Книги о восточном искусстве

Salon culture in Japan: making art, 1750–1900 celebrates the British Museum’s rich collection of technically sophisticated artworks created as part of Japanese cultural salons in the late 18th and 19th centuries, featuring lively figures in daily life and festivals, elegant birds and flowers, ferocious animals, and lyrical landscapes.

This book accompanies the special 2024 display in the British Museum Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries, City life and salon culture in Tokyo and Osaka: 1770–1900.

In early modern Japan, cultural salons were creative spaces for people of all ages and social levels to pursue painting, poetry and other artistic endeavours, as serious but amateur practitioners. They all used a pen- or art-name. Individuals were therefore able to socialise and interact broadly through these artistic activities, regardless of official social status as regulated by the shogunal government. The idea of communal and collaborative creativity seems to have been especially ingrained around the area of Kyoto and Osaka. Each of the two cities had a distinct character: Kyoto was the national capital, where the emperor and aristocrats resided, and Osaka was the centre of commerce.

Only a fraction of these technically sophisticated artworks has previously been published in colour. With five essays by leading experts that explore this fascinating cultural phenomenon from different angles, and eight shorter insights that delve into specific historical aspects and the personal connections and legacies of cultural figures, this book offers a new perspective on Japanese art and society in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

About the Authors:

Principal contributors from the British Museum
Rosina Buckland, Curator, Japanese Collections
Timothy T. Clark, Honorary Research Fellow
Alfred Haft, JTI Project Curator for Japanese Collections
Akiko Yano, Mitsubishi Corporation Curator, Japanese Collections
with C. Andrew Gerstle, Professor Emeritus, SOAS University of London

Supporting contributors
Akama Ryo, Ritsumeikan University
Akeo Keizo, Osaka University of Commerce
Paul Berry, Kyoto University of Foreign Languages
Hirai Yoshinobu, National Museum
of Modern Art, Kyoto
Scott Johnson, Kansai University
Nakatani Nobuo, Kansai University
Ellis Tinios, Leeds University

Japanese swords, particularly those wielded by famous samurai warriors, hold a continuing fascination for collectors of fine arts and historical military weapons. This book is designed to enhance one's appreciation for the wide variety of Japanese swords (as well as their related polearms), their manufacture and their preservation.

A fascinating opening chapter explains how the elite Samurai class dominated Japan for more than a thousand years, how technological and ideological advances overtook the Samurai in the 1860s, heralding a more up-to-date political and military system of governance, and how such changes affected Samurai sword design and manufacture.

Subsequent chapters present topics of greatest relevance to today's sword collector: namely, the modern Japanese sword; different types of swords and their construction and testing; collecting and studying Japanese swords (and the tremendously important etiquette involved); and techniques of preserving and polishing swords.

This book is beautifully illustrated with paintings, photographs, drawings, and maps. In addition, there is an in-depth glossary and useful tables explaining Japanese calligraphic symbols relating to swords, both of great value to the collector.

About the Author:

Clive Sinclaire is an instructor in the kendo form of martial arts and has been collecting Japanese swords for more than forty years. He is Chairman of the To-ken Society of Great Britain and frequently writes articles on Japanese sword culture and collecting that are featured on the society's website (www.To-ken.com) as well as in magazines. He has become a frequent visitor to Japan in the course of his research and studies, and in particular to the NBTHK (Nihon Bijitsu To-ken Hozon Kyodai) sword shows.

Samurai warriors ruled Japan for 700 years and are widely admired as the most skilled swordsmen who ever lived.

- 1000 pieces
- The finished puzzle is 74 x 51 cm inches
- Quality design & easy to handle pieces
- Full color A3 sized Poster (74 x 51 cm) included for reference
- Features a classic Japanese woodblock print by the artist Toyohara Kunichika

This ukiyo-e woodblock print by the artist Toyohara Kunichika (1835 -1900) shows a Kabuki enactment of a battle between Samurai fighters in a bamboo grove. The warrior astride a brown horse raises his riding crop high above his head, ready to bring it down on his enemy.

