#Japan

Sakura and hanami: Katsushika Hokusai, Fuji from Gotenyama at Shinagawa on the Asian Art

Sakura and Hanami: The Art of Impermanence

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Art is long, and time is fleeting.” This sentiment perfectly expresses the idea of hanami, or flower viewing.

Ledys Chemin 6 October 2025

Bizarre

A Hero and Mythical Creatures: Famous Spiders in Art

Spiders disturb the majority of the people. Even though they are much smaller, and thus much less powerful than us, we cannot help but fear their...

Belkıs Pesen 2 October 2025

Asian Art

Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine: Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Site

Among one of the most scenic areas of Japan, in the middle of the Honshu island, and at the foot of the Mt. Nantai volcano, lies the small city of...

Guest Author 17 September 2025

Utagawa Hiroshige, Wind-tossed Waves at Seven-Mile Beach in Sagami Province, View No. 13 from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, 1852, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige

Hokusai and his Wave have practically become symbols of Japan. It was first published in 1831 as a part of a larger series focusing on Mount Fuji, or...

Ledys Chemin 18 August 2025

Museum Stories

Kyoto’s Hidden Gem: The Fukuda Art Museum Staff Picks

Overlooking the serene Oigawa River in Kyoto’s scenic Arashiyama area, the Fukuda Art Museum offers a journey through centuries of Japanese art. On...

Szymon Jocek 11 August 2025

Cats

Paw Prints: The Diversity of Cats in Japanese Art

From cute and exotic pets to monstrous, otherworldly creatures, cats in Japanese art appear in various forms and contexts. Let’s delve into the...

Iolanda Munck 8 August 2025

Cats

Maneki Neko—Those Lucky Cats

We’ve all seen those jovial, happy cat figurines in Asian restaurants and shops. Sitting upright with their raised paw, smiling face, and trademark...

Nadine Waldmann 8 August 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: Are You a Japanese Art Lover?

Katerina Papouliou 12 July 2025

Architecture

5 Colorful Temples Around the World

Whether colors represent environmental phenomena, human history, or personal freedom, there are canvases that exist beyond an artist’s studio.

Anuradha Sroha 30 June 2025

Design

Tokyo Thrift—Japonisme and the Japanese Bauhaus

The historical narrative of Modernism is overwhelmingly western. However, the history of the movement is, in reality, one of constant diffusion...

Geoffrey Bunting 20 June 2025

Yoshitomo Nara, One Foot in the Groove, 2012. Courtesy Private collection. © Yoshitomo Nara, courtesy Yoshitomo Nara Foundation. Review

Yoshitomo Nara’s Playful Art in London

A major retrospective at London’s Hayward Gallery invites visitors into the quietly unsettling world of Yoshitomo Nara—the first UK solo show at...

Ania Kaczynska 16 June 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige) by Vincent van Gogh

In the mid-19th century, Japanese ports were suddenly opened up to international trade, and Europeans went crazy for Japanese culture and art,...

Kelly Hill 18 May 2025