Lecture notes

Kabuki plays are about historical events and moral conflict in relationships of the heart. The actors speak in a monotone voice and are accompanied by traditional instruments. The Kabuki stage is equipped with several gadgets, such as revolving stages and trapdoors through which the actors can appear and disappear. Another speciality of the Kabuki stage is a footbridge (hanamichi) that extends into the audience. Important characteristics of Kabuki theatre include its particular music, costumes, stage devices and props as well as specific plays, language and acting styles, such as the mie, in which the actor holds a characteristic pose to establish his character. Kesh, the particular make-up, provides an element of style easily recognizable even by those unfamiliar with the art form.

Ukiyo-e, or ukiyo-ye (, Japanese:[u.ki.jo.e], "pictures of the floating world"), is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. It was aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanizing Edo period (16031867). Amongst the popular themes were depictions of beautiful women; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica

Ukiyo-e was central to forming the West's perception of Japanese art in the late 19th centuryespecially the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. From the 1870s Japonism became a prominent trend and had a strong influence on the early Impressionists such as Degas, Manet, and Monet, as well as Post-Impressionists such as van Gogh and Art Nouveau artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec.

Edo (modern Tokyo) became the seat of government for the military dictatorship in the early 17th century. The merchant class at the bottom of the social order found themselves the greatest beneficiaries of the city's rapid economic growth. Many indulged in the entertainments of kabuki theatre, courtesans, and geisha of the pleasure districts. The term ukiyo ("floating world") came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle. Printed or painted "ukiyo-e" images of this environment emerged in the late 17th century; they were popular with the merchant class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with such works.

Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as floating world in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world.A contemporary artist explained the term floating world as: Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating worldIn the western world, the Japanese woodcut is known very well as ukiyo-e. It flourished in the nineteenth century but the techniques date back to the ninth century, originally coming from China, with Buddhism. The earliest period for woodcut was to illustrate sutra or to make Buddhist iconographic (figurative) prints. But in the Edo period (1603-1868) there were many books and ukiyo-e prints produced.The meaning of ukiyo-e stems from the medieval Buddhist philosophy of ukiyo. As opposed to the afterlife, which was seen as beautiful, pure, and stable, ukiyo refers to the world as it is nownot pure, dirty, and unstable. The depiction of the human world as it is now, all of our human activity, was the genesis for the prints called ukiyo-e.Early ukiyo-e (1653-1763) was mainly book illustration, and consisted of black-and-white prints and painting. The artist Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694) was the first to establish the idea of making single prints for this content. By doing this, he raised the level of the art form. Around 1686, artists began to paint the black-and-white prints. Soon after, Torii Kiyomasu (?) and Torii Kyomitsu (1630-1694) created a system that allowed for two or three different plates (and thus two or three different colors), called tan-e beni-e. Finally, in 1765, the registration system was revised, and artists were able to do multiple color work. Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770) was the first to make multi-color ukiyo-e prints. After Harunobu died, Kitao Shigemasa and Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) began depicting individual faces, instead of the traditional generic face.Until 1830, most of the motifs were beautiful women and kabuki actors. Then a travel boom began in Japan. In 1831, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) made the famous 36 views of Mt Fuji series. Two years later, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) created the Tokkaido Highway series of 53 prints. These artists expanded the vocabulary of ukiyo-e to include landscape. From 1859 to the Meiji period (1868-1912), many western influences came into Japan. Generally known as yokohama-e, prints that showed these influencessuch as people wearing western attirewere very popular.