Academic literature on the topic 'Porcelain, japanese – edo period, 1600-1868'

AbstractWild relatives of cultivars are crucial sources of genetic variation for further enhancement, yet they face potential threats due to contemporary environmental changes. Iris ensata var. spontanea, a wild progenitor of the Japanese iris cultivars (I. ensata var. ensata), is extensively cultivated in Japanese gardens, is distributed across mesic meadows and wetlands in Japan and East Asia. This species is currently threatened owing to habitat loss linked to land use alterations. We assessed genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships in 32 wild accessions and the 14 principal Edo Group of Japanese iris cultivars, originally bred during the Edo period (1600–1868). In the phylogenetic tree, the cultivars formed a cluster with low inbreeding coefficients, suggesting a singular origin and interbreeding between the genetically distinct accessions. Conversely, wild accessions exhibited greater overall genetic diversity and higher inbreeding coefficients than cultivars, indicating frequent inbreeding within divergent natural populations. Our findings highlight the distinct genetic reservoirs of both wild accessions and Edo cultivars, although the former may face inbreeding challenges. Urgent conservation action is needed to ensure the genetic diversity of wild populations as natural resources.

The historical monographs called “Honzou Gaku” present the first record of cold-stunning of a hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766) in the Echigo region of Japan during the Edo period (1600–1868), and the barnacles attached to the turtle were identified as Platylepas hexastylos (Fabricius, 1798). Analysis of this finding adds substantial knowledge to our understanding of the life history of the hawksbill turtles along the coast of Japan. As reported in this study, literature on the historical heritage of other animals or plants can also provide information about their past biodiversity.

Abstract Japanese photo albums were a popular souvenir of Western travellers from Japan at the end of the 19th century. Using the photo collection of the Übersee-Museum Bremen, it will be shown, that not only were the photos elaborately hand-coloured by masters of woodblock printing, but also the motives and the staging of the depicted scenes were influenced by this genre. Although many of the photographs recreated the everyday life of the pre-modern Edo period (1600‒1868), they were seen in the West as an up-to-date, realistic depiction of conditions in contemporary Japan. Yet, Japan had been transitioning into a modern nation that sought symbols for its emerging national identity. These included samurai, cherry blossoms, and the geisha. This is reflected in the photographs, which stand in a tension between self-perception and the perception of the other. In the West they have shaped the romanticized, clichéd ideas about Japan, just as the woodblock prints did before them.

A pair of eight-fold screens entitled "World-Map-and-Twenty-Eight-City" represents a colorful world map with the figures of peoples of the world on one screen. The painting is punctuated by numerous city markers, with the largest indicating the city of Rome. On the other screen, twenty-eight cities of the world and Christian and Muslim kings in ceremonial attire on horseback are depicted. This pair of screens was probably produced in the early seventeenth century. It was most likely painted by Jesuit-trained Japanese painters who had learned western themes and painting techniques: perspective and chiaroscuro. Until the sixteenth century, Japanese experience with and knowledge of the world was limited to its neighbouring lands, such as China, Korea, and India. Beyond the realm of Japan lay worlds formed through fascination and the imagination. In 1543, however, this changed with the appearance of the Portuguese, who journeyed to Japan in the pursuit of new lands to develop trade and to spread Christianity. The Portuguese and their culture had a strong impact on Japanese thoughts and activities, including the creation of many screens with European motifs and new views of the world at large. This pair of screens was drawn upon Dutch prototype made by Petrus Kaerius (1571-1646) in 1609. In my thesis I will examine how "World-Map-and-Twenty-Eight-City" screens performed a two-fold function. I will first examine how the screens marked Jesuit propagation of Christianity in Japan, and second I will examine how the screens articulated what might be called an emergent sense of Japanese collective identity. By this I do not mean identity based on nationalism, which emerged in Japan only in the nineteenth century. Rather, I mean an increasing awareness of the Self in relation to Other, and not only in relation to those outside the geographic confines of Japan but also within. What I intend to explore is how definitions of geography and culture in world map screens, and specifically "World-Map-and-Twenty-Eight-City" screens, prompted viewers to acknowledge a more distinctive Self. The end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries was a transitional moment for both the Jesuits and Portugal. Religiously, the Jesuits were in conflict with the Japanese government and, as well their authority was undermined by Mendicants from the Philippines. These conflicts were compounded further by the spread of Protestantism in Europe. Similarly, after a short prosperous trade in Asia, rising economic and political power of the Netherlands and England gradually pushed Portuguese trade out of Asia. By comparing "World-Map-and-Twenty-Eight-City" screens with "In-and-Around- Kyoto" screens, I argued that the Jesuit's hidden agenda of glorifying Christendom and God's order on earth emerged. Moreover, by comparing this pair with "Four-Continent-and- Forty-Eight-People" screens, I detect the emergence of sense of a Japanese Self, that was forged in relation to the Europeans. Although the screens give the impression of the orderly and peaceful world, they mask the unstable situation which the Jesuits and Portugal were experiencing at the time. In the end, I propose that "World-Map-and-Twenty-Eight-City" screens transformed and reworked the Dutch prototype from a geographical mode to one that is highly decorative. Rather than articulating a Japanese view of the world, the screens maintained the notion of a powerful Catholic world.