japanese culture

History of Japanese art

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Jomon art

The first settlers of Japan, the Jomon people (c 11000?–c 300 BC), named for the cord markings that decorated the surfaces of their clay vessels, were nomadic hunter-gatherers who later practiced organized farming and built cities with population of hundreds if not thousands. They built simple houses of wood and thatch set into shallow earthen pits to provide warmth from the soil. They crafted lavishly decorated pottery storage vessels, clay figurines called dogu, and crystal jewels.

Yayoi art

The next wave of immigrants was the Yayoi people, named for the district in Tokyo where remnants of their settlements first were found. These people, arriving in Japan about 350 BC, brought their knowledge of wetland rice cultivation, the manufacture of copper weapons and bronze bells (dotaku), and wheel-thrown, kiln-fired ceramics.

Kofun art

The third stage in Japanese prehistory, the Kofun, or Tumulus, period (c AD 250–552), represents a modification of Yayoi culture, attributable either to internal development or external force. In this period, diverse groups of people formed political alliances and coalesced into a nation. Typical artifacts are bronze mirrors, symbols of political alliances, and clay sculptures called haniwa which were erected outside tombs.

Asuka and Nara art

During the Asuka and Nara periods, so named because the seat of Japanese government was located in the Asuka Valley from 552 to 710 and in the city of Nara until 784, the first significant invasion by Asian continental culture took place in Japan.

The transmission of Buddhism provided the initial impetus for contacts between China, Korea and Japan. The Japanese recognized the facets of Chinese culture that could profitably be incorporated into their own: a system for converting ideas and sounds into writing; historiography; complex theories of government, such as an effective bureaucracy; and, most important for the arts, new technologies, new building techniques, more advanced methods of casting in bronze, and new techniques and media for painting.

Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, however, the major focus in contacts between Japan and the Asian continent was the development of Buddhism. Not all scholars agree on the significant dates and the appropriate names to apply to various time periods between 552, the official date of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan, and 784, when the Japanese capital was transferred from Nara. The most common designations are the Suiko period, 552–645; the Hakuho period, 645–710, and the Tenpyo period, 710–784.

The earliest Japanese sculptures of the Buddha are dated to the 6th and 7th century.They ultimately derive from the 1st-3rd century CE Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, characterized by flowing dress patterns and realistic rendering, on which Chinese and Korean artistic traits were superimposed.These indigenous characteristics can be seen in early Buddhist art in Japan and some early Japanese Buddhist sculpture is now believed to have originated in Korea, particularly from Baekje, or Korean artisans who immigrated to Yamato Japan. Particularly, the semi-seated Maitreya form was adapted into a highly developed Korean style which was transmitted to Japan as evidenced by the Koryu-ji Miroku Bosatsu and the Chugu-ji Siddhartha statues. Although many historians portray Korea as a mere transmitter of Buddhism, the Three Kingdoms, and particularly Baekje, were instrumental as active agents in the introduction and formation of a Buddhist tradition in Japan in 538 or 552. They illustrate the terminal point of the Silk Road transmission of Art during the first few centuries of our era. Other examples can be found in the development of the iconography of the Japanese Fujin Wind God, the Nio guardians, and the near-Classical floral patterns in temple decorations.

The earliest Buddhist structures still extant in Japan, and the oldest wooden buildings in the Far East are found at the Horyu-ji to the southwest of Nara. First built in the early 7th century as the private temple of Crown Prince Shotoku, it consists of 41 independent buildings. The most important ones, the main worship hall, or Kondo (Golden Hall), and Goju-no-to (Five-story Pagoda), stand in the center of an open area surrounded by a roofed cloister. The Kondo, in the style of Chinese worship halls, is a two-story structure of post-and-beam construction, capped by an irimoya, or hipped-gabled roof of ceramic tiles.

Japanese art

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Japanese art

covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper, and a myriad of other types of works of art. It also has a long history, ranging from the beginnings of human habitation in Japan, sometime in the 10th millennium BC, to the present.

Historically, Japan has been subject to sudden invasions of new and alien ideas followed by long periods of minimal contact with the outside world. Over time the Japanese developed the ability to absorb, imitate, and finally assimilate those elements of foreign culture that complemented their aesthetic preferences. The earliest complex art in Japan was produced in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. in connection with Buddhism. In the 9th century, as the Japanese began to turn away from China and develop indigenous forms of expression, the secular arts became increasingly important; until the late 15th century, both religious and secular arts flourished. After the Onin War (1467-1477), Japan entered a period of political, social, and economic disruption that lasted for over a century. In the state that emerged under the leadership of the Tokugawa shogunate, organized religion played a much less important role in people's lives, and the arts that survived were primarily secular.

Painting is the preferred artistic expression in Japan, practiced by amateurs and professionals alike. Until modern times, the Japanese wrote with a brush rather than a pen, and their familiarity with brush techniques has made them particularly sensitive to the values and aesthetics of painting. With the rise of popular culture in the Edo period, a style of woodblock prints called ukiyo-e became a major art form and its techniques were fine tuned to produce colorful prints of everything from daily news to schoolbooks. The Japanese, in this period, found sculpture a much less sympathetic medium for artistic expression; most Japanese sculpture is associated with religion, and the medium's use declined with the lessening importance of traditional Buddhism.

The museum's collection

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The museum's collection

History

The museum came into being in 1872, when the first exhibition was held by the Museum Department of the Ministry of Education at the Taiseiden Hall. This marked the inauguration of the first museum in Japan. Soon after the opening, the museum moved to Uchiyamashita-cho (present Uchisaiwai-cho), then in 1882 moved again to the Ueno Park, where it stands today. Since its establishment, the museum has experienced major challenges such as the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and a temporary closing in 1945, during World War II. In more than the 120 years of its history, the museum has gone under much evolution and transformation through organizational reforms and administrative change.

The museum went through several name changes, being called the Imperial Museum in 1886 and the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum in 1900, until it was given its present title in 1947.

Honkan (Japanese Gallery)

The original Main Gallery (designed by the British architect Josiah Conder) was severely damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. In contrast to the original building's more Western style, the design of the present Honkan by Watanabe Jin is the more eastern "emperor's crown style". Construction began in 1932, and the building was inaugurated in 1938. It was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 2001.

The Japanese Gallery provides a general view of Japanese art, containing 24 exhibition rooms on two floors. It consists of exhibitions from 10,000 B.C. up to the late 19th century, exhibitions of different types of art such as ceramics, sculpture, swords, and others.

The 1st room - The 10th room (2F): The title is "The flow of Japanese art". It interlaces theme exhibitions such as "Art of Buddhism", "Art of Tea ceremony", "The clothing of Samurai", "Noh and Kabuki", and etc. One national treasure object is exhibited by turns every time in the 2nd room as "The national treasure room".
The 11th room - The 20th room (1F): There are exhibition rooms according to the genres such as Sculpture, Metalworking, Pottery, Japanning, Katana, Ethnic material, Historic material, Modern art, and etc.
The extra exhibition rooms (1F and 2F): There are small exhibition rooms where planning such as "new objects exhibitions".
The extra room (1F): This is an event meeting place for children.

Toyokan (Asian Gallery)

This building was inaugurated in 1968 and designed by Taniguchi Yoshio. This is a three-storied building which bring a feeling such as five-storied. Because there are large floors arranged in a spiral ascending from the 1st floor along the mezzanines to the 3rd floor, and many stairs. It has been made huge colonnade air space to reach from the first floor to the third floor ceiling inside, and placement of an exhibition room is complicated. There is a restaurant and museum shop on the first floor, too.

The Asian Gallery consists of ten exhibition rooms arranged on seven region levels. It is dedicated to the art and archaeology of Asia, including China, the Korean peninsula, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle east and Egypt.

The 1st room (1F): Sculptures of India and Gandhara in Pakistan.
The 2nd and 3rd room (1F): Egypt, West Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.
he 4th and 5th room (2F): Chinese artifacts and archaeologiy.
The 6th and 7th room (2F): Lounge and Small exhibit space.
The 8th room (2F): Chinese painting and calligraphy.
The 9th and 10th room (3F): Central Asia and Korean peninsula.

Hyokeikan

Built to commemorate the marriage of the then Meiji Crown Prince (later Emperor Taisho), Hyokeikan was inaugurated in 1909. This building is designated as an Important Cultural Property as a representative example of Western-style architecture of the late Meiji period (early 20th century). It is open for events and temporary exhibitions only.

Heiseikan

Heiseikan serves primarily as space for special exhibitions, but also houses the Japanese Archaeology Gallery. The Japanese Archaeology Gallery on the first floor traces Japanese history from ancient to pre-modern times through archaeological objects. The galleries on the second floor are entirely dedicated to special exhibitions. The Heiseikan building was opened in 1999 to commemorate the crown prince's marriage. The building also contains an auditorium and lounge area.

This gallery displays some examples of pottery, the Jomon linear appliqué type, from around 10,000 BC. The antiquity of these potteries was first identified after World War II, through radiocarbon dating methods: "The earliest pottery, the linear applique type, was dated by radiocarbon methods taken on samples of carbonized material at 12500 +- 350 before present" (Prehistoric Japan, Keiji Imamura).

