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Japan has always been one of the most important ancient and noble cultures. Despite having many different neighbors throughout history, Japan has managed to maintain its originality and cultural status. There are many different genres in Japanese art. Among Japanese arts, painting is one of the oldest types of Japanese art and includes many genres. Naturalism is a crucial aspect of traditional Japanese painting. Chinese painting and Western art influenced Japanese painting before the 16th century. Japanese painting styles that are important include Buddhist ritual paintings, paintings with a change in ink concentration, and Japanese calligraphy. Japanese painting has a significant historical period known as the Ashikaga period (1333-1568), which is also known as the Muromachi period. The Ashikaga period is critical because of the influence of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism in art. In this study, to explain the aesthetic components of the form and content of Japanese paintings of the Ashikaga period concerning Zen Buddhism, 15 samples of paintings from this period are analyzed after expressing the theoretical framework. In this research, data collection is done using the library method and image viewing, and the qualitative approach is used for analysis. This research shows that, like Japanese ritual, Japanese art can have dual meanings. Aesthetic concepts in Japanese culture include Wabi, Sabi, Eugene, Kire, and Mono No Aware. The characteristic of ancient Japanese aesthetics promotes respect, importance, and attention to others, both human and non-human. A composite painting based on Zen's revelatory and contemplative quality emerged during the Ashikaga period. Emphasis on the lines forming the Chinese painting method and ancient indigenous themes and motifs are the characteristics of the painting of this period. The aspects of the painting art of this period are similar to the elements of Zen Buddhism art in Japanese culture. In general, the general characteristics of Japanese painting can be summarized in the following points: virginity and little influence of other arts on it (except Chinese art), geographical features of the country and the direct impact of mountains and seas on the works, lack of distinction between the real and Idealism and the dual atmosphere of peace and chaos. Essential features of Ashikaga painting are the distance of art from temples, ancient indigenous themes and motifs, the gradual decline of the vitality of pen and ink, the emergence of Tessa and Kano painting schools, the emphasis on shaping lines, and ink painting based on the quality of Zen revelation. In the case studies from the Ashikaga period, narrative and ritual subjects played a minimal role. Landscape and nature topics or animals have the most share. In almost all cases, the angle of view is opposite. The combination of warrior and samurai concepts, with ritual and philosophical foundations and components of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism, is the basis for the formation of Japanese art in the artistic periods corresponding to these developments. In Japanese culture, a unique relationship between Buddhism and Shinto exists. The sum of these features reflects Zen's influence on the Ashikaga art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Mitsuru Ando, a Tokyo-based painter known for his unique approach inspired by biology and Eastern medicine. It discusses Ando's artistic style, which combines traditional Japanese painting techniques with modern elements to depict natural forms and landscapes. It also highlights Ando's creative process, influences, and achievements, including awards and exhibitions.

