I thought that the Edo period museum was very cool because I have always admired the traditional and seemingly advanced aspects of Japanese society, especially during the Edo period. The most prevalent one to me is the level of organization and cleanliness in the collective society that kept disease to a minimum and a generally healthy population. This aspect of the Japanese society was shown in the replica of the Japanese home and the water wells and sanitary bathroom measures that were taken care of collectively by residential neighbors.
However, what I was the most excited about was in the cultural exhibit where the art, theatre, and kimono prints were located. My favorite thing that I saw was the representation of Hokusai latest studio where he made his painting and prints in the later part of his life. This model was recreated from one of the drawings that his student had drawn of him. Hokusai was famous for his ukiyo-e block printing art which according to the Stalker reading was characterized by his focus on landscapes. I could not agree more with Stalker as my favorite Hokusai piece is the Great Wave off Kanagawa followed by Fuji, Mountains in Clear Weather despite how mainstream it may seem they are beautiful pieces.
Going back to the Stalker there is also mention of the fact that the ukiyo-e art style facilitated the making and selling of prints because they were made “cheaply, quickly, and in large production runs.” This aspect of the internet-esque prints (because they relayed the most recent fashions and pop culture news) despite being negative reminds me a bit of my Hokusai products now which are made in large batches in China and are relatively cheap and sold everywhere. I think it is interesting to see that the prints that were one sold this way during the Edo period and have continued to be a part of pop culture are distributed in a similar fashion but in a transformed form of a cell phone case, tote bags, T-shirts and many reprinted posters.
The newly learned information about Hokusai’s life and the fact that he made his later pieces in a shabby shack with his daughter made me think of what life was necessary to make art and beautiful pieces. Hokusai, of course, being in the latter part of his life at 83 years old had quite a bit of practice but nonetheless, his surroundings did not prevent him from creating artwork that would eventually become the well-known pieces they are showcased around the globe. I would also like to mention that the fact that he was with his daughter in the replica reminded me and made me think a bit of the belief that some have that his daughter was the creator of some of the later pieces Hokusai was credited for. This belief is expanded and shown more in depth in the movie Miss Hokusai which I highly recommend for those interested.
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