The cherry blossom is considered a national flower in Japan. It has been celebrated for many centuries and holds a very prominent position in Japanese culture.

The Chronicle of Japan, the second oldest book in classical Japanese history, records the tradition of cherry blossom viewing parties being held as early as the third century. The imperial households, poets, singers, and other aristocrats would gather and celebrate under the blossoms and it has been passed down through the generations. This tradition continues today as the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the cherry blossom front as it moves northward up the country. The Japanese people pay close attention to these forecasts and turn out in large numbers at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to hold flower-viewing parties. In 1912, Japan gifted 3,020 cherry trees to the United States to celebrate their growing-friendship. These trees were planted in Manhattan and along the shore of the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. This gift was renewed with 3,800 more trees in 1965. A new title in the traditional patterns series, this book shows another Japanese traditional motif, the cherry blossom.

About 220 works are featured in the book dating from the eighth century through the twentieth century, including such artists as Hiroshige and Taikan Yokoyama.

Tokyo Clash is an extraordinary encounter with Japanese design culture. Author and photographer Ralf Bahren presents Japan's megacity in a visually stunning collection of images, vividly colourful and rich in contrast. He transports readers on an exciting trip through Japanese everyday life - a world that doesn't want to conform to the cliche of Asian reticence. Eye-catching signs, glittering games of chance, Manga characters and countless other items in this collection of Japanese products compete for the viewer's attention. They exist, apparently without any contradiction, alongside traditional temples and Buddha statues. This delightful book promises appealing, provocative and sometimes absurd insights into a foreign universe. Get ready for the ride of your life!A"

Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, are the most recognizable Japanese art form. Their massive popularity has spread from Japan to be embraced by a worldwide audience. Covering the period from the beginning of the Japanese woodblock print in the 1680s until the year 1900, Japanese Woodblock Prints provides a detailed survey of all the major artists, along with the images on which their fame rests.

Unlike previous examinations of this art form, Japanese Woodblock Prints includes detailed histories of the publishers of woodblock prints - who were often the driving force determining which prints, and therefore which artists, would make it into mass circulation for a chance at critical and popular success. Invaluable as a guide for ukiyo-e enthusiasts looking for detailed information about their favorite artists and prints, it is also an ideal introduction for newcomers to the world of the woodblock print. This lavishly illustrated book will be a valued addition to the libraries of scholars, as well as the general art enthusiast.

Illustrations: 200 color photos, 135 watercolors, 16 historical prints, 14 plans, 6 maps

he Art of Japanese Architecture explores the simplicity, asymmetry, sensitivity to the natural environment, and use of natural materials that are the hallmarks of Japanese architecture. These elements are explored and clarified in this cultural and historical overview of the rapidly changing world of Japanese architecture.
Beginning with a discussion of prehistoric pit dwellings and concluding with a description of significant modern buildings, David and Michiko Young, authors of the 2006 American Horticultural Award-winning book, The Art of the Japanese Garden, analyze the major changes in architecture caused by the introduction of Buddhist culture, the development of feudalism, the influence of Western culture and the adaptation of the international style in contemporary buildings.

In the ryokan, the traditional Japanese guesthouse, building and landscape are melded in harmonic unity. The customs, art, and history of Japan become a vivid, personal experience. - Richly illustrated articles discussing art forms, ways of life, and traditional rituals in ancient Japan: architecture, painting, color woodcuts, ceramics, ikebana, select foods, clothing, no theater, martial arts, seasonal festivals, and more - Extensive glossary of terms relating to Japanese culture - High quality pictures by the internationally recognized photographers Narimi Hatano and Klaus Frahm A stay in a ryokan is far more than an overnight in a Japanese hotel - it is a journey through time that allows you to become a guest in Old Japan. Whatever form the ryokan may have, wherever it is located, you will participate in the traditional way of life of a country that remained isolated from foreign influences for more than a thousand years, and developed a unique, highly aesthetic, and fascinating culture. With only few compromises to modern times, a ryokan offers an experience of a world we thought was lost, in which we can immerse ourselves, detached from our everyday lives. Art, architecture, and the culture of daily life in ancient Japan as well as ceremonies and rituals, including the tea ceremony, the way of the Samurai, and much more is elucidated and explored in richly illustrated articles.

Japan's output of manga is massive, accounting for 40 per cent of everything published in the country annually. There has also been a boom in sales outside Japan, with the manga aesthetic spreading from comics into all areas of Western youth culture through film, computer games, advertising and design. This book presents an accessible, entertaining and highly illustrated introduction to the development and diversity of Japanese comics from 1945 to the present. The chapters explore topics such as: the career of Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy and originator of manga strip stories; girls' and women's comics; and the darker, more violent gekiga manga, featuring samurais and apocalyptic science fiction.

250 photos/illustrations

Pattern design has a long history within Japanese culture. This book presents a collection of carefully selected traditional Japanese patterns in 60 categories for use by designers and artists in their projects and personal work. An companion CD-ROM provides 250 patterns in high resolution JPEG format along with PSD format from which you can freely manipulate and modify the patterns to customize them for your own use. This is an inspirational and highly practical reference and sourcebook for anyone working in the area of visual art.

Shigeki Nakamura (Japan) began his carrier as an art director in 1964 in Japan. He established his office, cobble collaboration in 1987, which and has produced design pattern books under its own brand. He is a member of JAGDA (Japan Graphic Designers Association).

