Over time ukiyo-e developed into popular art form and the subjects of the prints broadened. The equivalent of today’s movie poster were Yakusha-e or woodblock prints of kabuki actors in popular roles and Bijin-ga illustrated beautiful women of Edo.

In the early days, wood block prints were one color with two and three color prints first created in the 1740′s followed by multi-color called nishiki-e (brocade picture) in the early Meiji period.  Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo created during the first half of the 1800′s combined images of daily life in Edo, now Tokyo, with iconic landscapes and places.

Ukiyo-e offers a glimpse into life in early japan through its stunning visiual representation of the clothing, events and customs of the time.

How Ukiyo-e Are Created

Making traditional ukiyo-e (woodblock) prints is a complex process that involves the work of at least three artisans:

1. The ukiyo-e artist sketches the design with sumisen (ink lines)
2. The horishi (carver) pastes the sketch on a block made of wild cherry wood and carves out the design. This block, called a sumiita (ink plate), is only for printing the black outline.
3. Other blocks are then carved out, one for each color; these are called iroita (color plates).
4. The surishi (printer) applies color on the blocks under the artist’s supervision. The light colors and largest areas are printed first followed by darker colors and small details.
5. Sheets of paper are then pressed on each woodblock to create the design.  Each block has a marking on the same spot relative to the finished picture to ensure that the image remains aligned throughout the process.

The artisans are so skilled that it is often hard to discern the steps or block used to create a high quality multi-color woodblock print.  It’s hard not to appreciate the beauty if the resulting prints once you are aware of the painstaking process required to create them.

Ukiyo-e in Museums

Visitors to most major museums in Japan will enjoy perusing a selection of famous ukiyo-e prints but one of the best collections of prints is not found in Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka but in a city in northern Japan better know for its ski slopes than its contribution to the art world.  The Japan Ukiyo-e Museum is located in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture and is home to the largest private collection of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), paintings screens and old books in the world.  Over the course of five generations the Sakai family has amassed an amazing collection of over 100,000 pieces.

In Tokyo, visit the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art or the The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints.

Ukiyo-e for Kids of All Ages

Kids-web Japan has a gallery of some famous woodblock prints and you can even create your own virtual Ukiyo-e to see if you have mastered the process.

Image Credit:  Wikimedia, Utamaro1, Red Fuji southern wind clear morning by Katsushika Hokusai & Dai-ichi no Gekijō Shintomi-za from Tōkyō Meisho by Hiroshige Utagawa III

The Sky Aquarium intersperses art among fish tanks and utilizes fish tanks and their occupants as art – it is more like a living museum of modern art than a traditional aquarium.  The views of the city aren’t bad either!

Last year, the fish cavorted about within a folding screen with superimposed shadows and colors that changed.  I was mesmerized!

This year the fish swim in Japanese lanterns with similar lighting and shadow effects and can be seen in an aquatic staircase in the Japonism Gallery.

In Go swim with fishes high in the sky, The Japan Times reviewed the event and describes the six zones of illusion in this years exhibit as follows:

• The Caribbean Blue Hole is a large transparent fish tank that can be viewed from the top, around its circumference, or even the bottom.
• The Art Aquarium Gallery where fish tanks are transformed into art by ten artists using materials from the sea.
• The Fantasia zone features jellyfish and colored lasers
• The Japonism Gallery, described above
• In Kaleidorium you can view the tanks as if through a kaleidoscope
• The Prisrium features fish swimming about in a tank shaped like a multifaceted diamond.

If you are visiting the city and are looking for a great view of the skyline, an aquarium and an art gallery all rolled into one then Tokyo City View is the place to be.  If you miss Sky Aquarium III, Mori Tower still worth a visit, just make a sojourn to the Mori Art Museum located in the same complex to get your fill of contemporary art.

