Japanese history has been divided into various periods depending on who was ruling at that time. Japan was known to be ruled by royal imperial court. This was until 12th century when the Taira warrior family became the self-proclaimed ruler and power wielder. Since then, they experienced the struggles for dominion from the Minamoto clan in eastern Japan. A war (Gempei) erupted between the two families in Japan’s Central Island between 1180 and 1185 (Japanese art, 2016). During this period, major Todai and Kofuku temples were destroyed and their contents spoilt. The Taira were defeated and Minamoto eventually started to rule Japan under the leadership of Minamoto Yorimoto. This saw the structure of Japanese leadership shifting from civil aristocracy to the hands of military class.
The court later proclaimed Yorimoto as the seii taishogun (Barbaric general). Thus the birth of the office of the military dictator which would run through to 1868 during the Meiji Restoration. Minamoto transferred his government seat to a small village, in the Eastern Peninsula of Japan, known as Kamakura. Today, it is known as Tokyo. The government stayed in this region till 1333, when it returned to Kyoto. This period between the time Minamoto took over and the time when power went back to Kyoto, is what is known as Kamakura Period (1185-1333) (Japanese art, 2016).
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During this period, there were structural changes in societal as well as beliefs, economic and military power. Zen Buddhism was resonated with the warrior values of discipline, strength, immediacy and austerity. The new ruling class preferred boldness to refinement, realism to formality, and action to contemplative atmosphere. Art industry also saw growth as there was great demand for sculpture and paintings of portraits of officials, priests, poets, and warriors went high (Nagasawa, Shida & Koyano, 2014). This paper looks into the different forms of art that Kamakura period boasts of and their role in the historic period.
Gempei war saw the need of restoration of the lost religious sculpture to take care of the mass destruction caused by the war. To many, the sculpture of Kamakura period is considered as the last significant Japanese sculpture till modern times. Some of the fine artistic works such as the emakimono scrolls that made it to this day, are from the Kamakura Period. The scrolls are constructed in a form that narrates, accompanied with texts, with the same figures appearing numerous times against a single background. It required utmost skill and imagination to represent the scrolls in the way they were put in the Kamakura Period.
Most of the contributing works of sculpture were made in 13th century and the main contributors were the Kei family, under the leadership of Kokei and his son Unkei. Their style was inspired by the extremely delicate idealism of works from the Nara Period (710-794) and the realism fashion found in Chinese Song. The best of their works expressed intensive corporeal presence in them and this style was purely described as “Kamakura Realism”.
Some of the works of sculpture during this period are as discussed in this paper. Despite the brevity of this period, the sculpture works gave lasting effect on the political, religious, and artistic legacy of Japan. Even in the nineteenth century, prominent sculpors would trace their roots back to the Kamakura Period lineage of Sculptors (Heine, 2014). Also, religious movements which were established during this military era are being practiced up to today. It was a new beginning for Japan in history.
Guardian Figures at Nandai-Mon (Great South Gate)
The guardian figures are two giant, muscular sculptures found in the gates of Todai Temple are the epitome of Kamakura Realism. These pieces are said to be started in the 24th day of 7th month 1203 by Kaikei, unkei and other Kei artists. The giants have theatrical poses, bulging eyes, protruding veins on the limbs and block-shaped bodies. One of the sculpture with an open mouth was erected inside the gate on the 7th of 8th month and the following day, another one was erected at the eastern end of the gate and it had a closed gate. A copy of the description of the artists and the dates was made and placed in the chest of the statue with closed mouth. The statues were accessible to Buddhist faithful who came to the temple (Nagasawa, Shida & Koyano, 2014). They are of religious significant. The one with its mouth (Agyo) open is said to be pronouncing the word ‘ah’ meaning birth and the the counterpart with the closed mouth (Ugyo) pronounces a cosmic sound ‘un’ or ‘um’, meaning death. The temple is thus protected by the gods of birth and death, the alpha and the omega. In fact, the Japanese alphabet starts with ‘ah’ and ends with ‘N’ sounds.
Monk Kuya
Unkei’s fourth son, Kosho, curved another astounding piece of sculpture from painted wood, Monk Kuya. Kuya(903-972) was a renowned Japanese monk who gained the monikers “Sage of the Poeople” and “Sage of Amida” by walking among common people preaching simple faith and constantly praying to Buddha Amida to save the people. The sculpture potrait contains six Buddha Amida’s miniature images flowing through Kuya’s mouth hence signifying his prayers. Specifically, the number six signifies the six-character chant of devotional nenbutsu he made to Amida. Facial features of the sculpture are simple and it is dressed in peasant’s grab and simple clothing, has straw sandals, and holds a stick for beating the gong and the body veins are visible.
