japanese coast.

Perspective techniques, as well as other variants of European painting such as the use of oil painting, had no foothold in the art form in Japan.

In architecture, the construction of great castles (shiro) stands out, which were strengthened by the introduction in Japan of firearms of Western origin. Himeji, Azuchi, Matsumoto, Nijō, and Fushimi-Momoyama castles are good examples.

Himeji Castle, one of the major constructions of the time, combines massive fortifications with the elegance of a vertical-looking structure, on five floors of wood and plaster, with gently curving roof shapes similar to those of traditional Japanese temples.

Rustic tea ceremony villages, consisting of small villas or palaces and large gardens, have also proliferated, and wooden theaters for kabuki performances have been built in some cities.

In the area of ​​painting, the Kanō school captures the majority of official commissions, elaborating the mural painting of the main Japanese castles, there were important figures named Kanō Eitoku and Kanō Sanraku.

For the castles, poorly lit by their narrow defensive openings, a kind of partitions with a golden background were created that reflected the light and diffused it throughout the room, with large murals decorated with heroic scenes, such as animals. such as tigers and dragons, or landscapes with the presence of gardens, ponds and bridges, or in the four seasons, a fairly common theme at the time.

Screen printing has also developed remarkably, generally with worn inks, following the sumi-e style, as can be seen in the works of Hasegawa Tōhaku (pine forest) and Kaihō Yūshō (pine and plum tree in the moonlight). The figure of Tawaraya Sōtatsu, author of works of great dynamism, in scrolls of manuscripts, screens and fans, was also highlighted.

He created a lyrical and decorative style inspired by the waka script of the Heian era, which was called rinpa, producing works of great visual beauty and emotional intensity, such as The Story of Genji, The Path of Ivy, the gods of thunder and wind, etc.

The manufacture of ceramics reached a moment of great boom, developing products for the tea ceremony, inspired by Korean ceramics, whose rusticity and unfinished appearance perfectly reflect the Zen aesthetic that permeates the tea rite.

New designs emerged, such as nezumi plates and kogan water jugs, usually with a white body bathed in a layer of feldspar and decorated with simple designs made from an iron hook. It was a thick ceramic with a glazed appearance, with an unfinished treatment, which gave a feeling of imperfection and vulnerability.

Seto remained the main producer, while in the town of Mino two important schools were born: Shino and Oribe. The Karatsu school and two original types of pottery were also noted:

Iga, with a rough texture and a thick layer of glaze, with deep cracks; and Bizen, reddish-brown unglazed earthenware, still soft, removed from the wheel to produce small natural cracks and incisions that gave it a brittle appearance, still in keeping with the Zen aesthetic of imperfection.

One of the best artists of this time was Honami Kōetsu, who excelled in painting, poetry, gardening, lacquerware, etc. Trained in the artistic tradition of the Heian period and the Shorenin school of calligraphy, he founded an artisan colony in Takagamine, near Kyoto, on land donated by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The settlement has been maintained by craftsmen from the Nichiren Buddhist School and has produced a number of high-quality works. They specialized in lacquerware, mainly office accessories, decorated with gold and mother-of-pearl inlays, as well as various utensils and tableware for the tea ceremony, highlighting the full-bodied fujisan bowl. reddish covered in black panties and, on top, an opaque icy white that gives the effect of snowfall.

Edo period (1603-1868)

This artistic period corresponds to the Tokugawa historical period, when Japan was closed to all external contact. The capital was established in Edo, future Tokyo. The Christians were persecuted and the European merchants expelled.

Despite the system of vassalage, trade and crafts have proliferated, giving rise to a bourgeois class that grew in power and influence, and dedicated themselves to promoting the arts, especially prints, ceramics, lacquerware, and wares. textiles.

The most representative works are the Katsura Palace in Kyoto and the Tōshō-gū Mausoleum in Nikkō (1636), which is part of the “Nikkō Shrines and Temples”, both declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1999.

Something genre the union of Shinto-Buddhists, is the mausoleum of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The temple is a rigidly symmetrical structure with colorful reliefs covering the entire visible surface. Its colorful constructions and overloaded ornaments stand out, which differ from the styles of the temples of that time.

The interiors are adorned with detailed lacquer carvings in bright colors and masterfully painted panels. The Katsura Palace (1615-1662) was built on a Zen-inspired asymmetrical plan, where the use of straight lines on the exterior façade contrasts with the sinuousness of the surrounding garden.

Due to its condition of being the seat where the imperial family would rest, the villa was made up of a main building, several annexes, tea rooms and a 70000-meter park. The main palace, which has only one floor, is divided into four annexes meeting at the corners.

The entire building has certain characteristics of being built on pillars and above them a series of rooms with walls and doors, some with paintings by Kanō Tan'yū.

Also characteristic of this period are the tea houses (chashitsu), generally small wooden buildings with thatched roofs, surrounded by gardens in an apparent state of abandonment, with lichens, mosses and fallen leaves, following the Zen concept. of transcendent imperfection.