In this work, we tested a setup of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) excited by proton-induced quasi-monochromatic X-rays (proton-induced XRF (PIXRF)) as a low-radiation dose analytical technique for precious cultural heritage samples. The low-dose performance of the PIXRF is experimentally assessed in comparison with the performance of a conventional XRF. For this assessment, we prepared test samples, which simulated original Japanese paintings with copper-bearing pigments. By introducing a figure-of-merit, the PIXRF is found to potentially give a better performance in terms of the radiation dose to the sample and the limit of detection, albeit the degraded multi-elemental analytical capability. PIXRF can be a cost-effective method to perform low dose measurements of precious samples, if introduced in an existing PIXE facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated from naturally aged Japanese hanging scrolls and their model samples were measured using solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) to clarify the effect of different painting papers and raw materials on the degradation state of hanging scrolls. VOC-based degradation markers were identified and their applicability was considered for degradation evaluations of actual Japanese hanging scrolls. The relative peak areas of different VOC groups were calculated by normalising their peak areas to the total peak area of long-chain hydrocarbons. When a painting paper was immersed in a CuSO4・5H2O solution, or coated with an alum solution, the relative peak areas of furfural and carboxylic acids increased after accelerated ageing, while these relative peak areas decreased when animal glue was applied, indicating that animal glue inhibited the generation of VOCs. When the painting paper containing Cu2+ was stacked with lining paper, furfural and carboxylic acids migrated into the lining paper with ageing. Animal glue coated on the painting paper retarded this migration into the lining paper. For the lining paper coated with wheat starch paste, the relative peak areas of furfural, carboxylic acids, and aliphatic aldehydes did not change significantly with ageing, indicating that wheat starch paste did not contribute to paper degradation, although these relative peak areas increased when aged wheat starch paste was applied. These results indicate that the targeted VOCs are valid degradation markers of Japanese hanging scrolls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the degradation behaviour of rolled hanging scrolls for future conservation treatments, we evaluated the degradation–position profiles of naturally aged hanging scrolls and their model samples, which were subjected to different storage conditions. For the sample immersed in a CuSO4・5H2O solution and rolled around a glass rod, accelerated ageing using the open method (80°C, 65% RH) revealed a tendency of lower pH and higher discolouration towards the central positions, where rolling caused the most tightness. However, no clear tendencies were observed for the concentration variations of organic acids. The degradation effects of the organic acids emitted from the paulownia wooden box were also examined using the sealed tube method by enclosing the rolled painting paper and acidic paper containing organic acids together in a glass tube. Large amounts of oxalic and formic acids were detected at the periphery and scant migration of the organic acids was observed towards the centre, thus indicating that the central positions of the painting paper were less susceptible to the influence of the organic acids emitted from the external environment. By contrast, glycolic acid diffused towards the centre. The analysis of two naturally aged hanging scrolls showed different degradation behaviours. One sample, stored open in the rolled state, showed severe discolouration with the naked eye at the outermost back surface of the scroll. This was possibly associated with the large amount of sulfate ions originating from the external atmosphere, which kept the pH lower and increased discolouration towards the peripheral positions of the painting paper. For the sample stored in a paulownia wooden box, discolouration was not observed with the naked eye at the outermost back surface of the scroll, although lower pH and higher discolouration were observed towards the central positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the factors affecting the life expectancy of hanging scrolls is the storage environment. Our study focused on clarifying the degradation behaviour of painting paper, concentrating on the specific storage conditions that provide an airtight environment in a storage box and the stacked structure of the rolled paper rather than considering the materials of the wooden storage box or the gases generated from it. The degradation behaviour and rates for the sealed tube and moist heat ageing methods, excluding the additional effects of light and air pollutants, were compared. When the painting paper was immersed in a CuSO4・5H2O solution instead of a copper green pigment, the oxidation of the painting paper, attributed to Cu2+, proceeded faster with the sealed tube method than with the moist heat method. The co-occurring organic acids generated, namely glycolic and formic acids, which were secondary components, were detected in a higher amount in the first lining paper than the painting paper. This implies that the acids migrated from the painting paper into the lining paper. However, oxalic acid, which was the main component, did not significantly migrate and remained in the reaction system in the sealed tube without volatilising. This increased the hydrogen ion concentration in the painting paper and accelerated acid hydrolysis. Consequently, discolouration and a decrease in the degree of polymerisation and physical strength proceeded faster with the sealed tube method than with the moist heat method. Thus, although this result does not necessarily invalidate the storage system of a rolled hanging scroll in a box, the storage of a deteriorated hanging scroll in a closed system is expected to degrade the painting paper faster than it would in an open system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Japanese painting paper is sized with an aqueous solution of alum and animal glue followed by brushing with a mixture of pigments of various colours and aqueous animal glue solution. Subsequently, to mount the Japanese painting to a hanging scroll, the backside of the painting is lined with a first lining paper using wheat starch paste for mechanical support. To evaluate the permanence of the painting paper as a composite material in the hanging scroll, the deterioration behaviour of the unlined painting paper and the lined painting paper was compared considering the material dynamics. After moist heat accelerated ageing (80°C, 65% RH), in the sample immersed in a CuSO4・5H2O solution, cellulose was oxidised by Cu2+ to generate organic acids in the painting paper, and Cu2+ and organic acids migrated to the lining paper. Consequently, the discolouration and oxidation of the painting paper in the lined complex were relatively low compared with those of the unlined painting paper. The pH decrease in the painting paper was also small in the lined complex. Moreover, if the animal glue solution was coated on the painting paper, a buffer effect was shown to operate against the organic acids derived from the oxidation of Cu2+, thereby inhibiting the migration of Cu2+ into the lining paper. In conclusion, the presence of the lining paper inhibited the decrease in the physical strength and degree of polymerisation of the cellulose in the painting paper, thus contributing to its permanence in the lined hanging scroll. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Logos: A Journal, of Religion, Philosophy Comparative Cultural Studies & Art (08687692) is the property of Logos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyzes the film "Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema," directed by Daisuke Miyao. Topics discussed include how the film provides a new perspective to the interdisciplinary discussion of the history of cinema and the discourse of Orientalism, filming techniques and Japanese paintings used in the film, and focus of the film on the two-way conversation between Japan and French cinematography. It also discusses images and photographs used in the film.

