Resources

Female Shinto spirit, Heian period (794–1185) or Kamakura period (1185–1333), approx. 1100–1200. Japan. Wood with traces of pigment. Transfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Mrs. Herbert Fleishacker, B69S36.

Join influential playwright Philip Kan Gotanda to get the inside scoop on the ideas and inspirations behind his groundbreaking body of work, including his play, After the War Blues, which explores the lives of a diverse community in San Francisco’s Japantown in the aftermath of World War II. Gotanda, who teaches theater at UC Berkeley, appears in conversation with Michael Omi, associate professor of Asian American and Asian diaspora studies at UC Berkeley. To set the stage, local actors and musicians perform scenes from Gotanda’s plays. Warning: Contains explicit language.

After 150 year of civil war, the Shogunate in Japan was determined to enforce and maintain a stable society. The Shogunate further extended its control of the people through a class system with social and economic constraints. The highest class was composed of the samurai, followed by farmers, craftsmen, and at the lowest level, merchants.

Fan-shaped box with the Eight Views of Omi (Lake Biwa), Meiji period (1868-1912)-Taisho period (1912-1926). Japan. Lacquered wood with makie (sprinkled metallic powder) decoration; silver. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60M255. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Students explore the unique geogrraphical features through visual analysis of works of art. Then, they infer how these characteristics affected Japan’s culture and relationships with the mainland.

Richard Hill and students demonstrate kendo, a Japanese martial arts form, at the Asian Art Museum’s educator workshop for the Lords of the Samurai exhibition on September 5, 2009.

Katsura River Style Flower Basket, approx. 1870-1920. By Iizuka Hosai I (1851-1916). Bamboo (madake), selected techniques: twill plaiting, diamond twill base. Lloyd Cotsen Japanese Bamboo Basket Collection, 2006.3.49.

See demonstrations of employing both traditional (no electric needles!) and modern techniques. Joining Horitaka’s diverse, talented crew of tattooists are special guests from Japan — Shige, a powerhouse tattoo artist who has been showcased all over the world; Mutsuo, who’s designed for Bathing Ape and Hysteric Glamour; and Kazunobu Nagashima, a client of Shige who will proudly display his backpiece, which won a 2007 Milano Tattoo Convention award.