Utamaro | Utamaro
Apr.22.2011
There's a peculiar thing that I didn't mention in the blog I wrote a while ago about how I met Gina. At the time, before I even knew her name, an absolute 'knowing' came over me that I have never been able to explain. It overwhelmed me but was in turn overwhelmed by the fact that I was falling in...
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Feb.18.2010
For the second in the traditional Japanese games series we have kazu-ken (‘ken of numbers’). Kazu-ken, which originated in China, is thought to be the oldest version of the various ken games. During the game, both players made a hand gesture with their right hand which represented a number from...
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Dec.06.2009
Gina Collia-Suzuki is a writer, artist, and art historian. She writes both nonfiction and fiction, the former focusing on 18th century Japanese woodblock prints and the latter being satirical or historical in nature. She is married to native Japanese Ryoma Collia-Suzuki. The couple currently...
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Nov.17.2009
My third book has just been released; all 612 pages of it. 'The Complete Woodblock Prints of Kitagawa Utamaro: A Descriptive Catalogue' is a big doorstop of a book (very useful if you want to whack someone over the head), and the first of its kind on this specific subject. The catalogue started...
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Nov.11.2009
The 'Treasure Box of Greater Learning for Women' was a short treatise, first published in Japan 1716, and generally accepted as being the work of Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714). It contained guidelines concerning the proper instruction of women and included a list of behaviours for which a man would be...
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Sep.25.2009
A number of Ukiyo-e series depict men and women going about their daily business throughout the twelve hours of the day. During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar...
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Sep.25.2009
Yesterday, my husband and I drove up to Oxford, the city famous for its spires... and academics who rig examination results for wealthy diplomats and then murder those who find out about it (yes, I do watch too much 'Inspector Morse'). The purpose of the visit was to add another Utamaro print to...
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Aug.25.2009
I spent most of today at the Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire in Brussels, looking at more than five hundred Japanese woodblock prints by Kitagawa Utamaro. The museum houses approximately 6,550 Ukiyo-e prints and an additional one thousand book illustrations by various artists, including some...
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Jul.13.2009
With summer here and the days warming up to the extent that I want to rush out and jump in a lake to cool down, my thoughts have turned to 18th century boating parties on the Sumida River in Edo (now Tokyo). A multitude of prints were produced depicting men, women and children enjoying sunny summer...
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Jun.07.2009
I received an email this morning that really brought back memories for me... very happy memories... from a first year mature student on an art foundation course. Having passed a poster advertising my book, 'Utamaro Revealed', on a daily basis as it is on her way to class, when she was asked to...
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