Japanese museums

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Japanese museums

was introduced to the idea of Western-style museums (hakubutsukan) as early as the Bakumatsu period through Dutch Studies. Upon the conclusion of the US-Japan Amity Treaty in 1858, a Japanese delegation to America observed Western-style museums first-hand.

Following the Meiji Restoration, botanist Itou Keisuke, and natural historian, Tanaka Yoshio, also wrote of the necessity of establishing museum facilities similar to the ones found in the West. Preparations commenced to construct facilities to preserve historical relics of the past.

In 1871, the Museum of the Ministry of Education (Monbusho Hakubutsukan) staged Japan’s first exhibition in the Yushima area of Tokyo. Minerals, fossils, animals, plants, regional crafts, and artifacts were among the articles displayed.

Following the Yushima exposition, the government set up a bureau charged with the construction of a permanent museum. The bureau proposed that in keeping with Japan’s participation in the Vienna World Fair of 1873, a Home Ministry Museum (now, the Tokyo National Museum) eventually be developed.

In 1877, the Museum of Education (Kyoiku Hakubutsukan)opened in Ueno Park (now, the National Science Museum of Japan) with displays devoted to physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and regional crafts. As a part of the exhibition, art objects were also displayed in an “art museum.”

The Imperial Household Department oversaw the establishment of a central museum dedicated to historical artifacts in 1886. In addition, in the years after 1877, there was great enthusiasm for establishing regional museums in Akita, Niigata, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima.

In 1895, the Nara National Museum opened its doors, followed in 1897 by the Kyoto National Museum. Other national specialty museums followed: the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce Exhibition Hall (1897), Patent Office Exhibition Hall (1905), and the Postal Museum (1902).

In addition to the national museums, private museums were also established after the turn of the century. The first private museum was the Okura Shukokan Museum, built in 1917 to house Okura Kihachiro’s collection. The industrialist Ôhara Mogasaburo established the Ôhara Museum of Art in 1930 in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. The museum was the first Japanese museum devoted to Western art. Private museums continued to open after the war. In 1966, the Yamatane Museum of Art and the Idemitsu Art Gallery, both built around private collections, were established.

By 1945, there were 150 museums in Japan. However, the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), the Sino-Japanese war, and World War II, led to the stagnation of Japan’s museum activities.

Plans for museums that had been put on hold during the war recommenced in the 1950s. The Kyoiku Hakubutsukan became the National Science Museum of Japan (Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan)in 1949, and the former Monbusho Hakubutsukan became the Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan)in 1952.

Japanese art objects had been collected in the Shôsôin (treasure houses) of shrines and temples from the Nara Period on. Artifacts were included in the national hakubutsukan established during the Meiji period, but were not assigned to the distinct category of art museum (bijutsukan) until after 1945.

Tokyo National Museum

Established 1872, the Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan), or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure holdings and 610 Important Cultural Property holdings (as of July, 2005). The museum also conducts research and organizes educational events related to its collection.

The museum is located inside Ueno Park in Taito, Tokyo. The facilities consist of the Honkan (, Japanese Gallery), Toyokan (, Asian Gallery), Hyokeikan, Heiseikan, Horyu-ji Homotsukan (the Gallery of Horyu-ji Treasures), as well as Shiryokan (, the Research and Information Center) and other facilities (Map). There are restaurants and shops within the museum's premises, as well as outdoor exhibitions and a garden where visitors can enjoy seasonal views.

History

The museum came into being in 1872, when the first exhibition was held by the Museum Department of the Ministry of Education at the Taiseiden Hall. This marked the inauguration of the first museum in Japan. Soon after the opening, the museum moved to Uchiyamashita-cho (present Uchisaiwai-cho), then in 1882 moved again to the Ueno Park, where it stands today. Since its establishment, the museum has experienced major challenges such as the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and a temporary closing in 1945, during World War II. In more than the 120 years of its history, the museum has gone under much evolution and transformation through organizational reforms and administrative change.

The museum went through several name changes, being called the Imperial Museum in 1886 and the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum in 1900, until it was given its present title in 1947.

Japanese festivals

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Japanese festivals

Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions. Some festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals but have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs.These Japanese festival has deep root in Nepal.Concept of these festivals transported to China from Nepal then from China to Japan. Nepal has same festival as in Japan till today like Machendra Jatra, Indra Jatra. Some are so different that they do not even remotely resemble the original festival despite sharing the same name and date. There are also various local festivals (e.g. Tobata Gion) that are mostly unknown outside a given prefecture. It is commonly said that you will always find a festival somewhere in Japan. Unlike most people of East Asian descent, Japanese people generally do not celebrate Chinese New Year (it having been supplanted by the Western New Year's Day in the late 19th century); although Chinese residents in Japan still do. In Yokohama Chinatown, Japan's biggest Chinatown, tourists from all over Japan come to enjoy the festival. And similarly the Nagasaki Lantern Festival is based in Nagasaki's China town. See: Japanese New Year.

Local festivals (Matsuri)

Matsuri is the Japanese word for a festival or holiday. In Japan, festivals are usually sponsored by a local shrine or temple, though they can be secular. There is no specific matsuri days for all of Japan; dates vary from area to area, and even within a specific area, but festival days do tend to cluster around traditional holidays such as Setsubun or Obon. Almost every locale has at least one matsuri in late summer/early autumn, usually related to the rice harvest. Notable matsuri often feature processions which may include elaborate floats. Preparation for these processions is usually organized at the level of neighborhoods, or machi. Prior to these, the local kami may be ritually installed in mikoshi and paraded through the streets. One can always find in the vicinity of a matsuri booths selling souvenirs and food such as takoyaki, and games, such as Goldfish scooping. Karaoke contests, sumo matches, and other forms of entertainment are often organized in conjunction with matsuri. If the festival is next to a lake, renting a boat is also an attraction.

New Year

nformation: New Year observances are the most important and elaborate of Japan's annual events. Before the New Year, homes are cleaned, debts are paid off, and osechi (food in lacquered trays for the New Year) is prepared or bought. Osechi foods are traditional foods which are chosen for their lucky colors, shapes, or lucky-sounding names in hopes of obtaining good luck in various areas of life during the new year. Homes are decorated and the holidays are celebrated by family gatherings, visits to temples or shrines, and formal calls on relatives and friends. The first day of the year (ganjitsu) is usually spent with members of the family.

People try to stay awake and eat toshikoshisoba, which is soba noodles that would be eaten to at midnight. People also visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Traditionally three shrines or temples are visited. This is called sansha-mairi. In the Imperial Palace at dawn on the 1st of January, the emperor performs the rite of shihohai(worship of the four quarters), in which he does reverence in the direction of various shrines and imperial tombs and offers prayers for the well-being of the nation. On January 2 the public is allowed to enter the inner palace grounds; the only other day this is possible is the emperor's birthday (December 23). On the 2nd and 3rd days acquaintances visit one another to extend greetings (nenshi) and sip otoso (a spiced rice wine). Some games played at New Year's are karuta (a card game), hanetsuki (similar to badminton), tako age (kiteflying), and komamawashi (spinning tops). These games are played to bring more luck for the year. Exchanging New Year's greeting cards (similar to Christmas Cards in Western countries) is another important Japanese custom. Also special allowances are given to children, which are called otoshidama. They also decorate their entrances with kagami-mochi (2 mochi rice balls placed one on top of the other, with a tangerine on top), and kadomatsu (pine tree decorations).

A later New Year's celebration, Koshogatsu, literally means "Small New Year" and starts with the first full moon of the year (around January 15). The main events of Koshogatsu are rites and practices praying for a bountiful harvest

Doll Festival

Other Names: Sangatsu Sekku (3rd month Festival), Momo Sekku (Peach Festival), Joshi no Sekku (Girls' Festival)

This is the day families pray for the happiness and prosperity of their girls and to help ensure that they grow up healthy and beautiful. The celebration takes place both inside the home and at the seashore. Both parts are meant to ward off evil spirits from girls. Young girls put on their best kimonos and visit their friends' homes. Tiered platforms for hina ningyo (hina dolls; a set of dolls representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in ancient court dress) are set up in the home, and the family celebrates with a special meal of hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes) and shirozake (rice malt with sake).

Hanami

Other Names: Hanami (flower viewing), Cherry Blossom Festival

Information: Various flower festivals are held at Shinto shrines during the month of April. Excursions and picnics for enjoying flowers, particularly cherry blossoms are also common. In some places flower viewing parties are held on traditionally fixed dates. This is one of the most popular events during spring. The subject of flower viewing has long held an important place in literature, dance and the fine arts. Ikebana (flower arrangement) is also a popular part of Japanese culture and is still practiced by many people today. Some main things people do during this event are: games, folk songs, folk dance, flower displays, rides, parades, concerts, kimono shows, booths with food and other things, beauty pageant, and religious ceremonies.

