The Genius of Japanese Design

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Table of Japanese Art Periods

The Genius of Japanese Design [the text by Sherman E. Lee]

Color Plates

Black-and-White Plates
- Cherry blossoms
- Paulownias
- Peonies
- Camellias
- Wisterias
- Willows
- Spring grasses
- Plum blossoms
- Lotus flowers, summer grasses, and seashells
- Morning glories and clematis flowers
- Fruits, vegetables, and grains
- Chrysanthemums
- Autumn grasses
- Maple leaves and ginkgo leaves
- Grapevines
- Scrolling vines
- Bamboo
- Pine trees
- Birds and insects
- Mandarin ducks and plovers
- Butterflies Mythical beasts, tortoises, and lions Animals
- Human beings Landscapes
- Water
- Meteorological phenomena
- Fans
- Carts and wheels
- Implements
- Games and musical instruments
- Calligraphy and emblems
- Circles
- Geometric patterns
- Stripes and lattices

Family Crests
- Cherry blossoms
- Paulownias
- Peonies
- Camellias
- Wisterias
- Willow
- Spring grasses
- Plum blossoms
- Lotus flowers, summer grasses, and seashells
- Morning glories and clematis flowers
- Fruits, vegetables, and grains
- Chrysanthemums
- Autumn grasses
- Maple leaves and ginkgo leaves
- Grapevines
- Scrolling vines
- Bamboo
- Pine trees
- Birds and insects
- Mandarin ducks and plovers
- Butterflies
- Mythical beasts, tortoises, and lions
- Animals
- Water
- Meteorological phenomena
- Fans
- Wheels
- Implements
- Games and musical instruments
- Characters
- Circles
- Geometric patterns

Notes to the Plates
Bibliography

Complete List of Color Plates and a Sampling of the Black-and-White Plates

Color Plates (pp. 33-64)

