9.7.1 The importance of the arts Japanese artists and craftspeople aimed for perfection in all they created. They believed their skills were sacred and respected their materials. For example, sword-makers prayed while they worked and believed a finished sword had its own spirit. Potters often made items with a semi-religious nature. The Japanese tea ceremony started from Chinese Buddhist rituals, so the cups and pots used were special. Sake containers also had a religious connection due to their use in Shint̄o festivals. In the early feudal period, Japanese painters were influenced by Chinese styles. Many paintings had Shint̄o and Buddhist themes, often depicting saints, demons or sinners suffering in hell as a warning to live a good life. By the middle Heian period, a distinctive Japanese style of painting developed. Screens in wealthy homes were decorated with scenes from nature or animals. Picture scrolls told famous stories like The Tale of Genji , and artists created portraits of nobles and monks. The Muromachi period was known for colourful Shint̄o paintings and monochrome ink landscapes by Zen Buddhist monks.
TABLE1 Some Japanese arts and crafts
Historical period Ancient to present
Notable examples
Art form
Description Traditional Japanese writing using apointed brush dipped in ink, valued for beautiful handwriting, see SOURCE2 Printing technique involving drawingon paper, gluing to wood block, chiseling, inking and pressing images, see SOURCE3 Glossy coating made from tree sap with pigments, used
Materials
Techniques
Calligraphy
Annual competitions, ancient letters, poems, religious texts
Handmade paper ( washi ), ink
Pointed brush, ink, pigments, gold/silver leaf
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai
Woodblock printing
Eighth century topresent
Wood, ink, paper
Chiseling, inking, pressing, multiple blocks for colours
Lacquer
Heian to early sh̄ogunate period
Lacquered tebako (cosmetics box)
Wood, bamboo, pottery, metal, sap, pigments
Layering, engraving, inlaying, sprinkling gold/silver particles
onwooden articles, see SOURCE4
Pottery
Range of items from unglazed vessels toglazed decorative vases, cups and pots for tea ceremony, see SOURCE5
Earliest settlements to present
Rakuware, freshwater jar for tea ceremony
Clay, glaze
Hand-moulding, glazing, kiln firing
238 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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