The earliest Buddhist structures still standing in Japan, and the oldest wooden buildings in the Far East are pagodas.  A pagoda is a tiered tower with projecting roofs. And since it is most often a Buddhist form of building, you can find pagodas at a number of Japan’s temples.  A Japanese temple is always built within an enclosure, which may include a whole series of temples.  There are various kinds, so you may find a 3-story pagoda, a 5-story pagoda, even a 13-story pagoda.  The origin of the pagoda is the stupa in ancient India, which is a building to enshrine the cremated remains of Buddha: ashes and bone fragments known as busshari in Japanese.  Then, people began to supply jewels, scrolls of doctrines or the ashes of hierarchs instead of busshari. Because of the presence of such sacred relics most people today are still usually not permitted to enter and climb up a pagoda. However, for short periods during the year, people can enter for special exhibitions.  Since pagodas normally have very little usable indoor space, they are mainly intended to be monuments commemorating religious relics. 

The tiered roofs become smaller as they go up. 

Japan experiences many serious earthquakes but there is almost no record of a pagoda being knocked over during one. 

Edo period (1600-1868).Was a period that saw art come from the lower classes: merchants and artisans, not the elite who were military feudal lords.By the 1630s Japan cut off ties with the outside world and forbade foreign visitors.The old artistic traditions were revived, refined, parodied, and transformed in the urban centers of Edo and Kyoto.

The school of art best known in the West is that of the ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints of the world of the kabuki theater and the pleasure districts. Ukiyo-e prints began to be produced in the late 17th century during a time when a technique for making woodblock prints in color was perfected – prior woodblock prints were mostly black and white and colored after.A separate woodblock is made for each color and then all the blocks fit together to make the print.

Isoda Masakatsu, professionally known as Koryusai, was born during the eighteenth century and died after 1788.Koryusai made prints during the years 1770 to 1780, but once his success was established, he spent the remaining years of his life painting, since, as a samurai, he considered printmaking a vulgar occupation. Koryusai was famous for making a series of long thin paintings meant to be hung like scrolls inside homes.These were primarily of idealized women.A common subject during of Ukiyo-e painting.His figures moved freely in space. He incorporated landscape details into his prints in a manner that demonstrates his skill in composition.He’s considered a member of the Ukiyo-e School, which painted scenes for the general public instead elites.These are often pictures of live of live for the moment things.

Shakkyo is a Japanese dance from a Noh play in which a Buddhist priest travels to a famous mountain in China with a natural stone bridge.  There he meets a magical lion that dances for him among the peonies.  The dance was later incorporated into the Kabuki theater.  The dancer wore a long red wig to symbolize the lion’s mane and carried artificial flowers. 

Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theater that combines song and dance with drama.  It was founded early in the 17th century to cater to the middle classes, by a Shinto shrine dancer (Okuni), who brought her unique and lively dance style to the ancient capital of Kyoto.  Her plays were meant to be “designed by the people, for the people.”  The plays were performed in dry river beds and vacant lots.  Soon, in 1629 women were officially banned from the stage and young men's Kabuki developed.  It took many years to train as a kabuki actor and many sons inherited their fathers’ positions in the theatre. The plays were longer and more elaborate than Noh – earlier form of theater.  Masks were replaced by elaborate makeup. The costumes were rich and beautiful. During the next 300 years this developed into a sophisticated, highly stylized form of theater. Kabuki plays and dances portray grand historical events or the everyday life of people of the Edo period (1600-1868). 

Kabuki provides the audience with an entertaining spectacle.Kabuki theater makes use of a fuller arrangement of elaborate stage sets and multiple set changes; large casts; bold costumes and, sometimes, multiple costume changes; and an extensive musical ensemble accompanied by an array of devices for various sound effects.Kabuki makes extensive use of bold face makeup patterns called ; special effects including trap doors and wirework, known as ; dramatic poses called ; a distinctive form of chanting; and bold, sometimes over-the-top costumes.

The print shows fishing boats on waves.Here, the foreground is filled with a massive cresting wave. The threatening wave is pictured just moments before crashing down on to three fishing boats below.   The mountain, made tiny by the use of perspective, appears as if it too will be swallowed up by the wave.  Hokusai’s optical play can also be lighthearted, and the spray from top of the crashing wave looks like snow falling on the mountain.

