8.4 Japan 🇯🇵

Across Asia, Bronze Age and Neolithic civilizations flourished. These civilizations were sophisticated, including the Indus Valley civilization in which originated from Pakistan and India. The Yangshao and Longshan cultures in China, along with the Shang dynasty, were also thriving civilizations. The Kofun and Yayoi cultures from Japan, as well as the Dongson culture in Southeast Asia, developed greatly.

The diversity within the cultures of each region helped to establish core beliefs, both religious and social, in which spread to larger cultural areas. The expansion played an essential role in shaping or defining regional identities across Asia.

Khmer Cambodia, Gupta India, Heian Japan, and Han China were a few of the most glorified civilizations, or ruling dynasties, in Asia. These civilizations and dynasties were simply core centers with great cultural influence. Furthermore, the regions shared common ideas as well as employed visual traditions, some relative to materials and functions, in which built on artistic styles for works in Asia.

Zen Buddhism and Shintoism were the two most practiced religions in Japan during the construction of these structures, and its influence is evident. Japanese buildings are usually made from undressed (not finished, natural) wood, and there are many zen gardens (gardens that resemble nature and are used for meditation) found around the nation. This is because both religions promote being harmonious with nature, whether that's by using natural materials or finding peace in it, showing that in Japan, religion and nature go hand in hand 🤝

❓Checking for Understanding: What is the role of nature in Tōdai-ji and Ryōan-ji? Give specific examples.

Like Japan's architecture, many of its paintings and prints also revolve around nature because of the influence of Zen Buddhism and Shintoism. Japanese ukiyo-e painters created genre scenes (works depicting scenes of everyday life) of things like outdoor scenes and people at work, which you can see in the works below. Artists like Ogata Kōrin (painter of Red and White Plum Blossoms) were inspired by the yamato-e style and used techniques like tarashikomi and mokkotsu to give the appearance of water ripples 🌊 and flowers in bloom 🌸