The article discusses two unknown letters from French poet Jacques Lacan, promoter of musicism, to Jean Royère about the black bird in the rising Sun. It mentions that they discover the role in this affair of Royère, whom Claudel received on October 19, 1925 at his home, rue de Passy, and who seems to act as a mailbox between him and Carvallo. It also mentions that Claudel went to see the Foujita and twelve Japanese painters exhibition, at the Galerie de la grande maison de blanc.

The article provides description of the object intended by Japanese painter, Tomita Keisen for the French government refers to a well-documented event at the end of French poet, Paul Claudel's mission. Topics discussed include role of Parsian's played in the National Museum of Modern Art; and the Claudel's interest in the Japanese art.

Fumie Taniguchi was a nihonga painter whose modern portraits of women enjoyed widespread acclaim within art circles during the 1930s. Although she moved to America shortly after Japan lost the war and spent the latter half of her life there, her existence was suddenly forgotten. There are almost no extant examples of Taniguchi's paintings from her American period, however, her autobiographical novels that appeared in Japanese American fanzines provide significant clues that help to trace her life. Through these publications and oral interviews with her family members, this article seeks to introduce readers to the painterly practice and life of Taniguchi, and make clear what exactly was distinctive and unique about her life and practice. For a woman who continued to struggle against the patriarchal gaze both in Japan and the Japanese American community, what did the notion of transcending borders mean? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most familiar illustrations of the Genpei War (1180–1185) are from handscrolls, especially of The Tale of Heike, and woodblocks prints. This article examines an unusual 1855 votive painting (ema) narrating many episodes from the war, displayed at Ônominato Shrine near Kanazawa in northwestern Japan. This article argues that the iconography of the painting is designed to link residents of the Kaga domain to other parts of Japan through emphasizing the region's importance during the historically significant Genpei War. The depictions on this painting not only tie the relatively weak Kaga domain to a foundational moment in Japanese history, but also place the action within a Kaga that is recognizable to the contemporary viewer. It linked Kaga positively to other parts of Japan through both the shared history it narrates and the shared enjoyment of retelling the Tale of Heike during the Edo period. The painting creates a sense of local pride in its history, but situates that pride clearly within the context of a larger geographic identity. It also offered visitors a positive narrative of the Kaga domain as a noteworthy part of the Japanese landscape at a moment when the idea of the Japanese nation was about to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The word Nihonga (Japanese painting) carries such a weight of cultural importance in the Japanese painting community as to make the translation of words describing Nihonga problematic. This paper explores reasons this has happened making use of standard texts on the materials and techniques of painting and investigating modern Japanese painting history, concluding that because Japanese art was under such great pressure from the popularity enjoyed by Western styled painting being newly imported in the Meiji Era (1868- 1912) that at its conception the modern school of Nihonga attempted to distinguish itself from this foreign invasion, creating problems that remain with translation of Nihonga terms to the present day.

This paper demonstrates the method and meaning behind the argument that contemporary philosophers have found the key to “de-creation” in potentiality by implementing it in artwork. While creation in the usual sense seems to imply an active attitude, de-creation implies a passive attitude of simply waiting for something from the outside by constructing a mechanism to set up the gap to which something outside comes. The methods of de-creation are typically found in representations of reality using “Kakiwari,” which is commonly observed in Japanese art. Kakiwari was originally a stage background and has no reverse side; that is, there is no other side to the space. Mountains in distant views are frequently painted like a flat board as if they were Kakiwari. It shows the outside that is imperceptible, deviating from the perspective of vision. The audience can wait for the outside without doing anything (“prefer not to do”) in front of Kakiwari. It is the potentiality of art and it realizes de-creation. This paper extends the concept of de-creation by presenting concrete images and methods used in the author’s own works that utilized Kakiwari. This orients to the philosophy of the creative act by the artist herself.