The six-character chant of nenbutsu symbolizes the six states rebirth of karma. Kuya advocated for the unending repetition of the nenbutsu prayer to the common folk tirelessly and this was brought to life by the strings of the six small Amida figures emerging from his mouth. Having a surface completely decorated in gold-leaf pattern, the sculpture proclaims divine glory. The gaze by this deity is concurrent to the Kamakura period innovation which included the inlaid crystal eyes with white paper backing colored to give iris and pupil a magnificent effect.
Priests Muchaku (Asanga) and Seshin (Vasubandhu)
While the temple of Kofuku was undergoing uplift from the ashes caused by war, Unkei left a mark there by making a culpture or both famous disciples of Buddha, Muchaku and Seshin. These two were 5th century Indian brothers and founders of the Hossou Buddhism School. They were initially Hinayanists but kater transformed to Mahayan theorists. Muchaku emphasized the importance yogic meditation while advocating for the theory of conscious-only. Seshi pioneered the Abhidharmakosa while basing the Kusha sect which later connected to Hossou School. The sculpture of Muchaku conveys firm steadfastness, realism, and for the fleshiness around the eye socket, there is a hint of humor. It conveys the message of realism and perfection in portraiture. This sculpture brings about the outstanding standards of the Kokufu Temple during the Nara period. Unkei therefore reiterates the exquisite awesomeness to life by this hollow-lacquer sculpture. The two pieces of art point out the undisputed legendary Kamakura period of Japanese art.
Sculpture of Amida Buddha
Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of Limitless Light is sculptured seated on a lotus pedestal at the central point of the altar. His hands are formed into a murda of meditation. He directs his gaze, compassionately, toward the devotee on the lower side. This form is a symbol of the Buddha’s compassion which is boundless towards his people. On his sides, Amida is flanked by his attendants (kyoji), Kannon on the right, and Seishi on the left. This scene depicts the welcoming aspect of the descent, whereby Amida and the attendants come down to provide salvation to all the devotees who call upon his name (Nagasawa, Shida, & Koyano, 2014). When a believer is dead, Amida and his heavenly retinue descend to the world to rescue them. This sculpture is made of wood with gold leaf which depicts the Buddhism colors in the Kamakuran era. It was sculpted by the Kei artists in 1250.
By portraying a range of spiritual concerns from sympathetic consolation to protection, sculptures in Kamakura era gave response to the divine climate of the period. Heightened by a flow of wars prior to the period, there was need for restoration. Spirituality was one of the effect to be considered (Covaci, 2016). The sculptors took advantage of the restoration period to further the faith of Buddhism and to date, the Buddhism being practiced traces its refinement roots in the Kamakura Period.
The fine art of sculpture in Kamakura period was carried out in a meticulously crafted and joined parts. Wood was the dominant material and it was in the craftsmen’s menu most of the time. During this time, as opposed to the Heian sculptures, a single tree domination was no longer used. The joining of the blocks was used more often that it was in previous periods. However, these efforts were achieved through careful coordination of skills and specialization in the different school workshops. In some instances, it prompted the sculptors to work the face separate from the body, like a mask, and later join it to the sculpture. The effect of this ability to work on single parts saw the particulate nature of the sculpture faces which expressed emotions as if it were a real human being- a perfection of realism, which magnifies the characteristics of Kamakura sculpture.
Paintings and Scrolls
Kamakura period, or the samurai period made a great impact on the painting industry as well. During this period, the influence of Chinese Song- dynasty art, was felt. The art was brought to Japan by Chinese monks who visited Japan and the Japanese monks who visited China. Painting, just as the sculptures, spread the intent of Buddhism and its works. This was purely influenced by the masculine rule of the samurai class (Schumacher, 2012). The period saw the replacement of the introverted, cloistered nature of the earlier Buddhism by the more communally-active sects and movements such as Pure Land, Nichiren and Zen. Pure Land Buddhism movement gave rise to the popularity of Amida paintings, which depicts the act of Buddha Amida welcoming departing souls to paradise. This period saw the spawning of cults that put emphasis on the devotion to a specific intercessory images who were originally considered to be ancillary in the Pure Land pantheon.
Scroll painting are works which contain hand scroll-rendered pictures and they were also known as emaki. The paintings open horizontally to form a sequence of activities from left to right. Sometimes, the hand scrolls are accompanied by explanatory words to help the viewer understand exactly what goes on in the pictures (Japanese art, 2016). Some compositions of the words were made differently before being put to real sequential pictorials. Japan’s scroll paintings are derived from Chinese picture models. The most prominent hand scrolls were developed in the Kamakura period. These paintings, both secular and religious, showed a sense of vitality and immediacy. Some of them are as discussed below.
