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Yoko Haruhara
For Yoko Haruhara's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 9, 2019
How folk craft found its place in the art world
"Japanese Tableware" highlights the passion with which Soetsu Yanagi u2014 one of the founding fathers of the Japanese folk crafts movement u2014 appreciated artisanal works into his own life, displaying the actual tableware that his family used when they gathered for meals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2019
'The Shutendoji Picture Scroll': Japan's grisly tale of demonic drama
The Nezu Museum showcases Sumiyoshi Hironao's "Shutendoji Monogatari" ("The Tale of the Drunken Demon" scrolls in their entirety for the first time in the museum's history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2018
White is not as monotone as some think
Devoid of ornamentation, yet still sculptural and expressive, Korean Joseon dynasty porcelain could change the way you think about minimalist ceramics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 12, 2018
Late Edo Period villainy is captured in violent ukiyo-e prints
In the waning years of the Edo Period (1603-1868), a darkness seized hold of the public consciousness and bloody murders, acts of arson and sexual scandal were rampant. Well, at least in Japanese art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 21, 2017
The maven of Japanese sword fittings
The special exhibition "Pinnacle of Elegance: Sword Fittings of the Mitsumura Collection" at the Nezu Museum offers a fascinating look at the collection that Toshimo Mitsumura (1877-1955), a wealthy businessman, amassed at the end of the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Mitsumura's passion for swords is reflected in the portion of his collection that the museum acquired — an array of 1,200 sword fittings and blades from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 2, 2017
The sweet artworks of Tetsuya Nagata
Osaka-born artist Tetsuya Nagata has found a unique way to breathe new life into two time-honored crafts of Japan — washi (Japanese paper) and wagashi (Japanese sweets).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2017
Keeping up with the Joneses, Edo style
The Edo Period (1603-1868) is renowned for the flourishing of material culture — a time when major advances and innovations in Japanese folk crafts and design were prized by the burgeoning commoner class of Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Osaka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 15, 2016
Maruyama Okyo melded styles to pioneer a new path in art
The 18th century was an exciting time for Japan. After unification in 1603, a remarkable spirit of innovation pervaded as urban centers grew and the arts flourished.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2016
The Korean roots beneath Japan's folk art movement
The folk craft movement in Japan owes a great debt to Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961), who coined the term "mingei" ("folk crafts") in 1925. Yanagi pioneered the notion that Japan's vernacular crafts had their own intrinsic artistic worth, and should be valued, collected and curated. His desire to share an appreciation of these simple objects with the public grew from an admiration for the Korean craft tradition and it became his mission to foster opportunities for the public to rediscover Japanese and other Asian traditional crafts firsthand. Thanks in large part to Yanagi's efforts, the mingei aesthetic was born, which led to a growing appreciation of folk crafts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 8, 2015
Behind the scenes of ukiyo-e prints
Everyday life in Edo (present-day Tokyo) was befitting of a capital city — an era of beautiful women, graceful kabuki actors, bustling streets and breathtaking sights. The peace and stability imposed by the Edo Period (1603-1868) Tokugawa Shogunate allowed the city to flourish and led to the growth of a leisure class of consumers intent on enjoying its marvels. During this time, ukiyo-e woodblock prints also became popular, as they captured cultural triumphs and depicted the people and townscape of Japan's capital city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2015
The Edo samurai knew how to look sharp
'The World of Edo Dandyism: From Swords to Inro" at the Nezu Museum is a splendid collection of Edo Period (1603-1868) swords and sword accessories that includes blades, scabbards and metal fittings, as well as decorative sets of inrō (pill boxes) and netsuke (carved toggles). The exhibition looks back to a fascinating period of Edo history when prosperous samurai and merchants sought out the most stylish outfits and accessories that would establish them as refined men.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 25, 2014
Transforming the splendor of Japanese art
Every culture treasures its arts, and art museums are at the forefront of art preservation, engaging curators and specialists to ensure works remain as faithful to the originals as possible.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014
When it came to horror, ukiyo-e artists kept their wits about them
This exhibition showcases more than 250 Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo Period (1603-1868), depicting ghosts, goblins and other supernatural beings. The lurid subject matter, a graphic illustration of the shadowy spirit underworld, is as delightful as it is ghoulish.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
Nature prevails at the Hakone Open Air Museum
The Hakone Open Air Museum, located on the slopes of Mount Hakone in Fuji Hakone Izu National Park, is built in a beautiful natural setting of over 70,000 sq. meters. It is perfect for a day trip from the city or an extended weekend excursion, and its expansive grounds showcase more than 100 monumental sculptures, including one of the world's largest collections of works by British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2013
Tea bowls, simple emblems of power
"Ido Tea Bowls: Treasured Possessions of Muromachi Daimyo," currently showing at the Nezu Museum, presents an array of 72 rare tea bowls that were once owned by renowned warlords, tea masters and Buddhist temples. Produced by country potters in kilns in Korea's South Kyungsang province, these bowls were originally for domestic use and became treasured by Japanese tea masters and Muromachi Period (1338-1573) warlords for their rustic simplicity and rarity. They came to play a pivotal role in Japanese history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2013
The beauty of 'man'-kind
While the ukiyo-e woodblock prints depicting beautiful young Japanese women of the Edo Period (1603-1867) are world-renowned, an equally worthy genre and common theme tends to get overlooked: that of handsome men. The imaginative exhibition "Handsome Boys and Good-looking Men of Edo," currently on show at the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art, brings to light the celebration of the male figure by great Edo Period woodblock print artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 13, 2013
The collector who saw the fine print
The Nezu Museum is currently showing "Ceramics and Ukiyo-e Masterpieces from the Hagi Uragami Museum," an exhibition of outstanding artworks collected over the years by the entrepreneur Toshiro Uragami, who donated them to the Hagi Uragami Museum in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1996.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2012
Looking at art from a local perspective
In these recessionary times, any contribution to the arts is a cause for celebration. Such a state of affairs makes the opening of the Daegu Art Museum (DAM) in May 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, an especially joyous event.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2012
In celebration of the spirited culture of northern Japan
It has been just over a year since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and to commemorate the disaster in a show of support for the worst-hit areas, the Japan Folk Crafts Museum's "Tohoku Crafts and Shiko Munakata" is featuring crafts and art from the Tohoku region of northern Japan.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 8, 2011
Celebrating New Year's in the traditional way
As people in Japan prepare to celebrate New Year's Day, among the most notable tasks of the season are housecleaning, which echos the timeworn ritual of susuharai ("cleaning soot from the timbers under the roof") and placing shimenawa (sacred straw rope traditionally hung at the entrance to Shinto shrines) or kadomatsu (pine and/or bamboo decorative arrangements) at the entrance of the home.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world