The paintings of Gajin Fujita (b. 1972) express the urban Asian diasporic experience in vivid images filled with historic and contemporary cultural references. Creating an amalgamation of contemporary sports figures, hip-hop culture, historic Japanese painting conventions, street art, and the visual language of Edo Japan (1600–1868), Fujita reflects his diverse experiences as a citizen of twenty-first century Los Angeles in his paintings. This article introduces the artist and provides a nuanced examination of his works vis-à-vis an understanding of the larger issues addressed in both Edo artistic practice and contemporary street art culture. By specifying the agents of power and performance in Fujita's works, a greater understanding of the hybrid world of his colourful graphic paintings can be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs on history of Japanese painting technique. It mentions in Japan during the Meiji period, when a new painting genre called Japanese painting' was born, paintings on historical subjects were given high status, and specially after the 1990s, strategic uses of Japanese painting have been made by world-renowned artists like Takashi Murakami.

Walk-in Theater is a portable virtual cinema for the display of spatially distributed multichannel movies ("walkies"). The miniature experience engages participants' proprioceptors and spatial memory, allowing them to orient themselves as they navigate a field of scattered video streams and localized sounds reproduced on a handheld computing device. Departing from one-way linear cinema played on a single rectangular screen, this multichannel virtual environment pursues a cinematic paradigm that undoes habitual ways of framing things, employing architectural concepts in a polylinear-video polyphonic-sound construction to create a kind of experience that lets the world reveal itself and permits discovery on the part of beholders. Interaction design for Walk-in Theater supports approaches to cinematic construction that employ the ambulatory, multiple and simultaneous viewpoints that humans exercise in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the 2013 colored pencil drawing "Kakeuma Shinji" by Japanese artist Masahiko Kimura whose art pieces are considered as representational paintings.

The Ise sankei mandara (Ise Pilgrimage Mandalas) depict Ise’s shrines and temples, the roads leading to them, and local attractions. While the three versions under investigation appear to be based on a common model, close study reveals slight differences in detail and emphasis. These variations provide clues to the struggle for power and authority among Ise’s Buddhist temples and allow for discussion of such issues as patronage and meaning. More generally, these differences show that sankei mandara are not static, generic representations but, rather, historically specific paintings that articulate changing institutional claims in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Goya is the property of Fundacion Lazaro Galdiano and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores a view of death as it emerges symbolically in the paintings of the Japanese-style painter Setsuko Mitsuhashi, who was affected by incurable disease. After being diagnosed with a malignant tumor, she painted a series based on legends from around Lake Biwa in Japan. She completed the last painting one month before her death. Submitted to close examination are seven paintings from the series, those that depict a woman wearing a red kimono. The author proposes that, in many aspects of their landscapes and especially the progressively expanding lake, these seven paintings express the process by which Setsuko came to terms with the end of her life and expressed a vision of the otherworld. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the early dissemination and collection of nihonga, which is the modern Japanese-style painting. Topics discussed include the role of middle-class collectors in establishing the value of nihonga, the career and art works of painter Hishida Shunso, and the emergence of shingasho or nihonga dealers.