Nika Byakudo (White Path to the Western Paradise across Two Rivers)
Nika Byakudo is a pictorial of “Kangyo-sho” which is a commentary of “Kanmuryo Jukyo”, a scroll written by Jodo priest, Zendo (613-681). The painting describes the Niga Byakudo metaphor. The variation of themes in this painting brings out the contrast between the understanding and interpretation (Nagasawa et al., 2014). The Jodo sects pictorialized this volume after various quotations from Honen and Shinran.
The two rivers are the river of fire and that of water. The river of fire symbolizes the anger and hatred. The other one symbolizes the obsession and greed to the living creatures as they head to the west and are about to be attacked by evil spirits and robbers. This travel symbolizes the wrongdoings of or to the believers of Pure Land. On the top left of the painting, there sits Amida’s Gokurako Jodo with three Amida on the shore of the white path to the west. The Amida are clearly and beautifully represented in the painting and exposed to beautiful flowering plants and holy birds. There is a celestial appeal in the picture. In short, the painting describes the difficulties the followers of Pure Land have to go through before they reach the Western Paradise, and in the center of it, the Jizo is seen ministering to the needy.
Raigo of Amida
Similarly, another outstanding piece of art depicts Amida and other twenty five attendants descending on the clouds over a steep hill down from heaven. The group is going to meet a dead soul, shown on the bottom right of the painting, to accompany back to heaven. Flying clouds in this painting depicts the speed at which the descent is taking place (Schumacher, 2012). The scene is thus known as “Rapid Descent” due to the fact that the clouds appear to be swift. The golden color of the characters’ garments in the painting portrays the characteristics of Buddhist paintings in the Late-Kamakura Period.
The picture depicts the highest state of death (jo-bon jo-sho). This is evident by the sitting posture of the soul (upright) with a sutra scroll in the front and the pagoda in the air in the top right part of the painting. There are high mountains in the background, but the contour lines are smooth and produce a typical characteristic of the Yamato-e paintings. The scene is purely imaginary though the expression of the landscape is remarkable.
This painting is a hanging scroll painted on silk and measures 145.1 by 154.5 centimeters. It is found in the Chion-in Temple in Kyoto. Like the Nika Byakudo, this painting has enjoyed a similar popularity among the arts of Kamakura Period.
Portrait of Minamoto Yoritimo
Warrior lord of Japan was not left out in the art of Kamakura Period. The portrait was painted in late 12th century. It is a hanging scroll, color on silk and measures 143.0 cm by 112.8 cm. It is currently located in Jingoji Temple, Kyoto Prefecture. The portrait were originally two of a set belonging to a sub-temple of Jingoji known as Sentoin. The other portraits were of Emperr Go-Shirakawa, Fujiwara and Taira. They were painted by an accomplished painter, Fujiwara Takanobu. The painting depicts the dignity of a ruler (Japanese art, 2016). This is evident by the triangular and stable composition of the shoulders and sleeves of the formal court costumes the leader dons. The sword attached to the belt and a staff on the right hand of the subject depicts the authority and vigor present in the Kamakura reign. These paintings signified a new ternd in art and were different from the originally aesthetic trend that prevailed during the imperial government period. Realism is so evident in this portraiture by the three-dimensional expressions on the faces.
During the period, Buddhism strengthened the determinations to conjoin the indigenous religion, known as Shinto (Breen & Teeuwen, 2013). This was done by identification of the local gods and the mystical presences as manifestation of the different deities of Buddha in a system known as honchi –suijaku. The help of religious paintings was felt in the depiction of both Shinto and Buddha manifestation in some man-like forms. The Buddhist emaki, likewise, frequently included Shinto sacred places in their landscapes the sacred places are where the teachings on meditation and importance of reciting the name of Buddha were mastered (Breen, J., & Teeuwen, 2013). Certain Buddhist traditional paintings of the Kamaraki period depict the sacredness of the adopted territory. This is evident in the Nachi Falls painting where there is a haunting presence of plunging force which constantly overwhelms the minute architecture of the Shinto Shrine.
In the secular realm, the narrative scroll was continually developed to be an expressive format, just like the religious world. The popularity of wars during that period when there was constant disturbance, is evident in the existing paintings which depict the various episodes of local martial confrontations (Heine, 2014). It is not common to find paintings depicting this but a good example is that of the burning of Sanjo Palace in Heiji monogatari hand scroll painting. In this painting, the artist highly animated strokes of ink and opaque color to make a careful enjoinment of vignettes that lives to tell the story.