About the Author:

Toyohara Kunichika (1835 - 1900) was a well-known ukiyo-e woodblock print artist in Japan. As a teenager he began studying under Tokyo's leading print-maker, Utagawa Kunisada. He was successful throughout the Edo period (1603 - 1867) and the Meiji Era (1868 - 1912). He most often painted beautiful women and contemporary social life, alongside some landscapes and historical scenes. He has historically been dismissed by Western art collectors, but a 2008 show at the Brooklyn Museum and resulting article in the New York Times led to a resurgent interest in Kunichika in the 21st century. 

Tuttle Studio draws inspiration from the modern and traditional cultures of Asia to create its language workbooks and resources, journals, stationery, gift wrapping products and origami paper. It is a division of Tuttle Publishing, a leading publisher of books on the languages, history, art and cultures of Asia. The company was founded in 1832 in Rutland, Vermont (USA) and opened a branch in Tokyo, Japan in 1948.

The Samurai warrior is one of the most famous types of soldier, with his intricate armour, longbow and distinctive katana sword, as well as his strict martial code. But samurai warfare and military culture are much misunderstood in the modern era. In Samurai Weapons & Fighting Techniques, Thomas D. Conlan traces the history and development of samurai warfare over seven centuries, beginning with the historic dominance of the mounted, bow-armed samurai, moving through the introduction of naginata-wielding ashigaru (skirmishers) and pike formations, and finishing with the revolutionary introduction of firearms and cannon. Conlan analyses the success of particular samurai dynasties, such as the Ashikaga, Uesugi and Tokugawa clans, and examines the role of many of the great battlefield commanders – such as Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu – at key battles like Kawanakajima (1561), Nagashino (1575) and the siege of Osaka (1615).

The book is illustrated throughout with more than 300 detailed line drawings and colour photographs showing the weapons, equipment, techniques and tactics of the samurai. Types of armour – such as ō-yoroi, haramaki and paper armour – and weapons – such as the tachi long sword, wakizashi short sword and yari (pike) – are depicted in detail.

Expertly written, Samurai Weapons & Fighting Techniques is a highly illustrated, accessible introduction to samurai warfare for both the military enthusiast and general reader.

About the Author:

Thomas D. Conlan is Professor of East Asian Studies & History at Princeton University. He was formerly Associate Professor of Asian Studies at Bowdoin College, Maine. A graduate in Japanese History from the Universities of Michigan and Kyoto, he was awarded his Ph.D from Stanford University in 1998. His books include The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan.

Eerie tales of Japanese goblins, ghosts and magic — beautifully illustrated by contemporary Japanese yokai artist Sakyu!

This collection of fifteen chilling tales brings to life a world where the supernatural and earthly realms are seamlessly entwined. The ghosts, goblins and magical creatures in its pages are by turns mischievous, terrifying, protective and tender. Included in this anthology are:

- "The Badger Haunted Temple": A brazen group of friends attempts to rid a temple of a gluttonous, shape-shifting goblin who has taken up residence there
- "A Cherry Flower Idyll": A young man falls in love with the ethereal spirit of a cherry blossom tree and vows to find her in the mortal world
- "The Story of Mimi Nashi Hoichi": A blind bard is summoned to recite the tale of a famous battle to the ghosts of its victims, only to find that his own life is at risk
- And twelve other supernatural tales, including several that rarely appear in English!

About the Author:

Lafcadio Hearn was one of the earliest Western writers to publish stories and essays about supernatural Japan. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the country and its people. After marrying a samurai's daughter, he became a Japanese citizen and changed his name to Yakumo Koizumi. He began publishing books on Japan in 1894, soon becoming known as the great interpreter of all things Japanese to the West.

