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Miss Hokusai
is a Japanese historical manga series written and illustrated by Hinako Sugiura, telling the story of Katsushika Ōi who worked in the shadow of her father Hokusai. It was adapted into an anime film directed by Keiichi Hara, that was released in 2015. Title The Japanese title is , the Japanese name of ''Lagerstroemia indica''. Sugiura explained that Japanese culture remarked that the tree keeps blooming abundantly while its flowers fall. The author compared the vigor of the plant and that of ukiyo-e.First volume of the 1985 Jitsugyo no Nihonsha edition. Quoted in 1996 by Baku Yumemakura in Plot The ''manga'' story consists of episodes which are not necessarily connected to each other. They feature O-Ei and her life in Edo, as she works in the studio of her father. The younger sister appears in one of the episodes. The ''anime'' story begins in Edo in 1814, during the Edo period. O-Ei is one of the four daughters of the painter Tetsuzo, who later became known as Hokusa ...
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Hinako Sugiura
was a Japanese manga artist and researcher in the lifestyles and customs of Japan's Edo period. Born Junko Suzuki in Minato, Tokyo, into a tradition-steeped family of kimono merchants, she studied design and took an increasing interest in old Japan. She attended Nihon University, but gave up her formal studies to pursue research under the direction of author Shisei Inagaki. Inagaki specialized in the Edo period and taught Sugiura how to do the background surveys that would later ensure the historical accuracy of her manga and other works. Sugiura was the assistant of Murasaki Yamada, a prominent feminist manga artist. Sugiura published her first manga, "Tsugen Muro no Ume," in the alternative manga magazine ''Garo'' in 1980. Her distinctive style drew heavily on ukiyo-e techniques and breathed life into her depictions of Edo-period life and customs, helping her win popularity as well as the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for her manga ''Gassō'' ("Joint Burial") in 1984 ...
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Japanese Culture
The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ancestry of Japanese people remains mysterious; however, there are two competing hypotheses that try to explain the lineage of the Japanese people. The first hypothesis proposes a dual-structure model, in which Japanese populations are descendants of the indigenous Jomon people and later arrivals of people from the East Eurasian continent, known as the Yayoi people. Japan's indigenous culture originates primarily from the Yayoi people who settled in Japan between 1000 BCE and 300 CE. Yayoi culture spread to the main island of Honshū, mixing with the native Jōmon culture. Modern Japanese have an estimated 80% Yayoi and 20% Jōmon ancestry. The second hypothesis posits a tripartite model of genomic origin. This hypothesis proposes that co ...
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Amitābha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awareness of emptiness for each phenomenon. According to a Pure Land Buddhist scripture, he possesses infinite merit that results from good deeds over countless past lives as Dharmākara. Doctrine Attainment of Buddhahood According to the '' Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life'', Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmākara. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmākara is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a Buddha and to create a ' (literally "buddha-field", often called a "Pureland" or "Buddha Land": a realm existing in the primordial universe outside ...
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Yoshiwara
was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640Avery, Anne Louise. ''Flowers of the Floating World: Geisha and Courtesans in Japanese Prints and Photographs, 1772–1926'' xhibition Catalogue(Sanders of Oxford & Mayfield Press: Oxford, 2006) and Shinmachi in Osaka. Created by the shogunate to curtail the tastes of and sequester the nouveau riche (merchant) classes, the entertainment offered in Yoshiwara, alongside other licensed districts, would eventually give rise to the creation of geisha, who would become known as the fashionable companions of the classes and simultaneously cause the demise of , the upper-class courtesans of the red-light districts. History 17th and 18th century The licensed district of Yoshiwara was created in the city of Edo, near to ...
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Oiran
is a collective term for the highest-ranking courtesans in Japanese history, who were considered to be above common prostitution, prostitutes (known as ) for their more refined entertainment skills and training in the traditional arts. Divided into a number of ranks within this category, the highest rank of were the , who were considered to be set apart from other due to their intensive training in the traditional arts. Though by definition also engaged in prostitution, higher-ranking had a degree of choice in which customers they took; , in contrast, did not engage in sex work at all. The term originated in Yoshiwara, the Yūkaku, red light district of Edo in the 1750s, and is applied to all ranks of high level courtesans in historical Japan. The services of were well known for being exclusive and expensive, with typically only entertaining the upper classes of society, gaining the nickname for their perceived ability to steal the hearts and match the wits of upper-cl ...
