WEEKEND CULTURAL ENRICHMENT #5: "The Art of Japan"

According to Wikipedia, Japanese art "covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art. It also has a long history, ranging from the beginnings of human habitation in Japan, sometime in the 10th millennium BC, to the present."


The Japanese culture is rich with this stuff, so I thought it only appropriate to have it be this week's Theme. Are you familiar with the picture below? You should be.

'The Great Wave' by Katsushika Hokusai

Hokusai is probably Japan's best known artist. Living from about 1760 to 1849, he left over 30,000 different works of art, which ranged from woodblock prints, picture books, silk paintings, and even travel illustrations. His favorite thing to paint? You guessed it: the water. Water in motion was the best, especially waves. The white of the foam breaking into claws at the top, and how the massive wave formed the perfect yin to the yang of empty space below, all to come crashing down and start over. That's the inspiration behind the most influential Japanese painting in the world.


Japan has more than just paintings, however. To completely fulfill your weekend's dose of cultural enrichment, we're going to talk about other forms of media as well.


Movie: Castle in the Sky
If there would be only one thing Japanese art is famous for, it would be the anime, and Hayao Miyazaki is king. QUICK TANGENT ON MIYAZAKI: He's the world's prominent anime artist and a critically acclaimed movie maker. My favorite Miyazaki movie? Castle in the Sky!!

5 Second plot synopsis: a boy and a girl named Pazu and Sheeta find each other and team up to find a lost city floating in the sky.


So why should you watch this movie? It has beautiful animation, and, not to mention, an epic plot, epic robots, epic sky battles, epic chases, the single most epic trumpet solo ever in a movie, an epic pirate mom, and -- oh yea -- an epic floating city in the sky!! Need I say more? GO WATCH IT. 


TV show: Pokémon


In case you have been loving under a rock for the past 15 years, Pokémon is a world wide phenomenon. 

What started as a simple bug-collecting hobby of a young boy in Japan in the '60's and '70's grew to be a multi-million dollar franchise. Mainly consisting of the Anime TV show and video games spanning five generations, Pokémon also includes several movie spin-offs, manga, trading cards, toys, and books. Yes, you should watch the show, but only a few episodes, if you can muster it. The TV show is primarily for kids, and the same darn thing happens over and over again. Ash is training to become the world's greatest Pokémon master, and struggles with that while Team Rocket tries to poké-nap his Pikachu, only to fail and "blast off again!".

Despite the claims of many people saying the Pokémon is a fad, it's lasted this long, and because its been a worldwide phenomenon, it's sure to stick around for a while longer. Just ask any kid with the current video games. What started as a mere 151 Pokémon to catch, the latest 5th generation has brought that total up to 649! Gotta catch-em all, right Ash??

Pokémon games at-a-glance. click picture for more info.

Book:
I have no idea! Do yourself the honors of Google-searching manga and origami books. :)


Music:
Unfortunately, I don't know anything about Japanese music either, but check out this techno video anyway:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAhYa9QvYi4 

Game:
It's got to be Pokémon, right? WRONG. This weeks video game is called Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

Why was this game chosen? What does it have to do with "The Art of Japan?" Everything. Most games these days rely on incredible graphics and insane realism. Well, this Wii-exclusive title has both of those things, yet non of those things. Why? because none of the graphics in this game are computer generated. They are all hand-painted in the classic Japanese style. Certainly a computer was used to put it all together and give the game life, but absolutely none of it was made with the assistance of technology.

So while this may be one of Wii's most beautiful game, it also is all about story, depicting classic Japanese tales and myths. 

Want more:

Watch a video review of the game HERE.

Watch some additional gameplay footage HERE.