#japanese prints

[jareckiworld]

Shinya Tamai — Daikokuten (natural mineral pigment on japanese paper mounted on wood panel, 2022)

[jstor]

Bats and sycamore leaves*, a woodblock print by an unidentified Japanese artist ca. 1900. From the Taubman Museum of Art collection on JSTOR, featuring 1,701 freely accessible images of artworks, no login needed!

*What kind of leaves did you think they were, huh?

[the-cricket-chirps]

Aoyama Seizan, Horses, 1930s

[masterpeaces-of-japanese-culture]

Famous Heroes of the Kabuki Stage Played by Frogs, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 19th century

[geritsel]

Kawase Hasui - Wintery woodblock prints from the Carnegie Museum of Art collection. Mostly 1920s-1930s.

[city-of-ladies]

Genmei (661-721) was Japan's fourth empress regnant. She was Empress Jitō's half-sister and her match in terms of ambition and political skills. Her rule was characterized by a development of culture and innovations. 

Ruling after her son

Like Jitō (645-703), Genmei was the daughter of Emperor Tenji but was born from a different mother. Jitō was both her half-sister and mother-in-law since Genmei had married the empress’ son, Prince Kusakabe (662-689). She had a son with him, Emperor Monmu (683-707). 

Kusakabe died early and never reigned, which led to Jitō's enthronement. The empress was then succeeded by her grandson Monmu. The latter’s reign was short. In his last will, he called for his mother to succeed him in accordance with the “immutable law” of her father Tenji. Genmei accepted. 

Steadfast and ambitious 

Genmei was made from the same mold as her half-sister. She proved to be a fearless sovereign, undeterred by military crises. 

She pursued Jitō's policies, strengthening the central administration and keeping the power in imperial hands. Among her decisions were the proscription of runaway peasants and the restriction of private ownership of mountain and field properties by the nobility and Buddhist temples. 

Another of her achievements was transferring the capital at Heijō-kyō (Nara) in 710, turning it into an unprecedented cultural and political center. Her rule saw many innovations. Among them were the first attempt to replace the barter system with the Wadō copper coins, new techniques for making brocade twills and dyeing and the settlement of experimental dairy farmers.

A protector of culture

Genmei sponsored many cultural projects. The first was the Kojiki, written in 712 it told Japan’s history from mythological origins to the current rulers. In its preface, the editor Ō no Yasumaro praised the empress:

“Her Imperial Majesty…illumines the univers…Ruling in the Purple Pavillion, her virtue extends to the limit of the horses’ hoof-prints…It must be saif that her fame is greater than that of Emperor Yü and her virtue surpasses that of Emperor Tang (legendary emperors of China)”.

In 713, she ordered the local governments to collect local legends and oral traditions as well as information about the soil, weather, products and geological and zoological features. Those local gazetteers (Fudoki) were an invaluable source of Japan’s ancient tradition.

Several of Genmei’s poems are included in the Man'yōshū anthology, including a reply by one of the court ladies. 

Listen to the sounds of the warriors' elbow-guards;

Our captain must be ranging the shields to drill the troops.

– Genmei Tennō

Reply:

Be not concerned, O my Sovereign;

Am I not here,

I, whom the ancestral gods endowed with life,

Next of kin to yourself

– Minabe-hime

From mother to daughter 

Genmei abdicated in 715 and passed the throne to her daughter, empress Genshō (680-748) instead of her sickly grandson prince Obito. This was an unprecedented situation, making the Nara period the pinnacle of female monarchy in Japan. 

Genmei would oversee state affairs until she died in 721. Before her death, she shaved her head and became a nun, becoming the first Japanese monarch to take Buddhist vows and establishing a long tradition.

Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you like what I do! Your support would be greatly appreciated.

Further reading

Shillony Ben-Ami, Enigma of the Emperors Sacred Subservience in Japanese History

Tsurumi Patricia E., “Japan’s early female emperors”

Aoki Michiko Y., "Jitō Tennō, the female sovereign",in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (ed.), Heroic with grace legendary women of Japan

[crazyfox-archives]

"Night in Kyoto" by Sekino Jun'ichirō (関野凖一郎), 1980

[emmaklee]

The Fukujuso Plant from Ehagaki sekai / artist unknown (19090

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE TASTY PRINTS & LOVELY LADIES OF THE KAIE PERIOD -- TEMPURA WITH HER TEA.

PIC INFO: "Looks delicious," Appearance of a Courtesan in the Kaei Period, from the series "Thirty-Two Aspects of Women" (1888) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Photo: Nakau Collection.

Source: https://asianartnewspaper.com/life-in-edo-prints/#prettyPhoto[group-135]/2.

[dogandcatcomics]

Attribution: Utagawa Yoshifuji 歌川芳藤, real name Nishimura Tōtarō 西村藤太郎 (Japan, 1828-1887). Woodblock print, omocha-e 玩具絵, (toy print, meant for children). This one has admirable cats. Thanks to @paulalupkin for the tip.

[rosestains]

Hiroshige Utagawa and Takashi Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum

[jareckiworld]

Kazuki Umezawa — Wall of Glorious [inkjet print, acrylic and glitter paste, on wood panel, 2015]

[thechemistryset]

Koichi Sakamoto, Houses with Red Sky

[the-cricket-chirps]

Kawase Hasui

Pine Beach at Miho

1931

[masterpeaces-of-japanese-culture]

Stars over Biwa Lake, by Shoda Koho, 1930

[figurationoftheinvisible]

It rained last night softly a nice surprise Image: Kobayashi Eijiro, High Bridge, woodblock print, 1910 - 1930