Toyotomi Hideyoshi was displeased with the freedom of sexual intercourse, therefore, he decided to regulate the sexual activities within a district, which will later be known as pleasure quarter, yukaku. It is a government sanctioned, walled districts set apart from the urban centre providing all manners of entertainment: prostitution, theatrical performances, fine dining, parades, and festivals. In this report, I am going to analyze and discuss the concept of Floating World.
The concept of Floating World, also known as ukiyo, emerged after the construction of pleasure quarter. Ukiyo originally referred to the Buddhist term — “this sad world” — mourning the tragic impermanency of human life. However, after mid-17th century, it began to employ
characters literally meaning “floating world” in order to describe the transient pleasures of human existence, particularly those of proletarian urbanites. The concept of Ukiyo began to be used by numerous authors, such as, Asai Ryoi and Ishihara Saikaku. By these authors, the concept of ukiyo was mainly defined as the latter: drifting life of a demimonde of sponsors and yujo, betrayal and passion, sorrow and beauty. Many of the literary works associated with Floating World comprised of erotic sensibility and its fluid sexuality: male-male relationship in The Great Mirror of Male Love by Saikaku. The Floating World was a place where people went to escape from their social identity and obligation. It gave off a sense of otherworldliness. Not only one required money and connection to meet a prostitute, each yujo had debt to pay off; causing many lovers to commit suicide in order to be together in the next world or life. Samurais who are supposed to uphold a rigid moral code often disguised themselves as commoners to enter ukiyo. It was every man’s dream to visit the yukaku and to experience an intricate interaction with women who are most talented in entertainment and art. It is where the culture of the connoisseur flourished: performance art, watch-smith, archery contest, ancient bronzes, sumo wrestling, fine fabric and lacquers, tea ceremony, poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Today, Geisha is commonly mistaken as a prostitute, but was in fact, experts and performers of art. some of these culture of the expertise survived until today: the practice of tea, such as, chanoyu of matcha (powdered) and sencha (steeped) tea derived from mid-18th century onward. It was a world where utmost exploitation of women was normalized, but the sole image that survives is of unforgettable pleasure, and only few would be able to glimpse the corruption and depravity at its foundation.
On Farting by Hiraga Gennai gives the reader a perspective into the world of various arts in the Edo Period. Not only are we shown what is meant to be a proper practicing of the arts through his satirical character, Crankshaw Stonington Esquire, but he counters this claim that the arts were then lacking in life, passion, and ingenuity. They had become boring and outdated without any creativity being brought forward. To prove this he sings his praises for a fart artist, and engages in a lively debate about what truly marks art as meaningful and how a change to the traditions would improve the civilization. However passionate, his argument may not be effective enough to change the minds and ways of those who revel in the traditional.
Throughout the history of Japanese culture, there are many unique and refined art forms that have survived over many centuries. One of the oldest and most famous examples is the ancient Japanese court dance of Bugaku. Originated in 7th century Japan, Bugaku, along with the Gagaku, the classical Japanese court music, has carved its place into history as one of the longest surviving traditional performance pieces. It’s perseverance serves as a symbol of the importance of music and art in a countries lineage. From its introduction into Japanese society, to the contemporary evolution of art from the East, Bugaku and Gagaku continue to stand as pillar of historical and artistic relevance.
Swallowtail Butterfly, the film directed by Iwai Shunji, depicts the experience about a group of immigrants in Yentwon. These immigrants come to Japan with the dream to make quick money. At the same time, the main characters, Glico, Fei Hong, and Ageha, are also seeking their identities and home in Japan. The particular scene in this film that impresses me is the conversation between Ageha and Fei Hong about whether heaven exists or not on a rainy day. Iwai used mostly close-up shots, dull light and the sound of the rain for this scene to create a melancholic atmosphere for the conversation about death and heaven. It also implies that in the end, Ageha and Glico realizes that the home and heaven for them is the auto repair shop “ blue sky” near the Yentown.
Kakinomoto begins by describing the history of the land and the rulers and then shifts his gaze to the physical ruin emphasizing the effect and return of nature in the place where the palace once stood. “Where now spring grasses Choke the earth in their rife growth, and mists rise up” (31-33). We see a reversal of the meaning of nature, whereas in princess Nukata’s poem she uses nature to symbolize both death and rebirth, Hakinomoto uses it to emphasize the inevitability of loss. This emphasis on nature further showcases the cultural awareness of time and its inevitability. It’s this awareness of loss that seems to affect the poet’s perception of the past and what exactly is lost. The poet laments, speaking the grandness of the palace and the rulers who were located there only to be reminded that even the most beautiful palace and sage rulers eventually fade away. While the Kakinomoto acknowledges this loss, he is still emotionally moved, “Where once the mighty palace stood, And it is sad to see.” (35-36) It’s also important to note that this questioning of values and meaning in relation to the inevitability of time is a very prominent theme that’s surfaced throughout the ages even in today’s modern western literature. Further questions are posed or implied while observing life through the context of loss as in the Man 'yōshū. For example, with the
The essay “Funeral Specialists in Cantonese society: Pollution, Performance, and Social Hierarchy” by James Watson illustrates the concepts of magical thinking, a way of ordering the world based on the fundamental essence of an object, described in Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin’s essay, “The Making of a Magical Mind: The Nature and Function of Sympathetic Magical Thinking.” Their “ law of similarity” – the idea that all objects with the same essence share the same properties – is easy to see in the yin and yang essences of men and women and in how the villagers treat those associated with the death essence. On the other hand, the “law of contagion” states that essence can we transferred from one object to another, either contaminating it or
The ukiyo-e period was when a type of Japanese art was created which represented pictures of the flowing world. It was originally a Buddhist concept that meant the sadness of life. This print was influenced by the Dutch as Hokusai became interested with linear perspective when Western prints came by through Dutch trade. The artwork depicts a large wave which takes up about half of the print and then people in boats underneath the wave. The waves could be a metaphor for the government at the time as it ruled with an iron fist restricting any abroad travel as well as any visitors from other countries. The government was very controlling and limited any communication with the outside world during Hokusai’s time. The boats represent the civilians trying to explore the rest of the world but being stopped by the wave ‘government’ which is trying to get them to stay within the country or within ‘safety’. The boats have no control in the water and are practically helpless which represents the citizens if they were able to travel abroad as they would be defenceless and feeble because they wouldn’t have a proper understanding of the world and its
The setting shows a world of opposing ideals, contrasting the weight and solidification of the port and land with the open and free sailor life that Ryuji has been living. This realm of opposites is bolstered by the physical environment in which the characters are placed. Yokohama, a busy Japanese shipping town, is an ideal representation of conflicting spheres. As the city is the ideal connection amidst land and sea, the ocean plays a vital point in connecting the differing ideologies present in the novel. As the plot begins, Fusako and Ryuji’s affair show how Ryuji attempted to overcome the grasp of sealife. The scene of consummation shows the elements of land and sea, Fusako and Ryuji respectively, in perfect harmony with each other as “the universal order [was] at last achieved” (13). The simply beautiful act of sex becomes su...