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The Great Wave off Kanagawa is an icon of world art.  There may be thousands of copies of this picture all over the world.  It would have been made by Hokusai and a printmaker.  Prints are much easier to transport than paintings: usually smaller and lighter.  Prints like these were sent all over the world and influenced many artists, not just in Japan but across Europe and America.  We know van Gogh loved Japanese prints.  This woodblock print is said to have inspired Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea).   

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Hokusai cleverly played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest mountain appear as a small triangular mound within the hollow of the cresting wave.

Through most of her history, Japan has borrowed the inspiration of art from China. Japanese, like many Chinese, are often lovers of nature but their artistic approach is often more sentimental.

Japanese painters paint on paper or silk more often than western artists who favor canvas. Ink or watercolors are favored mediums stemming from the development of their painting from calligraphy (like the Chinese).This is ink and watercolor on silk.

Inkstone boxes housed writing implements and an inkstone and were often themselves objects of art.  An "inkstone" is made of pottery, stone or earthenware with a flat area where an inkstick can be rubbed; this slopes to a slight hollow where a little water; liquefies the ink, freshening and diluting it in the course of writing or painting. Inkstones used also to be made of iron, jade and quartz.

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The grinding of the inkstone is, in a very real way, a meditative and preparatory process for writing.  First the calligrapher pours a bit of water into the small hollow in his inkstone and, sitting in an upright position, takes an inkstick in his right hand and begins to move it slowly and steadily in a circular motion across the stone.

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The boxes were often made of laquer.  Lacquer is a natural varnish of exceptional hardness derived from the lac tree.  Fine lacquerware takes a long time to make. Many coats are applied. Each coat of lacquer is dried in moist air before the next is applied. The design is inlaid in gold dust, mother-of-pearl, gold or silver. Then more lacquer is applied, allowed to dry and then polished until the inlay shows through.

Koson Ikeda was a painter in the Rinpa school.  The stereotypical standard painting in the Rinpa style involves simple natural subjects such as birds, plants and flowers.  Collections of these works were often compiled in paperback books.  Screens were common form of the art, also fans. 

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He also painted in the literati movement.  He eschewed the realism and academic techniques,  as they adopted a self-consciously amateur style: calligraphic line-work and unrestrained use of ink washes. This expressive, individualistic painting style, through which they sought to express their moral integrity, was complimented by–and often belied–the artists’ extensive training.

Kimonos were worn for everyday wear by the Japanese until a strong wave of western influence swept into Japan at the beginning of the last century.  people quickly switched to western attire and now wear kimonos primarily for weddings, funerals, festivals and parties.

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The kimono is the national dress of Japan. It is a long robe which opens in the front, has wide sleeves, and is worn with a narrow sash (men and Children) or a wide one (women). The kimono was originally introduced into Japan from China as an undergarment. In the 10th century people began wearing it as an outer garment, since it was so beautiful.  During the Edo period ladies' kimonos became highly decorative and during this time, the sash (obi) was developed into the wide one still worn today.

On New Year's Day in Japan (Feb 3rd. - Toshitori), or on other special occasions, people buy a daruma doll, make a wish, and paint a black dot in the center of one of the blank eye spaces. The doll is then placed where it can be seen every day, to remind the owner of the wish or goal. When her/his wish comes true or s/he reaches his goal, s/he paints a black dot in the other eye.

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The daruma doll is named after a Buddhist priest from India who is said to have traveled to China in the 6th century and founded the Zen Buddhist religion.  He is shown as having round wide-open eyes, and a black moustache, wearing a red robe. The legend tells that he sat in the same position, day and night, for 9 years, meditating on his beliefs, and that because he did not use his arms or legs they slowly withered away. The ability to forget self is an important step in Buddhism.

The Japanese remember this legend with armless, legless dolls, like a model, made of papier-mâché and painted red, black and white. The dolls are weighted at the bottom so that no matter how many times they are knocked over, they will return to an upright position. This symbolizes resilience in the face of misfortune. The doll is thought to bring good luck and success.