With the exception of the elites, the lives of most people in Japan – like elsewhere – have always consisted of hard work and little leisure time. During the coming summer and holiday period, this presentation from museum holdings shows depictions of these central aspects of daily life in paintings and prints, together with eating utensils for hot summer evenings.
It is noteworthy that the ruling elites commissioned images capturing the hard labour of the broader population, who often worked in agriculture. The background for this was the idea, formulated initially in China but also expressed in Japanese poetry as early as the first millennium of our era, that a flourishing (agricultural) economy signified a good and just rule. Depictions of agrarian subjects legitimised the elites’ elevated status.
To this day, the emperor of Japan performs ritual acts such as the first ploughing. The rearing and feeding of silkworms is also a traditional practice, especially among female members of the elites. In their free time, court aristocrats and nobles of the sword devoted themselves to Nō theatre, sometimes even as amateur actors, or to hunting with birds of prey, which subsequently became pictorial subjects in their own right.
During Japan’s hot, humid summers, people from all walks of life have sought ways to cool off, favouring visits to places such as the sea, lakes and – particularly in large, populous cities – rivers. Dinners on platforms next to or in the Kamogawa River in Kyoto could be afforded by members of the middle class, whereas an evening with music in the company of professional entertainers (geisha) in teahouses along the Sumidagawa River in Edo/Tokyo was likely the preserve of only the wealthiest. Inexpensive colour woodcuts, however, also provided a view into this luxurious parallel world for those unable to afford it. Summer fireworks at the Sumidagawa River, on the other hand, were a spectacle attracting large numbers of people and causing great crowds to gather on the riverbanks and bridges. Fishing in solitary lakes and contemplating serene natural settings presumably corresponded more to the notions held by intellectuals or those desiring to be considered as such, but probably also represented a visualised ideal more often than a lived reality. This may also apply to images of scholars reading at night by the light of the moon or fireflies.
In the air-conditioned exhibition space, these pictures offer an alternative to going on holiday or a foretaste of that experience, whetting the appetite for summer.
Work and Leisure in Art from Japan is a temporary exhibition of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Museum of Asian Art) at the Humboldt Forum, room 318, Art from Japan.
Source : Museen zu Berlin
