What is it about?
How 'Japanese' were artistic images and objects in early modern Japan? Trade with other parts of Asia and with the Dutch was intimately linked to the aesthetics and the understanding of geographical space among urban Japanese of that period. Examples from popular images and texts show how people of the time imagined other places, and how exoticism was integrated in visual culture.
Featured Image
Photo by Hsin Hsiung Chen on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Understanding the complexity and interconnectedness of early modern East Asian visual culture helps us move beyond national labels and debates on authenticity and cultural 'essence', and embrace a transcultural approach to early modernity.
Perspectives
I am always suspicious of the label 'Japanese art', since it can either lead to exclusivism or to over-simplification into stereotypes, both of which hinder deep and nuanced appreciation of the actual artefacts.
Radu Leca
Hong Kong Baptist University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Stripes and Feathers: Trade and the Spatial Imaginary in Late Seventeenth-Century Japan, November 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004704176_011.
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