The Japanese stone garden is an art form recognized around the globe. These gardens provide tranquil settings where visitors can shed the burdens and stresses of modern existence, satisfy an age-old yearning for solitude and repose, and experience the restorative power of art and nature. For this reason the value of the Japanese stone garden today is arguably even greater than when many of them were created.

Japanese Stone Gardens provides a comprehensive introduction to the powerful mystique and dynamism of the Japanese stone garden — from their earliest use as props in animistic rituals, to their appropriation by Zen monks and priests to create settings conducive to contemplation and finally to their contemporary uses and meaning. With insightful text and abundant imagery, this book reveals the hidden order of stone gardens and in the process heightens the enthusiast's appreciation of them.

A compendium of the golden age of Japanese prints from one of the worlds foremost collections.

The dazzling variety of Japanese woodblock prints, from serene landscapes to portraits of flamboyant actors and courtesans, is captured in this captivating volume. The book is divided into four chapters: "Primitives" (the term for Japanese woodblock prints produced between approximately 1660 and 1765); Courtesans; Actors; and Landscapes. Most of the images are printed in multiple colours and range from the seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century. The artists include such masters as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro, who are represented by lesser-known treasures as well as by some of their most celebrated series, including Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

Beyond Kurosawa
Exploring the work of the greatest Japanese filmmakers

Until recently, the western world has viewed Japanese cinema through a very narrow prism. For years, Westerners interested in Japanese film had to content themselves with the collected works of Akira Kurosawa, a spotty sampling of films by Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu, gobs of anime, and badly dubbed monster movies. Many great filmmakers like Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita have remained unknown in the West, and Japanese musicals and comedies are hardly known outside Asia. This volume sets the record straight, illustrating an in-depth history of Japanese cinema with vivid posters and stunning photography.

The author:
Stuart Galbraith IV is the author of seven books. He also makes DVD audio commentaries and liner note essays, writes a DVD column for the English edition of The Daily Yomiuri, and reviews DVDs at DVDTalk.com. He lives in Kyoto.

The art of the Ukiyo-e reflected the artistic expression of an isolated civilisation which, when it became accessible to the West, significantly influenced a number of European artists. The three masters of Ukiyo-e, Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige, are united here for the first time to create a true reference on Japanese art. The three masters rank highly among the most famous Japanese artistic productions of all time.
This new title of the Prestige of Art collection will be a reference for art students and Japanese art lovers.

The Author:

Edmond de Goncourt was a French writer belonging to the naturalist movement. He was friends with Zola, Flaubert and Daudet. From 1850, he wrote on art history with his brother. Together, they were the witnesses of the artistic life of the second half of the nineteenth century. His last will was to create a literary academy to honour the memory of this brother. The Goncourt Prize is today the most prestigious literary distinction in France.
Mikhail Uspensky was a leading art historian and curator of the Japanese art collections of the Hermitage Museum.

This richly illustrated book presents the Jeffrey Montgomery collection of Japanese folk art, one of the foremost collections of this art in the world.

Superb examples of lacquer and metalwork, basketry, textiles, furniture, masks, sculpture, paintings, toys and ceramics, organised by medium into five sections. These utilitarian objects of everyday life date from the Muromachi period (1392-1568) to the early Meiji period (1868-1912), and were crafted by hardworking artisans for farmers, fishermen, town merchants and the upper-class elite. The pieces these artisans produced reflect an honesty and respect for all things both animate and inanimate, while at the same time they served as vehicles of ritual and symbols of cultural identity.

The significant feature of all the objects in the collection is that they possess a unique and inherent quality of timeless beauty. The introduction written by Dr. Edward de Waal, a potter and a writer whose works are held in many museum collections, focuses on the history of the appreciation of Japanese Folk arts in the West. Indeed, the influence of Japanese folk art on modernist design and on the growth of the craft movement within the West has been extremely important. The book continues with extensive texts written by four highly respected Japanese art historians.

The entries are divided into five sections: ceramics, textiles, metalworks, masks, and additional objects (furniture, toys, sculptures, etc.) The book includes a chronology, a map of Japan, an index and bibliography.

MATCHIBAKO: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s depicts Japan’s swift transformation into an industrial empire in the early 20th century, as illustrated in the infinitesimal advertisements on matchboxes from the period. In an uncertain society and its changing leisure market, matches joined cigarettes in Western-style hotels and cafes, and in sushi bars next door. Patrons might be found in Western dress or traditional kimono, debating Marx or the latest silent film, but all saw themselves reflected in the new graphism.

Although most were anonymously designed, these tiny remainders alternately show the influence of Cubism and the Bauhaus in illustration and English type, and retain conventional wood block fonts and right-to-left Japanese text. This little book is a delightful collection of images from the other side of the globe.

Completely illustrated in color

250 photos/illustrations

Pattern design has a long history within Japanese culture. This book presents a collection of carefully selected traditional Japanese patterns in 60 categories for use by designers and artists in their projects and personal work. An companion CD-ROM provides 250 patterns in high-definition JPEG format along with PSD format from which you can freely manipulate and modify the patterns to customize them for your own use. This is an inspirational and highly practical reference and sourcebook for anyone working in the area of visual art.