Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

JOMON AND YAYOI PERIODS, ca. 10,500 BCE–300 CE

❚The Jomon (ca. 10,500–300 BCE) is Japan’s earliest distinct culture. It takes its name from the applied
clay cordlike coil decoration of Jomon pottery.

❚Archaeologists unearthed the first evidence for the Yayoi culture (ca. 300 BCE–300 CE) in the Yayoi
district of Tokyo, but the culture emerged in Kyushu and spread northward. Increasing contact with
the East Asian mainland is evident in the form of Yayoi dotaku, which were modeled on Han Chinese
bells.

KOFUN PERIOD, ca. 300–552

❚Kofun means “old tomb,” and great earthen burial mounds are the primary characteristic of the
last pre-Buddhist period of Japanese art. The largest tumulus in Japan, attributed to Emperor
Nintoku, who died in 399, is at Sakai.

❚About 20,000 clay cylindrical figures (haniwa) stood around and on top of the Sakai tumulus.
Haniwa sculptures represent inanimate objects and animals as well as human figures, including
warriors. They formed a protective spiritual barrier between the living and the dead.

ASUKA AND NARA PERIODS, 552–784

❚Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 552, and the first Japanese Buddhist artworks, such as Tori
Busshi’s Shaka triad at Horyuji, date to the Asuka period (552–645).

❚During the Nara period (645–784), a centralized imperial government was established, whose capital
was at Nara from 710 to 784.

❚Nara architecture, for example, the Horyuji kondo, followed Tang Chinese models in the use of
ceramic roof tiles and the adoption of a curved roofline. The Daibutsuden constructed at Todaiji in
743 is the largest wooden building in the world.

HEIAN PERIOD, 794–1185

❚In 794 the imperial house moved its capital to Heiankyo (Kyoto). Shortly thereafter, Esoteric
Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Painted mandaras of the Womb World and the Diamond
World facilitated meditation.

❚A masterpiece of Heian Buddhist architecture is the Phoenix Hall at Uji, which evokes images
of the celestial architecture of the Buddha’s Pure Land of the West.

❚Narrative scroll painting was a major Heian art form. Illustrated scrolls of Lady Murasaki’s Tale
of Genjifeature elevated viewpoints that suggest three-dimensional space and flat colors that
emphasize the painting’s two-dimensional character.

KAMAKURA PERIOD, 1185–1332

❚In 1185 power shifted from the Japanese emperor to the first shogun of Kamakura. The shoguns
became great patrons of art and architecture.

❚Kamakura painting is diverse in both subject and style and includes historical narratives, such as
Events of the Heiji Period,and Buddhist hanging scrolls.

❚Kamakura wooden portraits—for example, the seated statue of the priest Shunjobo Chogen—
are noteworthy for their realism and the use of rock crystal for the eyes.

THE BIG PICTURE

JAPAN BEFORE 1333

Middle Jomon vessel,

ca. 2500–1500 BCE

Haniwa warrior,

fifth to mid-sixth century

Kondo, Horyuji, ca. 680

Tale of Genji,first half

of 12th century

Shunjobo Chogen,

early 13th century