Competition & Collaboration:

Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School

An exhibition on view at the

Chazen Museum of Art

November 3, 2007 – January 6, 2008

Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School

Educational Materials for Use by Teachers in the Classroom

An exhibition on view at the Chazen Museum of Art

November 3, 2007–January 6, 2008

Anne Giblin, graduate student in Japanese history, Department of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison, wrote

these educational materials.

The Instructional Media Development Center (IMDC), a division of the UW–Madison School of Education, designed

these materials.

The Chazen wishes to thank Hope Rennie, Assistant Director of the UW–Madison Center for East Asian Studies for the

webography included here, provided in conjunction with a teacher workshop, "Using Japanese Prints to Explore

Popular Culture from the Age of the Samurai," November 10, 2007.

Generous local funding for the exhibition and a symposium has been provided by the Chazen Museum of Art Council,

National Endowment for the Arts, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Japan Foundation, The

Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from

Endres Mfg. Company Foundation and the Overture Foundation, WLS Spencer Foundation, International Fine Print

Dealers Association, UW–Madison Department of Art History, UW–Madison Center for East Asian Studies, and

Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin.

Funding for these educational materials has been provided by the Association for Asian Studies Northeast

Asia Council with the support of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission.

Reproduction of the photographs in any manner is prohibited.

© 2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison

800 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706–1479

608.263.2246

How to Use these Materials

These slides and accompanying text were designed to be presented to students prior to a guided tour of the temporary

exhibition Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School, which is on view at the Chazen

Museum of Art from November 3, 2007 to January 6, 2008.

Although these materials may be most appropriate for middle and high school students, care was taken to make the

materials accessible to a broad range of age groups. Teachers should adapt the materials however they feel is

appropriate for any grade.

Each slide is paired with a script that can be read to students. Paragraphs labeled “Additional Information:” contain

supplemental information and are for teacher reference. Most slides also have a list of possible discussion questions,

along with a few suggested answers. A few of the slides may suggest research projects for consideration.

Questions appropriate for younger grades are listed first and progress in difficulty level. Additional resources, including

glossary, pronunciation guide, bibliography, webography, and field trip planning tools, are listed in the table of contents.

Teachers and group leaders should return the CD and the booklet to a docent (tour guide) at the Chazen Museum of

Art on the day of the tour. Teachers wishing to purchase these materials for future classroom use may do so in the

Chazen Museum Shop during the run of the exhibition for $22.95.

Educators may Xerox some pages from the booklet for classroom use and other educational purposes. The

accompanying exhibition catalogue, Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School, by Laura

J. Mueller, listed in the bibliography, is also available.

Introduction

The Utagawa School

This exhibition highlights masterpieces of artists associated with the Utagawa school, and represents major trends in

Tokugawa era (1603–1868) popular culture. The printmakers associated with the Utagawa school sustained the vibrant

print culture of nineteenth-century Japan. Mass producing images of the ordinary as well as the extraordinary, these

artists attempted to meet the demands of the new consumer culture. Artisans of the Utagawa school dominated the

printmaking industry at its height, and the works produced by them remain the model images of woodblock prints, or

ukiyo-e (oo-key-yo-eh), to this day.

Many Hands: Tokugawa Era Print Culture

The creation and reproduction of Japanese woodblock prints utilized many forms of technology and artistry. While

paintings and drawings in other cultures during this time period might often be the creation of a single artist, the

production of a woodblock print was the culmination of work by many different hands–all of whom spent decades

apprenticing in their respective crafts. Working from the artist’s design, skilled carvers would make multiple wood

blocks, typically one for each color, which could reproduce the artist’s work over and over. Printers who meticulously

aligned each impression brought the color and vibrancy to the prints. Publishing houses supported all of these artisans,

commissioning works and selling the finished product on the streets of Japan. These prints, consumer products that

reflected the fickle tides of popular culture, are invaluable texts that can allow insight into the Tokugawa era. This era

is also called the Edo (eh-doh) period because the capitol was in the city of Edo, which is now called Tokyo.

The Age of the Samurai

Woodblock prints often portray images of samurai. Samurai are iconic figures of Japan’s past, viewed today by many as

the epitome of Japanese culture and tradition. By the early 1900s, some authors in both Japan and America began to

compare the samurai to knights, asserting that samurai followed a strict code of ethics similar to a European concept of

chivalry. This fantasy, pervasive in popular perceptions of the samurai in both America and Japan today, holds an

undeniable mystique. But what do we really know about these warriors? What about the rest of Japanese society,

those not of the samurai class? And, what is it about samurai that captivates the imagination?

After centuries of fighting between regional warlords throughout the countryside, Japan was unified by a central ruler

called a shogun at the start of the Tokugawa era (1603–1868). The Tokugawa era represents a sustained time of

relative peace, prosperity, and stability that set the stage for a flourishing of art and culture.

The Age of the Samurai - continued

Centuries of war had resulted in an entire class of people, known as samurai, whose existence was predicated on

warfare. But with no more battles to fight, their role changed to that of bureaucrats. In exchange for service to the

shogun, the shogun granted domains to regional lords (daimyō) to administer. Many samurai, who used to fight battles

for their lords during the centuries of war, now worked as administrators, guards, etc. in exchange for a stipend paid in

rice. Over the next century, Tokugawa shoguns would discover ways of controlling this class, along with the rest of the

populace, through an elaborate system of house codes and social hierarchies.