1. Peacock and lilies (Buddhist banner). Embroidery on plaited-weave silk. Nara Period. Shoso-in Repository. Nara.
2. Flowering cherry trees, willow tree, and three girls playing musical instruments (Tale of Nezame handscroll). Gold and silver leaf with color on paper. Heian Period. Yamato Bunkakan. Nara.
3. Half-submerged wheels (cosmetic box). Lacquer and gold on wood with mother-of-pearl inlay. Heian Period. Tokyo National Museum.
4. Page from poetry anthology with design of boat among reeds and geese on windswept shore (Anthology of the Thirty-six Poets). Paper collage flecked with gold and silver. Heian Period. Nishi Hongan-ji. Kyoto.
5. Gong, hand drum, canopy, and Buddhist banner (Taira Family Dedicatory Sutras). Gold and silver leaf with color on paper. Heian Period. Itsukushima Shrine. Hiroshima Prefecture.
6. Lid of writing box with design of cormorant on rock and groups of plovers. Lacquer and gold on wood with mother-of.pearl inlay. Heian Period.
7. Flowering cherry tree, crane, and tortoise (mirror back). Bronze. Kamakura Period. Saidai-ji, Kyoto.
8. Yellow and white peonies (garment worn under armor). Brocade. Nambokucho Period. Tokyo National Museum.
9. Cosmetic box with design of chrysanthemums and scrolling vines. Lacquer and gold on wood with mother-of-pearl inlay. Muromachi Period. Kumano Hayatama Shrine. Wakayama Prefecture.
10 . Camellias (monk's portable cabinet). Wood carving and colored lacquer painting. Muromachi Period. Chuson-ji. Iwate Prefecture.
11 . Paulownias. bamboo, and phoenix against
hollyhock pattern (overgarment). Double-weave silk. Muromachi Period. Atsuta Shrine. Aichi Prefecture.
12. Rectangular dish with design of moon. mountain temple, and boats on waves. Oribe ware. Momoyama Period.
13. Willow branches laden with snow (short coat). Embroidery on silk. Momoyama Period. Fujii Museum. Kyoto.
14 . Pottery fragments with design of (top) autumn grasses and deer; (bottom) mountain temple, hare, and moon. Shino ware. Momoyama Period. Gifu Prefecture Pottery Exhibition Hall.
15 . Sun and moon (Buddhist banner). Tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period. Nezu Art Museum. Tokyo.
16 . Maple tree (one of a pair of folding screens). Color on gold-leafed paper. Attributed to Kano Sanraku. Momoyama Period. Nezu Art Museum. Tokyo.
17. Sutra box with design of floral scrolling vines. Lacquer on wood with mother-of-pearl inlay. Attributed to Hon-ami Koetsu. Edo Period. Hompo-ji. Kyoto.
18 . Bamboo and calligraphy (poetry card). Color on gold- and silver-leafed paper. Painting by Tawaraya Sotatsu and calligraphy by Hon-ami Koetsu. Edo Period. Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst. Berlin.
19. Fan with design of young bracken. violets, and horsetails. Color on gold-leafed paper. By Ogata Korin. Edo Period.
20. Small dishes with design of grapevines and stripes. Oribe ware. Momoyama Period.
21 . Butterflies (short coat). Tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period.
22. Tea bowl with design of moonflowers and poem. Pottery. By Ogata Kenzan. Edo Period. Yamato Bunkakan. Nara.
23 . Tea storage iar with design of wisteria
sprays. Pottery. By Nonomura Ninsei. Early Edo Period. Kyusei Atami Art Museum. Shizuoka Prefecture.
24 . Two women and flowers (large plate). man porcelain. Edo Period.
25. Red plum sprays (one of a pair of folding screens). Color on gold-leafed paper. By Ogata Korin. Edo Period. Kyusei Atami Art Museum. Shizuoka Prefecture.
26 . No robe with design of waves in alternating colors. Silver-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
27 . Moon, Chinese bellflowers, and miscanthuses (Kyogen robe). Dyework over freehand painted resist on hemp. Late Edo Period.
28. No headbands with designs of pine trees:
(a) Chinese pine. Embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period. Uomachi Nogakkai Society. Aichi Prefecture. (b) Snowladen pine. Embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period. Uomachi Nogakkai Society, Aichi Prefecture. (c) Old pine. Embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period. Shinonome Shrine. Ehime Prefecture. (d) Young pine and mist. Embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
29 . Water landscape (summer robe). Resist dyeing and embroidery on hemp. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
30. Kyogen robe with design of fruiting loquat sprays and sequences of triangles. Dyework over freehand painted resist on hemp. Late Edo Period. Itsukushima Shrine. Hiroshima Prefecture.
31 . Stone wall and arrows arranged on racks Kyogen robe). Dyework over freehand painted resist on hemp. Mid-Edo Period.
32. (left) Candle shop sign. Color on carved wood. Late Edo-Meiji Period. Kyoto Folkcraft Museum. (right) Pipe shop sign. Color on carved wood. Late Edo-Meiji Period. Kyoto Folkcraft Museum.

Black-and-White Plates (very partial list)

