Japan

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Jeff Byers, tells a Japanese folktale about a magical raccoon-dog, or tanuki, who uses its shape shifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness.

Jeff Byers, a storyteller at the Asian Art Museum, tells a Japanese folktale about a badger and a magic fan in front of the museum’s tearoom.

Students will practice close looking and writing skills through crafting poems inspired by Chiura Obata’s natural landscapes.

Activity: In the following activity, you will make your own orihon to use as a journal. What stories might you record in it?

Asian Art Museum storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about a boy who was only one inch tall.

Explore Nara’s ancient Buddhist art and architecture.

The year 2003 marked the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan. Until 1853 Japan and the United States, located on opposite shores of the vast Pacific Ocean, had almost no contact. By choice, Japan had maintained itself as a nation with closed borders for more than two hundred years before this time, restricting foreign contact to relations with Dutch and Chinese traders, who were allowed access only to Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu. In contrast, the United States, faced with fierce international competition in the Pacific, aggressively sought new markets in East Asia. Thus, the establishment of relations with Japan became a popular topic for discussion in U.S. political circles.

Scene from The Storehouse of Loyalty (Chushingura), 1806, by Hokusai (1760–1849). Japan. Edo period (1615–1868). Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Gift of Japanese Prints from the Collection of Emmeline Johnson, Donated by Oliver and Elizabeth Johnson, 1994.45.

The “Paintings by Masami Teraoka” exhibition was on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 22, 1997 to January 25, 1998. This exhibition featured thirty-three current paintings and four prints by Masami Teraoka (b. 1936), a Japanese-born painter of contemporary American pop art. The Asian Art Museum was pleased to present Paintings by Masami Teraoka as a partial response to the frequently asked question, “What happened in Japanese art after the middle of the nineteenth century?”