Japanese art is very rich and includes many artistic styles and media such as ceramics, ink painting and calligraphy on scrolls and silk, sculpture, ceramics, woodblock prints, and ukiyo-e, meaning “pictures of the floating world,” modern manga comics and anime cartoons, and many other types. In addition to political and religious influence, mythology has a great impact on the evolution of Japan's art and culture. In this article we will briefly look at the history of Japanese art and some of its styles of artistic expression. Next, we will look at two artworks, "Shuten Dōji ('Yorimitsu and the Drunken Monster of Mount Ibuki')" by Kano Okunobu and "Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Specter" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, which represent two main directions of ukiyo - e: painting and woodcut. Subsequently, a brief background of the authors and the art schools to which they belong will be covered. We will also examine the myths that inspired the authors and the media used in the creation of their works of art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Japan's long history of art begins around 10,000 BC and is shaping and evolving to the present day. It was influenced by brief contact with the outside world during invasions and minimal contact with other cultures due to its geographic and political isolation. Eventually, the Japanese learned to analyze and imitate the cultural characteristics of other countries and adopt what suited their sense of beauty. Chinese culture and Buddhism had a great influence on the development of Japanese art and culture during the 7th and 9th centuries. Beginning in the 15th century, Japan was overwhelmed by economic, social, and political unrest and began to form its own styles by distancing itself from Chinese and religious influence and developing a more worldly art. During the political reign of the Edo shogunate in the 17th-19th centuries, the country's economy prospered, wars were stopped, political isolation and a rigid social order brought peace and stability to Japan. The Edo period allowed Japanese art and culture to flourish. As the influence of Buddhism waned, religious sculpture became a less preferred medium and gave way to painting, calligraphy, and woodcut. Japanese painting art was strongly influenced by the Chinese art style and one of the largest and most influential schools in Japanese history. art is the Kano school. It was founded by the son of a samurai and amateur painter Kagenobu, Kano Masanobu, in the late 15th century. After Masanobu's death, his son Motonobu became the head of the school and it is believed that through his leadership the Kano school took the shape of what it represents today. This school trained most of the artists during the Edo period. It represented a renewed influence of Chinese painting with massive, brightly colored, strongly delineated decorative wall panels for nobles and represented distinctive Japanese culture and traditions while at the same time maintaining Chinese-style monochrome brush paintings. Artists of the Kano school were professionals due to formal workshop training similar to Renaissance and Baroque painters and worked primarily for members of the royal family and nobility. The Kano school covered a wide range of painting styles and innovated new types. One of the artists representing the Kano school was Kano Okunobu who created a pictorial masterpiece called "Shuten Dōji ("Yorimitsu and the Drunken Monster of Mount Ibuki")" in the 17th century during the Edo period. This artwork has been attributed to the figureprincipal of Kano school, Kano Motonobu. The painting “Shuten Dōji ('Yorimitsu and the Drunken Monster of Mount Ibuki')” is based on one of the most famous oni legends about the ogre-demon called Shuten Doji or “The Drunk Boy”. According to Japanese folklore during the reign of Emperor Ichijo in the period 986-1011, there were many supersonic reports of disappearances in the capital Kyoto. Most of the missing were young women. The royal soothsayer and advisor to the emperor, Abe no Seimei, determined that the demon king of Mountain Oe was behind the abductions. The demon was later identified as Shuten-Doji or “The Drunk Boy”. The ruler of Kyoto ordered Minamoto no Raiko, also known as Minamoto no Yorimitsu, and Fujiwara no Hosho, also known as Fujiwara no Yasumasa, to track down and finish the Shuten-doji. Raiko was followed by his Shitenno, or lieutenants, and Hosho was accompanied only by his Shogen, or junior secretary, when they left Kyoto on their mission to search for the ogre demon in 995. During their journey, Raiko and his followers encountered a group of four people. who were the avatars of four gods. The deities advised travelers to dress up as yamabushi monks. When they passed through the tunnel into the cave, they encountered an old kidnapped woman who was doing her laundry by the river. The old lady told them that the orcs kidnapped young girls and forced them to act as their servants and simply slaughtered them to eat their flesh and drink their blood. The warriors, disguised as monks, convinced the Shuten-doji to protect them and the monster king welcomed them with sake. He told them stories about himself and that he was called "The Drunk Boy" by his minions for his fondness for sake. He told them that the orcs had to leave their ancestral lands when the Enryaku ji temple was built near the Hira Mountains and move to Mount Oe in 849. Raiko treated the demon king with a drink offered by the gods. This drink knocked the demon king