Beginning of artistic and intellectual development

During this period, Japan gradually studied Western techniques and scientific advances (called rangaku) ​​through information and books received from Dutch merchants in Dejima.

The most studied fields included geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages, physical concepts such as the study of electrical and mechanical phenomena. There was also a great development of mathematics, in a totally independent trend from that of the Western world. This strong current was called wasan.

The flowering of Neo-Confucianism was the greatest intellectual development of the period. The study of Confucianism had been active for a long time by Buddhist clerics, but during this period this belief system attracted great attention to the conception of man and society.

Ethical humanism, rationalism and the historical perspective of Confucianism were seen as a social model. In the mid-XNUMXth century, Confucianism became the dominant legal philosophy and directly contributed to the development of the national system of learning, the kokugaku.

His main virtue for the shogunal regime was the emphasis on hierarchical relationships, submission. to the top. and obedience, which extends to the whole of society and facilitates the preservation of the feudal system.

Textile art acquired great importance, mainly in silk, which reached levels of the highest quality, which is why silk dresses (kimono) in bright colors and exquisite designs were often hung in rooms. separated, as if they were screens.

Various techniques have been used, such as dyeing, embroidery, brocade, embossing, appliqué, and hand painting. Silk was only available to the upper classes, while people dressed in cotton, made using the Indonesian ikat technique, spun in sections and dyed indigo alternating with white.

Another technique of lesser quality was the weaving of cotton threads of different colors, with homemade dyes applied in the batik style using rice paste and cooked and agglomerated rice bran.

It should be noted that just as Japanese art was influenced by Western art in the XNUMXth century, it was also influenced by the exoticism and naturalness of Japanese art. This is how the so-called Japonism was born in the West, developed mainly in the second half of the XNUMXth century, especially in France and Great Britain.

This was revealed in the so-called Japoneries, objects inspired by Japanese prints, porcelain, lacquer, fans and bamboo objects, which have become fashionable both in home decoration and in many personal garments that reflect the fantasy and decoralism of Japanese culture. Japanese aesthetic.

In painting, the style of the ukiyo-e school was enthusiastically received, and the works of Utamaro, Hiroshige, and Hokusai were highly appreciated. Western artists imitated the simplified spatial construction, simple contours, calligraphic style, and naturalistic sensibility of Japanese painting.

Contemporary times (since 1868)

In the Meiji period (1868-1912) a deep cultural, social and technological renaissance began in Japan, which opened more to the outside world and began to incorporate new advances made in the West. The Charter of 1868 abolished feudal privileges and class differences, which did not lead to an improvement of the impoverished proletarian classes.

A period of strong imperialist expansionism began, which led to the Second World War. After the war, Japan underwent a process of democratization and economic development that made it one of the world's leading economic powers and a leading center of industrial production and technological innovation. The Meiji era was followed by the Taishō (1912-1926), Shōwa (1926-1989), and Heisei (1989-) eras.

Since 1930, the progressive militarization and expansion in China and South Asia, with the consequent increase in resources allocated to the military budget, has led to a decline in artistic patronage. However, with the post-war economic boom and the new prosperity achieved with the industrialization of the country, the arts were reborn, already fully immersed in international art movements due to the process of cultural globalization.

Likewise, economic prosperity encourages collecting, creating many museums and exhibition centers that helped spread and preserve Japanese and international art. In the religious field, the establishment in the Meiji era of Shintoism as the only official religion (Shinbutsu bunri) led to the abandonment and destruction of Buddhist temples and works of art, which would have been irreparable without the intervention of Ernest Fenollosa, professor of philosophy. from Tokyo Imperial University.

Together with magnate and patron William Bigelow, he saved a large number of works that nurtured the collection of Buddhist art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC, two of the best collections of Asian art in the world. .

The architecture has a double direction: the traditional one (Yasukuni shrine, Heian Jingu and Meiji temples, in Tokyo) and the European-influenced one, which integrates new technologies (Yamato Bunkakan Museum, by Iso Hachi Yoshida, in Nara).

Westernization led to the construction of new buildings such as banks, factories, railway stations, and public buildings, built with Western materials and techniques, initially imitating English Victorian architecture. Some foreign architects have also worked in Japan, such as Frank Lloyd Wright (Imperial Hotel, Tokyo).

Architecture and urbanism received a great boost after World War II, due to the need to rebuild the country. Then a new generation of architects emerged.

Led by Kenzō Tange, author of works such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo, the Olympic Stadium for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, etc.

Students and followers of Tange created the concept of architecture understood as "metabolism", seeing buildings as organic forms that must be adapted to functional needs.

Movement founded in 1959, they thought of making a population center, whose premise was to create a series of buildings that changed according to external changes, as if it were an organism.