Boy's Day (Kodomo no hi)

Other Names: Iris Festival (Shobu no Sekku), Tango Festival (Tango no Sekku)

Information: May is the month of the Iris Festival. The tall-stemmed Japanese iris is a symbolic flower. Its long, narrow leaves resemble the sharp blades off a sword, and for many centuries it has been the custom to place iris leaves in a boy's bath to give him a martial spirit. Originally May 5 was a festival for boys corresponding to the Doll Festival, for girls, but in 1948 it was renamed Children's Day, and made a national holiday. However, this might be a misnomer; the symbols of courage and strength mainly honor boys. It is customary on this day for families with male children to fly koinobori (carp streamers, a symbol of success) outside the house, display warrior dolls (musha ningyo) inside, and eat chimaki (rice cakes wrapped in cogan grass or bamboo leaves) and kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves). Also known as kodomo no hi

Tanabata

Other Names: The Star Festival

Information: It originated from a Chinese folk legend concerning two stars-the Weaver Star (Vega) and the Cowherd Star (Altair)-who were said to be lovers who could meet only once a year on the 7th night of the 7th month provided it didn't rain and flood the Milky Way. It was named Tanabata after a weaving maiden from a Japanese legend who was believed to make clothes for the gods. People often write wishes and romantic aspirations on long, narrow strips of coloured paper and hang them on bamboo branches along with other small ornaments.

Bon Festival

Information: A Buddhist observance honoring the spirits of ancestors. Usually a "spirit altar" (shoryodana) is set up in front of the Butsudan (buddhist family altar) to welcome the ancestors' souls. A priest is usually asked to come and read a sutra (tanagyo). Among the traditional preparations for the ancestors' return are the cleaning of grave sites and preparing a path from them to the house and the provision of straw horses or oxen for the ancestors' transportation. The welcoming fire (mukaebi) built on the 13th and the send-off fire (okuribi) built on the 16th are intended to light the path.

Popular culture

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Popular culture

Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Popular films, television programs, Manga, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did other groups.

Many anime and manga are becoming very popular around the world, as well as Japanese video games, music, and game shows, this has made Japan an "entertainment superpower" along with the United States and European Union.

In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working society with little time for leisure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work, enjoying their favorite manga, or listening through earphones to the latest in popular music on portable music players.

A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors.

Traditional Japanese architecture

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Traditional Japanese architecture

Japanese architecture has as long a history as any other aspect of Japanese culture. Originally heavily influenced by Chinese architecture, it also develops many differences and aspects which are indigenous to India. Examples of traditional architecture are seen at Temples, Shinto shrines and castles in Kyoto, and Nara. Some of these buildings are constructed with traditional gardens, which are influenced from Zen ideas.

Some modern architects, such as Yoshio Taniguchi and Tadao Ando are known for their amalgamation of Japanese traditional and Western architectural influences.

Traditional Japanese architecture has been highly affected since Japan decided to open its gates to western culture and architecture in particular. Japan made efforts to preserve traditional Japanese architecture features, but western modern architecture has taken its tole and now we see more concrete and steel and flat-roofs terraces in modern Japanese houses.

Japanese houses are usually built on three floors, no cellars or basements. They use wooden floors and sliding doors and windows. Japanese homes have very small bathrooms, which are limited to the bath and shower space. Big cities in Japan are very crowded; therefore, Japanese homes rarely have a garden.

The summer season in Japan is quite rainy and humid. So, in order to keep Japanese homes airy and cool, most Japanese houses are built from thin timber walls and have slanted, slightly curved roofs. That is why Japanese home architecture is more likely to suffer from earthquakes and fires.

Japanese culture is based on aesthetics and the natural environment. Its ideas of balance, harmony, economy and beauty are projected in Japanese art and architecture, for example: traditional Japanese houses, the art of flower arrangement, brush painting and the famous Japanese tea ceremony.

Clothing

The Japanese word kimono means "something one wears" and they are the traditional garments of Japan. Originally, the word kimono was used for all types of clothing, but eventually, it came to refer specifically to the full-length garment also known as the naga-gi, meaning "long-wear", that is still worn today on special occasions by women, men, and children. It is often known as wafuku which means "Japanese clothes". Kimono comes in a variety of colors, styles, and sizes. Men mainly wear darker or more muted colours, while women tend to wear brighter colors and pastels, and often with complicated abstract or floral patterns. The summer kimono which are lighter are called yukata. Formal kimono are typically worn in several layers, with number of layers, visibility of layers, sleeve length, and choice of pattern dictated by social status and the occasion for which the kimono is worn.

Cuisine

Through a long culinary past, the Japanese have developed a unique, sophisticated and refined cuisine. In recent years, Japanese food has become fashionable and popular in the U.S., Europe and many other areas. Dishes such as sushi, tempura, and teriyaki chicken are some of the foods that are commonly known. The healthful Japanese diet is often believed to be related to the longevity of Japanese people

Sports

In the long feudal period governed by the samurai class, some methods that were used to train warriors were developed into well-ordered martial arts, referred to collectively as Koryu. Examples include Kenjutsu, Kyudo, Sojutsu, Jujutsu and Sumo, all of which were established in the Edo period. After the rapid social change in the Meiji Restoration, some martial arts changed to modern sports, Gendai Budo. Judo was developed by Kano Jigoro, who studied some sects of Jujutsu. These sports are still widely practiced in present day Japan and other countries.

Baseball, football (soccer) and other popular western sports were imported to Japan in the Meiji period. These sports are commonly practiced in schools along with traditional martial arts.

The most popular professional sports in today's Japan are Sumo, baseball and football (soccer). In addition, many semi-professional organizations, such as volleyball, basketball and rugby union, are sponsored by private companies.

Culture of Japan

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Culture of Japan

The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. After several waves of immigration from the continent and nearby Pacific islands (see History of Japan),the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world under the Tokugawa shogunate until the arrival of "The Black Ships" and the Meiji era.

Japanese language

The Japanese language has always played a significant role in Japanese culture. The language is spoken mainly in Japan but also in some Japanese emigrant communities around the world, it is an agglutinative language and the sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small but has a lexically distinct pitch-accent system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the 8th century, when the three major works of old Japanese were compiled. The earliest attestation of the Japanese language is in a Chinese document from 252 A.D. It is regarded as an extremely hard language for westerners to learn as adults.

Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: hiragana which were derived from the Chinese cursive script, katakana, which were derived as a shorthand from Chinese characters, and kanji, imported from China. The Latin alphabet, romaji, is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace.

Calligraphy

The flowing, brush-drawn Japanese language lends itself to complicated calligraphy. Calligraphic art is often too esoteric for Western audiences and therefore general exposure is very limited. However in East Asian countries, the rendering of text itself is seen as a traditional artform as well as a means of conveying written information. The written work can consist of phrases, poems, stories, or even single characters. The style and format of the writing can mimic the subject matter, even to the point of texture and stroke speed. In some cases it can take over one hundred attempts to produce the desired effect of a single character but the process of creating the work is considered as much an art as the end product itself.

This art form is known as ‘Shodo’ which literally means ‘the way of writing or calligraphy’ or more commonly known as ‘Shuji‘ 'learning how to write characters’

Sculpture

Traditional Japanese sculptures mainly settled on the subject of Buddhist images, such as Tathagata, Bodhisattva and Myo-o. The oldest sculpture in Japan is a wooden statue of Amitabha at the Zenko-ji temple. In the Nara period, Buddhist statues were made by the national government to boost its prestige. These examples are seen in present-day Nara and Kyoto, most notably a colossal bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana in the Todai-ji temple.

Wood has traditionally been used as the chief material in Japan, along with the traditional Japanese architectures. Statues are often lacquered, gilded, or brightly painted, although there are little traces on the surfaces. Bronze and other metals are also used. Other materials, such as stone and pottery, have had extremely important roles in the plebeian beliefs.

Ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e, literally "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of woodblock prints that exemplifies the characteristics of pre-Meiji Japanese art. Because these prints could be mass-produced, they were available to a wide cross-section of the Japanese populace — those not wealthy enough to afford original paintings — during their heyday, from the 17th to 20th century.

Ikebana

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It has gained widespread international fame for its focus on harmony, color use, rhythm, and elegantly simple design. It is an art centered greatly on expressing the seasons, and is meant to act as a symbol to something greater than the flower itself. Traditionally when third party marriages were more prominent and practiced in Japan many Japanese women entering into a marriage did learn to take up the art of Ikebana to be a more appealing and well-rounded lady. Today Ikebana is widely practiced in Japan, as well as around the world.

POLITICAL IDEAS JAPAN

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Political ideas

The novel political elements were "exalted militarism" and "State Socialism". Compounded they made a distinctive Militarism-Socialism right-wing ideology.

