The Effect Of Culture And Mythology On Japanese Art

Japanese art has a rich history. Japan’s culture and art have been greatly influenced by mythology. This paper will briefly discuss Japanese art history as well as some of the art expressions styles. Next, we will look at two art pieces by Kano Okunobu: “Shuten Dioji” (Yorimitsu & the drunken Monster of Mount Ibuki) and “Takiyasha the Witch & the Skeleton Specter”, both representing two major directions within ukiyo e, painting and woodblock printing. After that, we will provide a brief history of the authors as well as the art schools they attend. A brief history of the artists and the media they used to create their art will be covered. Japan’s art history dates back to 10,000 BC. It is still evolving and shaping up to today. It has had little contact with the rest of the world, including invasions. The country’s geographic and political isolation has meant that it has had minimal contact with other cultures. The Japanese learnt to study and emulate other cultures, and adopted what was most pleasing to them. The 7th through 9th centuries saw a significant influence from Buddhism and Chinese culture on Japanese culture and art. Japan experienced a tsunami of economic, political and social unrest in the 15th century. They began to develop their own styles and disengaged from religious and Chinese influence. The economic boom of Japan during the 17th-19th century political reigns of Edo Shogunate brought stability and peace to the country. The Edo Period allowed Japanese culture and art to thrive. The decline of Buddhism’s influence on religion made religious sculpture less popular. This led to the development of painting, calligraphy, woodblock printing, and painting. Kano School is one of the most influential and important schools in Japanese art history. Kano Masanobu was the founder of the Kano school. He was the son Kano Masanobu who was a samurai, and an amateur painter. Motonobu, Masanobu’s son, assumed the leadership of the school. The Edo period saw the most number of artists trained at this school. It was the epicenter of a renewed Chinese influence in painting. The large decorative wall panels were heavily colored and outlined for nobles. Kano school artists were trained in workshops similar to Renaissance and Baroque painters. They worked mostly for royalty and the nobility. Kano school was able to offer a variety of painting styles as well as inventing new ones. Kano Okunobu, one of Kano’s representatives, was the artist behind “Shuten Doji,” a painting masterpiece that depicts ‘Yorimitsu (‘Yorintsu and the drunken monstrosity of Mount Ibuki’) in the Edo era of 17th-century Japan. Kano Motonobu was the principal figure in Kano’s Kano school. The “Shuten Doji” paining (‘Yorimitsu und the drunken beast of Mount Ibuki’) was inspired by the legend of Shuten Doji/The Drunken Boy, one of Japan’s most popular oni legends. According to Japanese folklore, many reports were made about missing people in Kyoto during the reign of Emperor Ichijo (986-1011). Most of those who went missing were young girls. Abe No Seimei, the emperor’s advisor and royal fortune teller, concluded that the demonking of Mountain Oe was responsible. The demon was later identified as Shuten Doji, or “The Drunken Boy”. Minamoto nor Raiko, also known by Minamoto and Yorimitsu was ordered by Kyoto’s ruler to search for and kill the Shutendoji. Raiko was always accompanied and escorted by his shitenno. Hosho was alone with his junior secretary as they fled Kyoto in pursuit of the ogre demonic in 995. Raiko met his followers and four other people while they were traveling. They were the avatars from four gods. According to the deities, travelers were instructed to pretend to be yamabushi monks. They came across an old woman doing laundry in the river, and they were able to enter the cave tunnel. The old lady said that the ogres took young girls as slaves and then killed them. The Shutendoji accepted the warriors disguised in monks. He also welcomed them with sake. He shared the stories of himself with them and revealed that his minions called him “The Drunken Boy”, because of his love for sake. He explained that Enryaku ji temple in the Hira Mountains forced ogres from their ancestral lands to make way for Enryaku Oe, which was built in 849. Raiko gave the gods a drink and treated the demon-king. The gods gave the drink to Raiko, who made the demon-king unconscious. The warriors got ready for battle by taking their armor and weapons from their backpacks that looked priestly. The demons were still drunk as they assaulted the headquarters of the ogre. Shutendoji was a red, fifty-foot-high demon. He had five horns upon his head, fifteen white eyes, and black and/or white legs. Shutendoji was held by four gods who then pulled the demon’s limbs off with one stroke of their sword. The demon did not die. Instead, his head began to fly around and try to bite Raiko’s neck. Raiko donned two helmets extra to defend himself. The heroes returned to Kyoto victorious with “The Drunken Boy’s” head and buried it at the Uji no Hozo at Byodo In temple. The handscroll composition is a piece of the famous Kano Masanobu set. It is made with ink and color on paper. The section shows Raiko’s party crossing a river to get to the demon-king’s lair. The Kano school’s distinctive features, such as strong outlines and colorful details on a background of golden color, are evident in this piece. This piece of artwork is now part the British Museum Collection. Woodblock printing was also an art form that was brought to the Edo Period. In Japan, woodblock printing was first used to translate the Buddhist scriptures. However, it changed its focus over time and began to include secular topics. In the 8th century, it was used as a method of printing text quickly. Woodblock printing was a process that involved engraving a piece of wood with text or an image. The woodblock was then transferred to paper by pressing against the wooden block. The Nishike-e method later allowed for color printing. Popular items such as calendars were printed using the Nishike method during the Edo Period. This method was popular in Japan between 11th and 19th centuries. Let’s take a look at “Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Specter invoked Princess Takiyasha”, or “Takiyasha the Witch & the Skeleton Specter”, one of the best examples of ukiyoe woodblock printing. This is to help us understand the significance of Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s legacy in Japanese art. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon family, was born January 1, 1798. He died April 14, 1861 at his Genyadana home. He was fascinated by the ukiyoe-e illustrations of warriors and the representations of craftsmen artisans in the manuals as a child. Kuniyoshi was a pattern designer for his father and this may have influenced his love of textile prints and colors. He was twelve years old when Utagawa Toyokuni, a grand master of ukiyo e-printing, noticed his talents. He was a representative to the Utagawa style and one among the last Japanese woodblock print grandmasters. His art included kabuki actors and beautiful women as well landscapes and mythical creatures. His art, which was influenced by Western landscape painting techniques, is known for its depiction of heroic samurais and historical battles. Kurniyoshi began to be popular in Japan during the 1820s. His heroic triptychs have attracted the attention Japanese society. This novel chronicles the adventures and story of an outlaw group that travels around the area of mount Ryosanpaku. These outlaws are depicted in heroic battles as heroes. Kuniyoshi’s prints are among the finest. They combine Western landscapes with anatomic style. This made Kuniyoshi a fusion of Eastern, Western and Japanese art forms. Utagawa Kuriyoshi’s triptych “Takiyasha the Witch & the Skeleton Specter” is a beautiful masterpiece. This depicts a dark legend about Princess Takiyasha. This scene is from the 1807 novel, “The story about Uto Yasakuta”. Takisha was Takisha’s princess and was the daughter Taira Na Masakado (a leader of large renegade forces that opposed Kyoto’s central governments). Masakado sought to create an “Eastern Court” at Shimoga Province, which was against the interests of Kyoto’s Emperor. The rebellion fell apart and the leader was killed. His daughter, who was killed by her father, remained in Soma palace’s ruins. Takiyasha, which means waterfall demon princess, is believed to have been a witch. Because she is able to raise dead using her magic powers and the manuscript, she decides not to stop the battle against the Emperor. She resurrects the most loyal warriors of her father and creates an army. The manuscript, believed to be Western-derived, was a duplicate of a book with Western anatomical drawing. According to legend, Oya No Taro Mitsukuni (Japan’s great warrior and Emperor’s servant), heard about Masakado’s defeat, and decided that he would travel to the palace to verify the tale. When Mitsukuni arrived on the ramparts, the princess disguised herself as a prostitute in order to seduce her. The plan went sour because Mitsukuni spotted a trap. His story upset Takiyashi’s emotions and she fled crying from the warrior. Later that night, Mitsukuni was attacked by the princess’ army skeletons. Gashadokuro, a massive skeleton specter, attacked Mitsukuni. It was as large as a castle. Mitsukuni rode a toad into battle and defeated Takiyasha. The plan to continue the rebellion of her father by Princess failed. The first sheet shows the princess Takiyashi with the manuscript. She was able to raise the dead from the castle’s ruin while hiding behind the drapery. Oya to Taro Mitsukuni with his follower faces Gashadokuro (a giant skeleton-specter that is crushing through castle walls and hanging over the samurais). Mitsukumi aids the unidentified samurai when he gets hurt. We see the second sheet showing half the skeleton’s enormous torso emerging from the darkness of the castle wall’s breach. It helps viewers to appreciate the enormity of the giant-skeleton specter. This woodblock printed triptych creates an intense and vivid panoramic composition. This work is currently housed in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Bibliography