Yei Theodora Ozaki was born in Victorian England to a Japanese father and an English mother. After her parents' marriage ended, Ozaki began to travel the world, and retell in English the traditional Japanese stories she loved. She later married Yukio Ozaki, a Japanese politician, and went on to publish several collections of Japanese folk tales.

Sakyu is an illustrator based in Osaka whose work frequently depicts yokai and other supernatural beings. Blending traditional styles with modern content, she brings humorous insights to contemporary life in Japan. Since graduating from Kyoto Saga University of Arts, her work has appeared in museums in Japan and abroad, including the Museum of International Folk Art exhibit "Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan," and the video game Samurai Bringer.

No understanding of Chinese civilisation is possible without a grasp of Taoism, the philosophy that has shaped not just Chinese spirituality but also art, science and politics. And it was in the Tao Te Ching, written around 300BC, that the fundamental beliefs of Taoism were first gathered. This short, wise but very humble book went on to influence on philosophy, religion and politics. In a compellingly simple rhetorical style, the book addresses how to live a simple, peaceful and harmonious life, how to rid oneself of desires and free society of institutions that promote greed.

This dual-language edition of Tao Te Ching presents the original Chinese characters with a new translation on the facing page, and is illustrated throughout to make an attractive gift edition in traditional Chinese hand binding. With a new introduction that discusses the questioned authorship of the text and editorial notes, all 81 brief chapters are included, ranging from advice for politicians to wise words for the everyday person. Of immense influence across millennia, Tao Te Ching Illustrated is a classic text richly deserving of this exquisite edition.

About the Author:

Lao Tzu, or Laozi, is an honorific title meaning ‘Old Master’, and it is unlikely that the Tao Te Ching or Daodejing was written by one person, but if he did exist, his name was Li Er. Traditionally written in the sixth century BCE, there are a number of ancient text sources that have been used to compile this version.

In this book, the beauty and design of Japanese tattoos are explored through ukiyo-e prints and explained in detailed bilingual Japanese and English text.

In recent years, the number of ukiyo-e tattoo designs, or tattoo designs using ukiyo-e motifs, has increased, and ukiyo-e are becoming more popular among tattoo lovers.

First, Chapter 1 presents the artworks by artist, beginning with Kuniyoshi Utagawa, to introduce the beauty and design of tattoos by artists such as Toyokuni Utagawa, Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, Yoshiiku Ochiai, Kunichika Toyohara, and Yoshitora Utagawa.
In Chapter 2, tattoo designs based on ukiyo-e are presented and grouped by motif, specifically including examples such as Shinto and Buddhist deities (Fujin, Raijin...); animals (dogs, cats, wolves, lions, monkeys...); plants (peonies, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums...); yokai monsters (Hannya, skulls, bakenekos...); caricatures (Otsu-e, Okame, Hyottoko...) and more.

This book appeals not only to lovers of traditional Japanese culture, but also to tattoo-lovers and tattoo artists, who can use it as a reference for designs.

From rugged Japanese firemen’s ceremonial robes and austere rural workwear to colourful, delicately-patterned cotton kimonos, this lavishly illustrated volume explores Japan’s rich tradition of textiles.

Textiles are an eloquent form of cultural expression and of great importance in the daily life of a people, as well as in their rituals and ceremonies. The traditional clothing and fabrics featured in this book were made and used in the islands of the Japanese archipelago between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. The Thomas Murray collection featured in this book includes daily dress, workwear, and festival garb and follows the Arts and Crafts philosophy of the Mingei Movement, which saw that modernization would leave behind traditional art forms such as the hand-made textiles used by country people, farmers, and fisherman. It presents subtly patterned cotton fabrics, often indigo dyed from the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu, along with garments of the more remote islands: the graphic bark cloth, nettle fiber, and fish skin robes of the aboriginal Ainu in Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the north, and the brilliantly coloured cotton kimonos of Okinawa to the far south. Numerous examples of these fabrics, photographed in exquisite detail, offer insight into Japan’s complex textile history as well as inspiration for today’s designers and artists. This volume explores the range and artistry of the country’s tradition of fiber arts and is an essential resource for anyone captivated by the Japanese aesthetic.

