Hokusai manga - fox

Hokusai manga

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Poems

Stampe xilografiche, Giappone, Periodo Edo

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Sugawara no Michizane

Sugawara no Michizane che cavalca un bufalo.

Utagawa Sadakage (attivo dal 1818-1844)

Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) venne divinizzato

come dio protettore delle lettere e della calligrafia.

Viene rappresentato spesso sotto fiori di susino a

cavallo di un bufalo, che lo accompagna durante

l'esilio dalla capitale.

Museo Arte Orientale

Hokusai manga - supernatural

The Hokusai Manga (北斎漫画) is a collection of sketches of various subjects by the Japanese artist Hokusai. Subjects of the sketches include landscapes, flora and fauna, everyday life and the supernatural... The Manga comprise literally thousands of images in 15 volumes, the first published in 1814, when the artist was 55. The final three volumes were published posthumously, two of them assembled by their publisher from previously unpublished material.
more Wiki

Museo Arte Orientale

Kongo Rikishi come Ercole

"Kongōrikishi are an interesting case of the possible transmission of the image of the Greek hero Heracles to East Asia along the Silk Road. Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples. This transmission is part of the wider Greco-Buddhist syncretic phenomenon, where Buddhism interacted with the Hellenistic culture of Central Asia from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD.*"
According to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukongoshin

* "The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modeled after that of Hercules. (...) The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterwards transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardian Deities (Nio)." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p23)

Hokusai manga - cat

Un gatto di Hokusai

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Kongo Rikishi

Kongo Rikishi stante su base rocciosa
legno di cipresso giapponese dipinto, altezza cm 230,5
Giappone, periodo Kamakura, seconda metà XIII secolo

Imponente statua realizzata con pezzi assemblati (yosegi-zukuri). Rappresenta uno dei due guardiani del tempio e della dottrina buddhista posti in coppia ai lati della porta dei monasteri. Ha la bocca chiusa e contratta per esprimere l’esplosivo hum, il terribile mantra delle divinità furiose.

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

The teacher appears

But lo! the teacher Jizô appears,
All gently he comes, and says to the weeping infants:
"Be not afraid, dears! be never fearful!
Poor little souls, your lives were brief indeed!
Too soon you were forced to make the weary journey to the Meido,
The long journey to the region of the dead!
Trust to me! I am your father and mother in the Meido,
Father of all children in the region of the dead."
And he folds the skirt of his shining robe about them;
So graciously takes he pity on the infants.
To those who cannot walk he stretches forth his strong shakujô,
And he pets the little ones, caresses them, takes them to his loving bosom.
So graciously he takes pity on the infants.
Namo Jizo Bosatsu!

The Legend of the Humming of the Sai-no-Kawara,
by Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)

Jizo - matrix of the earth

Jizo was a bodhisattva (bosatsu in Japanese), a man who achieved enlightenment but forsaked nirvana to help others find paradise. He was worshiped  as the protector of those in distress, of children, of mothers in childbirth, and of travelers.  Worship of the bodhisattva Jizo began in the eighth century with the importation of esoteric Buddhist practices from China. Jizo, whose name means "matrix of the earth," was revered as one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas of the esoteric sect. Jizo and his counterpart, Kakuzo ("matrix of the void"), represent the union of the physical and metaphysical realms.
The Jizo figure is defined by his clothing, by the objects he holds, and by his physical attributes. His head is shaven, and he is dressed in monk's robes, a simple rectangle of cloth (kesa) tied in front over a longer skirt. In his left hand, Jizo holds a wish-granting jewel; he would have held a shakujo (jingle-staff) in his right. The shakujo was used to alert insects and small animals of his approach, so that he would not accidentally harm them. Jizo's idealized face and head-the perfectly proportioned features, third eye, elongated ears, and folds of skin at the neck-also show attributes of an enlightened being.
adapted from http://www.lacma.org/japaneseart/sculpture/jizo.htm

Jizo Bosatsu

Il bodhisattva Jizo
Legno laccato e dipinto
Giappone, fine del periodo Muromachi, XV-XVI sec.

Jizo Bosatsu, il bodhisattva Jizo, è venerato in Giappone come colui che interviene a trarre i fedeli dagli inferni in cui possono essere caduti. Nell’iconografia del Buddhismo giapponese è ritratto nelle vesti di un monaco dalla testa rasata, munito del bastone del pellegrino e del “gioiello che esaudisce tutti i desideri”. L’assenza di corona e ornamenti è compensata dall’eleganza regale del manto e della tunica decorati con ricami dorati di ispirazione cinese e centro-asiatica. La statua faceva parte della collezione del barone Wilhelm von Bode.

Tamon-Ten

Tamon-Ten
Legno scolpito e policromia
Giappone, inizi del periodo Edo, XVII sec.
Museo Arte Orientale

Tamon-Ten, guardiano del Nord, è il capo dei Re Celesti che sono preposti ai quattro punti cardinali e abitano il Monte Meru come protettori del Mondo e della Legge buddhista. A partire dal IX secolo divenne oggetto di un culto popolare in Giappone che lo rese quasi indipendente dagli altri tre Re Guardiani. Fu venerato in particolare come dio della prosperità. Ha il volto di un guerriero, è rivestito da una armatura  e siede su rocce stilizzate che simbolizzano il Monte Meru.

