TJCS 2013 New Years Party with Ambassador Clugston

-->

January 16, 2013 Tokai Japan Canada Society - Shinenkai Event Review

Wow, What a great evening!

For myself having lived in the Nagoya region for the past 11 years, it was my first Shinenkai event from the Tokai Japan Canada Society. The event, which was initiated by the members of the Business Committee, was an outstanding success. I could sense from the attendees that their was a real sense of optimism for the New Year. 

Mr. Bruce McCaughan, TJCS Shinenkai MC

The event began with Mr. Bruce McCaughan (WSI Consulting) acting as MC for the evening. McCaughan kept the evening light and humorous and everything seemed to go smoothly.

Quick Review

Inspiring and effectual speeches from the executives and VIPS. There were many local government and corporate leaders in attendance and the following are only a few.

From L to R, T. Nakamura, Matt Fraser, Mackenzie Clugston, Takashi Kamio, Hideaki Omura

Mr. Mackenzie Clugston; Ambassador to Japan; Government of Canada

Mr. Hideaki Omura, Governor of Aichi

Mr. Takashi Nakamura; Mayor of Nagoya

Mr. Takashi Kamio; Senior Advisor to Toyota Motor Corporation

Mr. Matt Fraser; Nagoya Canada Consular Office

Mr. Koji Yamaguchi and his troupe gave a great introduction to the traditional Japanese shamisen with a youthful energy which had the crowd fired up!

Overall a wonderful event that showed the TJCS continues to impress with wide variety of events that attract large numbers of attendees. Looking forward to seeing the organization grow this year.

Main Review

It was an event with two purposes, first it was a kick off to the TJCS 2013 year and secondly and I believe more importantly it was a welcome to the new Ambassador Mr. Mackenzie Clugston as his first official visit to the Nagoya region.

Mackenzie Clugston, Canadian Ambassador to Japan

Clugston gave a wonderful speech, spoken fluently in Japanese, highlighting the relationship between Japan and Canada and it was great to see the reactions of so many attendees at just how fluently and eloquently Mr. Clugston could express his ideas from the theme of cooperation between our two countries.

Mr. Takashi Yamamoto (TJCS President) gave the welcome speech from the TJCS.

Matt Fraser, Nagoya Consul

Mr. Matt Fraser (Nagoya Consular, Canadian Government) also gave a speech covering the local perspective of the Central region of Japan and the Canadian governments work in the region to promote each other’s initiatives.

After all the speeches were taken care of everyone was free to mix and the crowd buzzed with introductions and new friendships. Of course for myself there were many locals that I haven’t seen in a long while and we could catch up on how life is going and what are the plans for the upcoming year. It was great to see Mr. Julian Bashore (Bodycote), Greg Robinson (Bombardier), Jeff Genet (Power English), Andy Boone(andyboone.com), Sarah Mulvey, (Nanzan University) and many more. With so many people coming to Japan and staying only one or two years it is great to see people who have established themselves successfully here. All of these great photos were brought to us by the talented Andy Boone, link above.

The last event of the evening and for me the main attraction was the shamisen concert put on by Mr. Koji Yamaguchi and his troupe (one of which was my wife Mamiko). Koji always entertains the crowd as I have seen him a few times. However he was able to get a usually quiet and conservative Nagoya business executive crowd clapping along with great enthusiasm as he played traditional melodies while making the tempo rise and fall all with a youthful vigor that inspired us all. I am of course biased here, but I think Koji will continue to grow in popularity and hope he can grow his own brand of traditional Japanese music fused with his youthful energy and willingness to try new collaborations.

M. Fraser, T. Yamamoto, C. Walker, K. Yamaguchi, M. Walker, Ito san, M. Clugston, T. Kamio, Y. Fujiwara

For me personally it was a great personal kick off event, which has started my renewed ambition to put Canadian business together with business in the central region of Japan (chubu). This review is by myself and not the opinion of the TJCS Business Committee of which I am a member.

