"Presented alongside Hiroshige's prints, with descriptions and context, Delord's work offers an absorbing contemplation of Japan's past and present via one legendary travel route, and shows how thoroughly upended our surroundings have been in what was, in wider perspective, only a short time." -- The New York Times Journey along the famed Tokaido Road--an ancient thoroughfare with a modern twist. The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido is the best-known work of the great 19th century Japanese woodblock artist Utagawa Hiroshige. The series of 53 masterful woodblock prints depicts stops along the ancient Tokaido Road--which, from the eleventh to the nineteenth century, was the main thoroughfare between Tokyo and Kyoto. Though the road itself is now submerged under Japan's twenty-first-century urban landscape, French artist Philippe Delord set out to see if he could find the original locations, with just a moped, sketchbook, watercolors and a book of Hiroshige's prints. Hiroshige's Japan allows readers to make the journey alongside Delord, venturing from Tokyo and Mount Fuji to mountain passes and rugged coastlines. Inside are all 53 original scenery prints made by Hiroshige, alongside their modern-day equivalent by Delord. A lively commentary about his experiences as he tries to locate each of the 53 scenes (without speaking Japanese!) offers readers an insightful, and often humorous, look into both modern and historical Japan. Part travelogue, part work of art, this book is sure to delight armchair travelers, history buffs, art enthusiasts and Japanophiles alike!

Designed for Pleasure is a dazzling probe of Japan's famous "floating world" of spectacle and entertainment. From luxury paintings of the pleasure qurters to Hokusai's iconic "Red Fugi," Designed for Pleasure presents a focused examinatin of the priod's fascinating networks of art, literature, and fashion, proving that the artists and the publishers and patrons who engaged them not only morrored the tastes of their energetic times, they created a unifying cultural legacy. Contributors include John T. Carpenter, Timothy Clark, Julie Nelson Davis, Allen Hockley, Donald Jenkins, David Pollack, Sarah E. Thompson, and David Boyer Waterhouse.

Examines the transmission of painting traditions in Japan.

The first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was Japan's first modern war, and their first military action overseas for over 300 years. One notable result of this conflict was a huge burst in popularity for senso-e ("war pictures"), a genre of ukiyo-e which first evolved as a mutation of musha-e ("warrior pictures") with the need in the 1870s to document the contemporary conflicts which had raged in Japan as a result of the Meiji Restoration, in particular the Seinan War of 1877. Dozens of artists, from the celebrated to the obscure, added to the mass of images which circulated as the Sino-Japanese War progressed (an estimated 3,000 prints were created in just 10 months). Most of the scenes depicted were based on news reports sent back from the front, with artists rushing to replicate events as quickly as possible. The triptych, with its almost cinematic visual scope, was the preferred format for depicting such scenes of turmoil and carnage. Whilst there is a huge range in quality between the prints made by various artists, the very best senso-e of the Sino-Japnese War remain amongst the finest in ukiyo-e, providing a bold, if brief, resurrection for an artform which was in danger of dying out due to the advent of new imaging technologies. MASSACRESe ^INe ^MANCHURIA features over 200 rare and exceptional Japanese woodblock prints of war. The artists featured in the book include Kiyochika, Gekko, Toshihide, Toshikata, Nobukazu, Chikanobu, Ginko, and numerous others -- a list of many of the most outstanding ukiyo-e artists of the late Meiji period, each of whom used their immense artistic talent and imagination to brilliantly illuminate contemporary conflict as it unfurled.

A wealth of information about herbal remedies native to the Southwest, infused with wisdom, wit, and personal reminiscences.

"Little is known of the acclaimed 18th-century Japanese artist Toshusai Sharaku. This impressive volume is the definitive illustrated catalog of the surviving works of this legendary figure -- offering connoisseurs and collectors clear black-and-white reproductions of 146 prints and drawings. Each print is accompanied by extensive commnetary providing details of background and coloring; inofrmation on states and impressions; and identifications of actors and other subjects, and roles depicted. Also included are succinct plot summaries of the plays in which Sharaku's subjects appeared. Here is a priceless record of Japan's popular Kabuki theater."--from publisher

The Japanese woodblock print is a phenomenon with no Western equivalent, one where breathtaking landscapes exist alongside blush-inducing erotica; where demons and otherworldly creatures torment the living; and where sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, and courtesans are rock stars. This condensed edition lifts the veil on a much-loved but little-...