Underlying the political system was an idealized vision of a four-class system which, in theory, neatly divided the

population into distinct hereditary classes defined by profession. This ideal placed samurai at the top of the social

hierarchy as the repositories of moral and martial education. Next in status came the farmers, who worked the land and

produced all of the necessary food for the other classes. Third came the artisans, who made useful things, and finally

came the merchants, the parasites who made money based on other men’s work. Neatly excluded from this imagined

hierarchy were those called the burakumin, the outcastes who performed jobs considered impure and unclean, such as

butchering livestock and working with leather. Also outside this system stood the aristocrats, remnants of previous

ruling classes, as well as monks or priests. The reality of this system was far more fluid than the ideal, with movement

between castes (excluding the burakumin) possible, although difficult.

The shogun originally instituted the alternate attendance system (sankin kōtai), or so-called “hostage system,” to control

outlying regional lords and prevent uprisings. Every other year, each lord (daimyō) had to travel to the capital, Edo

(eh-doh), with a huge entourage to attend the shogun. Additionally, the lord’s wife and heirs had to reside in Edo year

round, effectively providing hostages should the lord rebel. This alternate attendance system drastically increased the

population of Edo, as merchants and artisans flocked to the city to service this new population. It also resulted in an

extensive network of roads throughout the country with service industries developing all along its length, the most

amous and traveled being the Tōkaidō which ran from Kyoto to Edo.

So, who were the samurai? In the centuries of war before the Tokugawa era, samurai were warriors, but in the peaceful

Tokugawa era, samurai were the bureaucratic glue that held the government system together. Even after the shogun no

longer feared impending revolt from outlying provinces, the system of alternate attendance (sankin kōtai) continued, tying

each generation of lords closer to Edo–the place of their youth. But there was a cost. By the period represented in most

of the prints of this exhibition, the idealized class system was breaking down, in large part due to the prohibitive costs of

the alternate attendance system. Regional lords and samurai became indebted to merchants and other non-samurai

townsmen (chōnin) who, while in theory the lowest classes, ultimately controlled the financial power of the ruling class and

drove the development of a rich popular culture.

Consumer Culture, Genroku Culture

The rise of the chōnin (non-samurai townspeople) culminated during the Genroku period (1688–1704) in the consumer-

driven, commercial culture of the “floating world” (ukiyo) – the world of the pleasure quarters. Sectioned off from the

rest of the town physically by walls or moats, these licensed quarters (most famously Yoshiwara in Edo, Shinmachi in

Osaka, and Shimabara in Kyoto) were home to kabuki and puppet theaters (bunraku), as well as brothels and

teahouses.

Kabuki actors, geisha, and courtesans appear over and over as the subjects in woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). Much like

models and movie stars of today, geisha and courtesans were the pinups of this floating world. Geisha, often

misinterpreted beyond Japan’s borders as prostitutes, were trained entertainers skilled in the art of conversation,

music, dance and poetry. Geisha were not prostitutes; courtesans, on the other hand, were famous high-ranking

prostitutes who did work in the sex industry.

Another popular subject for artists of the period was kabuki actors, the rock stars of the floating world. Other theater

forms existed during this time period, such as noh drama and kyōgen, but none impacted popular culture like the kabuki

and puppet theater. From portraits to stage performance stills to pictures of these men in their personal life, the print

industry churned out countless kabuki-related prints. The government banned women from performing onstage in the

theaters in the mid-seventeen hundreds. This led to another cultural phenomenon reflected in woodblock prints, male

actors who specialized in playing women’s roles, known as onnagata. Ironically, many women tried to imitate the

appearance of these onnagata as they, along with geisha and courtesans, were trendsetters in the world of fashion.

The Cost of a Bowl of Rice

Today these breathtaking images are considered pieces of high art, collected and treasured by museums and private

connoisseurs. However, during the Tokugawa period, woodblock prints were commercial products that cost about the

same amount of money as one bowl of rice. From pin-ups of popular actors to functional fans which could help one

stay cool on a hot night, woodblock prints depicted what was “in” within the popular culture of the day. The rising

merchant class demanded different kinds of art and entertainment from what had previously been popular. These

townspeople were less interested in court culture and more interested in images from everyday life. For this reason,

during the Edo period, more and more popular art featured scenes of commoners living their lives. But these were not

the only things drawn by artists; the extraordinary was always in demand, leading to an increase in scenes from the

realms of the supernatural, scenes from popular fiction and folk tales, and portraits of deities. These images are rich

with information about what kind of things the common consumer was willing to purchase and can tell students a great

deal about Japan centuries ago.

SET 1:
Historical and Social Structure

SET 2: Popular Culture and Print Culture

Selected Bibliography and Further Reading

Adams, Monni, and Stephen Addiss. Tōkaidō, Adventures on the Road in Old Japan. Lawrence, Kan:

University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, 1980.

Addiss, Stephen, and Audrey Yoshiko Seo. How to Look at Japanese Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams,

1996.

Ashkenazi, Michael. Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Handbooks of world mythology. Santa Barbara,

Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Grade 10 and up.

Bell, David R.. Chūshingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chūshingura in

Ukiyo-e Prints. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library, 2001.

Carpenter, John T. Hokusai and His Age: Ukiyo-e Painting, Printmaking and Book Illustration in Late Edo

Japan. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2005.

