Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses the development of the distinctive style of the Nagasone school of armour making during the early Edo period. A detailed comparison of signed pieces will be conduct, the formal aesthetic and technical features examined and evaluated, their characteristic elements determined.

Paper long abstract:

As a part of my dissertation project with the preliminary title ":Formation of the Nagasone School: Influences, inventions and development of a distinctive style of armour makers", this paper addresses the development of the distinctive style of the Nagasone school, a Japanese armour making group active during the late 16th and 17th century.

Originally a family of ironsmiths, the Nagasone members became armourers in Echizen province at a time, when the demand of arms and armour reached the peak during the final years of the Age of Warring States, known as sengoku jidai (c. 1467 - c. 1600). With the start of the peaceful period of the Tokugawa regime at the beginning of the 17th century, changes in armour can be dedicated as they were worn only infrequently. Armour smiths moved to the new capital Edo and dedicated their work in the production of flamboyant pieces, using decorative and elaborate techniques of armour making.

The Nagasone have so far received little attention within the research field, thus this paper focuses on their features as armour smiths. On the basis of concrete examples, a detailed comparison of signed armour pieces will be conduct and the formal aesthetic and technical features will be examined and evaluated. As a result, significant influences of other armour schools and regions, as well as the usage of characteristic techniques and stylistic elements of each Nagasone armour smith will be determined.

This approach aims to point out the contribution of a group of armourers in the development of Japanese armour from their eminently practical use to a status symbol, displaying outstanding craftsmanship and artistry.

Paper short abstract:

The life of potter Yabu Meizan (1853 – 1934) closely followed the historical course of Japan’s modern export ceramic industry. Meizan sought to achieve an overall harmony by utilizing copperplate printing to replicate “patterns” of flowers, birds and landscapes in a motif.

Paper long abstract:

The life of potter Yabu Meizan (1853 – 1934) closely followed the historical course of Japan’s modern export ceramic industry.

The following four points can be seen as features of Meizan’s works:

1. Designs were based on traditional stylings from Western Japan, mainly Osaka.

2. Meizan did not create individual ceramic works so much as products of his workshop, strongly recognizing his role as a producer of art rather than an artisan.

3. Meizan was keenly aware of contemporary currents in foreign countries.

4. Although his works won numerous awards at international exhibitions, Meizan regarded these as merely part of the business.

While many of his early works featured large flowers, this subsequently changed to landscape drawings or genre pictures that utilized copperplate paint technology to depict intricate patterns of butterflies or flowers.

In contrast to contemporary Imperial Household artists who expressed flowers, birds and landscapes in more artistic stylings, Meizan sought to achieve an overall harmony by utilizing copperplate printing to replicate “patterns” of flowers, birds and landscapes in a motif, as might be seen on printed paper or fabrics. And even though the same motif might be used over and over again, Meizan’s works came to be highly appraised in the countries of the West.

Following Yabu Meizan’s passing, the designs of Japan’s export ceramics, especially those of tableware and flower vases, shifted from mostly Japanese landscape designs to more Westernized continuous designs, similar to wallpaper, which better conformed to Western consumer tastes. The origins of this momentous change in production can be found in the millefleurs flower and butterfly designs first produced by Meizan. I hope to discuss the characteristic Japaneseness inherent in Meizan’s works, which differ in several ways from continuous Western designs.

Paper short abstract:

Raku is one of the best known type of Japanese ceramics in the West. Contemporary artists appreciate its technique and aesthetics. Around 1960 it became a symbol of Japaneseness and since then many workshops and collaborative projects have taken place. This paper argues the transculturality of Raku.

Paper long abstract:

Raku is nowadays one of the most popular type of ceramics outside of Japan. Contemporary western artists appreciate technique and aesthetics of this seemingly simple but highly sophisticated genre of ceramics.

The roots of Japanese Raku ware (Raku-yaki 楽焼) can be found in Japanese tea culture of the Momoyama period and the person of a tea master Sen no Rikyū. Until now it has been strongly associated with chadō and the ceramic workshop of the Raku family in Kyōto. The representative of this workshop currently is Raku Kichizemon XVI.

Products from this workshop were treated as unique, and the name Raku 楽was reserved only for products from this workshop. Even family ties between the further family members outside of Kyōto workshop were not enough to set up another workshop, which could produce tea bowls in the same style and under the same name. In Japan, Raku ceramics from workshop in Kyōto is considered something special according to the famous sentence “Raku first, Hagi second, Karatsu third”, indicating the highest rank of Raku among the various types of tea ceramics.

Around 1960 in the USA and later in Europe, Japanese Raku ware became a symbol of Japaneseness associated with Zen Buddhism and Japanese wabi and sabi aesthetics. It attracted and gained great popularity outside of Japan. The ceramists who played an important role in the transmission of knowledge about Japanese ceramics in the West were Paul Soldner and Bernard Leach. Thanks to their admiration for Japanese aesthetics and their technical knowledge, Japanese Raku ceramics became well known outside of Japan. From that moment, the process of assimilation of Raku in the West has begun and its production grew very quickly. Since then many workshops for artists, collaborative projects and workshops for general public were organized. However, what is Western Raku like? Can we still talk about Raku or not? Can we see a collaboration between Japanese and Western artists? This paper will discuss such questions from the perspective of transculturality of Raku ceramics.

Paper short abstract:

The Ise Jingū's shikinen sengū practice involves various national and local communities in the cyclic reconstruction of its wooden buildings. This constitutes a challenge to international Authorised Authenticity Discourses, but also a way to reconcile alternative practices with this discourse.

Paper long abstract:

The concept of the authenticity of heritage is much debated and criticised. In the context of the UNESCO and World Heritage organisations, it has mainly been defined through historic material paradigms relating to a linear view of past history and heritage. With the release of the 1994 Nara Document on Authenticity, more culturally diverse understandings of the concept of authenticity were acknowledged. However, underlying Eurocentric attitudes remain central in its definition and practice. In particular, as it pertains to UNESCO's Operational Guidelines on authenticity, which state that reconstruction is justifiable only under exceptional circumstances. If all heritage is, fundamentally, intangible, such unilateral views on authenticity can end up hindering instead of helping its preservation and protection.

This is particularly true in the case of cyclic practices that entail rituals of upkeep, rebuilding or renovation. This paper seeks to challenge this definition of authenticity within the current Authorised Heritage Discourse (AHD) and views about what might as well be called "Authorised Authenticity Discourse" (ADD), by looking at a case study in Japan. The Ise Jingū, a Grand Shrine of Japan's Shintō religion, is known for its shikinen sengū rebuilding practice, which is repeated in twenty-year cycles since the 7th century and involves national, local and craftsmen communities in the process. This involves the reconstruction of the shrine's wooden buildings in their entirety, through the employment of traditional tools, materials and methods and, moreover, serves the function of transmitting the knowledge and techniques necessary for shikinen sengū to the next generation of craftsmen. The example of Ise

shall provide a basis to discuss challenges to authenticity definitions and criteria and, specifically, provide a discussion on how practices of alternative authenticities that fall outside of this "ADD" may be reconciled with the notion of authenticity.