Sky Aquarium III Event Details

Event Dates: July 17th – October 4th, 2009

Times: 11AM – Midnight weedays & Sundays (last admission 11:30PM) – Fridays & Saturdays 11AM – 1AM  (last admission midnight)

Admission: Y2,300 (Includes admission to Tokyo City View Observations Deck & Mori Art Museum)

Access: A short walk from Tokyo Metro Roppongi Station. (Mori Tower Access Map)

Image Credit: Flickr, Mori Tower View 2 & Personal Collection

The decision on whether Tokyo will once again be honored as the host city of the Olympics is just a few months away.  On October 2nd, the Olympic bid committee will decide whether Tokyo will be chosen to host the Summer Olympics in 2016.

The Summer Olympics were hosted by Tokyo in 1964 and is still home to a number of the venues that played an integral part in the success of those games.  One of those venues is the National Stadium that now houses The Prince Chichibu Memorial Sports Museum that houses a large collection of Olympic memorabilia and displays that cover the history of the games starting with first Olympiad.

The National Stadium was built in 1958 for the 1964 Olympics and today serves as a venue for soccer and rugby matches.  The Prince Chichibu Memorial Sports Museum opened in 1959 and is dedicated to the memory of Prince Yashuhito Chichibu (1902-1953), commonly referred to as the “Sporting Prince” by the people of Japan, who was a lover of sport and an honorary head of many athletic organizations after WWII.

Exhibits at the museum include the winner’s podium from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, torches, athletic uniforms, tickets, scale models and posters that in combination provide an impressive overview of the history of the Olympic Games.

Yoshinori Sakai was a key figure in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he had the honor of being the final torch bearer and is pictured above lighting the Olympic cauldron.  Today he is active in supporting the Tokyo2106 bid committee.  A little older bit still very fit, he made an appearance at an event I had the pleasure of attending in Tokyo over the weekend.

This time his torch was made of origami flowers, his audience, the adorable students of Fukuda Kindergarten in Hatagaya, and his track much more low key – a small oval around the kindergarten playing field.

In the official interview after the events Sakai-san talked about his memories of the 1964 Games saying that all of Japan had come together to show the world how Japan had succeeded in its economic development, and to promote the message of peace.  He hopes for the same in 2016.  Shibuya246 has posted some more great pictures from this event and was kind enough to translate Sakai-san’s comments for me to use here.

Learn more about Japan’s Olympic history at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Sports Museum.  The museum is located five minutes on foot from Sendagaya Station or two minutes on foot from Kokuritsu-Kyogijo Station (Exit A2) in Meiji Jingu Park (access map).  Admission is Y300 and the museum is open daily from 9:30 to 4:30 (closed on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month).

Visit the Japan Olympic Committee website to learn more about Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid and join them in “Uniting our Worlds”.

Image Credit:  Wikipedia, Tokyo1964cauldron & personal collection

One of the highlights of my visit was the interior of a Meiji Era Public Bath House, Kodaka-yu,  that opened in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward in 1929.  The changing room looked out onto a courtyard and an elaborate mural spanned the separate men’s and women’s bathing areas.   The tile painting on the wall was considered very fashionable during the Showa and Taisho eras and was a common decorative feature of bathhouses at the time.

The exterior of the bathhouse has been restored to its original look (pictured top right) and the interior simulates how it would have appeared in the 1950′s.  One could get lost imaging disant travels in this mural of Mt. Fuji and it must have been quite the luxury to visit a nath house such as this.

The Edo Open-air Architectural Museum  is located in a large park where walking paths lead you past many building of historical importance.  You will find lovely Showa era houses built in the 1900′s, many of which were home to wealthy merchants and had separate tea houses and peaceful manicured yards.

Older still are a number of thatch-roofed houses from the Edo period (1603-1867) with indoor braziers (inori) that were used to smoke out the houses to keep the roof free of moisture and insects.

Religious markers and monuments can also be found on the museum grounds.  The Jishou-in Mausoleum (pictured below) was built in 1652 and originally sat inside the Jishou Temple in Ichigaya. Most of the mausoleums of the era were destroyed by firs during World War II making the a very important cultural asset.

The Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, also known as Tatemonoen (site in Japanese), sits in Koganei Park (scroll down the page) is located about 90 minutes outside of Tokyo.   Take a short taxi ride from Musashi Koganei Station on the JR Chuo Line or take the Seibu Bus from the Koganei Koen Nishiguchi Bus stop in front of the station.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

On November 9th, 1934 the fourth game of the series was played in Sendai at Miyagi Prefecture Yagiyama Baseball Stadium.  Babe Ruth slammed two home runs in Japan that day, his first ever in the country.  One exited the stadium to the right of the scoreboard and the other to left field.

These historic home runs are commemorated with a statue and plaque on the site, which is now home the the Yagiyama Zoo in Sendai.  The  statue created by Kanji Okina was erected on the site in November 2002, sixty-eight years after the fact, with an inscription that reads in part  “This bronze statue stands as a witness, to future generations, of Sendai’s part in Japanese-American baseball history”.

“Baseball was first played in Japan in 1873 at Kaisei Gakko ( now Tokyo University ) under the instruction of an American teacher, Horace Wilson. Around 1880 the first Japanese baseball team was organized at the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and several college teams were formed in Tokyo. During the period 1890 to 1902, a team from the First Higher School in Tokyo played and often defeated a team made up of American residents in Yokohama; the publicity for these games helped make baseball one of the most popular Western sports in Japan.”
Source:  Nisei Baseball – Baseball in Japan

Baseball fans and history buffs will definitely want to visit the Babe Ruth statue in Sendai and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located further south in Tokyo, where the poster from the trip (pictured top right) is displayed along with other great exhibits on the history of baseball in Japan.  Yagiyama Zoo is easily accessed by bus or taxi from Sendai Station.  Admission is Y400 for adults and Y100 for children.

Andrew Yamaguchi included this image in his Yagiyama Zoo slide show on his blog, Squamton.ca, and was kind enough to allow it to be published here.  Be sure to check out his site and follow Andrew on twitter to get fun updates about life in Sendai, Japan.

Image Credit:  Shane Sakata Personal Collection & Andrew Yamaguchi

Since 2006, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, in cooperation with Kyoto City and Kyoto Seika University, has taken on the role as conservator and archivist for the vast amount of manga material created every year as well as historical works of the genre.

In 2009, the museum is holding two special

Sugiura Manga Festa

Active in the world of children’s manga from the 1930s through until the 1950s, Sugiura Shigeru was an influential manga artist.  To celebrate 100 yeasrs since his birth the Kyoto International Manga Museum will hold a commemorative exhibition from March 20th – May 24, 2009.

“His well rounded works were known for a cheerful painting style and original fantastic ideas as well as contrary elements such as the depiction of an otherwise classical world through the use of puns and comic stories, and a surreal literary style reminiscent of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali.”

The exhibit includes original artwork, publications, supplementary volumes and books introducing the works of Shigeru Sugiura and you can even become on of  his characters in “Photography Corner” where disguises and faceless cardboard cutouts can be tried on for size.

Kyoto Manga Festa 2009

Running simultaneously with the Sugiura Manga Festa, the Kyoto Manga Festa 2009 offers visitors a number of different events that bring the art of manga together with caligraphy and music through a number of special events.

Manga concerts

On Saturday April 11, 2009 from 2-4PM, experience the music of Nodame Cantabile from the animated television series performed on the piano by Iku Miwa. (Nodame Video – YouTube Link)

On Sunday, May 3, 2009 hear anime songs perfromed by the Kyoto Northern Hills Wind Instrument Orchestra at 2 & 4PM.

Manga Club

Monday, May 4, 2009 finds the Kyoto International Manga Museum transformed into a club space when a painter and a DJ collaborate to create a fusion of art and sound inspired by manga.

For more information on these events, admission and access information, visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum website.

Image Credit:  Flickr, Kyoto Manga Museum

This beautiful copper shishi is is one of a pair guarding the entrance to the art-deco mansion that was once home to Japan’s Prince Asaka and is now home to the the Tokyo Metropolitan Tien Art Museum in Meguro.

The grounds of the museum are home to modern sculptures in a lovely garden setting and a Japanese Tea House with a wandering path around a small but picturesque pond.

