Here’s a quick post for a cold Saturday morning here in Toronto. For centuries, Japan closed itself off from the rest of the world, even from close neighbours such as China. Through NHK, the national broadcaster for Japan, I’ve learned that the country had its own art and culture. This culture was significantly more advanced, in my opinion, than that of Europe. We think of great art and music, classic literature and philosophy being centred in cities such as Paris, Rome, Milan, London, etc. I think that is because we simply don’t know much about what was going on in Japan.
Thinking of a piece of art such as the Mona Lisa as being the greatest painting ever, that conclusion isn’t valid unless we know what was happening around the whole world, not just Europe, at that time. Art for many of us doesn’t apply to anything outside of a gallery or concert hall. But I think that term can be used to architecture, clothing, armour, etc. Artisans in Japan, and very likely in China, were producing individual pieces of art in the form of pottery, for instance. Utilitarian products aren’t seen as art in many parts of the world but from what I’ve seen, there is a multitude of those items that I would class as art.
The point of this is who was missing what? Japan missed the Renaissance while Europe missed the Edo period. I am biased because Japan is new to me but from what I’ve seen, it was the rest of the world that missed out. I’ll write more on Japanese culture from my point of view in later posts. Remember, this isn’t fact, it’s just my opinion. I hope it pushes you to learn more about Japan. It really is worth it.
Coffee time! Thanks for reading. Comment below if you want to share your thoughts with me.
Cheers!
Brian Mahoney
December 14th, 2024