Japan

A short documentary on The Stupa, a hemispherical mound that represents the burial mound of the Buddha.

An overview of the Japanese warrior class known as the samurai.

Objective: Students gain an appreciation and understanding of art and culture, and build language skills by reading; developing scripts; making choices about gesture, voice, and expression; and performing traditional stories alongside art objects in the Asian Art Museum’s collection galleries.

Duration: One class period over the course of 1 week

Prior to the Edo period (1615–1868), many painters and sculptors remained anonymous, occupying relatively equal status to carpenters and other artisans. The position of the artist during the Edo period changed, as artists became more successful financially, and better educated. Some of them began to be seen as celebrities, arbiters of taste with eccentric personalities. Although many still worked for low wages in obscurity, the Edo period marks the emergence of the artist as individual, as the genius creator in Japan. Learn more.

This scene illustrates an episode from the chapter, “The End of the Life of Kiso Yoshinaka,” in The Tale of the Heike, a thirteenth-century recounting of the wars between two powerful clans, the Heike and the Genji (also called the Taira and the Minamoto). By the time this painting was made, important episodes from The Tale of the Heike such as this one were widely familiar and had become popular subjects for paintings.

Kabuki was one of the three most popular dramatic forms of Japan, the other two being Noh drama and puppet theater (bunraku).

Mariko Grady, founder and entrepreneur of Aedan Fermented, discusses fermentation processes, particularly for koji, live-cultured food that is the heart of her traditional Japanese products.

A True Picture of the Steamship Powhatan; A Ship Generally Called a Steam Frigate…, from the Black Ship Scroll, Edo period (1615-1868); approx. 1854. Japan. Handscroll segment mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper. Museum purchase with assistance from the Japan Society of Northern California, 2012.60.2.

A guardian king, Heian period (794–1185), approx. 900–1000. Japan. Wood. The Avery Brundage Collection, B67S1.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Jeff Byers, tells the legend of Bokuden, a famous samurai.