Dunn, Charles. Everyday Life in Traditional Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Charles Tuttle Co., 1997.

Fujita, Minoru, and Michael Shapiro. Transvestism and the Onnagata Traditions in Shakespeare and

Kabuki. Folkestone, Kent, UK: Global Oriental, 2006.

Harris, John Wesley. The Traditional Theatre of Japan: Kyōgen, Noh, Kabuki, and Puppetry. Lewiston,

NY.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006.

Hart, Christopher. Kids Draw Manga. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2004.

Joly, Henri L. Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-

Lore Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan. Rutland, Vt: Tuttle, 1967.

Bibliography continued

Jones, David E. Women Warriors: A History. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 1997.

Katsu, Kokichi. Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai. Tucson: University of Arizona

Press, 1988.

Keene, Donald (Trans. and Ed.). Takeda, Izumo, et al. Chūshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers): A

Puppet Play. UNESCO collection of representative works, Japanese series. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.

Kern, Adam L. Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyōshi of Edo Japan.

Harvard East Asian monographs, 279. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006.

Klompmakers, Inge. Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden. Leiden: Hotei,

1998.

Leiter, Samuel L. A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance. Japan in the modern world. Armonk, N.Y.:

M.E. Sharpe, 2002.

Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Shūgō Asano, et al. Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating

World, 1690 – 1850. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 2007. Note: Adult Content.

Mueller, Laura J., et al. Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School. Leiden:

Hotei, 2007. Chazen Museum of Art exhibition catalogue.

Sichel, Marion. Japan. National Costume Reference Series. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Juvenile non-fiction.

Walthall, Anne. Japan: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Exploring Japanese Arts in the K–12 Classroom: A Webography
(listed more or less in order of usefulness):
Hope Rennie, Assistant Director, Center for East Asian Studies
Anne Giblin, Graduate Student, Department of History

Online Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

–Department of Education National Resource Center

http://www.outreachworld.org

Outreach World is a website of National Resource Centers for international and area studies. It is a comprehensive

one-stop resource for finding lesson plans, teaching resources, and professional development opportunities related to

international studies, area studies, and foreign languages in the pre- collegiate classroom.

–Japan Studies, East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University

http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/resources/index.htm#lessonplans

This is a major collection of resources for teaching about Japan. Their internet guides are a good place to find links to

websites with materials on Japan, including guides on arts, architecture, and popular culture. Of note:

–6

http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/japanese_art/Introduction.htm

Exploratory hands-on units related to Painting and Folk Art (mingei)-Daruma Doll, Graphic Design-Family Crest (kamon) and Traditional Clothes (kimono), Sculpture-Seal Stamp (hanko), Collage-Japanese Garden (niwa), Drawing-Cartoons (manga) & Japanese Idioms (kotowaza), and Scroll Pictures (emaki).

–The National Endowment for the Humanities

http://edsitement.neh.gov/

Very rich lesson plans with lots of supporting materials for the humanities. Of note:

"Life in the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints and the Rise of the Merchant Class in Edo Period Japan"-Grades 9–12, uses woodblock prints to gain insight into Japanese culture of the Edo period.

–The Asia Society

http://www.askasia.org/

Good comprehensive resources for teaching: maps, timelines, photos, etc. Also includes lesson plans, classroom

readings, and activities for students. Of note:

"Understanding Symbols in Japanese Art"–Grades PreK–5, Students compare and contrast two objects and learn

how to interpret visual symbols. Excellent way to introduce how to 'read' objects.

"Japan and the West: A Comparison"– Grades 6–12, Students compare different time periods in Japanese history

with their historical counterparts in the West.

’ Resource–from The Japan Society

http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/

Full-service site includes background articles, maps, links to lesson plans, online short stories, categorized annotated

bibliographies of children's books about Japan, snapshot tours of famous sites in Japan such a Buddhist temples,

Shinto shrines, and castles, photo galleries, etc. Snapshot tours are used for students to browse.

–Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College

http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/asia/

Lesson plans for hands-on activities making: Origami Cranes, Bodhidharma/Daruma Dolls, Carp Kites associated with

the Children’s Festival, Kokeshi Dolls associated with the Doll Festival, Hachimaki (headbands) using shibori

(Japanese method of tie-dye), Gyotaku (fish prints), Lacquerware Boxes, Uchiwa (round hand fans), Japanese Family

Crests (mon).

–from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

Very rich lesson plans with good hands-on components for the arts. Of note:

"Japanese Woodblock Prints"–Grades 9–12, Students study ukiyo-e, learn about techniques and the development of

the process, and do a hands-on activity to create a print of their own.

"Noh Theater"–Grades 9–12, Students study Japanese Noh theater, compare and contrast it with Western drama,

study its influence on modern Western drama, and act out a Noh play.

Sackler Gallery–The Smithsonian Institution

http://www.asia.si.edu/education/teacherResources/onlineGuidesJapanese.htm

This amazing resource from the Smithsonian has downloadable curriculum guides and lesson plans including everything

from worksheets for students to comprehensive background reading for teachers. Fantastic online exhibitions also

available. Elementary through High School.

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/edotpktoc.htm

“Edo: Art in Japan 1615–1868”-a very rich curriculum packet that accompanied a past exhibit, downloadable as PDF.