Cherry Blossoms (pp. 67-69)
1. Sword guard with design of cherry and plum blossoms. Iron openwork. Edo Period.
2. Cherry sprays against vertical serpentine lines (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
3. Cherry tree, drying fishnets. and wave crests (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Early Edo Period.
4. Cherry blossoms and ornamental ribbons (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Early Edo Period.
5. Sword guard with cherry blossom design. Iron openwork. Muromachi Period.
6. Tea caddy with drooping cherry tree design. Lacquer and gold on wood. Edo Period. Yamato Bunkakan. Nara.
7. Plate with cherry tree design. Nabeshima porcelain. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
8. Drooping cherry sprays, fans, and poetry cards (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
9. Drooping cherry branches and court carriage (No robe). Embroidery and gold- and silver-leaf imprint on silk. Early Edo Period.
10 . Cherry trees in oblique bands (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Early Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
11 . Drooping cherry branches, wave crests. curtains. fishnets. and clams (robe). Dyeing on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
12 . Cherry branch (No headband). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
13 . Cherry blossoms and landscape (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
14 . Drooping cherry branches and fans (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
15. Cherry sprays against geometric pattern (robe). Dyeing on silk. Edo Period.
16. Cherry blossoms and landscapes (kimono). Dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. 19th century.
17 . Cherry blossoms and streams (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. Edo Period.
18. Cherry and plum blossoms, wave crests. bamboo grass, crane, and mandarin orange sprays (kimono). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. 1 9th century.
19 . Drooping cherry branches (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. Late Edo Period.
20 . Drooping cherry branches (fragment). Fine dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. Late Edo Period.
21 . Cherry sprays and streams (fragment). Fine dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. Meiji Period.
22. Cherry blossoms (man's sleeveless coat). Fine dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. Edo Period.

Paulownias (pp. 70-71)
1. Five- and three-leafed paulownia crest (coat worn over armor). Inlay work and embroidery on wool. Edo Period. Maeda Ikutoku-kai Foundation. Tokyo.
2. Paulownia tree (No robe). Twill-weave silk with brocaded designs. Momoyama Period.
3. Paulownias against oblique bands (No robe). Painting and gold- and silver-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
4. Fans with paulownias against pattern of wisterias and irises (No robe). Embroidery and gold- and silver-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
5. Paulownia. scrolling vines, and flower-shaped rhombus (No robe). Twill-weave silk with brocaded designs. Momoyama Period.
6. Paulownias against netting diaper (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
7. Five- and three-leafed paulownia crest (shop awning). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. Edo Period.
8. Paulownia crest (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Early Edo Period.
9. Sword guard with paulownia design. Iron openwork. Edo Period.
10. Paulownias (fragment). Twill-patterned weave silk. Momoyama Period.
11. Bowl with paulownia design. Yellow Seto ware. Momoyama Period. Tokyo National Museum.
12 . Paulownia spray in a circle and willow tree (No robe). Embroidery and gold- and silver-imprint on silk. Edo Period.
13. Paulownia tree and flying phoenix (gown). Embroidery and tie-dyeing on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
14 . Paulownia and scrolling vines (fragment). Tie-dyeing on silk. Meiji Period.
15. Paulownias and scrolling vines (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. Late Edo Period.

Peonies (pp. 72-73)
1. Plate with peony design. Kakiemon porcelain. Edo Period.
2. Bowl with peony design. Lacquered wood. Edo Period.
3. Peony crest (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Early Edo Period.
4. Peony and cart (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Early Edo Period.
5. Peony scrolls and hollyhocks (summer robe). Embroidery and dyeing on hemp. Edo Period.
6. Curtain with peony design and hollyhocks (summer robe). Embroidery and dyeing on hemp. Edo Period.
7. Peony branches and sliding screens (summer robe). Dyeing and embroidery
on hemp. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
8. Peonies against vertical lines and interlocking circles (robe). Dyeing on silk. Edo Period.
9. Peony (curtain). Dyework over freehand painted resist on cotton. Late Edo Period.
10 . Peony scrolls (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. Late Edo Period.
11. Peony branches (fragment). Dyework over freehand painted resist on cotton. Late Edo Period.
12 . Peonies and chrysanthemums (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. Late Edo Period.