This week I am choosing to write my piece on the bronze “Incense Burner,” from the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng. I choose this because the depiction of life and harmony in this artifact contrasts deeply with the art from previous regions, where their sculptures emphasized mainly on masculinity, heroism and death. I thought this piece to be very phenomenal, and I believe it captures the essence of this human and nature like bond, the gold outline tracing on the waves of water like arches bringing in this feeling of enlightenment. In this chapter much of the artwork depicts nature as the mother,protector, and also the ruler of life. They send to viewer’s different aspects and the profound connection between the beauty of nature and human. Above the outline ocean waves of the “Incense Burner,” are these
The essay will compare and contrast how the two works explore the modernity in this era, to show the goal of the modern Japanese individual, and reveal how the modern Japanese society might appear.
Eroticizing men occurs throughthe visual display of aadults when the female remains fully clothed and the man accompanies her fully naked, it sees a contradiction of gender sterotypes, in which the gaze is switched from male to female. However, the question must be asked, how much are we empowring ourselves by oppressing the other? Women are fighting the cause by inflicting the situation on men, therefore objectification occurs not only in women but also in men. As a result of this it is liekly that future generations of boy and girls alike will continue to place emphasis on sexuality as opposed to personal attributes. Soceity will also continue to percieve both sexes based on their attractiveness and sexual assets, in which does not promote the end to objectification in women but rather seems to have spread the mentality of sexual degrading to btoh men and women.
In this reading, footbinding is described as a “barbaric practice” and as the source of current women conditions. The movement against this practice resembles the ‘Meiji Six Society’ in Japan which spurred during the same period as they both strive for women rights and better regulation of marriage. Furthermore, this shows us how Japan was a key factor in this movement as the source of the “radicalisation” and westernization of students coming from China. Hence the rejection of Confucian knowledge and traditions.
A \\in his art Hokusai created stories and settings in great detail. This is evident through one of his most famous prints; under the wave of Kanagawa, 1823. This piece was a massive breakthrough in his career. the wave of Kanagawa was iconic and said to inspire those who created art later following the 19th century. The woodblock image tells of the reality in the lives of Japanese fisherman out at sea in harsh weather conditions. The casting of the giant wave in comparison to the men in boats on the waves and mount Fuji far in the distance contrasts the vulnerability to the wave of Kanagawa. The power of the wave makes it seem to have a rough yet balanced texture that creates mass damage in the harmony of nature. The art piece is a full visual
Japanese history records that the first “self-styled” geisha appeared around 1750 (Szczepanski, 2014). This geisha was Kikuya, who was considered a talented shamisen player and worked as a prostitute in Fukagawa. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, many residents of the pleasure quarters started to become talented muscisans, dancers, or poets, rather than simple sex workers (Szczepanski,
The events that occur in Arthur Golden’s “Memoirs of a Geisha” bring attention to the history of a Japanese Geisha. The protagonist of the novel, Chiyo Sakamoto is a fisherman named Minoru Sakamoto’s daughter. Chiyo lives in a “little town called Yoroido on the Sea of Japan” (Golden, 7). The journey of Chiyo becoming a geisha, named Sayuri, is told through the novel. This research essay intends to inform readers about the emergence of the geisha culture, the journey to becoming a geisha, and history’s role in “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden. An insight into history and culture, enlightens the world of a Japanese geisha.
Drowned V is the fifth installment in Choi Yan-chi’s Drowned cycle, a long term project beginning in 1989 with her fist installation in the Hong Kong Arts Centre. While stationed in Toronto’s non-profit Mercer Union gallery, Drowned V was a personal response to the issues of identity and home that many Hong Kong citizens struggle with. The installation opened into a softly lit domestic space populated with carefully spaced Victorian style wooden furniture, dark picture frames adorned the wall and the repetitive noise of a water pump could be heard in the background (Choi). Set on the tables were fish tanks, each holding a stack of books suspended in tanks of oil. The Victorian furniture and soft lighting would first inspire the feeling of warmth