During the 1920s Right wing-Nationalist beliefs became a major force. The state support for Shinto encouraged a semi-religious belief in the mythological history of Japan (and thus to mysticism and cultural introversion). Some nationalist secret societies took up ultranationalism, Japan-centred radical ideas, and a new conception of State Socialism. They included: Genyōsha (Black Ocean Society, 1881), Kokuryu-kai (Amur Society, or Black Dragon Society, 1901), movements dedicated to overseas Japanese expansion to the north; Nihon Kokusui Kai (Japanese Patriotic Society, 1919), founded by Tokoname Takejiro; Sekka Boshidan (Anti-Red League) founded at the same time as the Japanese Communist Party; and the Kokuhonsha (State Basis Society) founded in 1924 by Baron Hiranuma, for the preservation of the unique national character of Japan and its special mission in Asia.

The introduction of the distinctive theory of "State Socialism" is attributed to Kita Ikki (1885-1937), an Amur Society member and Asian mainland expert, in his 1919 book Nihon kaizo hoan taiko (General Plan for National Reorganization of Japan). He proposed a military coup d'état to promote the supposed true aims of the Meiji Restoration. This book was banned, but certain military circles read in it in the early 1930s.

Political nationalist movements

The Japanese Navy was in general terms more traditionalist, in defending ancient values and the sacrality of the Emperor; the Japanese Army was more forward-looking, in the sense of valuing primarily strong leadership, as is evidenced by the use of the coup and direct action. The Navy typically preferred political methods. The Army, ultimately, was the vehicle for the anticapitalists, hypernationalists, anticommunists, antiparliamentarians, Extreme Right-Socialists and Nationalist-Militarist ideals.

The military were considered politically "clean" in terms of political corruption, and assumed responsibility for 'restoring' the security of the nation, too. The armed forces took up criticism of the traditional democratic parties and regular government for many reasons (low funds for the armed forces, compromised national security, weakness of the leaders). They were also, by their composition, closely aware of the effects of economic depression on the middle and lower classes, and the communist threat.

The nationalist right in the 1920s

Other nationalist-rightist groups in the 1920s were the Jinmu Kai (Emperor Jimmu Society), Tenketo Kai (Heaven Spade Party), Ketsumeidan (Blood Fraternity) and Sakura Kai (Cherry Blossom Society) . This last was founded by Dr. Shumei Okawa, professor of the Colonization Academy, and radical defender of expansionism and military armed revolution at home. Amongst members were Army officers implicated in the Manchuria Affair, such as Kingoro Hashimoto, and Ishikawa Kanishi. Okawa served as a conduit by which Kita Ikki's ideas reached young nationalist officers on the right.

Violent coups took place, and the Kwantung Army made, in effect unilaterally, the decision to invade Manchuria. This was then treated as a fait accompli by Government and Emperor.

Doctrines

The Amau Doctrine (the Asian Monroe Doctrine) stated that Japan assumed the total responsibility for peace in Asia. Minister Hirota proclaimed "a special zone, anti-communist, pro-Japanese and pro-Manchukuo" and that Northern China was a "fundamental part" of Japanese national existence, in announcing a "holy war" against the Soviet Union and China as the "national mission".

During 1940 Prince Konoe proclaimed the Shintaisen (New National Structure), making Japan into an "advanced state of National Defense", and the creation of the Tasei Yokusankai (Imperial Authority Assistance Association), for organizing a centralized "consensus state". Associated are the government creation of the Tonarigumi (residents' committees). Other ideological creations of the time were the book "Shinmin no Michi"(臣民の道), the "Imperial Way" or "War Party" (Kodoha) Army party, the "Yamato spirit" (Yamato-damashii), and the idea of hakko ichiu(whose directly translation is "4 walls and 4 corners under one roof", that means, "one house in which every people can live" or "everyone is family"),"Religion and Government Unity" (Saisei itchi),and Kokka Sodoin Ho (General Mobilization Right).

Geostrategy

The economic doctrines of the "Yen block" were in 1941 transformed to the "Great Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" Plan, as a basis for the Japanese national finances, and conquest plans. There was a history of perhaps two decades behind these moves.

The Japanese theorists, such as Saneshige Komaki, concerned with Mainland Asia, knew the geostrategic theory of Halford Mackinder, expressed in the book Democratic Ideas and Reality. He discussed why the 'World Island' of Eurasia and Africa was dominant, and why the key to this was the 'Central Land' in Central Asia. This is protected from sea attack, by deserts and mountains, and is vulnerable only on its west side, and to advanced technology from Europe.

Mackinder declared that: "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; Who rules the heartland commands the World Island; Who rules the World Island commands the World". These central Asiatic lands included: all of the Soviet Union, except the Pacific coast, west of the Volga river; all Mongolia, Sinkiang, Tibet and Iran. This zone is vast and possesses natural resources and raw materials, does not possess major farming possibilities, and has very little population. Mackinder thought in terms of land and sea power: the latter can outflank the former, and carry out distant logistical operations, but needs adequate bases.

These geopolitical ideas coincided with the theories of Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara, sent in 1928 to Manchuria to spy. The Army adopted them, in some form. Army theorists were located in the Manchuria area.

The Navy, on the other hand, was interested in the southerly direction of expansion (see Strike South group) the ideological center of Navy theorists stay in Formosa. These differing ideas were partly rooted in the supposed ancestral origins of the Japanese Army and Navy: Chosu or Izumo for the former, Satsuma and Yamato for the latter. The zaibatsu monopolies, while not lining up with either, leant to the Yamato clan, and economic interests. An extended debate ensued, resolved in the end by the stern experience of Japan's armed conflicts with the Soviet Union in 1938-39. This tipped the balance towards the 'South' plan, and the Pearl Harbor attack that precipitated the Pacific War in 1941.

Other ideological lines

Fumio Goto was the head of the Showa Studies Society, another "school" and "think tank" for future leaders of a radical totalitarian Japan. Count Yoriyasu Arima was another "professor" there. He was a supporter of radical political experiments and armed revolution, and contact with farmers' associations led by the Imperial Farmers Association. He read Karl Marx and Max Stirner, and other radical philosophers. With Fumimaro Konoye and Fusanosuke Kuhara, they created a revolutionary radical-right policy.

These revolutionary groups later had the help of three important personages, in making reality some certain ideas of a lost cause: they have in common practical work on the Manchukuo Socialist-Militarist policy. They were: General Hideki Tojo, chief of secret police in this country and leader of Kwantung Army and other Northern regions; Yosuke Matsuoka, who served as president of Mantetsu (South Manchuria Railway Company) and Foreign affairs minister; and Naoki Hoshino, an army ideologist who organized the government and political structure of Manchukuo. Tojo later became War Minister and Prime Minister in the Konoye cabinet, Matsuoka Foreign Minister, and Hoshino chief of Project departments charged with establishing a new economic structure for Japan. Some industrialists representative of this ideological strand were Ichizo Kobayashi, President of Tokio Gasu Denki, setting the structure for the Industry and Commerce ministry, and Shozo Murata, representing the Sumitomo Group becoming Communication Minister.

Control of communications media

The Press and other communication media were managed for the Information Department by Dr. Nobofumi Ito and official spokesman Koh Ishii. Radio Tokyo was charged with disseminating all official information around the world. The radio transmitted in English, Dutch, three Chinese dialects, French, Malay, Thai, as well Japanese to Southeast Asia; and the Islamic world had programs broadcast in Hindustani, Burmese, Arabic, English and French. In Hawaii there were radio programs in English and Japanese. Other daily transmissions were to Europe, South and Central America, eastern areas of South America and the USA, with Australia and New Zealand receiving broadcasts too.

The official press agency Domei Tsushin was connected with the Axis powers' press agencies such as D. N. B., Transoceanic, the Italian agency Stefani and others. Local and Manchukoan newspapers such as "Manchurian Daily News" (Japanese-owned) were under the control of these institutions and only published officially approved notices and information.

Nationalist politics

2008-08-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Origin of nationalist structures and parties

In 1882 the Japanese Government organized the Teiseito (Imperial Gubernative Party), one of first nationalist parties in the country. From the Russo-Japanese War Japan was called "Dai Nippon Teikoku", setting up a real Empire, with the inclusions of Formosa (1895), the Liaodong Peninsula and Karafuto (1905), the South Pacific Mandate islands (1918-19) and aiming at control of Joseon (Korea)(1905-10).

The wars against China and Russia were total wars, and required a nationalistic focus of patriotic sentiment. From this period the Yasukuni Jinja was converted into a center of the new patriotic sense. During the 1920s years the official establishment was conceptually organized in this form: Nobility and Aristocracy (Mombatsu); Commercial and Industrialist (Zaibatsu); military and some great landowner clan allies (Gumbatsu).

In 1926-28 the central government organized the "Peace preservation Department" (an antisubversive police section), and prosecuted all local communists who proposed a socialist form of government. The Japanese Army organized the Kempeitai (Military police service) and the Japanese Navy an equivalent. These security groups not only had military police responsibilities, additionally they possessed special weapons (groups in Manchuria), and a political department, and were ideologically related to the Kōdōha Party (a faction, and a political branch of the Army in civil government) and the colonial and security administrations.