Twitter: rockyjapan

Edo Period Part III - Japan - 1800s Rise of the Bourgeoisie

Edo Period Japan - 1800s Rise of the Bourgeoisie

Part III (Part III of III) Art/Entertainment

• The risen middle class becomes the new patrons of the arts

The arts and entertainment of this period continued to flourish despite the perpetual 'lock-down' of the local citizen. Even though it was still very difficult to move about the country and impossible to enter the country the arts expanded on it’s predecessors work and blossomed in the local scene. The Kano school, the Emperors official courtesan painters,

continues to be the choice of the royal court and the upper class.  Most paintings focused on images of traditional Japanese folklore, such as The Tales of Genji. Many art forms that we (Kakemono Arts) have been introduced to from this period (1800-1865) are Buddhism or Shintoism influenced. Especially the iconic emblems of the Boddhi Dharma or Daruma, the typical Asian icons of turtles, cranes, pine trees and countless birds and natural imagery which could arguably be known as the primary source of the ‘ukiyo-e’ which depicts that natural world. Especially interesting is the concepts of combined plants and birds or animals which hold a specific meaning. The author Merrily Baird (Symbols of Japan) explains many as well as the Three Friends of Winter, (shochikubai) which is an ensemble of plum, bamboo, and pine.  She goes on to explain that the three are

'shochukubai' Three Friends of Winter

‘all symbols of winter, long life, and the cultured gentleman. This convention of linking the three plants, which are consistently ranked in the same order, remains so popular among the Japanese that they use the Three Friends as both a design motif and an elegant system of designating such things such as banquet rooms or menu options in traditional restaurants.’
There are many different types of combinations which can be traced back to Chinese and Japanese origin and which have Buddhism or Shintoism concepts. As well the previously mentioned form, which is known as ukiyo-e, or ‘images of a floating world’ continued to grow in complexity and imagination. There was also writing and imagery depicting the underworld, ironically also called the ‘ukiyo-e’ which depicted the urban pleasures of the theater and brothel districts of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, this became popular art for the average urban citizen which was not unique to Japan, but the world of visual and literary arts during the high times of the bourgeoisie of the main cities was very uniquely Japanese; as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto also grew to represent the modern urban native Japanese, the arts scene could be categorized as an artistic explosion.

Geisha Woodblock Print from Edo Period

Wherein many average urban dwellers craved the imagery of this underworld and as such many different types of painting and texts were created. These were down in the mass production techniques of the woodblock print to keep the price reasonable and attainable for the average city dweller. It could be argued that this similar mass production of ‘underworld/floating world art’ could be paralleled with the animation and comic book fantasy world that saturates urban and rural Japan today, not to mention fascinates so many visual art fans from around the globe. While different methods as just mentioned continued to feed the new urban art lover, woodblock prints became obsolete to the printing press at the close of the Edo period and a new found interest in western art also became more influential at the beginning of the Meiji period. But as we shall see as we dig into the next periods Japan, the struggle between outside influences and was thought of as ‘Japanese authentic’ continued to rage on.

Edo Period Tiger

Sources:
Kenneth Henshall; A History of Japan
Merrily Baird; Symbols of Japan
Tsuneko Sadao/Stephanie Wada; Discovering the Arts of Japan

Calligraphy Shodo Japan

Japanese shodou Calligraphy

Artist: RINDOU FACE, SPIRIT, FLOWER, PEACE

As with most cultural traditions, the practice of writing or more appropriately painting or brushing the characters of the Japanese written language came from ancient China. Origins of the art form can be traced back to 28^thcentury BC with introduction to Japan in 600AD. The tradition which became a flourishing art form, has several styles, but to name a few of the main forms:

Seal Script or tensho 添書
Clerical Script or reisho 隷書
Regular Script or kaisho 楷書
Cursive or sousho 草書
Semi-cursive or gyousho 行書

Why would I want a shodou Japanese calligraphy painting?

• wish to learn more about the form and beauty of asian calligraphy
• desire to use it as a way to find more peace through meditation
• hope to use it as a centerpiece for studying the Japanese tea ceremony
• a great piece of art that signifies the emphasis on spirit instead of the physical
• an endless way to interpret the meaning both literally (if possible) and figuratively

Most of what we find at local auctions and is within a reasonable budget are large calligraphy from edo period to the modern era and are regular script, semi cursive and cursive. Often we find that our staff and most Japanese cannot read the characters and so owners need to have faith in what is represented and follow zen Buddhist practices to just ‘know’ or ‘feel’ the meaning from the visual representation. This means to admire the flow of the ink and imagery and not to be too concerned with the actual meaning as written. Occasionally we can read the script and in these cases it is obviously useful to ‘know’ the actual characters and the intended meaning. Trust in your own interpretation.

Artist: RYO;
FUKU JU KAI MU RYO

Tea Ceremony

One of the most intriguing ideas of enjoying or admiring Japanese calligraphy comes from the idea that before starting the Japanese tea ceremony we should clear our minds by viewing the calligraphy. This means to sit silently and as those who meditate understand, we simply aim to clear our minds of extraneous thoughts. Sounds easy, if you have no practice at this we suggest you try to just sit and clear your mind and not think about anything, just ‘be’. You may be amused or even frustrated at why this is so difficult. I recommend you learn about traditional meditation by a local expert or using Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book  Get in the Gap, which can help you learn to be in this moment of calm. Often guests at a tea ceremony may ask the host about the scroll which was chosen specifically for the event.

