How Did Ukiyo-E Influence Japanese Culture

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The origins of Ukiyo- E can be traced to a period in Japanese history beginning in the 1600’s where internal economy and cultural arts expanded and truly flourished. Fearing the impact of colonialization as well as the philosophies of Christian Missionaries which habited Europe could potentially have on the culture of Japan, the military governer who’s power excelled that of the emperor (known as the shogun) established an official policy that restricted foreign trade, and that Japanese citizens were forbidden from travelling overseas or returning from abroad; a decree of national seclusion.

Due to this newly established military dictatorship, Japan experienced a period of virtual seclusion from all foreign influence. All relationships …show more content…

Printed or painted "ukiyo-e" images of this environment emerged, and became popular with the merchant class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with such works. Due to this sudden increase in demand for bourgeois art, the wood block printing method was adopted. This enabled Ukiyo-e to be produced in mass quantities at affordable prices throughout the Japanese nation. A team of four specially skilled artists made a collaborative effort to depict themes that were populist and tasteful. Natural and figurative scenes were favoured; birds, flowers, landscapes, popular Kabuki actors, delicate courtesans and sumo wrestlers were depicted on blocks of wood. Due to the act of laborious wood carving as a vehicle to create such scenes, use of line, colour and composition had to be carefully considered. The carver chiselled and cut to create the original in negative, coating the areas raised in relief in lavish plains of unmodulated colour. The team of artists relied heavily on the use of imagination, and atmospheric qualities rather than strict observation of forms; the awkward qualities of wood made realistic representation difficult. The resulting images embodied a balance between passion, harmony and peace. Interplay of asymmetric lines, currents, sweeps, curves, thrusts and zigzags danced rhythmically upon printed papers balancing line, plane, figure and back ground. The

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