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The chapter below begins with contemporary art from 2009 of the Heisei era, the period that followed the Showa era. It then jumps back to 1000-300 BCE and proceeds chronologically to the Edo period, whose end in 1868 is identified with Japan's industrialization and the impacts of U.S. and European contact. Japan was established as a constitutional monarchy in the Edo period and the samurai (warrior) class -- associated with the shogunate (warlord society) -- was abolished. World Wars I (1912-1914) and II (1939-1945) followed in the Taishō era and the Shōwa eras.
For a timeline of the history of Japan, visit this site created for the Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, which also includes timelines for China, Korea, Vietnam and South Asia.
Note: Due to copyright restrictions, the image above is of Kenji’s Yorou-katachi, No. 1 (2009) not No. 9 in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
To create Yorou-katachi, No. 9 (2009), artist Toki Kenji used a commercial plastic model of a giant robot-like “mobile suit” from the Mobile Suit Gundam. The model was from a 140-part kit. Toki is known for his work with traditionally applied lacquer (urushi). He applied red and transparent lacquers to each part using the pain-staking urushi method and then assembled the model.This red mobile suit is worn by Char Aznable of the fascist Principality of Zeno in the series. Char is the main rival of protagonist Amuro Ray of the Earth Federation. In a statement about the work, Toki says he use lacquer to convey the power of the material to “strengthen the image” and make Gundam, which does not exist in reality, “real”.
The Heisei era began in 1989 after the death of Emperor Hirohito, the father of Heisei era’s emperor, Akihito. Hirohito was the emperor of Japan during World War II. He ascended to the throne in 1926 and is the longest reigning Japanese emperor as well as one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs. In 1946, with Japan’s surrender as part of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) in World War II, he was pressured by the Allied Powers (United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union and China) to renounce his divinity, a traumatic event for Japan.The US had dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, killing between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
The Japanese ‘kamikaze’ or ‘divine wind’ approach referred to Japanese pilots who flew planes loaded with explosives to deliberately crash into enemy ships in missions that were ultimately suicidal. The US claims that this approach, along with Japan’s refusal to surrender unconditionally after Germany’s surrender in 1945, forced its use of the atomic bombs.
Japan’s new constitution of 1947 established it as a democratic, parliamentary system with a Prime Minister and described the emperor as a “symbol of the State and of the unity of the people”. Article 9 of the constitution also renounced war as a sovereign right and prohibited the maintenance of the military, aiming instead for peace and international cooperation. It forbade maintenance of land, sea and air forces or any other war potential.The Mobile Suit Gundam series reflects on the horrors of war. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down four main points of interest from this overview that you can return to in thinking about Gundam and Toki's work with it in relation to the objects that follow.
Scholars consider the Jomon period to be the beginnings of the sculptural tradition in Japan. This palm-sized clay figurine is believed to have been used to cure physical ailments. The affliction was transferred to the figure which was then discarded to rid the body of whatever assailed it. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about Jomon period dogū figurines.
This earthenware object is sculpted from hollow clay cylinders. Early Haniwa took the form of houses and animals. Later iterations in 5th, 6th and 7th centuries were figural. They were placed atop burial mounds and at the entrances of tombs covered with large mounds of earth, shaped like keyholes and surrounded by moats. They appear at a time of the consolidation of political power in Japan, previously divided into loosely related domains. At this time, Japan starts to be organized into a unified state with a central government. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about Kofun period haniwa.
The Edo period (1615-1868) is generally characterized in scholarship as a time of peace and relative calm following the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), named for the impressive Azuchi and Momoyama castles, evidence of political unification, wealth and power. It ended a decade after the 1858 Harris Treaty negotiated with the United States. This treaty opened five ports to the U.S. to provide economic and diplomatic privileges at a time when the British and French were seeking treaties by force.
There are very strong limitations on trade and exchange abroad that isolate Japan in this period. Nonetheless, it is heavily influenced by the inheritances of the shogunate, or warlord society. Under the shogunate's political and martial power, beginning in the 12th century, warriors developed cultural and administrative talents, that combined Zen Buddhist principles with ideas from other forms of Buddhism and Japan's indigenous Shintoism, a native belief system focused on nature spirits. This is evident in the treatment of painting, garden design and even armor-making as philosophy.
This Gusoku comes from the armory of Date Yoshimura (1703-1746), lord of Sendai. The helmet is from the 16th century before his birth; the rest of the armor is from the 18th century. It is signed by the armorer, Myochin Munesuke. Notice the embossed ornament on solid iron plates on the breast plate. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about samurai armor.
table of contents
Introduction
The original Mobile Suit Gundam series (1979-1981) was created towards the end of the Shōwa era (1926-1989). The team included Yoshikazu Yasuhiko as character designer and director of animation and Yoshiyuki Tomino as series creator and director. During the Shōwa era, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan (1945) and the Japanese emperor was pressured to renounce his divinity (1946) in a 'Humanity Declaration' (Ningen Sengen).The chapter below begins with contemporary art from 2009 of the Heisei era, the period that followed the Showa era. It then jumps back to 1000-300 BCE and proceeds chronologically to the Edo period, whose end in 1868 is identified with Japan's industrialization and the impacts of U.S. and European contact. Japan was established as a constitutional monarchy in the Edo period and the samurai (warrior) class -- associated with the shogunate (warlord society) -- was abolished. World Wars I (1912-1914) and II (1939-1945) followed in the Taishō era and the Shōwa eras.