DARUMA with Cursive Calligraphy

Mulberry washi Canvas

The script is usually painted using charcoal or sumi ink on mulberry or washi paper. The canvas is said to be the toughest to paint on, as what it reveals is immediate and truly shows the thoughts and level of calm of the artist/author. As mentioned in another post, the enso or the ‘circle of enlightenment’ is one way in which the artist/monk attempts to achieve this moment of ‘no thought’ mushin or the moment when we are truly connected to the universe.
Source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calligraphy

Social Media - Democracy - Use Your Voice

Social Media - Don't be Afraid to get engaged. 

You are a part of a ‘real democracy’.

Never before in our human history have we had the possibility to achieve so much. With today's technology and the ability for people to share resources, knowledge and work cooperatively towards improving the way we live we are now experiencing incredible innovation.

This will become even more evident over the coming years with our energy resource utilization, our local, national and global governance, as well as the way we continue to be connected to each other and recreate the traditional channels of media and distribution. This is what a true democratic society was meant to be. That is, to be connected to each other, to have the ability to make change for the better, and be held to the true value proposition that you can achieve, whether it be in business, arts and culture or through social improvement.

It is scary; we can be criticized or anonymous fools can easily point out the errors in our thoughts, you also can see it in the eyes of people who built their ideology on the old power structure. But no one should be afraid. Just learn how to adapt to the new reality. Get involved in the discussion, whatever it may be, good people will back you. I would be interested to hear of bullying cases and thoughts and strategies to counter cyber bullying, people want to be connected but we have almost all had run ins with these assholes. Any thoughts?

Your voice can now be heard and the more you offer, the more you can affect change and gain the trust of those you are connected to. Learn to grow a thick skin and know that many will support you, while others may ridicule you. For the trolls and the cyber bullies learn to accept that many people will not like what you have to say and often they lack the intelligence or the patience to write thoughtfully, they may even be right but if they contradict your thoughts and can’t write how and why and what might be a better idea, then erase them and forget them. Accept that trolls and bullies exist, but don’t let the bastards bring you down. Use your voice. Call the bullies out. blog about it and point the people back at them.

I have seen so many great things come from this new interconnectedness yet the most intriguing thing for me is just how we as a society will be able to govern ourselves and create change with each other as it evolves as the group en masse wishes. Traditional channels of media, wealth distribution are now being completely rewritten and will lead to a redistribution of wealth not based on status or current power but will instead depend on the value proposition, that is whatever you add to the pot will be scrutinized and the group will decide its true value, the more people that review what you do the more correct the final valuation will be.

There are many cases where social media has gone awry and often it seems to correct itself, but we cannot run away from the most powerful tools, the ones that give us a voice where before all we had was a remote control to change the channel, now we write the channel. These are my thoughts.

Thoughtful ideas and even contradictory views are welcome, with ‘thoughtful’ being the operative word.

Atsuta Shrine - Nagoya

 

Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya

 

Atsuta Shrine

 

Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi or the Sacred Sword kusanagi

The shrine is based in southern Nagoya City and is considered only second in importance to Ise Shrine in nearby Mie prefecture. The reason for the founding of the shrine was one of the three Imperial regalia (3 most sacred objects of Japan), the sacred Sword Kusanagi (kusanagi) was enshrined here over 1900 years ago. It is unclear on where the sword is actually kept which adds mystery to the site.
Kusanagi no Tsuguri is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called the "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven") but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass Cutting Sword") – Wikipedia
The other two sacred objects incidentally are the Sacred Mirror (yata no kagami), held in the Ise Shrine and the Sacred Jewel which is believed to be kept in Tokyo. The main deity enshrined here is Atsuta no Okami, Or God Atsuta which is directly connected to the aforementioned sword.

Nobunaga Wall

Another interesting point of the shrine area is the Nobunaga bei wall which was donated to the shrine by one of the great military leaders of the 1500s warring Japan, General Nobunaga Oda, who after his decisive and critical victory at nearby Okehazama became the defacto leader of the nation states and the initiator in unifying the country at the end of the 16^th century, although this unification was completed by his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Power Spot

Atsuta Shrine Power Spot - Well Hidden!