–Asian Art Collection–Exploring Asia through Art

http://edu.dia.org/tao/resource_guide/

A resource guide for teaching about the art of China, Korea, Japan, and Cambodia, which includes a helpful overview of

art history for each country, and then curriculum units for elementary (The Way of the Brush), middle school (Taoism:

The Way) and high school (The Way of Tea) students. Each unit includes linked lessons for social studies and art

classes. Many images of their Asian art collection are available online elsewhere on their website: http://www.dia.org/collections/asian/

–from Columbia University

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/

A comprehensive site with lesson plans, lists of recommended resources, timelines, maps, images, excerpts from primary

sources to use as readings, etc. May be more suitable for high school students or as background for teachers.

magazine

http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/samples.htm

Website of the magazine put out by the Association for Asian Studies for K–12 educators. Back issues can be ordered.

Tables of contents for past issues viewable online. Free downloadable sample articles available including many useful

articles on teaching about Japan. Of note:

Special issue on “Teaching about Asia through the Visual and Performing Arts” (Volume 10, Number 3, Spring

2004) including articles on teaching Heian and Tokugawa periods in Japan.

Special issue on “Asia in World History: 300–1500 C.E.” (Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2004)

“Identifying Buddhist Images in Japanese Painting and Sculpture” by Douglas P. Sjoquist from Education

About Asia, Volume 4, Number 3, Winter 1999. Available online at: www.aasianst.org/EAA/sjoquist.htm

“Visualizing Nature in Japan: Creating Courses on the Environment from Asian Perspectives” by Elaine Gerbert

from Education About Asia, Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2001. An article useful for teaching about Japanese aesthetics,

religious beliefs, and symbolism as they relate to the natural environment. Available online at the teacher resources–

lesson plans/guides section of

http://spice.stanford.edu/

Source full curriculum units, many with accompanying slide sets. Table of contents available to preview online. Require

Purchase or must borrow from a nearby library. Curriculum sets of note:

"Rabbit in the Moon: Folktales from China and Japan" (Elementary)

"Religion in Japan and a Look at Cultural Transmission" (Middle School-High School)

"Japanese Art in the Edo Period" (Middle School-High School)

"Castle Towns: An Introduction to Tokugawa Japan.” (Middle School-High School))

Background for Teachers and Possible Self-Navigation Web pages for Students

http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/

A fun tour for older students who want to learn more about Japan in the Tokugawa period. It is set up as a chance to roam

around Edo (now the city of Tokyo) and see the sights, mostly via woodblock print illustrations, learning about culture and

everyday life along the way.

–Japan National Tourist Organization

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/experience

Short explanations (including illustrations & diagrams) of Japanese traditional cultural activities, festivals, and art including

Japanese traditional dress (women’s and men’s kimono and obi), crests (mon), woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) and their

production process, kabuki theater stage and costumes, and more. Good source of short handouts. Useful for students to

browse.

Web Japan–from the Japanese government Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Includes several sub-sites:

Japan Fact Sheet–nice compact PDF or html format fact sheets on different topics appropriate for handouts or short online

readings for high school or adults.

Japan Video Topics–short streaming video segments on broad array of topics including arts and culture.

The Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts–Online exhibits with lots of good images but rather terse explanations about the

various branches of Japanese arts, crafts, and cultural practices.

Japan Atlas–Cultural atlas organized by thematic maps on Historic Sites, Festivals, Architecture, Nature, Traditional Arts

and Crafts, Advanced Technology, Communities (historic districts), and World Heritage sites. Each thematic map has links

to individual pages about items or sites, all illustrated with photos. Some sites have 360 degree virtual reality interactive

images.

Kids Web Japan–A site designed for middle school kids to learn about the lives of their peers in contemporary Japan,

including information on schools and everyday life, housing, food, clothes, recipes, and a little language. Clearly

oriented towards young students in geography classes learning basics about a country, it has answers to many

common questions middle-school students might have about life in Japan. Of note: "Virtual Culture" section with

online activities that include animations exploring all kinds of things, including: woodblock prints, calligraphy, traditional

architecture, flower arranging, bonsai, etc.

Teaching (and Learning) About Japan–website by Lee Makela, Assoc. Prof., East Asian History, Cleveland State

Univ.

www.csuohio.edu/history/japan/

Short illustrated essays that are also web guides on a broad range of topics on Japan, including arts and popular

culture. Additional resources produced by this author of note:

www.csuohio.edu/history/exercise/vlehome.html

This visual literacy exercise explores Japanese geography using 19th century woodblock prints from Hiroshige Ando's

series depicting the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō (post stations along a major road connecting the capital Edo, now called

Tokyo, with Kyoto).

Illustrated introductory lectures on interactions between geography and culture, on Japanese gardens, and an overview

of cultural history of Japan in 4 chronological sections. Could be useful for older students to browse.

http://www.kabuki.gr.jp/pavilion/

Students and teachers alike can enjoy this look at the world of kabuki. Colorful animated characters guide students

through the different qualities of the kabuki theater experience. Suitable for browsing by student.

Invitation to Kabuki, Guidance for Kabuki Appreciation”–Japan Arts Council

http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki/en/index.html

This new web page is a fantastic site for understanding the ins and outs of kabuki. Includes videos of scenes from

kabuki plays. Suitable for browsing by students.

http://www.mfa.org/collections/

Includes online tours of related items within their collection including: “Japanese Arms and Armor”, “Japanese Postcard

Highlights”, “Meiji Photography,” and much more.