Realities of political power

According to some authors, to call Japan in 1941 fascist or totalitarian is an error. The "New Structure" in Japan did not depend on one leader at the centre, a Mussolini or Hitler. Japanese citizens were rallied to the "Defensive State" or "Consensus State", in which all efforts of the nation supported collective objectives, by guidance from national myths, history and dogmas, obtaining a "national consensus".

Since the Meiji restoration, the central figure of the state was the Tenno, the emperor. According to the constitution, the tenno was head of the state (article 4) and commander of the Army and the Navy (article 11). Emperor Showa was also, from 1937, the commander of the Imperial General Headquarters.

About who really held the political power in Japan, there are three versions. One says that real control was exerted by the Emperor over the military; another validates a "consensus leadership" between the Emperor the other members of the Imperial General Headquarters, the government and the zaibatsu. There is also the 'militarist' position, denying politics as a factor. It argues that real control did lie with the military, behind a front formed by the Emperor and Government (as certainly occurred in Manchukuo with the Kangde Emperor Puyi).

For many historians such as Akira Fujiwara, Akira Yamada, Peter Wetzler, Herbert Bix and John Dower, the work done by Douglas MacArthur and SCAP during the first months of the occupation of Japan to exonerate Hirohito and all the imperial family from criminal prosecutions in the Tokyo tribunal was the predominant factor in the successful campaign to diminish in retrospect the role played by the emperor during the war. They argue that post-war view focused on the imperial conferences and missed the numerous "behind the crysanthemum curtain" meetings where the real decisions were made between emperor Showa, his chiefs of staff and the cabinet. For Fujiwara, "the thesis that the Emperor, as an organ of responsibility, could not reverse cabinet decision, is a myth (shinwa) fabricated after the war.

The principal military figures were:

General Hideki Tojo, First chief of Kempeitai in Manchukuo, prime minister, war minister, interior affairs Minister also in 1941 head of Kodoha party,
Lieutenant-General Hyotaro Yamada,War vice-minister,
General Sadao Araki, Army radical ideologist, also founder and first chief of the Kodoha party right-wing nationalist movement and during 1938-39 are Ministry of Education,
General Hachiro Arita, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Army thinker, he had engineered a pact with the Axis powers against Russia, also himself brainchild of "Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" Concept,
Prince Kan'in Kotohito, chief of staff of the Army
General Hajime Sujiyama, state chief of Army,
General Otozo Yamada, Home defense commander in chief of military instructions,
Prince Hiroyasu Fushimi, chief of staff of the Navy
Admiral Osami Nagano, state chief of Navy,
Admiral Koshiró Oikawa,Marine Minister, also one of navy strategists why organized the conquest plans to southern area
Rear Admiral Shigeru Fukudome, second state chief of Navy,
Admiral Shigetaro Shimada, Marine Minister,
Admiral Mineo Osumi, nobility member and oldest member of the Supreme War Council (Japan) and ex-Marine Minister,
Admiral Teijiro Toyoda,Ex-vice Marine Minister, Commerce & Industry and Foreign Affairs Minister, relationed with Mitsui Zaibatsu Clan,
General Juichi Terauchi, son of Marshal Masatake Terauchi, in charge of the Army forces during the early Pacific war in South Asia,
General Takazo Numata, second Commander of Army forces in South Asia,
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Chief of Combined Pacific Fleet, himself conceived the Hawaii Operation and directed the Navy forces during the Pearl Harbor attack and early Pacific war,
Rear Admiral Matome Ugaki, second chief of Combined Pacific Fleet, more remembered himself how some survivor of American shot-down of Isoroku Yamamoto's Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" Command Transport in Salomon Islands, and last direct navy commander of final Kamikaze Mission in Okinawa,
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, direct Navy Commander the Japanese Task force during Hawaii Operation,
Vice Admiral Takijiro Ohnishi, head of Naval Aviation Division of Munitions Ministry, also later First Air Fleet Land-based Commander in Northern Philippines, since October 1944, well known as founder of the Kamikaze special forces,
General Hiroshi Oshima, the official contact with Germany, and a firm supporter of the Nazis,
Major-General Kazuo Otani, another Japanese contact with Europeans and some supporter of Nazis too,
Lieutenant-General Seizo Sakonji, Commerce & Industry minister replacing Admiral Toyoda

The names of Mitsui, Mitsubishi (Iwasaki), Sumitomo, Okura, Asano, Kuhara and Yasuda, amongst others, were prominent as industrialists.

The ideology of Japanese nationalism 1905-1945

2008-08-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Bushido

As a residue of its widespread use in propaganda during the last century, military nationalism in Japan was often known as bushido (the way of the warrior). The word, denoting a coherent code of beliefs and doctrines about the proper path of the samurai, or what is called generically 'warrior thought' (武家思想, buke shisō), is rarely encountered in Japanese texts before the Meiji era, when the 11 volumes of the Hagakure of Yamamoto Tsunetomo, compiled in the years from 1710 to 1716 where the character combination is employed, was finally published. Indeed the word bushido, denoting a coherently integrated national ethos, only took on prominence after 1900 with the publication of an English-language book by Nitobe Inazō entitled Bushido: The Soul of Japan.

Constituted over a long time by house manuals on war and warriorship, it gained some official backing with the establishment of the Bakufu , which sought an ideological orthodoxy in the Neo-Confucianism of Chu Hsi tailored for military echelons that formed the basis of the new shogunal government [1]. An important early role was played by Yamaga Sokō in theorizing a Japanese military ethos. After the abolition of the the feudal system, one of the slogans used to mobilize public sentiment and orientate national policy in early Meiji times was Fukoku kyōhei, namely 'Enrich the country, strengthen the military'. The new military institutions of Japan were shaped along European lines, with Western instructors, and the codes themselves modelled on standard models adapted from abroad. The impeccable behaviour, in terms of international criteria, displayed by the Japanese military in the Russo-Japanese war was proof that Japan finally disposed of a modern army whose techniques, drilling and etiquette of war differed little from that of what prevailed among the Western imperial powers.

The role of Shinto

In developing the modern concept of State Shintoism (国家神道, kokka shintō) and Emperor worship, various Japanese thinkers tried to protect national beliefs from foreign elements such as Chinese religious thinking. They returned to ancient Japanese customs, creating the "Restoration Shintoist Movement" following Motoori Norinaga of the 18th century. In researching the origins of Japanese culture, Motoori studied the Classic Shinto Chronicles, the Kojiki. These teach the superiority of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. In this philosophy, Divine participation in natural events is rare and Divine Providence cannot be predicted. Out of respect for the divine, subjects are expected to submit to Divine Providence.

A follower, Hirata Atsutane, expanded Norinaga's idea of purifying fundamental Shintoism from Chinese influences. Hirata proposed a mixed Christian theology, comparing the Amenomikanushi-no Kami, a central God mentioned in the Kojiki Chronicle, with the Christian God. His view was that the first god presiding over the universe had two helpers: Productive (Takami-Musubi) and Divine Productive (Kami-Musubi), representing the Yin-Yang principle of Asian thought. Combined with sacred texts of Kojiki, Shoku Nihongi and Yengi-Shiki, this blend produced a High Monotheist Shinto for the time.

This is the religious ideology which formed the basis for emperor worship and the Shinto State religion: the Divine Emperor was descended directly from Amaterasu Omikami, the National God who protects the country. All proclamations of the emperor took on religious significance; for instance, in 1882, Emperor Meiji made an Imperial Rescript to Seamen and Soldiers, from this time considered sacred and obligatory.

In 1890 the educational system was adapted, taking State Shintoism as principal religion. The pre-existing other 13 Shinto sects (sect Shinto) were driven out. "The Emperor is a Revealed God among men, a Manifest Deity for us." The Imperial Rescript to Seamen and Soldiers was added to the National education system, to present the historical relation of Imperial mythical ancestors with their subjects. When these texts were read, subjects demonstrated their respect for the Emperor by saying "In Name of your Majesty and your seal."

Hachiman Daibutsu

Hachiman was Japan's traditional deity of war. The military also used this cult. The families of soldiers sent to the front prayed at his shrines for the national war effort's success, and the prompt return of sons. Some members of the theorists (the "Strike North Group") of the Japanese Army invoked his sacred protection and support. In their view, he gave the "divine opportunity" to finish definitively the Communist danger; they prepared plans for invasion of the Soviet Far East and Siberian lands, as part of Japanese Army general plans of July 1941

Kamikaze

kämiˈkäzē (World War II) (a crewman of) a Japanese aircraft, usually loaded with explosives, making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target, such as an aircraft carrier; a suicide pilot or plane. Japan officially formed a kamikaze force in late 1944. During the American invasion of Okinawa (April 1945), Japanese suicide sorties called kikusui (”floating chrysanthemums”) sank thirty-six ships and damaged 368. An estimated 5, 000 kamikaze pilots died in action.In Japanese tradition, the kamikaze, or “divine wind, ” was a gale that destroyed the fleet of the invading Mongols in 1281.

