Our lives do not go backward nor tarries with yesterday - for every wrinkled line is a road of this journey....
COVER STORY
Our lives do not go backward nor tarries with yesterday - for every wrinkled line is a road of this journey - and every scar, a solemn decoration. It is perception that writes timeless poetry upon flesh and mind with quill dippedin golden inkdespite the breaking - for that is when true beauty emerges.
This beautiful piece of poetry metaphorically describes life and forms the basis of the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi — the beauty of art lies in imperfections. Japanese art traditions were a secret to the world until 1860s when they became a source of inspiration for the impressionist movement in Europe and America. Now, Japan - also a hub of technological innovations - is a land of rich and diverse artistic achievements.
Let’s explore some of Japan’s exquisite art forms that have been a source of fascination and inspiration for centuries.
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e was a popular art form in Japan during the 17th and 18th century. Ukiyo-e were printed in great numbers using wood block printing methods and were a common sight in a merchant’s middle-class home as decorations. Even in Europe, Vincent Gogh’s art was greatly influenced by Ukiyo-e.
Ukiyo-e literally means “pictures of the floating world”; metaphorically, the “floating world” is the world of fleeting pleasure, and the subjects of ukiyo-e were usually beautiful women or the courtesans and geisha of the entertainment industry. Topics like traveling, history and politics were also explored through this art form. This art form isn’t commonly practised today, but its influence can be seen in modern art forms such as tattoo and fashion design.
Manga
Manga are Japanese comic books. Japan began producing dark, irreverent, sensual and violent graphic novels as early as the 1760s that were essentially comic books. These books were largely banned in 1787 but the art continued nonetheless.
Modern Japanese manga represent a vibrant and popular form of art and writing. Kibyoshi, a sophisticated pictorial fiction was widely read in late-eighteenth-century Japan and is one of oldest manga. Otogi Manga Calendar, was the first anime series to be produced and the first to be televised. It ran from 1961-1964.
Bonseki
Bonseki are miniature landscapes on black lacquer trays that make use of white sand, pebbles, and small rocks. The art dates back to the seventh century and was historically used to plan real gardens. Bonseki faded with time but interest in it has recently resumed and a number of bonseki classes are now available in Japan. It's rare for bonseki to be preserved and they are viewed as temporary works of art that are more attractive because they are impermanent according the Japanese aesthetic of mono no aware (bittersweet realization of the ephemeral nature of all things).
Kirigami
Kiragami is a complex version of origami, an art of folding paper to create decorative art. In Japan, children are made to learn classic origami in school. According to myth, anyone who strings together 1000 origami cranes is granted a wish. The Japanese traditionally believed that cranes live 1000 years.
In kirigami, the paper can be cut to create more elaborate designs. It is an art of folding paper symmetrically and then cutting it with scissors to make flowers, snowflake, dragons, etc.
According to historians, kirigami was first used in Japanese temples (Shinto and Buddhist cultures) as a way to make offerings to the gods. By the 17th century, Kirigami was widely recognized as a true art form throughout Asian culture. Japanese created kirigami designs to represent: wealth, perfection, grace, elegance, human’s relationship with the universe.
Today, crafters cut kirigami designs to decorate handmade greeting cards and make embellishments for other craft work.
Amigurumi
Amigurumi is the Japanese craft of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and creatures.
The word “amigurumi” is a portmanteau of two Japanese terms: ami, which means crocheted or knitted; and nuigurumi, a stuffed doll. It often takes the form of an animal or fantastical creature with an aesthetic that’s best described as kawaii or cute. This makes amigurumi ideal for kids or anyone that likes button noses and rosy cheeks.
Amigurumi got extremely popular in the West when online crafters started practising amigurumi as proper craft.
Gyotaku
Gyotaku is a traditional form of Japanese art that began over 100 years ago as a way for fishermen to keep a record of their impressive catches. They would apply sumi ink to one side of a freshly caught fish, then cover the fish with rice paper and rub to create an exact image of the fish. The ink was non-toxic and allowed for the fish to be processed for eating, while preserving records of fish species and sizes.
These utilitarian prints were incredibly lifelike. When done properly they retained even subtle patterns and textures of the fish. The relatively simple black ink prints later developed into an art form that added rich colours and environmental details.
For educators, Gyotaku can also serve as a great way to teach children and adults basic fish anatomy.
Bamboo basket weaving
Basket weaving is one of the most ancient of all decorative crafts. It is thought that the idea to create vessels by interweaving twigs was conceived around the same time as the idea to chip shards of flint into arrowheads.
Some of history’s most beautiful baskets were produced in Japan, where the craft of plaiting bamboo was initially practiced on a utilitarian level during the Jômon period (10,000 - 300 BC). Bamboo is characterized by strength, flexibility, and lightness. It proliferates in hundreds of varieties throughout Japan, and while many varieties were - and still are - used in furniture and house construction, in culi¬nary and medicinal preparations, and for other purposes, relatively few varieties were deemed suitable for basket weaving.
For example, madake was used for weaving; it’s a larger diameter bamboo with a very straight grain that lends itself to splitting into fine strands for plaiting.
Although bamboo is an abundant natural resource, it is a challenging artistic medium. Mastering the art form requires decades of meticulous practice learning how to harvest, split, and plait the bamboo. Contemporary artists are redefining this traditional craft as a modern genre, inventing unexpected new forms and pushing the medium to groundbreaking levels of conceptual, technical, and artistic ingenuity.
Ikebana
The long history of ikebana can be traced back as early as the sixth century with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Buddhist floral offerings, called kuge, were placed on the altar of temples. The offering consisted of three main stems gathered closely at the base and rose from the water as one. The three stems were used to represent the harmonious relationship between heaven, man and earth.
For hundreds of years, priests continued to make floral offerings to Buddha, but there were no set rules to make the arrangements. Ikenobo Senkei, a Buddhist priest, created the earliest form of ikebana, called tatehana, or “standing flowers.” The arrangements were meant to be displayed in the tokonoma, a recessed area in a traditional Japanese home used to display art objects. It was after ikebana began to be displayed in the homes of the aristocracy that its purpose changed from that of a religious offering to that of a decoration of the home.
The ikebana was displayed alongside valuable artworks and hanging scrolls. A harmony among the objects being displayed in the tokonoma was part of the beauty of the space. Therefore, the design of the ikebana became important. The objects displayed would change to reflect the season, which lead to the use of seasonal flowers in the arrangements on display. Because of this, ikebana began to be appreciated as an art form.
Later in the Edo period, different schools of ikebana began to open in Japan. Individual masters would hold exhibitions to show off their skills and attract students. They set up systems to rank students and issue certificates for those qualified to teach.
The different forms and styles of ikebana strive to harmonize with the contemporary spaces where people live, work and play. Arrangements make use of natural materials, bringing the beauty of nature indoors. The tradition has evolved into a modern art from that can be enjoyed by everyone.
Compiled by SG