Additional Websites for Classroom Preparation: Handouts, Background Reading, High Resolution Images

–WWW Virtual Library

http://jguide.stanford.edu/

Web guide with categorized links related to all facets of Japan.

–The University of Texas at Austin

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/japan.html

The ultimate online source of free maps and links to maps for use in classrooms. Mostly copyright-free public domain

maps: political, historical, topographic, thematic, outline, etc.

–The Art of Asia

http://www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/introduction/index.cfm

This extensive museum educational website on Asian art features information on Japanese religious art, ceramics,

architecture, and a section on ukiyo-e woodblock prints with a video clip about them. Best of all is the ability to browse

and search their collection for high-quality large size downloadable images of Japanese art for classroom use, with

complete attribution information.

–Arts of Japan

http://www.asiasocietymuseum.com

Small sets of high quality images of items from their collection organized by categories, with commentary.

Documentary Videos

Traditional Japanese Arts and Performing Arts:

Great Tales in Asian Art. Kultur International Films (1995). VHS. 82 minutes (4 segments–segment on Japan is

one of 4 adding up to 82 minutes total). Secondary level.

Includes segment telling an excerpt from the Tale of Genji illustrated with painted images from famous Japanese hand

scrolls and screens.

Living Treasures of Japan : A Tribute to the Artists who Preserve the Richness and Beauty of Ancient

Japanese Traditions. WQED and National Geographic Society (1995). VHS. 60 minutes. Secondary level.

Profiles nine artisans and performing artists who are recognized by the Japanese government for their role in

preserving and perpetuating traditional art forms. Pays visits to a potter, doll sculptor, puppeteer, papermaker, koto

musician, swordmaker, textile weaver and dyer, kabuki theater actor, and bellmaker. (Pair with book for ages 10–14: In

Search of the Spirit: The Living National Treasures of Japan. By Sheila Hamanaka and Ayano Ohmi. Morrow, 1999.)

The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: the Heart of Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku. Part of the “Nippon: the

Land and Its People” video series. Shin-el ; B & CI (1989). 38 minutes. VHS. Secondary level.

Presents short segments useful for class on Noh, kabuki, and bunraku (puppet-theater) performing arts.

Contemporary Japan:

Families of Japan. Master Communications (1998). VHS or DVD. 30 minutes. In English. All levels.

A video documentary that follows two Japanese school children (one in the city and one in a rural town) through one

day in their lives. Totally appropriate for elementary through college. Your first choice for a film to show as an

introduction to contemporary Japan. Online teacher’s guide by publisher available free at

www.familiesoftheworld.com/teachers.html .

Edo Period Popular Culture:

BUNRAKU PUPPET THEATER

Handouts: "Kabuki," "Noh & Kyogen," "Bunraku" www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/experience/x.html

Japan In-Depth–Japan National Tourist Organization Explanations (including illustrations and diagrams) of kabuki theater

stage and costumes and more. Great handouts.

Lesson Plan: "What is a puppet?"–Artbeat@School, Oregon Public Broadcasting website

www.opb.org/education/atschool/lesson.php?rowid=63

Includes hands-on activity for making bunraku puppets from recycled materials, in the context of a larger exploration of

puppets across cultures to go with a video documentary program titled "Tears of Joy Puppetry".

Lesson Plan (Middle School Level): Ms. Meyer's website for The Master Puppeteer

Set of extension activities to explore a work of historical fiction by Katherine Paterson, The Master Puppeteer, set in medieval

Japan that follows an apprentice in the bunraku puppet theater.

Lesson Plan (Middle School Level): "Characters and Social Relationships–Tokugawa Japan and Bunraku Puppetry"

From Kansas Consortium for Teaching about Asia website

Another lesson plan using Katherine Paterson's The Master Puppeteer, to explore Confucian social relations in traditional

Japan.

Resource: "Introduction to Bunraku"–National Theater of Japan website www.ntj.jac.go.jp/english/index.html

Explanations, photos, and video clips of performances. English translations are sometimes garbled. Suitable for older

students to browse.

Resource: "Introduction to Shinjū Ten no Amijima (The Love Suicides at Amijima)"

Paul Kennelly, University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative

Introduction to the bunraku puppet play about a suicide by star-crossed lovers written in 1720 by Chikamatsu Monzaemon

(1653–1725). More texts available at the University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative’s website, located at

etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/texts/index.html.

KABUKI THEATER

Lesson Plan (High School Level): "Hamlet Meets Chūshingura: Traditional Revenge Tragedy"

From EDSITEment–from the National Endowment for the Humanities. edsitement.neh.gov/

Grades 9–12 students compare a Japanese Edo period play Kanadehon chūshingura (aka Chūshingura) to Shakespeare's

Hamlet.

Essay: “Rethinking the Story of the 47 Rônin: Chūshingura in the 1980s.”

Henry D. Smith, New York: Columbia University, Modern Japan Seminar, April 13, 1990.

Analysis of the reception of the play since its first performance. Background reading for teachers.

Resource: "Introduction to Kanadehon Chūshingura"

Paul Kennelly, University of Virginia Library Japanese Text Initiative

Introduction to this popular play originally performed in the bunraku puppet theater and then turned into a kabuki play.