Camellias (pp. 74-75)
1. Round fan paper with camellia branch design. Painting attributed to Ogata Korin. Edo Period.
2. Camellia blossoms and wisteria sprays (fragment). Hand-drawn detailing and tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period. Zuisen-ji Kyoto.
3. Camellias. chrysanthemums, and poetry cards against overlapping lozenge diaper (fragment). Hand-drawn detailing and tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period.
4. Camellia branch (fragment). Hand-drawn detailing and tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period.
5. Camellia trees and wave crests (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
6. Camellia tree and willow branches (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period.
7. Camellia tree and bamboo fence (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
8. Camellia and plum trees (No sash). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Design said to be based on drawing by Ogata Korin. Edo Period.
9. Camellia blossoms, fan papers, and streams (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period.
10. Lid of a lacquered box for holding cups with camellia tree design. Gold and painting on lacquered wood. Momoyama Period. Dairyu-in. Kyoto.
11. Plate with camellia tree design. Nabeshima porcelain. Edo Period.
12. Plate with camellia branch design. Imari porcelain. Edo Period.
13. Plate with camellia branch design. Ko-Imari porcelain. Edo Period.

Wisterias (pp. 76-77)
1. Wisteria clusters (No headband). Embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Eisei Bunko Foundation. Tokyo.
2. Wisteria on trellis (No headband).
Embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Eisei Bunko Foundation. Tokyo.
3. Mirror back with design of wisteria tree by the sea and two birds, Bronze. Kamakura Period.
4. Wisteria blossoms curled into the revolving "commas" (tomoe) shape against a diaper of foliate diamonds within a tortoise-shell lattice (No robe), Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
5. Wisteria and camellia blossoms (robe), Hand-drawn detailing and tie-dyeing on silk. Momoyama Period. Zuisen-ji, Kyoto.
6. Wisterias and other plants (fragment of a No robe). Embroidery and gold- and silver-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
7. Wisteria and cranes (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Early Edo Period.
8. Wisteria sprays (robe). Embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
9. Wisteria sprays (robe). Embroidery on silk. Early Edo Period.
10. Wisteria on trellis (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk, Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
11. Noodle sauce cup with wisteria and ball design. man porcelain. Edo Period.
12 . Plate with design of wisteria on trellis and butterflies. Seto ware, Edo Period.
13 . Wisteria crest, dots, and bands (saddlecloth). Dyework over freehand painted resist On hemp. Late Edo Period.

Willows (pp. 78-79)
1. Tea caddy with drooping willow tree design. Lacquer and gold on wood. Edo Period.
2. Drooping willow branches covered with snow (No headband). Embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period. Shinonome Shrine, Ehime Prefecture.
3. Drooping willow branches and balls used in courtly game (No sash). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period, Shinonome Shrine, Ehime Prefecture.
4. Tray with design of willow, crescent moon, and herons. Lacquered wood. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
5. Plate with willow tree design, Seto ware. Edo Period.
6. WIllow branches in a circle (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
7. Willow branches and poetry card (fragment of a No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
8. Willows and landscapes against overlapping lozenges (No robe). Embroidery, gold-leaf imprint, and painting on silk. Momoyama Period.
9. Willows covered with snow and paulownias against crossing diagonal lines (fragment of a No robe). Embroidery on silk. Momoyama Period.
10. Willow trees and flowers in circles (No robe). Embroidery and silver-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
11. Willow trees (No robe). Brocade on twill-weave silk. Late Edo Period.
Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima Prefecture.
12. Willows and boats laden with flowers (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
13. Willow trees and round fans (robe). Dyeing on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
14 . Willow branches and balls used in courtly game (fragment). Dyework over stenciled resist on hemp. Edo Period.