For a timeline of the history of Japan, visit this site created for the Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, which also includes timelines for China, Korea, Vietnam and South Asia.
Toki Kenji, Yorou-katachi, No. 9, 2009 (Heisei era)
Note: Due to copyright restrictions, the image above is of Kenji’s Yorou-katachi, No. 1 (2009) not No. 9 in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
To create Yorou-katachi, No. 9 (2009), artist Toki Kenji used a commercial plastic model of a giant robot-like “mobile suit” from the Mobile Suit Gundam. The model was from a 140-part kit. Toki is known for his work with traditionally applied lacquer (urushi). He applied red and transparent lacquers to each part using the pain-staking urushi method and then assembled the model.This red mobile suit is worn by Char Aznable of the fascist Principality of Zeno in the series. Char is the main rival of protagonist Amuro Ray of the Earth Federation. In a statement about the work, Toki says he use lacquer to convey the power of the material to “strengthen the image” and make Gundam, which does not exist in reality, “real”.
The Heisei era began in 1989 after the death of Emperor Hirohito, the father of Heisei era’s emperor, Akihito. Hirohito was the emperor of Japan during World War II. He ascended to the throne in 1926 and is the longest reigning Japanese emperor as well as one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs. In 1946, with Japan’s surrender as part of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) in World War II, he was pressured by the Allied Powers (United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union and China) to renounce his divinity, a traumatic event for Japan.The US had dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, killing between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
The Japanese ‘kamikaze’ or ‘divine wind’ approach referred to Japanese pilots who flew planes loaded with explosives to deliberately crash into enemy ships in missions that were ultimately suicidal. The US claims that this approach, along with Japan’s refusal to surrender unconditionally after Germany’s surrender in 1945, forced its use of the atomic bombs.
Japan’s new constitution of 1947 established it as a democratic, parliamentary system with a Prime Minister and described the emperor as a “symbol of the State and of the unity of the people”. Article 9 of the constitution also renounced war as a sovereign right and prohibited the maintenance of the military, aiming instead for peace and international cooperation. It forbade maintenance of land, sea and air forces or any other war potential.The Mobile Suit Gundam series reflects on the horrors of war. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down four main points of interest from this overview that you can return to in thinking about Gundam and Toki's work with it in relation to the objects that follow.
Dogū, Jomon period (ca. 10,500 to 300 BCE)
Scholars consider the Jomon period to be the beginnings of the sculptural tradition in Japan. This palm-sized clay figurine is believed to have been used to cure physical ailments. The affliction was transferred to the figure which was then discarded to rid the body of whatever assailed it. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about Jomon period dogū figurines.
Haniwa, Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries CE)
This earthenware object is sculpted from hollow clay cylinders. Early Haniwa took the form of houses and animals. Later iterations in 5th, 6th and 7th centuries were figural. They were placed atop burial mounds and at the entrances of tombs covered with large mounds of earth, shaped like keyholes and surrounded by moats. They appear at a time of the consolidation of political power in Japan, previously divided into loosely related domains. At this time, Japan starts to be organized into a unified state with a central government. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about Kofun period haniwa.
Gusoku (16th to 18th centuries CE)
The Edo period (1615-1868) is generally characterized in scholarship as a time of peace and relative calm following the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), named for the impressive Azuchi and Momoyama castles, evidence of political unification, wealth and power. It ended a decade after the 1858 Harris Treaty negotiated with the United States. This treaty opened five ports to the U.S. to provide economic and diplomatic privileges at a time when the British and French were seeking treaties by force.
There are very strong limitations on trade and exchange abroad that isolate Japan in this period. Nonetheless, it is heavily influenced by the inheritances of the shogunate, or warlord society. Under the shogunate's political and martial power, beginning in the 12th century, warriors developed cultural and administrative talents, that combined Zen Buddhist principles with ideas from other forms of Buddhism and Japan's indigenous Shintoism, a native belief system focused on nature spirits. This is evident in the treatment of painting, garden design and even armor-making as philosophy.
This Gusoku comes from the armory of Date Yoshimura (1703-1746), lord of Sendai. The helmet is from the 16th century before his birth; the rest of the armor is from the 18th century. It is signed by the armorer, Myochin Munesuke. Notice the embossed ornament on solid iron plates on the breast plate. For more information about this object, visit its resource page and click the button 'Visit Page'.
Write down what might be a few points of connection between the Gundam figure, Toki's work with it and what you have just learned about samurai armor.