Resource: "Kabuki for Everyone"

park.org/Japan/Kabuki/kabuki.html

Well-known educational website maintained by a famous kabuki actor Ichimura Manjiro.

Resource: "An Introduction to Kabuki" by Ryohei Matsuda, Japan Digest, January 1998

National Clearinghouse for U.S.–Japan Studies website.

spice.stanford.edu/digests/Japan/Kabuki.php

A brief introduction to Kabuki theater: The History of Kabuki, Kabuki as Subversion, Kabuki's Influence on Contemporary

Drama, The Art of Kabuki, The Preservation of Kabuki, and Selected Kabuki-related URLs.

Resource: "FAQ: Onnagata"

Viewing Japanese Prints by John Fiorillo,

A brief discussion on the history of onnagata, male kabuki actors who performed the roles of women. Possible handout for older

students.

KABUKI THEATER continued

Resource: "Japanese Prints at the Hood Museum of Art"

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

www.dartmouth.edu/~ukiyoe/

Interactive exploration of print of kabuki theater with annotations explaining elements of kabuki theater and performance, and

a series of prints illustrating the Kanadehon chūshingura (aka Chūshingura) or The Treasury of Loyal Retainers kabuki play

with a historical background essay on the play.

Resource: "Two Views of Kabuki"

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

www.vmfa.museum/ukiyoe/ukiyoehome.html

"This online exhibition features woodblock prints illustrating selected scenes from Kanadehon chūshingura (aka

Chūshingura) or The Treasury of Loyal Retainers executed by two different artists, Utagawa Kuniaki and Utagawa Fusatane.

While these two series were published only ten years apart, they provide two distinct points of view. Kuniaki concentrates on

the celebrated actors of kabuki while Fusatane provides a panoramic view of the stage. Together, their works provide insight

into the world of kabuki theater and into Japanese society in general.

Resource: "Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage, 1730–1830"

The British Museum

Has brief history of kabuki, explanations about elements of kabuki, plot summaries, all illustrated with woodblock prints.

Resourse: “Kabuki Pavilion”

www.kabuki.gr.jp/pavilion/

Students and teachers alike can enjoy this look at the world of kabuki. Colorful animated characters guide students through

the different qualities of the kabuki theater experience. Suitable for browsing by student.

Resourse: “Invitation to Kabuki, Guidance for Kabuki Appreciation”–Japan Arts Council

This new web page is a fantastic site for understanding the ins and outs of kabuki. Includes videos of scenes from kabuki

plays. Suitable for browsing by students.

NOH THEATER

Lesson Plan (High School Level): “Noh Theater”

From ARTSEDGE from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

/

Grades 9–12, Students study Japanese Noh theater, compare and contrast it with Western drama, study its influence

on modern Western drama, and act out a Noh play.

Lesson Plan (High School Level): “Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays”

From EDSITEment – from the National Endowment for the Humanities

edsitement.neh.gov/

Grades 9–12, students learn basics about the art form, read and compare texts of two plays – Atsumori and Sotoba

Komachi, compare and contrast with Western theater forms, and then write their own Noh play.

Lesson Plan (Elementary Level): "Japanese Noh Masks"–San Diego Museum of Art

Lesson plan for students to make their own noh masks using paper plates.

Resource: "Introduction to Noh & Kyogen"–National Theater of Japan website

Explanations, photos, and video clips of performances. English translations are sometimes garbled. Suitable for older

students to browse.

Resource: "Noh Mask Home Page"

Commercial site, but has nice explanation of carving and painting process with step-by-step illustrations. Color photos

of many different types of Noh masks for inspiration.

Specific Hands-On Activities for Art Teachers

UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS:

Handout: "Ukiyo-e"

From Japan In-Depth – Japan National Tourist Organization

Lesson Plan (High School Level): "Life in the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints and the Rise of the Merchant Class in

Edo Period Japan"

EDSITEment Lesson

Resource: "Japanese Prints at the Hood Museum of Art"–Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

Video of print production process, prints depicting the 53 Stations of the Tokaido linked to a map of the road, prints illustrating

Chushingura kabuki play with a historical background essay on the play, interactive exploration of print of kabuki theater with

Annotations explaining elements of kabuki theater and performance. Suitable for students to browse.

Resource: "Ukiyo-e Techniques"–website from Davidson Art Center, Wesleyan Center

Photos illustrating traditional Japanese woodblock technique and modern innovations, demonstrated by master printmaker and

contemporary artist Keiji Shinohara. Suitable for older students to browse.

Resource: "Viewing Japanese Prints"–website by John Fiorillo

Illustrated essays on the artists, designs, and techniques of traditional and modern Japanese woodblock prints including

Ukiyo-e (Edo), Ukiyo-e (Osaka), Sosaku Hanga, Shin Hanga. The FAQ section has some really useful easy to understand

brief illustrated answers and explanations for common questions. Suitable for older students to browse. Of note:

FAQ: How is a Print Made?

FAQ: Printing a Color Woodblock Print

FAQ: How do we interpret inscriptions and seals?

Resource: "Handbook of Japanese Printmaking Technique"–website by David Bull, printmaker

Online step-by-step photo sequences, lots of useful information. Probably best for teacher background.