This article works to identify an intersection of the Catholic and Buddhist pictorial traditions with regard to the symbolism of the journey to the spiritual world. In both Christian and Buddhist traditions, the river/ ocean is a popular symbol that designates the border between this world and the other world. A work of western-inspired Japanese folding screens known as Yōjin Sōgakuzu (Europeans Playing Music) is an outstanding example that makes use of the symbolism of the river to allude to one's pilgrimage to the other world in the guise of a secular waterfront scene. The folding screens were painted in the seventeenth century by Japanese artists who were affiliated with the art studio founded by the Jesuits. An investigation of European sources of the painting will show how the painters modified the famous Catholic iconography of "The Ship of the Church" to match the taste of the Japanese patrons of the time. Further, comparisons with other Japanese paintings that similarly deal with the theme of the river will show that such secular scenes of waterfront leisure could demonstrate to the Japanese audience the life in the world beyond, as well as a journey to that world they anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the practice of conserving silk borders of paintings from China, Japan, Korea, and the Himalayas. Topics include details on paintings' silks and mounting styles and their insight into artworks' meaning and history, details on processes of how to replace silk borders and remount, details on cultures' different border and mounting styles, details on Bhutanese Buddhist monks' art conservation training, details on Japanese Buddhist silk mountings, and the effect of decorative mountings on how a painting is preserved.

A Japanese painting on paper, in the form of a horizontal scroll from the Stibbert Museum in Florence, is being treated at the ISCR Paper Conservation Laboratory. The scroll, entitled Bamo Dōi-zu represents 33 different types of horses. Although there is no author's seal, it has been attributed to the famous Japanese artist, Kanō Sansetsu (1589-1651). Before conservation treatment, the artefact underwent technical and scientific examination in order to identify its materials and determine its conservation condition. As sampling paint layers from paintings on paper is extremely invasive, non-destructive techniques such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and spectrophotometry were employed. Several points from the paper support were analysed: the metal-leaf decorations, the seals and calligraphy, as well as the painted horses. Results detected and revealed a very simple palette: cinnabar (or its synthetic equivalent vermillion), shell white, carbon black, and the organic yellow gamboge. Pure gold and silver leaves were used for decorating the frontispiece. Useful information was obtained from the paper support and on its conservation conditions. Micro-destructive analyses were also performed on a few paper fragments for microscopic and scanning electron microscope equipped with an X-ray probe analysis. Results showed that materials and techniques are consistent with the Kanō School period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the collection of Japanese folding screens from the Náprstek Museum in Prague. First part of the article presents a historical overview and some basic facts about Japanese folding screens; subsequently the text deals with the phenomenon of screens within the context of cultural and artistic exchange after the opening of Japan to the Western world in the latter half of the 19th century. The article is completed by a catalogue featuring descriptions of all 31 items from the NpM folding screen collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In late Meiji Japan, political thought coalesced around an elemental vision in which the geography of the Japanese archipelago offered thinkers evidence of a cultural bond between the Japanese people and the sea that extended backwards into primordial times and forward into an inscrutable future. Public intellectuals looking to establish the roots of Japanese oceanic being turned to the depths of prelapsarian times. The writer Kōda Rohan traced Japanese maritime identity to the earliest extant poetry and recorded myths of the nation. Kimura Takatarō, a translator and critic, centered Japanese oceanic spirit in the depths of ancient myth, tales, and prayer. Both envisioned myth as a medium that offered access to a horizon of experience in which Japanese oceanic identity was grounded. In the waters of the mythical sea, they discovered a space of cultural difference from which the forces of history threatened to estrange them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article recovers the memorial and placatory function of the Illustrated Story of Emperor Antoku and its etoki (picture-explaining) at Amidaji, the non-extant mortuary temple for the tragically killed Antoku and the Taira. After discussing the content, date, and authorship of the Illustrated Story, this article reconstructs the ritual context and structure of the etoki, and the meaning of each component of this ritual--location, facility, narration, and the paintings. By embedding these meanings into the entire structure of the ritual, the article reveals that Amidaji's etoki was expected to commemorate, pacify, and help the spirits of Antoku and the Taira to attain rebirth in Amidds Pure Land. This study calls for a shift in our view of etoki, from a practical tool to a ritual practice also guided by spiritual purposes, thereby emphasizing the significance of mortuary art as a central medium in spirit pacification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses 15th-century Japanese Zen Buddhist monk-painter Sesshū Tōyō, focusing on his 1495 ink painting "Splashed Ink Landscape." The author focuses on splashed ink painting in the Japanese medieval period and how it fits into Zen monastic culture. The author traces scholarship on Sesshū Tōyō's painting beginning in the 1930s, including Shimao Arata's 1990s work on the painting. Specific topics include poetic inscriptions added to the painting by Zen monks, ink painting as part of the history of East Asian painting, the painting as part of the pictorial culture of the Gozan, or Five Mountains, group of Buddhist temples, and how the painting relates to its poetic inscriptions.