Spring Grasses (pp. 80-81)
1. Nail concealer with narcissus design. Iron inlaid with gold. Attributed to Kacho. Early Edo Period. Katsura Palace, Kyoto.
2. Square dish with design of horsetails and miscanthuses. Pottery. By Ogata Kenzan, Edo Period.
3. Small dish with budding branch design. Pottery. By Ogata Kenzan. Edo Period. Nezu Art Museum. Tokyo.
4. Plate with horsetail design. Nabeshima porcelain. Edo Period. Arita Ceramic Museum. Saga Prefecture.
5. Inside of writing box lid with design of bracken sprouts and dandelions on dikes. Lacquer and gold on wood with lead and abalone shell inlay. Attributed to Hon-ami Koetsu. Edo Period. Kyusei Atami Art Museum. Shizuoka.
6. Bracken (hooded outer garment). Dyework over freehand painted resist on hemp. Edo Period.
7. Plate with design of narcissus, hares, and wave crests. man porcelain. Edo Period.
8. Plate with spirea design. Nabeshima porcelain. Edo Period.
9. Orchid roundel (robe). Dyeing on silk. Edo Period.
10 . Orchid (robe). Embroidery and tie-dyeing on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
11. Violets and lateral bands against overlapping lozenges (fragment). Handdrawn detailing, tie-dyeing, embroidery, and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
12. Dandelions (No sash). Embroidery and silver-leaf imprint on silk, Edo Period.
13 . Dandelions (No robe). Silver-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.

Plum Blossoms (pp. 82-84)
1. Hanging lantern with design of plum and bamboo. Bronze openwork. Muromachi Period, Tokyo National Museum.
2. Plum blossoms forming crossing diagonal lines (fragment). Wax-resist dyeing on silk. Nara Period, Shoso-in Repository. Nara.
3. Plum blossom crest (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk, Early Edo Period.
4. Plum blossoms in a circle (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
5. Tea bowl with design of spear-stemmed plum branches. Pottery. By Ogata Kenzan. Edo Period. Umezawa Memorial Gallery. Tokyo.
6. Oil plate with design of Japanese nightingale on plum branch. Seto ware, Edo Period.
7. Plum branches (No robe). Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Momoyama Period.
8. Plum branch (No robe). Tie-dyeing, embroidery, and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
9. Plum blossoms against vertical serpentine lines (No robe), Embroidery and gold-leaf imprint on silk. Edo Period.
10. Plum blossoms on water (robe). Tie-dyeing and embroidery on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
11. Plum tree (robe). Tie-dyeing on silk. Edo Period. Tokyo National Museum.
12 . Plum blossoms and plum sprays (robe). Embroidery and tie-dyeing on silk. Edo Period, Tokyo National Museum.
13. Spear-shaped plum trees and bamboo (robe). Dyeing and embroidery on silk. Mid-Edo Period.
14 . Plum blossoms (robe). Dyeing on silk. Late Edo Period.
15. Plum sprays (robe). Dyeing on silk, Edo Period.
16 . Plum branch (summer robe). Embroidery and dyeing on hemp. Edo Period.
17. Plum blossoms in circles (fragment). Tie-dyed plain-weave cotton, double ikat type, Meiji Period.
18 . Plum blossoms (kimono). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. 19th century.
19 . Plum blossoms against broken ice patterns (kimono). Dyework over stenciled resist on cotton. 19th century.
20. Plum blossoms, pine needles, and overlapping lozenges (hooded outer garment). Dyework over freehand painted resist on silk. Edo Period.
21. Plum tree, bamboo, crane, and tortoise (fragment). Tie-dyed plain-weave cotton, double ikat type. Late Edo Period.
22. Plum tree (wrapping cloth). Dyework over freehand painted resist on cotton, Edo Period.

[Opening pages of the text by Sherman E. Lee]

Anyone attempting to identify the genius of Japanese design is confronted at once with a major problem -- the relative unity of Far Eastern culture, of the arts of China, Korea, and Japan. East Asia has always been dominated in area, population, and economic and social power by the land mass of China. To ignore this can only lead to isolated concepts incapable of more than insular defence. And it can only lead to an underestimation of the Japanese artistic achievement in the face of what might seem to have been overwhelming odds.

The Far Eastern situation was quite different from that of the Western world. There the baton of creative achievement was passed from one region to another, from Greece to Rome, from Italy to France and back again, or creativity took quite different forms as we see in comparing Netherlandish and Italian art of the fifteenth century, or Dutch and Spanish art of the seventeenth century. In the Far East Chinese written characters, governmental organization, and China's own art or versions of Buddhist art imported.from India through Central Asia, dominated the area from the sixth century, ebbing or flowing as Chinese power fluctuated.