The extreme use of tradition was seen in the idea of Vice Admiral Takijiro Ohnishi of Kamikaze special defensive units of the Japanese Combined Fleet in 1944-45. Admiral Soemu Toyoda at first opposed this, but had to acknowledge that these suicide units alone were able to inflict substantial damage on the Allied navies. Before making their attack, pilots participated in a ceremony, drinking Sake rice wine. They carried into battle symbolic Kyokujitsu-ki flags, written Shinto prayers, a Nambu pistol or katana sword and hachimaki with sun-with-rays headband.

This drew on the mythical version of the repulse of the 13th century Mongol invasion of Japan.

Banzai

The traditional cheer given to the Emperor and other dignitaries, or on special commemorations, was Tenno Heika Banzai (long live the Emperor), or the shortened form, Banzai. This latter term, which literally means "ten thousand years", is an expression of Chinese origin (traditional Chinese: 萬歲; simplified Chinese: 万岁; pinyin: wàn sùi) adopted by the Japanese in the Meiji period. In its original sense, it is meant to represent an indeterminably lengthy period of time and is used to wish long life to a person, state, or project. As coöpted by the Japanese, it originally was simply used in this sense to wish long life to the Emperor (and by extension the Japanese state), but as the war progressed, it became the typical Japanese war cry or victory shout and was used to encourage Imperial troops in combat.

Education

The principal educational emphasis was on the great importance of traditional national political values, religion and morality. This prevailed from the Meiji period. The Japanese state modernized organizationally, but preserved its national idiosyncrasies. Japan was to be a powerful nation, equal at least to the Western powers, an attitude reinforced from 1905. During the Showa period the educational system was used for militarist radical ideologies, supporting the militarised state and preparing future soldiers.

The government published official text books for all levels of student, and reinforced that with cultural activities, seminars, etc. These cultural courses were supplemented with military and survival courses (against invasion).

In the exterior provinces and Manchuria the education system was distinct, for those who were not Japanese subjects. The Koreans and Manchus for example were educated as industrial workers, office workers or soldiers. Indoctrination with Japanese ideology and views of international relations was included. In Manchuria all ancient universities and schools were closed, with the organization of new centers in which the "humanities" were eliminated (for their 'negative' consequences). A foreign reporter of the London Times visited Manchuria and cited the words of one civil servant "Manchuria needs more workers, not white-collar workers with incomplete notions on how they abounded in Japan". Official Manchurian publications emphasised the 'utility' of the syllabus.

Mobilization of the young

Apart from indoctrination in nationalism and religion, children and school students received military drills (survival, first aid). These were taken further by the Imperial Youth Federation ; college students were trained, and some recruited, for home defense and regular military units. Young women received first aid training. All of these actions were taken to insure Japan's safety, and protect against larger and more dangerous countries.

Japanese nationalism

2008-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Japanese nationalism refers to a broad range of ideas and sentiments entertained by the Japanese over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny. As such it denotes simply the Japanese version of nationalism which is generally understood to be a process of identity-formation in states undergoing a transition from an earlier agricultural polity towards industrialism and modernity. For convenience's sake, it is useful to distinguish cultural nationalism from political or state-directed nationalism or Japanese imperialism, since many forms of cultural nationalism, such as those associated with folkloric studies (see, for example under Yanagita Kunio), were hostile to state-fostered nationalism. The former aspect, nationalism as the expression of cultural identity, is examined in more detail under nihonjinron. Here political and military nationalism will be analysed.

From a political point of view and in the years leading up to World War II, the particular political and ideological foundations for the actions of the Japanese military (Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy forces, not always acting in concert) can be called a Japanese nationalist ideology. It combined philosophical, nationalistic, cultural and religious elements, mostly drawn eclectically from the larger historical discourse on Japan, the Japanese and their respective historical natures built up over the preceding two centuries. Despite its distinctive features (Emperor worship and the ethno-religious character of the state), functionally this rhetorical panoply of cultural ideas served the same function as similar ideologies developed under Western Fascism, and indeed, drew doctrinal inspiration from these fraternal movements abroad.

History of tae kwon do

2007-09-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

The oldest ancestor of taekwondo is an amalgamation of unarmed combat styles developed by three rival Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje. Young men were trained in unarmed combat techniques to develop strength, speed, and survival skills. The most popular of these techniques was subak, with taekyon being the most popular of the segments of subak.

As the Goguryeo kingdom grew in power, the neighboring Silla kingdom became comparatively weaker, and an effort was undertaken among the Silla to develop a corps of special warriors. The Silla had a regular army but its military training techniques were less advanced than those of the Goguryeo, and its soldiers were generally of a lesser caliber. The Silla selected young men, some as young as twelve, and trained them in the liberal arts. Those who demonstrated strong natural aptitude were selected as trainees in the new special warrior corps, called the Hwarang. It was believed that young men with a talent for the liberal arts may have the grace to become competent warriors. These warriors were instructed in academic as well as martial arts, learning philosophy, history, a code of ethics, and equestrian sports. Their military training included an extensive weapons program involving swordsmanship and archery, both on horseback and on foot, as well as lessons in military tactics and unarmed combat using subak. Although subak was a leg-oriented art among in Goguryeo, Silla's influence added hand techniques to the practice of subak

In spite of Korea's rich history of ancient and traditional martial arts, Korean martial arts faded into obscurity during the Joseon Dynasty. Korean society became highly centralized under Korean Confucianism and martial arts were lowly regarded in a society whose ideals were epitomized by its scholar-kings. Remnants of traditional martial arts such as Subak and Taekyon were banned from practice by the general populace and reserved for sanctioned military uses although folk practice by the common populace still persisted into the 19th century.

Modern of Taekwondo

2007-09-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

By the end of the Korean War, nine martial arts schools (translated as kwan) had opened, and South Korean President Syngman Rhee ordered that the various schools unify under a single system. A governmental body selected a naming committee's submission of "tae-kwon-do," possibly submitted by Choi Hong Hi, a general in the South Korean army and the founder of the Oh Do Kwan. However, several taekwondo leaders dispute this stating that Son Duk Song of the Chung Do Kwan submitted the name.[citation needed] Following the acceptance of the name "taekwondo" on April 11, 1955, the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) was formed in 1959 to facilitate the unification. Shortly thereafter, taekwondo made its debut in North America. Standardization efforts in Korea stalled, as the kwans continued to teach differing styles. Another request from the Korean government for unification resulted in the formation of the Korea Tae Soo Do Association, which changed its name back to the Korean Taekwondo Association in 1965 following a change of leadership. This new leader was Choi Hong Hi who ended up falling out of favor in South Korea following a trip to communist North Korea. This resulted in Choi's separation from the KTA and the founding of a new, private organization, the International Taekwondo Federation, in 1966.

In 1972, the Korea Taekwondo Association Central Dojang was opened. A few months later, the name was changed to the Kukkiwon, which means "National Technique Center." The Kukkiwon remains the World Taekwondo Headquarters to this day. The following year, the World Taekwondo Federation was formed. The International Olympic Committee recognized the WTF and taekwondo sparring in 1980, and the sport was accepted as a demonstration event at the 1988 Seoul and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. It became an official medal event as of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Taekwondo is one of two Asian martial arts (judo being the other) in the Olympic Games.

The public WTF and private ITF, the two largest taekwondo organizations, operate and train in hundreds of nations and teach the martial art to millions of people each year. Although competition has always been a significant feature of Taekwondo, many practitioners study taekwondo for personal development, to learn self-defense, and/or for fun

tehniques sparring

2007-09-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

techiqques & trick sparring tae kwon do

History of Aikido

2007-08-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Aikido, a traditional Japanese martial art, was developed in the early part of this century by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), now known as O-Sensei (venerable teacher). Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, the Aikido Kaiso (founder), was born in 1883 in Tanabe, a coastal town in southern Japan. From the time of his youth, he studied various martial arts, eventually including sumo, swordsmanship, spear technique, staff technique, and various styles of jiujutsu, particularly the Yagyu and Daito styles

From youth, Ueshiba also appears to have been a deeply sensitive and spiritual person. Eventually influenced by the charismatic spiritual leader and artist Onisaburo Deguchi, he came to view his martial training as a means of personal purification and spiritual training.

The time of O-Sensei's life saw Japan involved in some of the most violent conflicts of the 20th century, culminating in the Pacific war. However, it was during this time that he founded Aikido and declared it to be a way of joining the peoples of the world together in peace. In this way, Aikido is truly Budo - a martial Way - rather than simply a bujutsu (martial technique) or bugei (martial art). When martial training is undertaken not simply as a means to conquer others, but as a means to refine and perfect the self, this can be said to be Budo. The famous motto of O-Sensei, "Masakatsu Agatsu", contains the essence of the spirit of Aikido: "True victory is victory over the self."

The Kaiso's incredible technical expertise and charisma brought him tremendous support from high-ranking military officers, government personnel, and the Imperial family during his life. Following his death in 1969, he was posthumously awarded an Imperial medal for his unique contributions. However, recognitions and honors aside, it was the universality of his insights, and his vision of the martial Way being open to all sincere persons internationally, which have led to the phenomenal growth of Aikido. The noblest philosophies and intentions of the samurai have become a part of world culture, and give spiritual sustenance to millions of persons of all cultures; this is largely due to the groundbreaking influence of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei.