British Museum. “Shuten Doji” (Yorimitsu, the Drunken Monster on Mt. Ibuki).” British Museum, Trustees of the British Museum, 2019, accessed on 10/24/2019, www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=790137&partId=1&object=22293&sortBy=fromDateDesc&page=1.

Noriko T. Reider. “Shuten Doji: ‘Drunken Demon.'” Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 64, no. 2, 2005, p. 207. EBSCOhost, accessed on 10/26/2019, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.30030420&site=eds-live.

Grovier, Kelly. “Culture – Yorimitsu and Shuten-Doji: The Drunken Demon of Kyoto.” BBC, BBC, 21 Jan. 2019, accessed on 10/25/2019, www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190121-yorimitsu-and-shuten-dji-the-drunken-demon-of-kyoto.

The Honolulu Museum of Art is a museum located in Honolulu, Hawaii. “Honolulu Museum of Art.” Honolulu Academy, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2019, accessed on 10/24/2019, honolulumuseum.org/art/10270-takiyasha-the-witch-and-the-skeleton-specter-from-the-story-of-uta-yasutakaa_z.

John A. Lent “Graphic Heroes. Magic Monsters. Japanese Prints. Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Arthur R. Miller Collection.” International Journal of Comic Art. 12, no. 2/3, Oct. 2010, p. 690. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brb&AN=505364728&site=eds-live.

“Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Aug. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takiyasha_the_Witch_and_the_Skeleton_Spectre.