Why then does so much Japanese art look so different from Chinese art? The proof that this is so, if we should doubt what we see through modern eyes, comes from numerous ancient Chinese references to Japanese painting and other arts. Though occasionally respectful, most of the old Chinese reactions vary from uneasiness to downright condemnation. The art of the island foreigners was different from and hence inferior to that of the Middle Kingdom. "Different from" is important, for all of our judgments of quality or preference are based upon comparison. Where Chinese art reveals balance and rational sequence, the art of Japan delights in asymmetry and intuitive placement. Where the Chinese tended to rely upon the purity and separation of color, the Japanese delighted in mixtures, off-tints, and blending. These characteristic distinctions are evident even at times when Chinese artistic influences are clearly dominant. While the lute decoration of inlaid mother-of-pearl (nacre) is tenaciously balanced in the Chinese manner prevalent in the Nara period (fig. 1), the scepter of just a century later begins to stray from the balanced path (fig. 2) -- the flying swallows number six on the right, seven on the left, and their disposition is intuitive and irregular rather than rational and evenly measured. Such examples can be multiplied by even the most cursory examination of works of the Chinese-dominated Nara period when compared with the increasingly deviant Japanese works of the early Heian period. Clearly inner tensions are being worked out and their release reveals the special nature of Japanese aesthetic design.

Numerous attempts have been made to specify the unique characteristics of Japanese art, but most founder on generalities -- whether those of prewar or contemporary Japan. Jiro Harada's proposals (A Glimpse of Japanese Ideals), offered with his customary modesty, only serve to demonstrate the point. Purity, grace and quiet, valor and activity, nature, dexterity, simplicity and reticence, among others, seem as applicable to Chinese art or to that of the Shaker communities of New England, as to the art of Japan. What is needed are particularities -- and these are not hard to come by if one studies the illustrations here.

One is struck first by the dominance of asymmetric composition -- everything is off-center, often in daring, even self-conscious, ways (figs. 3, 47, 50, for example). Then there is the apparent dominance of the material of the work of art over the carefully reticent hand of the artist (figs. 8, 35, 36, 39). Pattern, not as in China incorporated in subsidiary borders, is a dominant element of design; and textile design, always agreeable to patterning devices, spills over into other media (figs. 4-6, 53). There is the domination of motif, often traditional and with literary overtones that demand intimate knowledge of the past as well as willing nostalgia so characteristic of Japanese literature, especially poetry (figs. 7 & 47; 9 & 10; 11; 12 & 13; 29). Further these motifs are used as if they were part of a pattern book. They are kept intact within their perimeters but moved about, rotated and adjusted until they seem "right" to the artist in relationship to the same or other motifs. The decision for the final location of the motif is intuitive or subjective and almost always based on the assumption of asymmetric balance or tension (figs. 11, 13-16, 29-30).

The natural and social environment of the islands can be correlated with at least some of these artistic means of the Japanese artist. Nature is close-by in Japan, for the hemmed-in valleys and the limited extent of the land encourage the close examination of nature, revealing its patterns in discrete units. Nature, despite the earthquake, is generally lush and gentle. The hills and mountains are low and rolling with repetitive and undulating rhythms that must impress one as decorative and pleasant. The Shinto faith particularizes nature with its many thousands of kami personifying selected individual units -- rocks, noble trees, streams and falls, caves, groups of related flora. Rather than organizing all this into a grand design, the Japanese accept the uniqueness of individual units, the natural order of motifs. With this there is a respect for the motifs and for their composition. These materials are a part of the multitudinous and complex aspects of nature. The inherent and natural inclinations of clay, ash, wood, bamboo, lacquer, and fiber are respected and encouraged to become major factors influencing the appearance and design of artifacts.