Techniques aikido I

2007-08-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Techniques and attacks in aikido

Jubiläumslehrgang mit Kimeda Sensei aus Kanada 2002

Kimeda Sensei, 8. Dan, Kanada

Muguruza Sensei, 7. Dan, Frankreich und Spanien

Yates Sensei, 6. Dan, Großbritannien

AIKIDO TECHIQUES II

2007-08-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Techniques and attacks in aikido

Jubiläumslehrgang mit Kimeda Sensei aus Kanada 2002

Gardonio Sensei, 6. Dan, Kanada - Nagano Sensei, 6. Dan, Deutschland

AIKIDO TECHIQUES III

2007-08-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Techniques and attacks in aikido

Jubiläumslehrgang mit Kimeda Sensei aus Kanada 2002

Stefan Otto, 4. Dan und Marie-Luise Tomasek, 3. Dan, aus München

AIKIDO TECHIQUES

2007-08-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Techniques and attacks in aikido

At my dojo Enighet in Malmö, we have made a listing of basic aikido techniques and on what attacks they are reasonably possible to do. The list is long, of course. We have also formulated some basic principles on what to be considered by tori (defender), uke (attacker) or both. In case this is of any use to you, here it all is. There may be additions in the future.

Japanese folklore

2007-08-24T08:15:00.001-07:00

LEGEND

Several competing stories tell of Kintaro's childhood. In one, he was raised by his mother, Princess Yaegiri, daughter of a wealthy man named Shiman-choja, in the village of Jizodo, near Mt. Kintoki. In a competing legend, his mother gave birth to him in what is now Sakata. She was forced to flee, however, due to fighting between her husband, a samurai named Sakata, and his uncle. She finally settled in the forests of Mt. Kintoki to raise her son. Alternatively, Kintaro's real mother left the child in the wilds or died and left him an orphan, and he was raised by the mountain witch Yama-uba (one tale says Kintaro's mother raised him in the wilds, but due to her haggard appearance, she came to be called Yama-uba). In the most fanciful version of the tale, Yama-uba was Kintaro's mother, impregnated by a clap of thunder sent from a red dragon of Mt. Ashigara.

The legends agree that even as a toddler, Kintarō was active and indefatigable, plump and ruddy, wearing only a bib with the Chinese character for "gold" (金) on it. His only other accoutrement was a hatchet (a Chinese symbol of thunder). He was bossy to other children (or there simply were no other children in the forest), so his friends were mainly the animals of Mt. Kintoki and Mt. Ashigara. He was also phenomenally strong, able to smash rocks into pieces, uproot trees, and bend trunks like twigs. His animal friends served him as messengers and mounts, and some legends say that he even learned to speak their language. Several tales tell of Kintaro's adventures, fighting monsters and demons, beating bears in sumo wrestling, and helping the local woodcutters fell trees.

As an adult, Kintarō changed his name to Sakata no Kintoki. He met the samurai Yorimitsu Minamoto as he passed through the area around Mt. Kintoki. Minamoto was impressed by Kintaro's enormous strength, so he took him as one of his personal retainers to live with him in Kyoto. Kintoki studied martial arts there and eventually became the chief of Yorimitsu's "Four Braves" and renown for his strength and martial prowess. He eventually went back for his mother and brought her to Kyoto as well.

Kintarō in Modern Japan

Kintarō is an extremely popular figure in Japan, and his image adorns everything from statues to storybooks, anime, manga to action figures. For example, the anime Golden Boy stars a character with the same name. Kintarō as an image is characterized with a Masakari ax, a Haragake Japanese-style apron and sometimes a tame bear.
Kintarō candy has been around since the Edo period; no matter how the cylinder-shaped candy is cut, Kintarō's face appears inside. Japanese tradition is to decorate the room of a newborn baby boy with Kintarō dolls on Children's Day (May 5) so that the child will grow up to be strong like the Golden Boy. A shrine dedicated to the folk hero lies at the foot of Mt. Kintoki in the Hakone area near Tokyo. Nearby is a giant boulder that was supposedly chopped in half by the boy hero himself

SAMURAI CINEMA

2007-08-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai, 1954 Japan 200mins)
Source: Heritage Films Prod Co: Toho Prod: Shojiro Motoko Dir: Akira Kurosawa Scr: Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni & Kurosawa Phot: Asakazu Nakai Ed: Fumio Yamaguchi Art Dir: So Matsuyama Fencing: Yoshio Sugino Archery: Ienori
Kaneko & Yoshio Sugino Mus: Fumio Hayasaka

Winner of the 1954 Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion and nominated in subsequent years for 2 Oscars-Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Takashi Matsuyama) and Best Costume Design (Kôhei Ezaki)-as well as for 2 British Academy of Film and Television Awards-Best Film and Best Foreign Actor (2 nominations, Toshiro Mifune and Takeshi Shimura)-Seven Samurai is widely acknowledged as one of Kurosawa's, and indeed Japan's and World cinema's, greatest films. Kurosawa directed and edited the film and also worked on the script with long-time collaborators Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. As with so many of his projects, his involvement in Seven Samurai was extensive and indicates his powerful commitment to exploration of the issues the film broaches and to achieving the widest possible audience for that exploration. Kurosawa's recipe for this task was to make an action film that engaged the emotions and the intellect in equal and extraordinary measures.

Seven Samurai is a story about a poor farming village community in the sixteenth century Sengoku jidai era of civil strife and feuding samurai clans. Without the protection of a strong feudal warlord's samurai in these strife torn times, the village is repeatedly raided by a band of outlaws. Its crops are pillaged, its men killed and women abducted. The villagers decide to hire wandering, masterless samurai (ronin) to protect themselves from the bandits (many of whom are themselves ronin), offering only board and three meals a day as their payment. The first half of the film depicts the plight of the farmers and their difficult search in the nearby provincial town for samurai who are willing to stoop to working for their social inferiors. 'Find hungry samurai!' is the wise advice of the village elder, played by Kokuten Kodo. They eventually find one ronin, Kambei, played by the wonderful Takeshi Shimura-whose performance in this film is only bettered by his starring role in Kurosawa's Living (Ikiru, 1952). Kambei is able to recruit a team from among the ronin passing through the town.

The latter half of Seven Samurai concerns the preparations of the samurai in the village, their efforts to win the trust of the initially fearful farmers, and the final battle of the samurai-led villagers with the bandits. In thematic terms, the central hypothesis being 'tested' in this social experiment between the samurai and the peasant class is the question of the possibility of class cooperation and harmony. The stakes are not only survival, but also social and, by extension, national peace and prosperity. These stakes have as much to do with the historical era in which the film is set as they have with the post-war era of 1950s Japan. The film must be seen as an effort to address pressing questions around the nature of Japanese identity, culture, class structure and nationhood that Kurosawa and all Japanese people confronted in the wake of the Pacific war, foreign occupation and the subsequent 'reinvention' of Japan.

In typical Kurosawa fashion, these stakes are brought to life for the spectator through the dynamic and highly charged emotional conflicts of individual characters in the film. Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo is a central figure in this regard. He is an orphaned farmer's son who aspires to become a samurai (a not unrealistic goal in the turbulent social mobility of the Sengoku jidai). Rejected initially by Kambei as a member of the force he assembles to protect the village, Kikuchiyo pursues the samurai relentlessly and comically until he is finally accepted as the seventh of their group. Having done so, he performs a crucial pivotal role between the farmers and the samurai, overcoming some of the fears and suspicions that keep them dangerously disunited. But this go-between role means he exists at the site of the well-worn conflict that threatens to break up the alliance, a conflict between arrogant, dominating samurai and suspicious, resentful farmers.

In fact, this conflict is at the heart of Kikuchiyo's character. In the film's most crucial scene, Kikuchiyo presents to the other samurai armour and weaponry that the farmers had kept hidden in a secret cache, expecting them to be pleased at the discovery of these new resources. Instead they are disgusted, knowing that the material would have been stripped from the bodies of dead or murdered samurai after battle. Their anger grows and they even contemplate slaughtering the villagers. In a performance of overwhelming emotional intensity, Mifune's hitherto clownish Kikuchiyo lambasts the samurai for their ignorance and hypocrisy, explaining that while the farmers are dull, wicked, murderous and cowardly, it is the samurai who have made them so, by plundering, burning, raping, and oppressing the peasants on behalf of their warlords. As a victim of that oppression, and one who now aspires to the role of samurai, that is, the role of warrior but in principle also the role of servant and protector of the people, Kikuchiyo's passion arises from his tragic embodiment of these hierarchical differences between Japan's people, and by the same token their potential synthesis.