CALLIGRAPHY, SIGNATURE SEALS, AND INK PAINTING:

Lesson Plan (Elementary Level): "Drawing: Scroll Pictures (Emaki)

www.indiana.edu/~easc/japanese_art/Introduction.htm

From Japanese Arts Program for Grades 3–6, National Clearinghouse for U.S.–Japan Studies, East Asian Studies

Center, Indiana University

Lesson Plan (Grades 4–7): "Seasonal Scroll Painting: Art and Observation in the Japanese Garden"–

Huntington Botanical Gardens

One of several online lesson plans for hands-on art activities related to Japanese gardens. Students create their own

Japanese-style flower arrangement and then paint it using Japanese ink painting techniques.

JAPANESE TEXTILE ARTS & GRAPHIC DESIGN:

Resource: "Japanese Kimono"

Website with basic history and explanations and photos of traditional Japanese clothing & accessories. Suitable for

students to browse.

Resource: "World Shibori Network"

Website with discussion of various techniques and sample images.

Resource: "Shibori Studio"

Commercial site, but galleries have lots of sample images of Japanese shibori designs.

Resource: "Dyeing"

Traditional Crafts of Japan, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

www.kougei.or.jp/english/dyeing.html

Explanations of various styles of Japanese dyeing crafts.

Handouts: "Traditional Costumes," "Crests (Mon)," "Colors & Patterns"

Japan In-Depth–Japan National Tourist Organization

Explanations (including illustration) of Japanese traditional dress (women’s and men’s kimono and obi), crests (mon),

footwear, traditional patterns and symbols in textiles, and more. Great handouts.

Lesson Plan (Elementary Level): "Graphic Design: Traditional Clothes (Kimono)" and "Graphic Design: Family

Crest (Kamon)" www.indiana.edu/~easc/japanese_art/Introduction.htm

Japanese Arts Program for Grades 3–6, National Clearinghouse for U.S.–Japan Studies, East Asian Studies Center,

Indiana University

Lesson Plan (Middle School Level): "Mon: Japanese Crests" and “Hachimaki & Japanese Shibori”

www.oberlin.edu/amam/asia/

Allen Memorial Art Museum–Arts of Asia In Reach

Loren Fawcett, Education Assistant, Allen Memorial Art Museum

A lesson plan on Japanese Crests (Mon) and making hachimaki, a thin towel or strip of cloth tied around the crown of

the head, using arashi shibori, a Japanese dyeing method, designed for middle school students ages 11–13, grade 6.

Lesson Plan (Middle School Level): "Japanese Indigo Batik–Aizome"

Suzanne Hokanson, Teacher at Bethlehem Central Middle School

"November 2005 Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Art Teachers’ Japanese Project Lesson Plans," pp 28–42.

There are a number of additional lesson plans in this document for art teachers for hands-on activities exploring

Japanese arts and crafts, of varying quality and usefulness.

Pronunciation Guide

The Japanese syllable is base on five basic vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, and o.

The vowels are pronounced as follows:

a: as in father

i: as in he

u: as in suit

e: as in set

o: as in polo

The word most often mispronounced in this packet is Edo (eh-doh)

Another guide to Japanese pronunciation is at

Glossary

bakufu: Literally, “tent government,” it was the central government bureaucracy which effectively ruled in the name of

the shogun.

bunraku: Japanese puppet theater. Characterized by large puppets operated onstage, eachone manipulated by three

puppeteers. Accompanied by a chanter and a shamisen.

burakumin: Hereditary outcaste group who performed jobs considered impure and unclean, such as butchering

livestock and working with leather.

chōnin: Non-samurai townsmen.

daimyō: Regional lords who were granted a domain to administer in exchange for loyalty and service to the shogun.

Literally means “big name.”

Edo: Japan’s capital during the Tokugawa period. The name was changed in the modern period to Tokyo.

Edo Period: 1603 to 1868. See Tokugawa period.

geisha: Women educated in music, art, poetry, and conversation who provided entertainment for wealthy men.

Though beyond Japan’s borders they were often misinterpreted as prostitutes, these women were skilled artists.

Genroku Period: 1688 to 1704. The height of non-samurai townsmen’s culture. Flourishing of popular

culture characterized by expanding commercial economy.

hanamichi: A part of a kabuki stage that juts out into the audience.

Glossary continued

iemoto system: A system where the name of a specific family line was passed down through generations, either to

members or to adopted members of that family. Typically associated with lineages dealing with the arts.

Inari: A mythical kami of the harvest. Inari’s messenger often takes the form of a white fox.

kabuki: Highly stylized form of popular Japanese theater where men play both male and female characters.

kami: Typically translated as a Shinto god or gods.

kana: Japanese phonetic script consisting of forty-seven syllables. There are two different scripts, hiragana and

katakana. In modern Japanese katakana is used for loan words adapted from foreign languages while hiragana is used

for some Japanese words while other Japanese words are written using kanji.

kanji: Japanese pictographic script, based on and adapted from Chinese characters.

kyōgen: Form of Japanese comic theater. Developed with and inseparable from Noh theater, yet the exact opposite.

manga: Word for Japanese cartoons.

mie: In kabuki performances, when characters feel great emotion, actors strike these highly dramatic poses. Often

these poses involve crossing their eyes.

mon: Crests.

naginata: A long, pole-like bladed weapon. Favored by women as it could keep sword-carrying enemies at bay.