About the Authors:

Thomas Murray is a dealer of Asian and tribal art and has an extensive personal collection of Japanese and Indonesian textiles. He is a past president of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), and served on President Obama's Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the Department of State in Washington, DC. Virginia Soenksen is Associate Director of the Madison Art Collection at James Madison University in Virginia. Anna Jackson is Keeper of the Asian Department at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where she is responsible for the museum's collection of Japanese textiles and dresses.

A revised edition of a classic title, now with digitally restored photographs, showcasing the finest surviving examples of ancient Buddhist art.

'Benoy K. Behl's remarkable photographs, painstakingly gathered and digitally restored over thirty years of hard labour, are probably the best and truest record of these fabulous treasures that will ever be created.' William Dalrymple

A revised edition of a classic title, now with digitally restored photographs, showcasing the finest surviving examples of ancient Buddhist art.

Since their chance re-discovery in 1819, the breathtaking paintings and sculptures of the Ajanta caves have inspired and delighted experts and amateurs alike. Ranging in date from the second century BCE to the sixth century CE, these ancient Buddhist artworks rank among the world's most important cultural treasures. Benoy K. Behl captured the beauty and luminosity of these works using long exposures and only natural light and now presents them here digitally restored to show the paintings closer to their original glory than ever before.

The exquisite murals, depicting the tales of previous incarnations of Buddha, scenes of princely processions and fantastical birds and beasts, provide virtually the only evidence of painting styles that first developed in India and remain crucially important to the understanding of Buddhist art throughout Asia. On UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, the Ajanta caves survive as a potent symbol of the great beauty of India's rich artistic past.

This new edition provides for the first time a view of some of the masterpieces of Ajanta painstakingly digitally restored by Behl. Sensitively carried out, the restoration makes the paintings clearer without interfering with their original grace and nuance, leading to a deeper appreciation of their artistry. Accompanied by expert commentaries to fully immerse the reader in the cultural context of the murals, this book will help preserve the legacy of the glorious art of Ajanta for years to come.

About the Author:

Benoy K. Behl is an art historian, film-maker and photographer who is known for his tireless and prolific output of work over the past forty-six years. He has taken over 53,000 photographs of Asian monuments and art heritage and made 145 documentaries on subjects of art and culture.

Illustrated with overwhelming fineness, this is a world you wish you could visit

Munashichi is an illustrator who became popular drawing steampunk-like fantasy worlds with an overwhelming fineness and detail. Munashichi is well known in the anime and gaming industry for the concept design for the acclaimed video games Tales of Zestiriaand Tales of Berseria, the concept artwork for the anime television series Princess Principals, which was licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and MVM films in UK. Gigantic, sky-high buildings, deeply extended caverns, complexly crossed pipes, factory scenes, abandoned places and nostalgic townscapes are themes commonly seen in Munashichi’s illustrations. This book includes Munashichi’s past illustration works, concept images for games and anime series, original works and newly drawn illustrations just for this book.

This is a type of a book which you will always find something new every time you look back. Each illustration will tell you a different story. You will never want to come back from the world of Munashichi.

About the Author:

Well known in the anime and gaming industry for the concept design for the acclaimed video games Tales of Zestiriaand Tales of Berseria, the concept artwork for the anime television series Princess Principals, which was licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and MVM films in UK.

In The Art of the Japanese Sword, master swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara offers a comprehensive view on the making, finishing and appreciation of Japanese blades.

The Japanese sword, a unique work of art in steel, can be appreciated from a number of viewpoints. Its functionality as a weapon, the sophisticated metallurgy and scientific thinking utilized by the swordsmith, the shape of the blade itself, and the different crystalline forms in the steel all contribute to the beauty of these remarkable weapons. The Art of the Japanese Sword conveys to the reader a basic background regarding the Japanese sword, as well as an explanation of how to view and appreciate a blade. It also illustrates the details of how a sword is made and finished today.

