Japanese art and architecture Earliest surviving examples of Japanese art are Jomon pottery figurines (c.1000 bc). In the 6th century ad, Chinese influence was strong. Lacquer work, sculpture and ink-painting developed during the Nara period (ad 674–794). The Yamato-e tradition was based on national, rather than Chinese, aesthetic standards. It flowered during the Kamakura military rule (1185–1333). The profound influence of Zen Buddhism on Japanese art is particularly apparent in the Muromachi period (1333–1573). Many of the best-known examples of Japanese art were produced in the Edo (Tokugawa) period (c.1600–1868). The ukiyo-e prints of Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige and others date from this period. Modern Japanese artists have made important contributions to 20th-century art and design. Japanese architecture derives from 6th-century Chinese Buddhist structures. Temples have curved wooden columns, overhanging roofs and thin exterior wood and plaster walls. A gateway, drum tower, and pagoda are also built, usually on a picturesque wooded hillside. Domestic structures are traditionally built with interior wooden posts supporting the roof. The outer walls are movable panels of wood or rice paper that slide in grooves. The interior is subdivided by screens and decorated with simplicity and delicacy.

cosmic architecture. Term used by Japanese architect Monta Mozuna (1941– ) to describe his architecture from the 1970s, supposedly inspired by cosmology.

Bibliography

Bognar (1985, 1990–2)