Space is too short to do justice to all the complexities of the film's story, or to the amazing performances of Shimura, Mifune and many of the other cast members who were part of Kurosawa's troupe of trusted actors in the 1950s and 1960s (including Minoru Chiaki who plays the samurai Heihachi and Bokuzen Hidari whose face radiates the affects of peasant fear and powerlessness as Yohei). Furthermore, the film's stunning formal and stylistic features-the influential slow motion death scenes, the reinvigoration of silent cinema narrational techniques, the dynamic spatial compositions-have hardly been mentioned. If anything can be said about these here, it should be insisted that Kurosawa's formal experimentation and choices as director and editor are an integral part of the film's exploration of these themes of social conflict and group versus individual ethics. At the same time they maximise the film's brilliant portrayal of action and dramatic events in order to make the film as enjoyable and moving as possible.

While mention is frequently made of the influence of John Ford's wide-screen cinematography and large scale mise en scène on Kurosawa's depiction of action sequences, the importance of Eisenstein's notion of a montage of oppositions is equally significant in considering the look of Seven Samurai. (1) Kurosawa's dynamic camera, tracking fast-moving warriors and sweeping across battle scenes, is counter posed with static and close-up shots. Long takes are opposed to rapidly cut sequences from a number of camera angles. Like Eisenstein (another great action filmmaker), Kurosawa's editing and camera direction work together to create spectacular visual impacts and elicit complex combinations of emotions and thoughts in the spectator.

The opening of the film provides an apt example. After one farmer overhears the brigands planning to raid the village in the near future, all the villagers gather to discuss the situation. This sequence is handled by a combination of long shots of the whole group and closer shots of 2 or 3 individuals arguing about what to do. Then there is a surprising, big close-up of the face of one of the peasants, Rikichi, as he proposes to kill all the bandits as a solution to the problem. Rickichi's proposal is rejected by others as impossible and too dangerous. His hatred for the bandits is motivated by their abduction of his wife during the last raid. As he ridicules the counter proposition of begging for mercy from the bandits, Kurosawa cuts to a high angle long shot of the group with Rikichi at their centre. Rikichi then leaves the tightly formed circle of the farmers, walking outside of its bounds toward the top of screen. The following shot is a devastating recuperation of Rikichi's rebellious gesture: Kurosawa frames Rikichi, now squatting down in his misery, at a straight angle with the sitting villagers behind him. As Stephen Prince points out in The Warrior's Camera, the angle and the flattened out plane of the long shot has the effect of reuniting Rikichi with the village group he seeks to escape (2). As the farmers decide to consult the village elder, one of them goes out and brings Rikichi back to the group.

This is just one early example of Seven Samurai's masterful employment of combinations of camera and character movement in a dialectical and dynamic dialogue with the spectator. A film of immense emotional impact and one that as Eisenstein would have it, 'thinks in images' (and sounds I would add), its pleasures seem inexhaustible to this indefinitely repeating reviewer.

A samurai story.....

2007-08-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

A Samurai Story

A lot of Japanese folks like to brag that they're descended from Samurai stock. The Samurai were the warrior class in feudal, pre-modern Japan. They started out as fighting men. But, they evolved into a ruling or noble class, if you will. They were the only group of people who were allowed to carry swords and other weapons. Many were effete administrators and oppressive landowners. They did no real work other than to wage war or serve as bodyguards and lived off the forced tributes of the peasants. Some Samurai were aristocrats, much like the lords and ladies of feudal Europe. Other Samurai were mere foot soldiers, known as Ashigari. Although I originally thought my ancestors were Ashigari, further investigation revealed that they were Samurai of some higher rank and importance.

Prior to 1600, there was constant warfare between the lords and overlords of feudal Japan. Fields and forests were strewn with dead soldiers from hundreds of battles. There was a decisive battle in 1600 at Sekigahara between two powerful overlords, Ishida of Western Japan and Tokugawa of Eastern Japan. If you've read the James Clavell's novel, Shogun, or seen the TV mini-series of the same title, these two were fictionally known as "Ishido" and "Toranaga". Tokugawa was victorious. He established a powerful military dynasty that lasted from 1600 to 1868 when the isolationist regime was finally forced to open up the country to Western powers. Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy set the change in motion in 1853 by threatening to bombard the Japanese unless he was allowed to deliver a letter from President Fillmore to the Shogun.

Where did we fit in all this? My ancestors were involved in the Sekigahara battle. We happened to be on the losing side. In those days, the options weren't very good for soldiers on the losing side. If they were captured alive, they would probably be tortured and killed. They could opt to commit "harakiri" or you may know it as "hary-cary". Or they could "head for the hills". Guess which one my ancestors picked. They weren't stupid. For the next 300 years, my ancestors blended into the countryside and lived as peasants. Well, so much for my proud Samurai roots.

Our family name was probably not Kaku originally. The first syllable "Ka", is derived from the ancient province of Kaga, which today is more or less Ishikawa prefecture in central Japan. The second syllable "ku" is a shortened form of the verb "kuru", which means to come. To escape detection and capture, my ancestors disguised their identity with this obscure name, Kaku, that only hinted of their home province of Kaga. This fact substantiates my belief that my ancestors were Samurai of a higher rank than Ashigari. Upon capture, Ashigari would probably have not been required to forfeit their lives. Is this story true? Or is it a family myth? I'll never really know. A Japanese friend of mine thought that the story is plausible, because of the unusualness of the name.

japanese samurai histoty

2007-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Origins of Japanese Samurai

The Japanese samurai warriors came into existence in the 12th century when two powerful Japanese clans fought bitter wars against each other - the Taira and the Minamato. At that time the Japanese shogunate, a system of a military ruler, called the shogun was formed. Under the shogun the next hierarchy were the daimyo, local rulers comparable to dukes in Europe. The Japanese samurai were the military retainers of a daimyo. And finally you may have heard of ronin. Ronin are samurai without a master. This is what happened to the 47 Ronin in the famous story of Chushingura after their lord was forced to commit suicide.

According to historians the fierce fights between hostile clans and war lords was mainly a battle for land. Only 20 percent of Japan's rugged and mountainous area can be used for agriculture.

Decline and End of the Samurai History

During the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1867 (the Edo period) the country lived in peace. The samurai warrior class had basically nothing to do. Now they took other tasks, in the bureaucracy for instance.

In 1867 the last shogun resigned and the emperor was reinstalled as the formal leader of Japan. In 1871 the old feudal system and the privileges of the Japanese samurai class were officially abolished. The daimyo had to return the land to the emperor for which they received pensions by the Japanese state.

Historians estimate the percentage that belonged to the samurai class at 8 percent of the overall population of Japan. The abolishment of the samurai class caused severe social problems. Many samurai did not know how to make a living and survive. There were cases of samurai wives who sold themselves to brothels to support the family.

Samurai in Modern Japan

Although samurai do not have any official status in today's modern Japan, descendants of samurai families still enjoy a high esteem among the Japanese population.

harakiri history

2007-03-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Many people who hardly know anything Japanese, use the word Hara-kiri, freely, meaning 'Suicide'. In Japanese, the word hara means belly or 'viscera', and kiri means cut or split.

This form of suicide was regarded as an act of great honor, and was actually performed willingly by slitting the stomach of oneself. There is another version of 'hara-kiri' - which is an act of submission to be beheaded on the order of a superior. It is known as "seppuku". In this case, the man sits before an admiring circle of friends and colleagues, early morning, facing the rising sun. He is asked to write down a small farewell poem and then accept the inevitable - yet the most honorable end by a sword, wielded by one of his best friends. The Samurais of yore welcomed such a command from their overlords, as an act of sincere penance for a shameful conduct.
Once a Samurai, always a samurai

Though this practice is long extinct in Japan, shame still dwells in the sub-conscious as a silent, unspoken, below-the-threshold psychological trait that influences even the most modern Japanese. Shame can easily silence one or act as a sublimating mechanism in Japanese behavior. The Japanese suffer from the worst fear of committing a shameful act or being ashamed of dishonesty, disrespect or dis-harmony with socially accepted norms. Many of the suicide cases are traced to the Japanese apprehension of acute shame. However, both 'hara-kiri' and 'seppuku' are no longer practiced in today's Japan.

Coming back to the hara, to the Japanese it connotes far more - backbone, heart, mind, guts. And it is the source of breath and hence spirit, similar to the Greek concept of psyche. From the hara rises the breath for chanting sutras. The thoughts that emanate from the hara help to make one's communication agreeable and indulgent. It is called hara-gei - a word that describes the form of trust and intimacy, for instance, between the manager and his worker. One must be capable of reaching another's heart through his 'hara' -somewhat like the expression: "the route to the heart is through the stomach".

There are several connotations related to hara - such as a man of ill will has a black hara and a generous man has a thick hara, and so on. Semantics apart, the Japanese literally protect the hara with a cloth band which is called hara-maki. Women in their fifth month of pregnancy ritualistically wrap themselves in a hara-obi, which they continue until delivery. I have noticed the Japanese advising Indian women not to reveal the midriff and to keep the belly always well wrapped for good health.

In the meditative posture called Zazen, the breath should rise unimpeded from the hara, -comparable to the Indian kundalini- according to Zen practices. The Japanese claim to be able to communicate with others - silently - through the hara, during games, negotiations or meetings. Many Japanese game parlours or meetings are unbelievably quiet, because it's only in silence you can wake up the hara and respond to it.