For almost four hundred years (794-1185), while Europe was mired in the dark ages, Japan enjoyed a cultural explosion. During this era, learning from China reached its peak, while Japan also developed its own distinctive forms of art, literature, and architecture. The society was extremely non-egalitarian, but for the lucky tiny minority this must have seemed a most civilised time.
The era remains a popular one as a subject for art - most notably in scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, written in around 1000 AD, and said to be the world's first novel. Note the fashion indicators of the time: the high eyebrows, the (very) long hair, and the sumptuous kimonos...
© Studio Morita / Studio Oz Inc
Yûshû - melancholy. This is Murasaki, Genji's longest, truest love, it seems, reduced to desolation when Genji marries the Third Princess. Why, in an era when it was quite normal to marry several people? Well, though Genji remained emotionally faithful to Murasaki, she was far outranked in the complicated social scale by his new wife, and fell ill, never to recover. Notice how her hair is almost as long as the elaborate kimono she wears; apparently long hair was the principal thing men of the time were attracted by.
The artist Morita Haruyo studied both Japanese art and kimono design, and she combines these with elements of her own Western-influenced technique. (She travelled to London in 1977, exactly the year I [Brian Chandler] first came to Tokyo.)
Morita is her family name: she follows the tradition of signing - and sealing - paintings with her given name only.
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An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 50 x 75 cm (20" x 30")
Code: E83143 (1000SN-143 on box)
Retail price ¥3000 (approx. US$29.13 €18.52 £14.63)
Shipping from ¥1100 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$10.68 €6.79 £5.37)
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© Studio Morita / Studio Oz Inc
The original title on the box is Yûen, a poetic term for grace and beauty. This lady is one of Genji's many lovers, but is also (unknown to Genji) the daughter of an enemy. Here she awaits a tryst in her many-layered kimono, under the hazy spring moon (oborozuki: another icon of Japanese literature).
The artist Morita Haruyo studied both Japanese art and kimono design, and she combines these with elements of her own Western-influenced technique. (She travelled to London in 1977, exactly the year I [Brian Chandler] first came to Tokyo.)
Morita is her family name: she follows the tradition of signing - and sealing - paintings with her given name only.
In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 50 x 75 cm (20" x 30")
Code: E83170 (1000SN-170 on box)
Retail price ¥3000 (approx. US$29.13 €18.52 £14.63)
Shipping from ¥1100 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$10.68 €6.79 £5.37)
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With a huge full moon as backdrop, Kaguyahime ("Princess of the shining night") has a pensive look. The story of which she is heroine, the "Bamboo cutter's tale", dates back a thousand years, to the great cultural flowering that was the Heian period. In the story, she was found as a tiny baby inside a bamboo trunk.
As we see, a beauty of that time wore her eyebrows high, and her hair exceedingly long. She also spared no expense on her kimono.
Good articles at Wikipedia:
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter -
Heian period
The painter Ozuma Kaname was born in 1939, in Niigata. He studied traditional Japanese art, and his pictures are generally based on traditional themes.
Ozuma is his family name: he signs paintings with the single character of his given name only.
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An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: A10339 (1000-339 on box)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$34.95 €22.22 £17.56)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$11.65 €7.41 £5.85)
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A very ancient scene - Genji is set in the Heian era (around 1000 years ago), and portrays the opulence of court life. Tanimoto's style is firmly contemporary, though: more like a manga than a conventional painting, with such a variety of scenes that we can see both cherry blossom and glowing red maple leaves in the same picture.
Born in 1951 in Kyoto, the artist Tanimoto Ichiro studied Japanese art, and has worked as a designer. He has held a number of exhibitions of kimono patterns, and although he paints traditional themes, his style is one of bold and direct characterisation, more reminiscent of textile design than brushwork.
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An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: A10434 (1000-434 on box)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$34.95 €22.22 £17.56)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$11.65 €7.41 £5.85)
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The tragic kabuki figure Takiyasha-hime is based on a historical character, Satsuki-hime, daughter of Masakado, a member of the Taira (Heike) clan on the losing side of the great power struggle with the Minamoto clan in the 12th century (Heian period).
According to the story, determined to avenge the death of her father, she went to the shrine of Kibune to obtain magic powers, and changed her name to Takiyasha-hime. We might translate this roughly as "The Witch of the Waterfall," though the -hime suffix normally refers to a "princess" or other lady figure. She tries to start a rebellion within the court, but eventually her powers are overcome, and she meets the same fate as her father.
Here we see the tragic stage of the kabuki performance - she still bears the Heike flag (red with black stripes), but her hair, long in the Heian style, is dishevelled, and her pose is one of despair. The shadowy scaly tail in the background is a reminder of the magic powers that are now failing her.
The painter Ozuma Kaname was born in 1939, in Niigata. He studied traditional Japanese art, and his pictures are generally based on traditional themes.
Ozuma is his family name: he signs paintings with the single character of his given name only.
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A Yanoman puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: Y101062 (10-1062 on box)
Retail price ¥3000 (approx. US$29.13 €18.52 £14.63)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$11.65 €7.41 £5.85)
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