Modern craftsmen use completely traditional methods from the past to prepare their steel, forge the sword and create the unique hardened edge. By gaining a good understanding of how a sword is actually made, the reader will be able to appreciate the Japanese sword more fully.

Japanese sword art stands out in many ways: functionality as a weapon, sophisticated metallurgy and metalsmithing, the shape of the blade itself--all contribute to the beauty of these remarkable weapons. The Art of the Japanese Sword conveys to the reader Japanese samurai sword history and Japanese sword care, as well as explaining how to view and appreciate a blade.

With 256 full-color pages, this sword book illustrates in meticulous detail how modern craftsmen use traditional methods to prepare their steel, forge the sword and create the unique hardened edge. By gaining a good understanding of how a sword is made, the reader will be able to appreciate the samurai sword more fully. Topics include:

- Appreciating the Japanese sword
- History of the Japanese sword
- Traditional Japanese steelmaking
- Making the sword
- Finishing the sword

About the Authors:

Yoshindo Yoshihara is a third-generation swordsmith. His grandfather Kuniie began making swords in 1933 in Tokyo and was ranked among the top swordsmiths in Japan during his career. Yoshindo lives and works in Tokyo with his son, who represents the fourth generation of swordsmiths in the family. Yoshindo, who is always training young swordsmiths and currently has five apprentices working with him, has been named an Important Cultural Property of the city and prefecture of Tokyo and is a mukansa (top-ranked swordsmith) in Japan.

Leon Kapp, a molecular biologist, lives with his wife Hiroko in San Rafael, California. He has been seriously interested in Japanese swords for over twenty-five years and has spent a great deal of time learning about them from Yoshindo.

Hiroko Kapp is a writer for Senken Shimbun News of Tokyo and writes about fashion and the fashion industry in the US. She graduated from Musashi-no Art University in Tokyo. For twenty-five years, she was active in the apparel business and designed scarves for her own line in the US.

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Пролистать книгу The Art of the Japanese Sword: The Craft of Swordmaking and its Appreciation на Google Books.

If you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win numerous battles without a single loss. – Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Written in the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is still used as a book of military strategy today. Napoleon, Mae Zedong and Douglas MacArthur all claimed to have drawn inspiration from it. And beyond the world of war, modern-era business and management gurus have also applied Sun Tzu’s ideas to politics and corporate strategy. This illustrated dual-language edition not only presents the original Chinese characters with James Trapp’s translation on the facing page, it also tests Sun Tzu’s ideas against history. Each of the 13 chapters includes a new commentary giving examples of how Sun Tzu’s wisdom has been borne out on the world’s battlefields. When, for example, has information provided by spies changed the course of a battle? How has history shown Sun Tzu’s ideas on the importance of terrain in conflict to be true? And where can we best find examples of strategic warfare being waged? From the ancient world to the 20th century, the battles featured are illustrated with colour battle maps, paintings and artworks. Of immense influence to leaders across millennia, The Art of War Illustrated is a classic text richly deserving this illustrated and expanded dual-language edition.

About the Authors:

Sun Tzu (also known as Sunzi) was traditionally thought by historians to have been born around 544BCE, and that he later served as a general leading the forces of King He Lü of Wu, one of the seven Warring States of Eastern China during the Spring and Autumn period, and The Art of War is based on his many victories, although modern scholarship suggests the book may have been written later.

James Trapp is the author of Chinese Characters: The Art and Meaning of Hanzi, Chinese Proverbs and Tao Te Ching. A Chinese language graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, he teaches Mandarin and is an Education Officer on the China Collection at the British Museum.

