JAPAN

Culture of Japan

"Whatever you see,
let flowers be in it.
Whatever you think of,
let the moon be in it."
Basho

This haiku poem by the most famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, who lived from 1644 to 1694, illustrates the essence of Japanese art. We can tell, that the desire for harmony and accord with nature is the main motive of the whole Japanese culture - from the fragile poesy to architecture and design of utility goods.

Japanese art is characterized by the sense of detail, refinement and humbleness. While the other Asian countries prefer the pomp in the art Japanese incline towards the simplicity and they attempt to catch the glimpse of a unique moment.

Factors, which have influenced the Japanese culture.

From the very beginning, Japan was under strong influence of China. It was China, from where tea, character writing, bonsai, temple architecture or Buddhism came to Japanese islands. The influence of China and other countries was particularly strong in 15-th and 16-th centuries. After that, Japan isolated itself from the surrounding world completely and the Japanese culture developed at its own direction.

The cultural isolation lasted till 1867, when Meiji Emperor came to power. He decided to reform Japan profoundly and introduced truly revolutionary changes, which related not only to the legal system, economy or the place of women in the society but also to the culture.

After the World War II Japan has had to accept the invasion of American culture which has affected many areas of the culture and everyday life. In spite of this the traditional culture of Japan has not only been evident in galleries and concert halls but especially in the everyday life of Japanese.

Contribution of Japan to the world culture

When you hear Japan, most of you will certainly imagine bonsai, kimono, tea ceremony, calligraphy or sumo wrestlers. There is no doubt that these can be regarded as the arts specific to the Japanese culture, which are the inspiration for the surrounding world. Let's recall at least several best-known artistic forms, which are typical for Japan and which have been attractive for all art-lovers till these days.

Chado - way of tea

For the Western culture, tea drinking is a part of everyday activity, which can be related to the level of the social contact such as the five o clock tea in Britain at most. However, In Japan, the preparation and drinking of tea is a ceremonial rite and its rules have been created for over four hundred years.

Tea came to Japan in the 13-th century from China and it spread out very quickly, especially in rich families and monasteries. The ceremonial tea drinking was established in higher classes of the society, it required a lot of time and a lot of expensive requisites. However, the real Chado dates back to 1585, when a Buddhist monk Sen Rikju was invited to the Emperor's Palace. It is a very sophisticated art, which requires attentiveness and preciseness. The purpose of the ceremony is to perform the rite properly, which symbolizes the humbleness and the respect for the nature and it purifies and calms one's soul.

In the Czech Republic there is the Tea Ceremony School Urasenke within the Czech-Japan society.

Rich theatre tradition

The oldest forms of the Japanese theatre include the ceremonial dances and kagura performances, which mainly relate to the shintoistic religion.

There are also Buddhism related pantomimic bugaku dances and the "no" theatre aesthetics, which date back to the 14-th century. All these forms of the theatre survived till these days and 5 actor families have maintained the no theatre tradition for 50 generations. The current repertoire of no theatre consists of about 240 plays.

Also the traditional Japanese marionette theatre - bunraku is very popular; for example, it has been performed in the permanent theatre in Osaka till these days. This marionette theatre is completely different from those marionette theatres, with which we are familiar. In bunraku performance the actors in black perform at the stage with life-size marionettes in their hands.

Ikebana - inconspicuous beauty of the Nature

Ikebana is the traditional Japanese way of how to arrange flowers, which has had a very long tradition - it has been known since the 7-th century. Throughout the centuries ikebana has been developing in many directions. Still this tradition is very much alive and the art of Ikebana has been taught at schools, which represent various approaches to the philosophy, on which ikebana arrangement is based. The essence of ikebana consists in three basic composition elements - Earth, sky and mankind. The goal of this way of flower arranging is to express the unity and harmony with nature and universe.

Calligraphy - look inside the artist's soul

In Europe people often regard the Calligraphy as a neat handwriting. However, in fact it is the art related to philosophy, aesthetics and poetry. For writing brushes and China ink are used produced by artists themselves. The art of calligraphy requires many years of work so that it is done with "easy hand", as required. It is the individual style and relaxation, which are regarded as most valuable with the calligraphy.

Single pass poetry

The Japanese poetry has its roots in the Chinese culture and it is typical for it that the poems are not based on the rhyme accord. The most renowned forms of the Japanese poetry include tanka, renga and haiku, which are based on zen Buddhism.

Also the Japanese emperor has been dedicated to haiku for number of years; he announces the competition for the best poem on a given subject, every year. Always in the beginning of the year the winning authors read their poems in the presence of the emperor couple and also the Japanese emperor reads his poems there.

Taiko - the art of Japanese drummers

The Taiko drum was already known before A.D. and long time ago people used to use it as the means of the communication. Japanese used the big drum, which is often likened to the human heart as a part of religious rites or as means to encourage the fighters.

Taiko drums are still alive. In Japan there are many groups, which play drums and find their own rhythms.

Comics for everyone

Currently, the cultural trends, which also inspire the Western culture also include so called manga - comics genre. Unlike the Czech Republic, in Japan comics is not a marginal art; on the contrary they become ever more popular and there are comics for every age group.

Japanese like the pictorial concept of the text and it is related to the graphical form of writing and the historical tradition of connecting writing with pictures. Tezuka Osamu is considered the most important figure of the modern comics literature; he started to use the film processes in comics as the first one.

Way of life

In Japan, culture is the part of the ordinary life. For example, it is evident with preparing meals, which are always perfectly arranged. Japanese consider the visual part of a meal as important as its taste and the preparation of food in Japan is often inspired by the current season and also the general eating culture is of great importance to them.

Japanese appreciate the garden architecture and any park as well as any small garden can be regarded as a work of art, which is admired by many.

Also traditional craftsmen, who produce pottery, bamboo walls, straw mats, rice paper or products from the painted wood, which comply with high aesthetical and qualitative criteria, are treasured.

Thus Japan is not only the Rising Sun country, but also the country of the unique and very rich culture, which can be found not only in galleries, theatres and expositions but also in every day life of Japanese people.