unconscious. The warriors took their weapons and armor out of the priestly-looking backpack chests where they hid them all the time and dressed and prepared for battle. They stormed the ogre's headquarters while the demons were drunk. In his true form, Shuten-doji was a fifty-foot tall red demon with five horns on his head, fifteen eyes, black and white legs, and blue and yellow arms. The four gods held Shuten-doji's limbs until Raiko cut off the demon's head with a swing of his sword. However, the demon did not die and its head began to fly around and it tried to bite Raiko's head off. To defend himself, Raiko put on two additional helmets that he had taken from his men, and the jaws of the demon's flying head could kill the hero. The group of heroes returned victorious to Kyoto with the head of the "Drunk Boy" and buried it in the Uji no hozo of the Byodo-in temple. The composition is a section of the scroll that is based on a famous series of scrolls attributed to Kano Masanobu. It is created with ink, color and gold on paper. The section illustrates Raiko's group crossing the river on their way to the demon king's lair. This piece has a large amount of colorful detail and strong outlines on a gold background which are distinctive features of the Kano school and Chinese art. Today this work of art is part of the collection of the British Museum. Another art style carried over into the early Edo period was woodblock printing. Influenced by Buddhism, woodblock printing in Japan was initially designed to translate religious scriptures and later in history began to move away from religious subjects towards more secular themes. In the 8th century it was considered a convenient method of reproducing printed text. The process ofWoodcut printing consisted of a piece of wood engraved with an image or text that was transferred to paper by pressing the woodcut against it. The method was later improved by innovative advances that allowed color printing and was called Nishik-e. Items printed using the Nishik-e method, such as calendars, were popular among wealthy people of the Edo period. This method was widely used in Japan from the 11th to the 19th century. Let's examine one of the greatest examples of ukiyo-e woodblock printing from the early Edo period called "Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Specter Invoked by Princess Takiyasha" or "Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Specter" created by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi in 1844 and his background to better understand why this artist's legacy has significance in Japanese art. Utagawa Kuniyoshi was born on January 1, 1798 into a family of silk artisans. dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon and died on April 14, 1861, at his home in Genyadana, aged 63. As a child, he was struck by ukiyo-e prints of warriors and depictions of craftsmen in manuals. Kuniyoshi assisted his father as a pattern designer and it is suggested that this influenced his rich tendency to use colors and textile prints in his prints. When he was 12 his talent was noticed by the great master of ukiyo-e printing Utagawa Toyokuni. He was a representative of the Utagawa school and one of the last great Japanese masters of the ukiyo-e style in painting and woodblock printing. He was creating his art in a wide range of subjects including kabuki actors, beautiful women, landscapes, normal and mythical animals. He is famous for depicting legendary historical and mythical battles and heroic samurai in his art which incorporated landscape paintings with Western characteristics. Starting from 1820, Kurniyoshi's heroic triptychs attracted the attention of Japanese society and became in demand due to the growing popularity during the Edo period of Suikoden, a translation of the Chinese novel “Shui Hu Zhuan” meaning “The Water Margin”. This novel tells the story and adventures of the band of outlaws who travel in the areas around Mount Ryosanpaku. These outlaws are depicted as heroes who participate in epic battles. Kuniyoshi's prints are one of the finest creations that incorporate selected Western landscapes and anatomical style and have become a collection of classical Japanese art forms and a conjunction of the Eastern and Western worlds. The triptych "Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Ghost" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi is a captivating masterpiece depicting a dark legend of Princess Takiyasha. This scene is a depiction of the popular novel "The Story of Uto Yasakuta" written by Santo Kyoden in 1807. Takisha was a princess and the daughter of the samurai general Taira no Masakado, who was a leader of the great renegade forces against Kyoto. central government. Masakado wanted to establish an “eastern court” in Shimoga province and this was against the interests of the Kyoto emperor. The rebellion failed and the leader of the rebel forces was killed. His daughter was crushed by her father's death and remained in the ruins of the Soma palace. The name Takiyasha means princess of waterfall demons and she is believed to have been a witch. Having magical powers and the manuscript that allowed her to resurrect the dead, she decides to continue the fight against the emperor and resurrects her father's most loyal warriors as skeletons that form a large army. The manuscript is believed to be of Western origin and was a copy of a book that contained Western anatomical drawings. Legend states that the great warrior Oya no Taro Mitsukuni, great warrior of Japan and servant of the emperor, learned.