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Ikiryō
, also known as , , or , is a disembodied spirit or ghost in Japanese popular belief and fiction that leaves the body of a living person and subsequently haunts other people or places, sometimes across great distances. The term(s) are used in contrast to , which refers to the spirit of those who are already deceased. Summary The popular belief that the human spirit (or soul) can escape from the body has been around since early times, with eyewitness accounts and experiences (hauntings, possessions, out-of-body experience) reported in anecdotal and fictional writings. of the living are said to inflict upon the subject or subjects of their vengeance by means of transforming into their form. It is believed that if a sufficient grudge is held, all or part of the perpetrator's soul leaves the body, appearing in front of the victim to harm or curse them, a concept not so dissimilar from the evil eye. The has even made its way into Buddhist scriptures, where they are described as ...
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Japanese Dragon
Japanese dragons (, ''Nihon no ryū'') are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and the Indian subcontinent. The style and appearance of the dragon was heavily influenced by the Chinese dragon, especially the three-clawed ''long'' (龍) dragons which were introduced in Japan from China in ancient times. Like these other East Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Indigenous Japanese dragons The c. 680 AD ''Kojiki'' and the c. 720 AD '' Nihongi'' mytho-histories have the first Japanese textual references to dragons. "In the oldest annals the dragons are mentioned in various ways," explains de Visser, "but mostly as water-gods, serpent- or dragon-shaped." The ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihongi'' mention several a ...
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Buddhism In Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a major influence on Japanese society and culture and remains an influential aspect to this day.Asia SocietBuddhism in Japan accessed July 2012 According to the Japanese Government's Agency for Cultural Affairs estimate, , with about 84 million or about 67% of the Japanese population, Buddhism was the religion in Japan with the second most adherents, next to Shinto, though a large number of people practice elements of both. According to the statistics by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2021, the religious corporation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan had 135 million believers, of which 47 million were Buddhists and most of them were believers of new schools of Buddhism ...
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Japanese Mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with Korea, Ainu, and Okinawan myths are also key influences in Japanese mythology. Japanese myths are tied to the topography of the archipelago as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, and the Shinto pantheon holds countless ''kami'' (Japanese for " god(s)" or "spirits"). This article will discuss cosmogony, important deities, modern interpretations, cultural significance, and the influence of these myths. Two important sources for Japanese myths as they are recognized today are the ''Kojiki'' and the '' Nihon Shoki''. The ''Kojiki'', or "Record of Ancient Matters," is the oldest surviving account of Japan's myths, legends, and history. Additionally, the ''Shintōshū'' describes the origins of Japanese deities from ...
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Utagawa School
The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, took over after Toyoharu's death and led the group to become the most famous and powerful woodblock print school for the remainder of the 19th century. Hiroshige, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi were Utagawa students. The school became so successful and well known that today more than half of all surviving ukiyo-e prints are from it. Founder Toyoharu adopted Western-style deep perspective, an innovation in Japanese art. His immediate followers, Utagawa Toyohiro and Toyokuni adopted bolder, more sensuous styles than Toyoharu and specialized in different genres — Toyohiro in landscapes and Toyokuni in kabuki actor prints. Later artists in the school specialized in other genres, such as warrior prints and mythic parodies.Johnson, Ke ...
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Bijin-ga
is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of World Art'' defines it as depiction of "the beauty of a woman's appearance". On the other hand, defines as pictures that explore "the inner beauty of women". For this reason, the essence of cannot always be expressed only through the depiction of a , a woman aligning with the beauty image. In fact, in ukiyo-e , it was not considered important that the picture resemble the facial features of the model, and the depiction of women in ukiyo-e is stylized rather than an attempt to create a realistic image; For example, throughout the Edo period (1603-1867), married women had a custom of shaving their eyebrows (), but in , there was a rule to draw the eyebrows for married women. History Ukiyo-e itself is a genre of woodblock prints and pain ...
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Keisai Eisen
Keisai Eisen (渓斎 英泉, 1790–1848) was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist who specialised in ''bijin-ga'' (pictures of beautiful women). His best works, including his ''ōkubi-e'' ("large head pictures"), are considered to be masterpieces of the "decadent" Bunsei Era (1818–1830). He was also known as Ikeda Eisen, and wrote under the name of Ippitsuan. Biography Eisen was born in Edo into the Ikeda family, the son of a noted calligrapher. He was apprenticed to Kanō Hakkeisai, from whom he took the name Keisai, and after the death of his father he studied under Kikugawa Eizan. His initial works reflected the influence of his mentor, but he soon developed his own style. He produced a number of ''surimono'' (prints that were privately issued), erotic prints, and landscapes, including ''The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō'', which he started and which was completed by Hiroshige. Eisen is most renowned for his ''bijin-ga'' (pictures of beautiful women) which portraye ...
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