#Japan

Asian Art

Dragons in East Asian Art

Imagination is the only limit to the stories and myths about dragons. From East to West, storytellers paint them as creatures of fire, of deep...

Yifan Xia 16 January 2025

Women Artists

Documenting the Internment Experience: Miné Okubo and Citizen 13660

Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly placed in concentration camps. Artist Miné Okubo was in two of...

Lauren Kraut 14 January 2025

Women Artists

Noguchi Shōhin: The First Female Imperial Household Artist in Japan

Noguchi Shōhin (野口 小蘋) (1847–1917) was a leading Japanese painter from the Edo (1603–1867) and Meiji eras (1868–1912). She was born in...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 14 January 2025

Artist Stories

Kiyohara Yukinobu: Sublime Female Painter of the Kano School

Not many of us have heard of Kiyohara Yukinobu, but we probably should have. She was a Japanese painter in the early Edo period (1603–1868) and one...

Candy Bedworth 14 January 2025

Women Artists

The Polka Dot Queen: Yayoi Kusama Through 10 Artworks

Yayoi Kusama, often referred to as the Queen of Polka Dots, is a pioneering feminist artist, sculptor, performer, and much more—all embodied in one...

Katerina Papouliou 14 January 2025

Artist Stories

Lee Ufan—The Beauty of Emptiness

Lee Ufan is a Korean-born international artist, whose work is key to the Mono-ha movement. If you have ever been lucky enough to encounter a Lee...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 13 January 2025

Tatsuya Tanaka, Spoon Pool, 2024, MINIATURE CALENDAR Asian Art

10 Miniature Sculptures By Tatsuya Tanaka To Brighten Your Day

Japanese miniature craftsmanship has been evolving for the past couple of centuries. Their love for scaled-down everyday objects gained the interest...

Sandra Juszczyk 9 January 2025

Men praying by turbulent waters in a torrential downpour. Asian Art

Rain in Japanese Art

Although Japanese weather varies greatly across the archipelago, the abundance of rain throughout the year remains a common phenomenon across Japan.

Maya M. Tola 7 January 2025

Sakura and hanami: Katsushika Hokusai, Fuji from Gotenyama at Shinagawa on the Asian Art

Sakura and Hanami: The Art of Impermanence

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Art is long, and time is fleeting.” This sentiment perfectly expresses the idea of hanami, or flower viewing.

Ledys Chemin 7 January 2025

Hiroshige, Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa (Asakusa Kinryuzan), No. 99 from One Hundred Famous View of Edo, 1856, Brooklyn Museum of Arts, New York, NY, USA. Detail. Asian Art

Hiroshige’s Winter Views of Edo

One of the most famous woodblock printers of the late Edo period in Japan, Utagawa Hiroshige, produced a series of a hundred views showing Edo city...

Magda Michalska 7 January 2025

hiroshige moon Asian Art

Autumn Moon in Japanese Woodblock Prints

Does anyone here live by the water? If you do, you will probably confirm that evenings have something transcendental when the moon reflects on the...

Magda Michalska 7 January 2025

Asian Art

Shadows in Japanese Culture

Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) was an important Japanese writer, mainly during the Shōwa period. One of the author’s most important essays...

Luciana Craciun 7 January 2025