japonisme: sharing the harvests

13 May 2007

sharing the harvests

you've heard the story of ferdinand the samurai. yes, he was good at battle, but when there were no borders to defend, he delighted in strolling, sketchbook, ink, and brush in hand, and to sit in the shade of a spreading tree to draw the plants around him.









this tremendously civilizing habit of the samurai benefited the populace of the edo period with a growing inventory of the flora and fauna of their land.

how ironic that the dissolution of the samurai culture had an end result of bringing that civil rest to the west.



cultures that had never seen asian flowers embraced them by the armload. japanese gardens were created in many non- japanese cultures, and japanese techniques were incorporated into many of the rest.

and artists and craftspeople throughout the west embraced the botanies as had the people in the country of their birth.







[and yes i remembered the national diet library, finally. i don't think any of their wonderful selections was the exact one i was looking for, but i was thrilled anyway.]

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2 Comments:

Blogger harlequinpan said...

Your blog is the most interesting and richest one I ever visited.I am always amazed by your work in comapring and analyzing things...Your new articles are posted when I am yet sending you my comment.You are really so hard working!!Feeling like a spoiled sheep, I enjoy myself in the boundryless knowledge grass field.If your articles can be assembled into a book,it must be very popular.

14 May, 2007 08:42  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

oh oh oh--i am made so happy by your saying that.

to tell you the truth, there are several reasons why i would not want to do a book:
1. if it were to be published, someone would need to write to the owner of every single image to get written permission to reprint it. and usually that will cost money.

that alone is enough reason to not do it, in my opinion.

2. i am not a famous expert on this subject, so that is even more reason why no publisher would put out the money for the permissions, let alone to pay me something.

3. i think the fun might go out of it for me if someone were standing over my shoulder telling me how i should do it! that's what editors and publishers do! (i know. i was one ;^)

but your enthusiasm, all of you who take the time to comment, who make me think, who are inspiring, and who make me feel like this blog is appreciated, make me feel extremely gratified, so thank you.

14 May, 2007 10:31  

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