The next point is hardly known to the English world, this is the supposed ‘Power Spot’, a place where the spiritual powers are strong and your prayers have a better chance of success. There is a small path to the northeast section, just between the Purification hall and the kagura den. This path leads down to a small water canal, which has a rock jutting out. You are to splash water on this rock three times using the ladle provided and them to make your wish. A very calming location as you are surrounded by huge old trees and old growth forest lichens and dampness.

Personal Take

Atsuta Shrine the Green Patch from our Home Office

For us here at Kakemono Arts we are extremely luck to be able to see the shrine from our home/office and we often use the shrine as a great half way point along our jogging route.  Nothing like getting a prayer at a 1900 year old shrine on your weekly loop route. Dropping unwanted pounds and gaining some insight.
Drop us a comment if you have been here or are planning on visiting the shrine!

Edo Period Part II 1700s Rise of the Merchant Class

Part II (Part II of III)
1700s and the Rise of the Merchant Class (Society)
We can assume that given the period and the staunch leadership of the time that evolution of this period would be slow and carefully watched. Ironically this can often be witnessed even in modern day Japan, that is a turtle crawl approach to change and new thinking (comparatively to the western democratic countries). We are discussing another full century and really it was a long winding movement towards the rise of the Merchant class. This period while deep in the shogunate rule also created the first Metropolis arguably in the world, that being Edo aka Tokyo, with Kyoto and Osaka also coming into their own. One key thing to understand is while the Shogunate continued a tight grip on the mobility (outside of communities) and social order, the population reached a very high literacy rate as the creation of regional economies led to a surge in education for the masses. The Shogunate turned to Shintoism vs Buddhism as the Shinto ‘ways’ were more favorable to the ruling class. The Shinto religion being developed in Japan was a nationalistic way of ‘thought’ and became preferred to the imported ways of China and India.
A quick summary:

• Significant Rise of the Merchant class
• Highly educated and large city populations
• Shinto based nationalism develops and is allowed as portions serve the Shogunate’s leadership

1700s and the Rise of the Merchant Class (Arts)
Arts/Entertainment: With this rise in an urban lifestyle and incomes that reflect more abundance for pleasure a culture grew to meet these demands.The entertainment industry flourished with the ‘kabuki’ plays with trapdoors, revolving stages and simplified plots with colorful sets and costumes. The live theater scene was alive and booming and with this came all types of performances. Many kabuki actresses were barely distinguishable from prostitutes and often shows would conclude with what could be considered to be orgies on stage. With this new ‘entertainment’ and lack of a strict religious moral code and the printing press the other arts scenes also blossomed with new literature, poetry and painting. The popular books of the time were ‘choninmono’; stories of successful merchants or inspiring stories reflecting the rise in the new hidden power of tycoons, this laid the seeds for future industrial conglomerates such as Sumitomo and Mitsui. Other story categories were 'sharebon', with a lighthearted wit for the masses, romantic stories of the age known as 'yomihon' and the ever famous 'uikyo-zoshi' the r-rated versions which the main topic for consumption was lust and the exploits of the sexual world. With this last category mirrored in woodblock print as 'shunga' or pornography of the 1700s Japan. For the painting and calligraphy genre, this urban culture from Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were the seeds for the most infamous art form known in international art circles from outside of Japan what is called ‘ukiyo-e’ or 'images of the floating world'. These images came to life in this period as the title may mislead the western concept of what a ‘floating world’ would look like. As westerners might think that this floating world would be depictions of heaven and living in the clouds as per the renaissance art of the same period would suggest.

Actually the ukiyo-e art depicted was a escape from the mundane life of the average citizen. It showed the ‘evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a rhealm of entertainments…Asai Ryoi from his novel Tales of the Floating World would summarize it best.
…living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; …refusing to be disheartend, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world.’
Interestingly as it fell out of favor with the Japanese at the end of the Meiji restoration many European artists found it to be of great inspiration including Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.
-       Wikipedia, ukiyo-e

For the painted art genre, three schools should be noted for this period. First as mentioned in the previous section on the 1600s, the Rimpa school, which can be identified by it’s extensive use of gold leaf backgrounds and bold imagery. Often these images were of traditional stories and tales from the previous periods including the Tales of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

Another style of note was ‘namban’, which was heavily influenced by the western methods and the depiction of the foreigner as the theme. Often this was limited to what the locals of Nagasaki actually had access to, as Nagasaki was the only place in the country that was open to foreign vessels.

