Art in Japan

What is the Meiji Era?

The Meiji Era was a time period in Japan, under which Emperor Meiji started Japan's modernization. Under Meiji, Japan climbed to world power status. Emperor Meiji's rule ran from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji restoration effectively brought the Shogun feudal system to an end and restored imperial rule.

The Effects of Meiji and the Restoration

The Meiji and imperial restoration was largely responsible for the industrialization of Japan which allowed Japan to rise as a military power by 1905. This was accomplished in mainly two ways: the first was the 3,000 or so foreign experts that were brought into Japan to teach an assortment of specialist subjects; the second was government subsidies to students to go abroad into mainly Europe and America. This vast influx of western culture and ideals impacted many aspects of Japanese life in this era, one being the arts.

Art in Japan during the Meiji Era

These new western ideas split Japan in two directions, upholding traditional values or assimilate these new, different - sometimes radical - new ideas into their own culture. By the early 1900's, many European forms of art were already well known and their intermingling with Japanese art created some noteworthy architectural feats such as the Tokyo Train Station and the National Diet Building. During the Meiji Era, manga were first drawn; manga was inspired from French and English political cartoons. The polarity of traditional versus western cause two distinct art styles to develop: Yooga (Western-influenced) and Nihonga (Traditional Japanese style).

Yooga was characterized as Renaissance style painting - oil paintings on a canvas, dramatic lighting, using the third dimension and other techniques. Two artists who were important to the expansion of western style painting and art were Kawakami Togai and Koyama Shoutaro. Because of these two men, and Togai's assistant Takahashi Yuichi, western art became a school of art in the Meiji period. However the pendulum swung both ways; while many seemed to embrace the new western lifestyle, there were also those who opposed change. This rapid influx of foreign culture also caused a state of confusion, many Japanese felt that Japan had lost its identity and would often look towards Asia for a reminder of where they fit in. The Meiji era ended in 1912 with the death of the Emperor.

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Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, College of the Arts
2640 Nishinoura
Tsurajima-cho Kurashiki-shi
Okayama, 712, Japan
086-440-1005 Fax: 086-440-1013
www.kusa.ac.jp/arts/ | otsuki@hq.kusa.ac.jp

Courses and/or Programs Sample: Fine Arts

Kyoto City University of Arts
13-6 Ohe-Kutsukake-cho
Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 610-1197, Japan
+81 75 332 0701 Fax: +81 75 332 0709
www.kcua.ac.jp/ | www-admin@kcua.ac.jp.
Courses and/or Programs Sample: Fine Arts, PrintMaking, Product Design, Sculpture

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Anime, or Japanese Animation, had its start in the beginning of the 20th century. Anime is Japan's competitor against the high-budget Hollywood in America; Anime allowed Japan to create films under tight budgets and without location restrictions.

First Era of Anime
Recently discovered in 2005, the earliest known Anime was created around 1917; it consisted of 50 frames sketched onto a strip of celluloid. The clip is about 3 seconds in length and depicts a young boy donning a sailor suit writing the kanji for moving pictures (katsudou shashin) on a board. He then turns toward the viewer, removes his hat and salutes. It is unknown who created the clip.
This is one of the few complete clips that have survived from this period of animation. One of the reasons for the demise of most clips was due to these reels being sold to smaller cinemas - after they had their run - and being disassembled to be sold as strips or frames.
One of the pioneers of early animation was Kitayama Seitaro; he used a chalkboard method technique and eventually moved onto paper animation, sometimes using pre-printed backgrounds. Kitayama Seitaro went on to start his own animation studio called Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo which eventually closed down due to lack of financial success.

Second Era of Anime
Kitayama Seitaro had several influential students while his film studio was still in operation. Ofuji Noboro, Yamamoto Sanae, Kimura Hakuzan and Murato Yosuji were his most influential students during the late 1910's and early 1920's. The Great Kantou earthquake in 1923 destroyed most of Seitaro's studio. With Seitaro's studio destroyed and knowing how lucrative animation production can be, the students spread throughout Japan and founded their own studios.

During this era, the Monbusho (Ministry of Education) began supporting and encouraging films that contained educational value. This created a high demand for animation films and created a lasting place in academic, political and business use.

The War Era of Anime
When the Japanese government began enforcing its policy of strict nationalism in the 1930's, strict control and censorship of all published media began to shape the Anime landscape. Animators were pushed to create films which promulgated the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. The films were shown in News-Cinemas and as News-Cinemas boomed, so did these Anime films.
Disney played an important role in molding the Anime of the era. Due to the lack of financial backing of animation studios, Japanese animators fell short of producing the same quality as Disney and were often pale in comparison.
Also at this time many of the smaller studios closed or were merged with larger studios - by the end of this period only 3 large studios remained. The merging of production companies allowed for bigger projects, which gave Anime a leg of its own to stand on.
Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors is the first notable animation of length made in Japan. After the war, the rapid economic success of Japan allowed Japan to emerge as a world leader in animation. Today Anime is one of the biggest industries for Japan.