The Rakuchu Rakugai folding screens represent one of the most brilliant genres of medieval Japanese painting. This article studies the growing significance attributed to such objects from the past, the plurality of messages they convey to people, the increase in meanings, readings and uses they have and the beginning of their new life as ‘heritage’. It is demonstrated that through acquiring a ‘heritage status’ they grow out of the proportions of isolated artistic objects that are silently housed in designated museums, and transform to become an integral part of the city itself, its contemporarity in space, spirit, people and activities, attesting to history of place and local distinctiveness. When would art grow to such dimensions? What is the reason behind this astonishing metamorphosis? We answer these questions, discussing Rakuchu Rakugai from a new heritage perspective that is theoretically grounded in the Heritage Studies literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1882 Suematsu Kenchō, Japanese diplomat, scholar, and politician, published an English translation of the first seventeen chapters of the Tale of Genji. Scant previous research has recognized Suematsu's political motivations but his translation has largely been consigned to a footnote in history and many important questions remain unanswered. This article examines the skillful ideological and linguistic ways in which Suematsu - who was later to serve as Japanese Minister for Communications and Home Minister - translated Genji so as to appeal to nineteenth-century English readers and, through the use of previously unstudied reviews of his translation in the British press, considers its effect and impact. In particular, Suematsu skillfully used both classical orientalist discourse and contemporary British concern with the position of women to strike a chord with his readers. The article also considers the question of what official Japanese support if any might have been behind the translation, with the aim of learning more about the role of Japanese scholar-diplomats like Suematsu in Europe during the Meiji period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the 1888 painting "Merciful Mother Kannon" by Japanese artist Kano Hogai. The author discusses the cultural context the painting was created in, providing a history of the Meiji period in Japan, and provides insight into the intended audience and critical reception of the painting. Exploring the influence of Buddhism on Hogai's work, the author examines several other paintings including "Water-Moon Avalokitesvara" and "Fishbasket Guanyin." An explanation of traditional Buddhist and Japanese iconography and a biography of Hogai are also included.