Glossary continued

Nihonbashi: Literally, “Japan Bridge.” First stop on the Tōkaidō. All distances in the country were measured from this

point.

noh: Form of Japanese theater based on elements of song, dance and drama. The oldest living drama form in the

world that makes use of masks.

obi: Belts worn by both men and women to secure their kimono.

pleasure quarters: Licensed quarter of a city where theater and brothels were allowed. Sectioned off from the rest of

the town physically by walls or moats. Named Yoshiwara in Edo, Shinmachi in Osaka, and Shimabara in Kyoto.

samurai: Members of the warrior class. During the Tokugawa period, these men became bureaucrats. Considered to

be on the top of the idealized neo-Confucian class hierarchy.

sankin kōtai: Often translated as the alternate attendance system, or so-called “hostage system.” Instituted by central

government as a means of control. Every other year, each domain lord (daimyō) had to travel to the capital with a huge

entourage to attend the shogun. Additionally, the lord’s wife and heirs had to reside in Edo year round, providing the

government with hostages if the lord rebelled.

shamisen: A three string fretless instrument.

shibaraku: A superhero-type kabuki character who would interrupt the story shouting “shibaraku”—meaning “wait a

moment”—and save the innocent from peril. This kind of role was pioneered by the Ichikawa Danjūrō lineage of kabuki

actors.

shinjū: Double suicide by lovers.

Glossary continued

Shintō: Animistic religion believed to be indigenous to Japan.

shogunate: See bakufu.

shogun: Military leader of Japan, effectively the central ruler during the Tokugawa period. Originally the term dates

back before the Kamakura period 1192–1333. The short form of sei-i taishōgun (“barbarian subduing generalissimo”).

In theory, this title is given by the emperor; however, in reality during the Tokugawa period, the emperor had little real

power and was merely a figurehead.

Tōkaidō: Main road between Edo and the former capital, Kyoto. Commonly depicted in woodblock prints. There were

fifty-three stops on this famous road. Today, a bullet train (shinkansen) follows the path laid down by this road centuries

before.

Tokugawa Period/Era: 1603–1868. Era of peace and prosperity in Japan when arts, literature, and culture flourished.

It also was a time of urbanization and centralization under a government led by a hereditary military ruler called a

shogun. Tokugawa is the family name of the family of shoguns that ruled during this period.

torii gate: A traditional Japanese gate which marks the entrance to a Shinto shrine. Placed before things associated

with various kami and is said to mark the gateway between physical and spiritual worlds.

ukiyo: “The Floating World.” This term, borrowed from Buddhist philosophy, refers to the transient nature and

impermanence of this world. The term was used to refer to the pleasure quarters, because of the ephemeral nature of

pleasure.

ukiyo-e: The art of the floating world.

Yoshiwara: Pleasure quarters, or licensed quarters, of Edo.

How a Japanese Color Woodcut is Made

About the Van Vleck Collection of Japanese Prints

All the prints in these educational materials and in the exhibition Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the

Utagawa School are from the Chazen Museum of Art’s Van Vleck Collection of Japanese prints.

Edward Burr Van Vleck was a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin. He began collecting Japanese prints

seriously in 1916 and approached his collection as a scholar and connoisseur, keeping careful records on the

acquisition and condition of each print.

His son, John Van Vleck, a Nobel Prize winner and professor of physics at Harvard University, inherited the collection.

When Edward died, the collection was shipped to John in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Forty years later (in 1980) the

prints returned to Madison as a bequest to the Elvehjem Museum of Art (now the Chazen), shipped in the very same

boxes.

The collection includes 3,966 prints by the major Japanese print artists working between 1680 and 1940. However, the

landscape prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige dominate the collection. More than 2,000 of the prints in the collection came

from Frank Lloyd Wright, who was forced to sell them for less than one dollar apiece in 1928 to pay off his many debts.

The collection is used for research and is the source for periodic exhibitions on many themes.

Preparing for your Field Trip

We look forward to having your group visit the Chazen Museum of Art for a tour! The field trip will be more successful if

you will do the following:

Chazen Museum of Art—House Rules

Like every specialized institution you visit on a field trip, art museums have special rules. To help the Chazen with our

mission to preserve and protect the works of art in our care, the museum staff asks all visitors to abide by these rules.

The museum staff expects group leaders to inform teachers, chaperons, bus drivers, and the touring visitors under their

supervision of the rules of the museum before and during the visit.

Why We Ask You Not to Touch

We hope your grandchildren—and their grandchildren, too—will someday visit museums. We hope the fine works of art

you are enjoying will be here for them to see in the future, in just as fine condition as they are today. This is why we ask

you not to touch.

A painting is fragile and may be damaged forever by the gentlest touch. In fact, most damage is caused by innocent

touches. Your touch may not seem like much but a millions visitors’ touches will destroy a painting.

Sculpture is not as sturdy as it looks. The tiny trace of moisture from the fingers can, in time, strip the rich surface from

bronze and rust the strongest steel. Fingernails and rings will in time gouge deep furrows in stone or wood. Handled

carelessly, glass will crack and plaster will break.

Please help us preserve your museum’s collection.

Please, don’t touch.*

Reprinted from Museum Association Security Committee, American Association of Museums

*Teachers of students who are visually impaired may make an appointment at the time of the tour reservation with the

curator of education in order to touch selected works of sculpture from the permanent collection. This must be done

under the supervision of a docent and requires at least three weeks advanced notice.