The court continued to be an active mediator of cultural matter, even though it was stripped of political power. It oversaw the development of national literature and its rendering into calligraphy and painting. The way the words and images were joined to form pieces of art continued to be the system of aristocratic culture (Heine, 2014). Court and military portraits of the Kamakuran period are seen to present subject the in a stiff, opaque and in a well decorated style, just like in the Heian period. The difference is that in this period, the faces are rendered more individually and realistically.
Annotated Bibliography
Japanese art. (2016) Encyclopedia Britannica Kamakura period. Retrieved 14 November 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-art/Kamakura-period
This article in Encyclopedia Britannica provides an accurate, student friendly and interesting history of ancient Japan. It provides an informative description of how the present country came to be and what passed through for it to be what it is. The author understands the work and importance of the art in the various periods of history of Japan, Kamakura being one of them. The article is well researched and timely hence can be used as a rich source for heritage education.
Covaci, I. (2016). Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan . Yale University Press.
In this book, Covaci steps in to explain the art in during the Kamakura period and its contrast to the present art of Japan. The author gives hint of the use of Buddhist art and makes it easier for laypersons who approaches fine art from the Western perspective a detailed meaning to it. The book focuses on both the ritual aspect and realism connected to the Kamakura art. The book is essential for non-Japanese individuals who are interested in fine art as it explains the meaning of image creation. Covaci’s is an intense research broken down to a more understandable uses of Buddhist art and rituals.
Schumacher, M. (2012). Suclptors of Japan: Kamakura Era, Unkei & Kaikei Keiha, Zenpa, Jokei, Other Japanese Buddhist Statutory Retrieved 14 November 2016, from http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-buddha-sculptors-kamakura-era-japan.html.
This website is more of a home of the Japanese heritage. Here, you can fine everything relating to the Buddhist sculptures and their artists. Mark Schumacher has done a wonderful job in collecting the works of the various Japanese sculptors into a single website. The article is useful to any curious person who wants to know how the historical pieces of art were created and by who. In gives a vivid description of the works done in the Kamakura era and others. It is a rich resource for learners and professionals at large.
Heine, S. (2014). Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts by Haruo Shirane (review). Philosophy East and West , 64 (4), 1100-1103.
This is an article of the review to a book by Haruo Shirane, a Japanese professor at Columbia University. The review is an overview of what it feels to be Japanese during the four seasons. In the original book, the writer takes to historical evolution of the culture and that is when he lands to the Kamakura period and its contribution to the current culture of Japanese Buddhism. The book is an insight of how deep the Japanese culture is rooted to heritage from a long time ago. Haruo Shirane points out how the hierarchies have influenced and manipulated the culture to what it is now.
Breen, J., & Teeuwen, M. (2013). Shinto in history: Ways of the kami . Routledge.
Shinto was once considered to be the first religion in Japan. Breen and Teeuwen describes hoe the religion was abandoned and Buddhism took over and the role that art played in achieving that. This book is useful to any person who would like to understand the origin of the ancient religions and their policies that led to them being manipulated and adopted to others. The book is helpful in the knowledge of several stereotype expressions have been shown in Japan and how they have been dismantled.
Nagasawa, I., Chase, W. T., Shida, T., Fujita, N., & Koyano, M. (2014). Conservation of a Japanese Polychrome Buddhist Sculpture. Studies in Conservation .
The book by Nagasawa et al. provides the characteristics of the sculptures made by the Japanese in history. It is essential in knowing how the sculptures and other art pieces are made in order to know how they can be conserved for such a longer period. This book provides for the measures that have been taken to protect these art and to make them all glamorous and durable.
References
Japanese art. (2016) Encyclopedia Britannica Kamakura period . Retrieved 15 November 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-art/Kamakura-period
Covaci, I. (2016). Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan . Yale University Press.
Schumacher, M. (2012). Suclptors of Japan: Kamakura Era, Unkei & Kaikei Keiha, Zenpa, Jokei, Other Japanese Buddhist Statutory Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-buddha-sculptors-kamakura-era-japan.html.
Heine, S. (2014). Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts by Haruo Shirane (review). Philosophy East and West , 64 (4), 1100-1103.
Breen, J., & Teeuwen, M. (2013). Shinto in history: Ways of the kami . Routledge.
Nagasawa, I., Chase, W. T., Shida, T., Fujita, N., & Koyano, M. (2014). Conservation of a Japanese Polychrome Buddhist Sculpture. Studies in Conservation .
