Live Long and Prosper

Well, it's time. I have considered the other options for a week in a Zen cave, but it is time. The wind is not favourable. 

When I was looking at the schedule of the posts for the second season adventure, I noticed that the topics are probably not beneficial to the readers. That means they are also not beneficial to the project. That means they are also not beneficial to me. If it were my personal blog, the topics would be fine. But it isn't. If it were the proper time, there would be no problem. But this is unfortunately epilogging. This is about how I've been doing since the last season. This is about what I've been dealing with since the last "spring". Sorry, I have failed to eliminate Ban-nan 万難(all the obstacles). This is not just about the topics, this decision has been made based on my comprehensive assessment of the situations. In short, the wind is not favourable.

I selected the topics because they were the best thing I could show you. They were the subjects that I could write with passion. Just shutting everything down is a bit tasteless. So let me digest the second season and share the adventure one last time.

REVIEW: Exhibition 'Kaii Higashiyama' PART 2

Afterglow

Afterglow 残照 1947, colour on paper, 151.5 x 212.0 cm, framed. The artist 東山魁夷 finished this picture two years after he was called up and joined the army and trained to dash himself at the enemy's tank holding a bomb. The picture has a simple but exquisite composition, subtle and intricate colours created by multi-layered pigments. It took me a while to escape from the gravity of the picture. And so Section II: Conversation with Nature begins.

Nihonga in the Time of the Anti-Nationalism after WWII

    "Once the war came to an end, as a reaction to the extreme nationalism before the war, a trend to negate traditional culture arose. This surge advanced on the world of nihonga, too and there were even cries that nihonga would cease to exist. Amidst such circumstances, many artists made a variety of attempts, but Kaii Higashiyama was rather cautious. He did not react to radical opinions and new theories of painting unless he himself was convinced. He was more interested in and keen about what was fresh amidst the flow of time. He was probably the sort of person who wanted to probe thoroughly into what the society was really calling for." ––Masaaki Ozaki 尾崎正明, translated by Kikuko Ogawa 小川紀久子, from the catalogue of the exhibition

Autumn Shade

Autumn Shade 秋翳 1958, 160.0 x 167.6 cm, colour on paper, framed. This is my most favourite piece from the period of the establishment of Higashiyama style. At around this period, Higashiyama appears to have started experiments with textures. Jikuso 軸装, or Hanging Scroll/Handscroll, was the traditional way of displaying pictures in Japan, then Frame allowed Japanese-style painting to try the thick coats of pigment. It can be said that the examples by the outstanding artist are quite beneficial materials. Toward the next, Section III: The atmosphere of the Ancient Cities.

REVIEW: 'Onmyoji'

Introduction of the films about Heian part 3

Today is the time of Super Heroes. The last decade was an age of Super Hero films. Actually, there is a super hero of the Heian period. There is a film series about him.

Super Hero

His name is Abe no Seimei 安倍晴明, a powerful Onmyoji. Seimei sees what we cannot see, he make Shikigami(sort of lower-class Spirits) serve him, he finds out curses behind unusual things, he chants charms and performs rituals and break them, he practices the art of Onmyō-dō that transcends human knowledge. 

Because he knows what we do not know, he is proficient in Onmyō-dō, he is a gifted Onmyoji.

REVIEW: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Introduction of the films about Heian part 2

A short review of 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya かぐや姫の物語' as a long appendix to the previous post REVIEW: 'The Tale of Genji'.

Film / Director

The film is based on the classic work of the Heian period, 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter 竹取物語', and the plot is basically the same as the original.

Directed by Isao Takahata 高畑勲 belonging to Studio Ghibli, the Mochi director, and my Mochi brother. He has the same type of personal qualities as me. I have sympathy for his philosophy of nature and life. His conclusion is obvious; Mochi. It's everywhere in his works. O-Kiyo おキヨ of 'Pom Poko 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ' is my ideal girl. 

And again he made this film Mochi, this is Mochi film expect the grown-up Princess and Mikado the Emperor. The Emperor is portrayed as the symbol of Money, Power, Vanity. The Emperor's chin and outfit are designed to be the complete opposite quality of Mochi. Maybe Takahata needed to face this motif as a Mochi director before he ends his career.

REVIEW: The Tale of Genji

You have slept with thousand people? Cool. I am sleeping with people of recent thousand years. --Yeah?

Okay, I have finished exchanging "That's not too bad" facial expressions with some of you, now then shall we dive into the Heian period?

'The Tale of Genji 源氏物語' is a classic work of Japanese literature, written by the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. 

If you ask modern Japanese people about Heian literature, they will mention this work. Because it is so important, some call it the world's first novel, everybody learns it at school. And also because it is a masterpiece, its story is thrilling and sensational.

Heian Max: Furyū Road

The Heian period, from the 8th century to the 12th century, between Nara and Kamakura period, named after the capital city Heian-kyō, which is now known as Kyoto. Heian 平安, literally "tranquillity and peace", was eventually a relatively peaceful and stable period, and that made possible the birth of Wayō and the prosperity of Japanese literature.

Let me introduce my viewpoint on the period this time.

Wayō(Japanese style beauty) / Karayō(Chinese style beauty)

Everything is connected, more or less. However, if there are particular examples of the influence on Japanese culture, that would be China and the U.S. China is the father, the U.S. is the stepfather. Mother? It's the earth--God bless Mother Nature, she's a single woman too--of course. In the 8th century, Japan entered an era of the prosperity of its own art, there was a movement away from Karayō then. Wayō 和様 is a contrast to Karayō 唐様. These terms are normally used in the field of calligraphy but occasionally also in general art. The environment develops human mind, and it's a great inspiration. China gave us great gifts, but our natural environments are very different from each other. 

Upper: Chinese / Lower: Japanese

So when our ancestors looked closely at their environment, when they tried to portray what they really felt in everyday life, Wayō had begun as a matter of course, although it progressed gradually and they were wavering between two styles, philosophies. For instance, they say that Sukemasa Fujiwara(944-998) the Saseki 佐跡 described their contradictory feelings at that time as follows, "漢詩だけでは、また和歌だけでは、何かさびしくものたりない、こうして漢詩における自己充足感の減退と、和歌における未成熟の意識と、こういう方向のすきま、空虚を満たすものとして、和漢をならべたてるという傾向が生まれてくる"

Kanamoji / Brush Calligraphy

When Japanese people were still having communications only orally in ancient times, Chinese character was introduced into Japan. In the Nara period, in the 8th century, people started to describe oral Japanese language by Chinese character. In the early Heian period, in the early 9th century, those Chinese characters were redesigned and simplified by men. And by the end of the 9th century, the movement toward Japanese style progressed, those Chinese characters were again redesigned and developed into Kanamoji by women.