Shitennō and the four directions

The Shitennō are  protectors of the four directions. They ward off evil, guard the nation, and protect the world from malicious spirits, hence the Japanese term Gose Shitennō 護世四天王, literally “four world-protecting deva kings.” Each represents a direction, season, color, virtue, and element. They originated in India but were later adopted into the Buddhist pantheon in China and Japan. They are venerated as temple guardians and protectors of the nation. In China, statues of the four are often placed near temple entrances, but in Japan, effigies of the four are more commonly placed around the central deity on the main altar. The four are commanded by Taishakuten, Lord of the Center. They are nearly always dressed in armor (yoroi 鎧), looking ferocious (funnusō 忿怒相), and carrying weapons or objects. They are also typically shown standing atop evil spirits (known as Jaki in Japan).
Shitennō iconography is related to the Four Celestial Emblems (dragon, red bird, tiger, turtle) of China, who also guard the four cardinal directions. In Japanese statuary, the Shitennō are almost always portrayed in animated warrior poses rather than static postures of ease or meditation...
Adapted from http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shitenno.shtml
See also http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml

Tenno - Fujiwara Period

Tenno, Uno dei Re Protettori
Legno di cipresso (hinoki), h. 119 cm
Giappone, periodo Fujiwara, XII secolo

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Il museo possiede una coppia di statue (Ni-tenno, due tenno) dall’atteggiamento fiero che, calpestando figure mostruose, levano il braccio originariamente dotato di un’arma oggi perduta. Questa coppia è tratta dal gruppo dei Quattro Grandi Re degli Orienti (Shi-tenno) che la cosmologia buddhista colloca ai lati del Monte Meru.
Come protettori, in Giappone gli Shi-tenno furono posti ai quattro angoli intorno all’immagine principale del tempio. Le due statue del MAO sono scolpite nella tecnica ichiboku zukuri in un singolo blocco di legno, salvo le braccia.

Croce Rossa per il Giappone

A seguito del terribile terremoto che ha devastato il Giappone, la Croce Rossa Italiana ha avviato una raccolta fondi in sostegno delle popolazioni colpite dal sisma e dallo tsunami. Per donare 2 euro alla Croce Rossa Italiana "Pro Emergenza Giappone" è possibile inviare un SMS da cellulari TIM, Vodafone, Wind, 3, CoopVoce, Tiscali o da telefono fisso Telecom, Infostrada, Fastweb, Teletu e Tiscali al  numero 45500.
http://www.cri.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/1

Engineers strive to keep Japan's reactors under control | News | The Engineer

Engineers strive to keep Japan's reactors under control | News | The Engineer

Emperor Akihito's Address

Japan's emperor urges victims not to 'abandon hope'
"Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation Wednesday, saying he was "deeply worried" by the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to help each other in difficult times."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42104850/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
"I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas. The number of deceased and missing increases by the day we cannot know how many victims there will be. My hope is that as many people possible are found safe," Akihito said.

Japan earthquake, nuclear crisis: Japan fears a nuclear disaster after reactor breach - latimes.com

Japan earthquake, nuclear crisis: Japan fears a nuclear disaster after reactor breach - latimes.com

Questi tremendi eventi

Il Papa esprime la sua vicinanza alle popolazioni del Giappone colpite dal terremoto e dallo tsunami. Un telegramma, a firma del segretario di Stato, cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, è stato inviato dal Papa a monsignor Leo Jun Ikenaga, arcivescovo di Osaka e presidente della Conferenza episcopale giapponese. Nel messaggio, Benedetto XVI esprime il proprio cordoglio per le vittime del cataclisma e per le loro famiglie e si dice vicino ai soccorritori.

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/text.html

Yashima Gakutei

Yashima Gakutei (1786-1868)

Dea con drago e sol nascente, Periodo Edo, c.1825

Xilografia su carta, nishiki-e con pigmenti metallici e gauffrage

Goddess with dragon and rising sun, Edo period, c.1825

Xylography on paper, nishili-e with metal pigments and gauffrage
Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Nishiki-e (lit. "brocade picture") refers to Japanese multi-colored woodblock printing. It was invented in the 1760s, and perfected and popularized by the printmaker Suzuki Harunobu, who produced a great many nishiki-e prints between 1765 and his death five years later. Previously, most prints had been in black-and-white, colored by hand, or colored with the  addition of one or two color ink blocks. A nishiki-e print is created by carving a separate woodblock for every color, and using them in a stepwise fashion. An engraver by the name of Kinroku is credited with the technical innovations that allowed the blocks of separate colors to fit perfectly onto the page, relative to others, in order to have the complete image.

Tiger

Paravento - Wind wall - Museo Arte Orientale - Torino

The tiger is revered not just in Japan but in the entire Asian adjoining societies. In Japan, the tiger (tora) is the emblem of the great aristocratic warriors, known as the samurai.

The tiger represents the virtue of courage.