‘Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage,’ are the opening words of Okakura Kakuzō’s The Book of Tea, written in English in 1906 for a Western audience. The book is a long essay celebrating the secular art of the Japanese tea ceremony and linking its importance with Zen Buddhism and Taoism. It is both about cultural life, aesthetics and philosophy, emphasising how Teaism – a term Kakuzō coined – taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity, which can be seen in Japanese art and architecture. Looking back at the evolution of the Japanese tea ceremony, Kakuzō argues that Teaism, in itself, is one of the profound universal remedies that two parties could sit down to. Where the West had scoffed at Eastern religion and morals, it held Eastern tea ceremonies in high regard.

With a new introduction, this is an exquisitely produced edition of a classic text made using traditional Chinese bookbinding techniques. Surely it’s time for tea.

About the Author:

Okakura Kakuzo was born in 1862, the son of a merchant. He learnt English as a child and went on to study languages at Tokyo University. There, he started a movement to preserve Japanese culture from the rise of modernism and westernisation. At the age of only twenty-nine, he was made principal of the National Art School, and many of his students went on to become famous artists. In 1898, he resigned to found a dissident school of art. To raise funds, he travelled to America, where he found a wealthy and interested patron in Mrs Isabella Gardner, ‘Queen of Boston’. Now a successful artist, he was also appointed curator of Chinese and Japanese art at the Boston Museum. A dramatic and extroverted character, he wrote The Book of Tea in 1906 and died seven years later, in 1913.

The perfect introduction to the world of Japanese myth and legend

This is a smart and succinct guide to the rich tradition of Japanese mythology, from the earliest recorded legends of Izanagi and Izanami, their divine offspring and the creation of Japan, to medieval tales of vengeful ghosts, through to the modern-day reincarnation of ancient deities as the heroes of mecha anime. While many around the world love Japan’s cultural exports, few are familiar with Japan’s unique mythology - enriched by Shinto, Buddhism and regional folklore.

Mythology remains a living, evolving part of Japanese society, and the ways in which the people of Japan understand their myths are very different today even from a century ago, let alone over a millennium into the past. Offering much more than any competing overview of Japanese mythology, The Japanese Myths not only retells the ancient stories but also considers their place within the patterns of Japanese religions, culture and history, helping readers to understand the deep links between past and present in Japan, and the ways these myths live and grow.

Joshua Frydman takes the very earliest written myths in the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki as his starting point, and from there traces Japan’s mythology through to post-war State Shinto, the rise of the manga industry in the 1960s, J-horror and modern-day myths. Reinventions and retellings of myth are present across all genres of contemporary Japanese culture, from its auteur cinema to renowned video games such as Okami. This book is for anyone interested in Japan, as knowing its myths allows readers to understand and appreciate its culture in a new light.

Contents List:

Introduction
1. What are the Japanese Myths?
2. Age of the Gods
3. The Imperial Mythos
4. Living Kami and Divine Humans
5. Canon Foreigners
6. A World Flush with Spirits
7. Invention and Rediscovery

About the Author:

Joshua Frydman is Assistant Professor of Japanese in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. An expert on ancient Japan, his academic interests include the development of writing systems (in East Asia and worldwide), and the role of transregional and global cultural interactions in the development of premodern societies as viewed through literature and art. He is also the author of Inscribed Objects and the Development of Literature in Early Japan.

Whether it be Cosplay, Rockabilly, HipHop or Gothic: when the Japanese immerse in a subculture, they do it like no other.

The otaku’s passion is all-consuming. Whether it be cosplay, gothic, or rockabilly, when the Japanese embrace a subculture, they do it like no other. From Lolita fashion and latex couture to neon-drenched big-rigs, anime-plastered vans, and chrome-heavy hot rods, subcultures in Japan are as varied as they are fascinating.

Delving into these worlds, The Obsessed reveals the extraordinary passion devotees have for their hobbies and lifestyles. With dazzling photography, on-the-ground interviews, and cultural essays, this book showcases a kaleidoscope of scenes and individuals drawn from Japan’s many countercultural groups.

About the Author:

Irwin Wong is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Tokyo. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, he moved to Japan in 2005. He was Co-editor of gestalten’s Handmade in Japan, published in 2020.