Sample of Nanga Art

The third style that we need to mention here is Bunjinga, or Nanga (Southern Painting School), literati, noted for utilizing Chinese Scholar paintings, imagery and as inspiration and mentoring for it’s own Japanese themed productions. This style was for aspiring artists who aimed to elevate their art and achieve a higher meaning through studies and meaning, often by adding poems and calligraphy from another contributor. Contrary to the Chinese literati nanba styles paintings which were typically done  by scholars who wished to express their knowledge through paint, the opposite was true for the Japanese. Examples of this style typically would include the small rounded mountains with rivers and waterfalls, or smaller perspectives of birds and flowers.
Quick Summary of Japan Arts of the 1700s (as per our article)

• many new artforms blossomed under the new merchant class
• the propagation of the ‘ukiyoe-e’ floating world arts (the simple pleasures)
• three key schools of painted art, Rimpa (classic Japan), Namban (Foreign Influence), and Nanga or Bunjinga (Chinese Influence)

Our next look we will be at the 1800s and the Eventual Fall of the Shogunate.
Sources: Discovering the Arts of Japan by Tsuneko S. Sadao, Stephanie Wada
A History of Japan by Kenneth Henshall
Wikipedia; Ukiyo-e, Nanga, Bunjinga

Edo Period 1603 - 1868 Part I Japan is Locked Down

The Edo (or Tokugawa) period was very important for the forming of modern Japan that we all know. In the decades leading up to the Edo period the territories were in disarray and separated by various small warring regions. 

The ever handsome Ieyasu Tokugawa

The three leaders whom united the country, Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and and Ieyasu Tokugawa led in the beginning by Oda, fought hard to conquer and unite the regions in the latter half of the 1600s century. Highlighted by a strong orthodox approach to daily life and commitment to family, community and most importantly the Shogun, these three strong characters, native to the Nagoya, Aichi region of Japan, rallied to create three power structures. These three main power centers were eventually consolidated  by Ieyasu Tokugawa at the final battle at Sekigahara in the year 1600. With Oda dying by ritual suicide in 1582 and his successor Toyotomi dying from illness in September 1598. The Sekigahara battle was crucial, and managed to consolidate power and for Tokugawa he was able to win over his rivals to formally establish a new capital city at Edo (aka Tokyo), Japan. Soon after establishing the new rule as Shogun of Japan the fate of the country was sealed and for the next 250 + years the country was absolutely locked down and was sealed off  from the outside world. There was virtually no contact with the outside world beyond the small island in which a small community of Dutch could reside. We will take a brief look at these ages and the resulting art and entertainment that reflected the people and their times. The period can be best broken down into the three centuries that spanned the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s all obviously with their own characteristics:

1600s

•  the shogun established himself as the unchallenged leader
•  the family was the smallest unit of power (individual had no rights)
• the state/provincial leaders called ‘daimyo’ were strictly controlled
• it was mandatory that the leaders families live in Edo and leaders must live there every other year
• these leaders kept control over there regions but the real power lied with the local village councils
•  Samurai became bureaucrats
•  bourgeois culture develops yet is limited due to heavy restrictions on class mobility and more importantly geographic mobility
• Severe punishment (often sudden execution/suicide) for going against the wishes of the Shogun or disturbing the societal ‘norm’ although the ‘norm’ has no set of policies and was more or less under the watch of the local village and the samurai

Arts/Entertainment: For painting and calligraphy the three main artists that we will mention created the Rinpa school which is often regarded as the most popular painted art form of this century.  These three were Koetsu (1558-1637) Sotatsu (d. c.1643), and Ogata Kourin (1658-1716) the latter with who proved to create a new unique style of painting on screen depicting timeless stories from the Heian period. 

Ogata Korin - Fujin

Two of the most popular themes used by these artists came from the Tales of Genji and the Tales of Ise. Both of these were typically hosted on gold leaved folding screens and were accomplished with a strong sense of detail. The distinct style is either of items of nature such as flowers, trees, and birds or mammals or as mentioned themes from traditional stories from earlier periods. 

The objects surroundings were typically inlaid with gold leaf. The school developed more design and refined techniques as time passed on with Sakai Hoitsu rediscovering the form in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Other forms, which became popular in this period and the next century were the famous ‘ukiyo-e’ or floating world art styles which started as a Shinto ideal of transition but as we find in the 1700s became famous for something other than divine spiritual passage (wink and nudge ;).

Our next look (Part II) we will be at the 1700s and the Rise of the Merchant Class.

Sources: Discovering the Arts of Japan by Tsuneko S. Sadao, Stephanie Wada

A History of Japan by Kenneth Henshall

Wikipedia; Rimpa School, Ogata Korin, Edo Period, Nobunaga Oda