Its members included Kishō Kurokawa, Akira Shibuya, Youji Watanabe, and Kiyonori Kikutake. Another representative was Maekawa Kunio who, together with Tange, introduced old Japanese aesthetic ideas into rigid contemporary buildings.

Again using traditional techniques and materials such as the tatami mat and the use of pillars, a traditional construction element in Japanese temples, or the integration of gardens and sculptures in his creations. I do not forget to use the vacuum technique, it was studied by Fumihiko Maki in the spatial relationship between the building and its surroundings.

Since the 1980s, postmodern art has had a strong foothold in Japan, since since ancient times the fusion between the popular element and the sophistication of forms is characteristic.

This style was mainly represented by Arata Isozaki, author of the Kitakyushu Museum of Art and the Kyoto Concert Hall. Isozaki studied with Tange and in his work he synthesized Western concepts with spatial, functional and decorative ideas typical of Japan.

For his part, Tadao Andō has developed a simpler style, with a great concern for the contribution of light and open spaces to the outside air (Chapel on the water, Tomanu, Hokkaidō; Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka; Museum of the Children, Himeji).

Shigeru Ban was characterized by the use of unconventional materials, such as paper or plastic: after the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which left many people homeless, Ban contributed by designing Delo that became known as the Paper House and the Paper Church, finally , Toyō Itō explored the physical image of the city in the digital age.

In sculpture there is also the tradition-avant-garde duality, highlighting the names of Yoshi Kimuchi and Romorini Toyofuku, in addition to the abstract Masakazu Horiuchi and Yasuo Mizui, the latter resident in France. Isamu Noguchi and Nagare Masayuki have brought together the rich sculptural tradition of their country in works that study the contrast between the roughness and the polish of the material.

The painting also followed two trends: the traditional (nihonga) and the western (yōga), despite the existence of both, the figure of Tomioka Tessai remained at the beginning of the 20th century. While the nihonga style was boosted at the end from the 19th century by the art critic Okakura Kakuzō and the educator Ernest Fenollosa.

Looking to traditional art for the archetypal form of expression of Japanese sensibility, although this style has also received some Western influence, especially from Pre-Raphaelite and Romanticism. He was mainly represented by Hishida Shunsō, Yokoyama Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan, Maeda Seison, and Kobayashi Kokei.

European-style painting was nurtured for the first time by techniques and themes in use in Europe at the end of the XNUMXth century, mainly related to academicism, as in the case of Kuroda Seiki, who studied for several years in Paris, but then continued the different currents that occurred in Western art:

The Hakuba Kai group took up the Impressionist influence; abstract painting had Takeo Yamaguchi and Masanari Munay as main characters; Figurative artists included Fukuda Heichachirō, Tokuoka Shinsen, and Higashiyama Kaii. Some artists have settled outside their country, such as Genichiro Inokuma in the United States and Tsuguharu Foujita in France.

In the Taishō, the yōga style that had the most influence on the nihonga, although the increasing use of light and European perspective diminished the differences between the two currents.

Just as nihonga largely adopted the innovations of Post-Impressionism, yōga exhibited a penchant for eclecticism, emerging from a wide variety of divergent art movements.

For this stage, the Japanese Academy of Fine Arts (Nihon Bijutsu In) was created. Shōwa era painting was marked by the work of Yasuri Sotaro and Umehara Ryuzaburo, who introduced the concepts of pure art and abstract painting to the Nihonga tradition.

In 1931, the Independent Art Association (Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyokai) was established to promote avant-garde art.

As early as World War II, government legal regulations clearly emphasized patriotic themes. After the war, artists resurfaced in the big cities, particularly Tokyo.

Creating urban and cosmopolitan art, which devotedly followed the stylistic innovations produced internationally, especially in Paris and New York. After the abstract styles of the sixties, the seventies returned to the realism favored by pop-art, as denoted by the work of Shinohara Ushio.

It is striking that something interesting happened towards the end of the 1970s, it is that there was a return to traditional Japanese art, in which they saw greater expressiveness and emotional strength.

The printmaking tradition continued into the XNUMXth century in a style of "creative prints" (sosaku hanga) drawn and sculpted by artists preferably in the nihonga style, such as Kawase Hasui, Yoshida Hiroshi, and Munakata Shiko.

Among the latest trends, the Gutai Group had a good reputation within the so-called action art, which equated the experience of World War II through actions charged with irony, with a great sense of tension and latent aggressiveness.

The Gutai group consisted of: Jirō Yoshihara, Sadamasa Motonaga, Shozo Shimamoto, and Katsuō Shiraga. Linked to postmodern art, several artists, involved in the recent phenomenon of globalization, marked by the multiculturalism of artistic expressions.

Shigeo Toya, Yasumasa Morimura. Other prominent contemporary Japanese artists include: Tarō Okamoto, Chuta Kimura, Leiko Ikemura, Michiko Noda, Yasumasa Morimura, Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitaka Amano, Shigeo Fukuda, Shigeko Kubota, Yoshitomo Nara71, and Takashi Murakami.

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