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May 09, 2024
 

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Michael Dunn
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition
Jan 18, 2020
A toast to mingei: The significance of unknown craftsmen
What is so special about mingei (folk crafts)? For Muneyoshi Yanagi it was significant that ordinary, unknown and largely uneducated craftsmen used natural materials to make objects that were sublimely beautiful.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition
Jan 4, 2020
A toast to mingei: 'The finest assemblage of Japanese folk crafts outside Japan'
Today, Jeffrey Montgomery's mingei (folk crafts) collection is well-known among international dealers and many of his pieces are of a quality rarely seen today, even in Japan; some are unique.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2009
The beauty of subtle deceit
More than in any other country where the lacquer tree grows, the art of working with its hard-drying sap has excelled here in Japan. Two leading exponents were Ogawa Haritsu (1663-1747) and Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891), who both stand out not only for their inventive sense of design in decorating three-dimensional...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2009
Imperial treasures shown in full glory
Few objects have surfaced from early Imperial tumuli as, being graves of an extant family, excavation is at present prohibited by the Imperial Household Agency. Nevertheless, the occasional object has come to light in the course of repairs following damage by natural disasters, and one of the most beautiful...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2009
Fresh direction for the Hatakeyama Memorial Museum
A long with other great collections accumulated by early industrialists such as the Goto, Seikado Bunko, Mitsui and Nezu museums, the Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art is a hidden gem where only the very best is to be seen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2009
Well-armed to protect Buddha
Like a visitor from some remote part of the universe, the deity Ashura of Kofukuji Temple in Nara appears with six spindly arms frozen in motion and three faces on a single head that is crowned with a perfectly groomed hairdo. The body is slender and graceful and little imagination is needed to see the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2009
Netsuke: delicate treats for the dandies of Edo
Until modern times, Japan seems to have been almost unique in having no tradition of jewelry, apart from the stone beads and gold accessories found in burial mounds from the last few centuries of the prehistoric period until circa seventh century. Elaborate necklaces, bracelets and diadems could be seen...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 10, 2009
A taste for the unusual leads to excellence
Since the Heian Period (794-1185), landscapes have served as the inspiration for generations of Japanese painters. Many followed the standards and styles of a particular school, while other — often encouragingly eccentric — individuals broke with all conventions to wield their brushes in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2009
The explorers' cargo
Before the age of discovery, Europe had been separated for hundreds of years from the Indian Ocean by an impenetrable crescent of territories largely hostile to Christians. The Venetians — always more interested in commerce than proselytizing — controlled whatever trade there was with Asia...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008
Japanning for southern barbarians
During the 16th-century age of exploration, Portuguese traders landed in Japan looking for exotic goods to sell in markets back in Europe and their newly founded colonies. Lacquerware was high on their list, not only for its decorative beauty but also for its more prosaic quality of being the only waterproof...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2008
Golden glories
One of fall's annual pleasures is the Big Autumn Exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum, and this year the organizers have pulled out all the stops with "Treasures by Rinpa Masters," a breathtaking show of Rinpa art in celebration of the 350th anniversary of Ogata Korin's birth. Korin (1658-1716) is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 25, 2008
Sri Lanka: isle of earthy delights
Although Sri Lanka has been long-renowned for its natural beauty, the art of the island seems to have been far less celebrated — or even studied — than that of other South Asian countries that share Theravada Buddhist culture, such as Burma or Cambodia. Though Sri Lanka was obviously greatly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2008
Katsura Funakoshi's sphinxes of suggestivity
The figure is nothing if not startling: Truncated just above the knees and suspended on four, bark-covered sticks sprouting from the body, sculptor Katsura Funakoshi's "The Sphinx Floats in Forest" is a muscular hermaphrodite with full, female breasts and male genitalia, an elongated neck and leather-strap...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2008
Traditional delights
In a summertime exhibition to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Kokka, the authoritative Japanese journal on pre-modern Asian art, and the 130th anniversary of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, the (TNM) has taken an interesting change of direction in its curation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2008
Boston museum's ukiyo-e celebrates Japanese merchants' taste
Until recent years, ukiyo-e were regarded as somewhat declasse by Japanese art connoisseurs — and they are still sniffed at by many whose taste is informed by Zen and the tea-ceremony. But these colorful paintings and prints of what was then a truly exotic world did catch the eyes of foreigners...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2008
Up close with images of faith
W ith its current exhibition of National Treasures from Yakushi-ji Temple, the Tokyo National Museum is offering a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see masterpieces of ancient Buddhist and Shinto art. For the first time ever, they are being displayed in a museum so that they can be studied much more closely...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 20, 2008
Photos preserve architecture that's disappeared with time
Unless blessed with unlimited time and resources, visiting all the buildings around the world that you would like to see is rather unlikely. Even if you do manage to reach some of them, entrance inside may still be prohibited or restricted.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 31, 2008
A steady hand in the culture
For more than 700 years until the modern period, members of the Konoe family have been prominent among the nobles of the Imperial Court. Descended from Fujiwara Iezane (ca. 1179-1242), whose own elite clan can be traced back to the beginnings of written Japanese history in the seventh century, the Konoe...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2007
Unlocking the mysteries of Japanese culture
A TRACTATE ON JAPANESE AESTHETICS by Donald Richie. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2007, 79 pp., $9.95 (paper) In the preface to this new, much-needed book on Japanese aesthetics, Donald Richie points out, "In writing about traditional Asian aesthetics, the conventions of Western discourse —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2007
A taste for blood, arts and culture
One haunting image that lingers in the mind after seeing the exhibition "Legacy of the Tokugawa — The Glories and Treasures of the Last Samurai Dynasty" at the Tokyo National Museum is a carved-wood statue of Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns, now the deity of the Shiba Tosho-gu...
Tokuryū, a new crime menace in Japan, emerges from the shadows
The National Police Agency coined the term "tokuryū" to classify individuals involved in dark part time jobs and quasi-gangsters, using the words "tokumei" (anonymous) and "ryūdo" (fluid) to reflect their characteristics.
Thanks, tourists. Views of Mount Fuji are now blocked.
Tourists pose in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji on Friday in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Local residents are upset over littering, overcrowding and the inconvenience caused by the visitors.
Is Modi’s party heading for a stunning election loss?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign tactics have escalated, including anti-Muslim rhetoric and fearmongering, reflecting his ruling party's desperation.
Two more arrested over brutal murder of couple in Tochigi
A vehicle carrying Seiha Sekine, the 32-year-old common-law husband of the deceased Tokyo couple's first daughter, leaves a police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Tuesday.
After blockbuster boxing victory, what next for ‘Monster’ Inoue?
Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Luis Nery in their IBF-WBA-WBC-WBO super bantamweight title boxing match at Tokyo Dome on Monday.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.
After blockbuster boxing victory, what next for ‘Monster’ Inoue?
Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Luis Nery in their IBF-WBA-WBC-WBO super bantamweight title boxing match at Tokyo Dome on Monday.
Xi bristles as Macron and von der Leyen urge China to do more on Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen walk after their meeting in Paris on Monday.
How a Japanese scientist is turning the climate crisis into music
A screencap of a performance of Hiroto Nagai's “String Quartet No. 1 ‘Polar Energy Budget’” by the PRT Quartet
Japan’s tween skateboarders get head start on preparations for 2028 Olympics
Ibuki Matsumoto competes at an event in Osaka on April 21.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
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