Copyright of Bulletin of Portuguese / Japanese Studies is the property of Centro de Historia de Alem-Mar and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 1881, the British Museum made its first major acquisition of Japanese and Chinese paintings from Dr William Anderson. Among more than 3,000 pieces of Japanese art which Anderson brought from Tokyo to London, 114 pieces of Chinese painting came to form important examples for British understanding of Chinese pictorial art. When Laurence Binyon took charge of the acquisitions and exhibitions of Oriental painting at the Museum, a second significant purchase of 145 Chinese paintings from Frau Olga-Julia Wegener was made in 1910. It came to form a catalyst for boosting British understanding of Chinese painting. One collection having been imported from Japan and the other from China, a comparison of the Anderson and Wegener collections will be made in order to explore changes in British taste and the growth of knowledge of Chinese pictorial art between 1881 and 1910. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the image of the monkey in the paintings of two prominent monk-painters of the Edo period, Hakuin Ekaku (1685- 1768) and Sengai Gibon (1750-1837). The paper shows that although Hakuin and Sengai's paintings are part of the Zen ink painting tradition, which began following the importation of Zen Buddhism from China at the beginning of the Kamakura period, at the same time they express an emancipation of this tradition. At the base of this free attitude stands the idea of breaking rules, conventions and conceptions, an idea that originated in Zen Buddhism. As a manifestation of this attitude, as I will claim, Hakuin and Sengai's paintings express a freedom from the common conventions of the ink painting tradition. This freedom is reflected in their painting through an amateurish and playful expression resulting in less concern with depicting paintings that are technically highly skilful, as the traditional early paintings were. The precedence of the religious world over the world of art is expressed in Hakuin and Sengai's artwork and biographies. Accordingly, as well as undertaking an investigation of their paintings, through both the formalistic origins of the image of the monkey and its iconography, the examination is supported further with some biographical facts about Hakuin and Sengai. These clarify their relations with the world of art and distinguish them from earlier Zen painters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Takamurayama Chikurinji engi emaki is a two-scroll emaki preserved at Chikurinji, a Shingon temple in Nyuno, Hiroshima prefecture, and dated to the Muromachi period. The first scroll of Chikurinji engi begins with the story of the founding of the temple by Gyōki; Ono no Takamura's mysterious birth; and the early stages of Takamura's life as a courtier. This paper focuses on the second of the two scrolls, which recounts the death of Takamura's father-in-law, his tour through hell, and his encounter there with Takamura, identified as the third of the Ten Kings of Hell. In particular, the paper looks into the development of Takamura's hell-legend, as well as the juxtaposition in the second Chikurinji engi scroll of early medieval motifs of hell with the cult of the Ten Kings. My comparison of the scroll with other medieval Japanese visual and literary sources, such as setsuwa, hell paintings, and sculptures of the Ten Kings and Enma, reveals that the emaki illustrates a representation of the afterworld that is typical of images from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Ono no Takamura also known as Sangi no Takamura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I propose a new methodology for analysing landscape drawing methods using a GIS. The subject of my analysis is the genre of Japanese screen paintings known as rakuchū rakugai zu, created between the 16th and 18th centuries. Rakuchū rakugai zu provide bird's-eye views of the then-capital city of Kyoto, including buildings, natural features, and human activities. The methodology introduced here uses GIS spatial analysis functions to scan the painting surface onto a survey coordinate grid based on the relative positions of landmarks in the painting. The analytic sequence is as follows: (1) derive coordinate values for landmarks both on the painting and on a survey coordinate grid; (2) generate a link table from these two point-data sets; (3) use the projective transformation and rubber sheeting techniques to project the painting surface onto the survey coordinate grid; and (4) project the areas of the rubber sheet-derived polygons onto the painting. This process gives visual representation to differences between real space and the depicted space. Results show that rakuchū rakugai zu painted in the seventeenth century and later distorted real space more than those painted in the sixteenth century, indicating a decrease in adherence to conventional perspective-based painting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses changes in notions of collective memory in Japan, primarily focusing on the ways in which an exhibition of landscape art at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Yokohama, Japan dealt with popular understandings of Japanese imperial history. Therefore, the author is largely concerned with the relationship between Japanese national identity and history as it was visualized in this artistic exhibition. More specifically, the exhibition's attempts to represent a dichotomy between Japan and the Western world through art are examined. In this sense, the author is also broadly concerned with Japanese art-museum curating and its effect on state-sponsored understandings of the nation's past.

The article presents a study that examines the characteristics of furunori, also known as aged paste. Furunori is a conservation material which is used for Japanese painting conservation. It is a smoother, and weaker adhesive than fresh paste and it enables the surfaces to be easily peeled apart, with application of water, in a future conservation. The objective of this study is to clarify the characteristics of furunori based on chemical analysis and examination of the microorganisms involved in the early stage of furunori generation.

The article focuses on the term "tarashikomi," which is considered one of the most recognizable techniques of Japanese painting during the early modern period. The term literally means dripped in, which involves the initial application of a layer of pigment, such as monochrome ink, on heavily sized paper or silk. It is then followed by an application of a second layer of either ink or colorant while the first layer is still wet, so that the second layer spreads outward and forms a shapeless mark. Its visual appeal depends on the varied and organic surface effects through a fusion of two different layers of painting. It is associated with the Rinpa lineage of painters, a loosely affiliated group of artists, including Sakai H014D;itsu and master designer Ogata K014C;rin.

The article discusses the Japanese translation of calligraphy of manuscripts. Topics discussed include exhibition by the Japanese painter, Harada Naojirō and the French sculptor, Camille Claudel; comments on the Japanese translation of Claudel's "petites comédies" and sculpted work of Camille Claudel established by Reine-Marie Paris and Philippe Cressent.

The article focuses on a painting transcription of the "Admonitions of the Court Instructress" picture scroll at the British Museum. It was collaboratively made at the museum in 1923 by Kobayashi Kokei and Maeda Seison, two masters of Japanese neotraditional painting, Nihonga. Since 1924, this "Copy of the Admonitions of the Court Instructress" has been in the collection of Tōhoku University Library in Sendal, Japan.