Visit the museum simply to see the house whose art deco charm is worth a visit in of itself, take in one of the scheduled exhibitions, or stop for a leisurely lunch at the cafe after a stroll through the garden.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

While the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many other places in Japan suffered wartime attacks as well.  As the largest city, Tokyo was the subject of many air raids which resulted in fires that devastated the city and the loss of many lives.  In Yokoamichi Park, you will find a museum and monuments that offer visitors a chance to learn more about the effects of WWII from a different perspective.

At first glance the bronze statue pictured above looks like children playing but upon closer inspection you will get a sense of distress – it depicts school children reacting to the air raids and resulting fires in Tokyo.  It was donated by the the classmates of those killed in the attacks and is quite a somber reminder of the effects of war.

Directly across the plaza is a memorial monument titled “Dwelling of Remembrance” that was created by Kimio Tsuchiya and bears the following inscription (dated March 2001):

“During the Second World War, repeated air attacks on Tokyo by the American forces starting on April 19, 1942 and continuing until the end of the war on August 15, 1945 inflicted untold damage on the city and cost the lives of a vast number of its people, who were mostly civilians.

This monument was erected so that the memory of these air raids and their victims will not fade but live on to remind succeeding generations that today’s peace and prosperity was built on the sacrifice of many precious lives. It embodies the hope that this peace will be everlasting.”

Lastly, there is a small indoor museum and an open air museum, which provides a visual reminder of the devastation that the fires caused in Tokyo.  The unrecognizable lumps of melted metal below were once large items like cars, engines and factory machinery.

The temple on the grounds has seen better days, but the surrounding exhibits and monuments offer a some insight into the effects of war.

Yokoamichi Park is directly above the Edo-Tokyo Museum on this map of Ryogoku and is easily located.  Just look for the spire of the large pagoda as you head in that direction.  The Kyu-Yasuda Tien is also a nice garden in the area that you may to wander through if you have time.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

If seeing the stars from Japan is on your itinerary then you will want to make a stop at The National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno or Tsukuba.

Kid’s will want to make a wish upon a star, and adults will be reminded once again of the vastness of the universe and be humbled by its mystery and simple beauty.  Did you know that the Japanese also sing a version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?  If you are taking kids with you it’s a great opportunity for both of you to expand your vocabulary – here are the words:

Source: All Experts – Japanese Language

The National Museum of Nature and Science Astronomical Observations

In Ueno, astronomical observations are held on the first and third Fridays of each month.  If Tsukuba is closer to you you will want plan to attend on the second or fourth Saturdays of each month.  Admission for university students and adults is very reasonable at Y300 for two hours of viewing, while those in high school or younger are admitted free.  Viewing starts at 7:30PM from April to August and at 6:30PM from September to March, clear skies and weather permitting.

Image Credit: Flickr, stars #1

Today you can visit the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture (about an hour by train from Kyoto – Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum Access Map ) to learn more about Osamu Tezuku, the artist, and his creations including Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion Princess Night and Phoenix, his life’s work.

Known as the “Father of Anime” or “Japan’s Walt Disney”, Osamu Tezuku lived and worked in Takarazuka for 20 years – he was born in 1926 in Osaka and died at the age of 1989 in Tokyo.  The museum was inaugurated in 1994 to honor his life and work.

The Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum is open Thursday through Tuesday from 9:30AM to 5PM (last admission at 4:30PM).  Admission is Y500 for adults, Y300 for Junior and senior high school students and Y100 for elementary school students.  Those over the age of 60 or with disabilities are admitted free.

For those of you that love Astro Boy who can’t get to the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Japan you will be sure to look forward to an animated feature film titled Astro Boy that is slated for release by Imagi Studios in October of 2009 starring Academy Award®-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy and Donald Sutherland, with Freddie Highmore in the title role.

Enjoy the Astro Boy move trailer below and learn more about companion Astro Boy video games slated for release around the same time.

Image Credit:  Flickr, Astro Boy, Kyoto Video: YouTube, Astro Boy (2009) HD Teaser Trailer