Japanese Arts And Crafts

Origami
Origami is the art of folding paper. Glue or scissors are usually not used.
One of the most popular folding objects is the crane. It is said that 1000 cranes make a wish come true. 1000 cranes are given to sick people in order to wish them a fast recovery. The folded crane is also a symbol for peace. In the peace parks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, large numbers of folded cranes are laid down besides the monuments that remember the atomic bombs.
Other popular folding objects are flowers, balloons, gold fish, frogs, swans, and many more.

Bonsai
Bonsai is the art of cultivating miniature trees. The pine, a tree that naturally grows many meters tall, is the most typical plant used for bonsai, but many other tree species can be used.
To achieve miniaturization, the tree is frequently transferred into new pots, and on that occasion its roots are cut a little bit. Bonsai skills include the knowledge of when and how much to cut the roots, how much fertilizer and water is ideal, and which branches should be pruned to give the plant an aesthetic look.


Bunraku(Puppet Theater)
Bunraku is traditional Japanese puppet theater, which originated during the Edo Period. The stories and subjects which are performed in Bunraku are often similar to those performed in Kabuki theater. Bunraku plays are also accompanied by the music of traditional Japanese instruments.
The puppets are about one meter tall and are manipulated by up to three persons. Every person is responsible for a different part of the puppet. Thanks to many years of experience they are able to make the puppets appear alive despite the fact that the puppeteers are visible on the stage.

Caligraphy
Calligraphy (shodo: "the way of writing") is the art of writing beautifully. Most children learn calligraphy in elementary school. It is a popular hobby among adults, too. A calligraphy set consists of:

• Shitajiki: Black, soft mat. It provides a comfortable, soft surface.
• Bunchin: Metal stick to weight down the paper during writing.
• Hanshi: Special, thin calligraphy paper.
• Fude: Brush. There is a larger brush for writing the main characters and a smaller one for writing the artist's name. The small brush, however, can be used for the characters, too.
• Suzuri: Heavy black container for the ink.
• Sumi: Solid black material that must be rubbed in water in the suzuri to produce the black ink which is then used for writing. Of course, "instant ink" in bottles is also available.

Unlike the strokes of Roman letters, the strokes of Japanese characters have to be drawn in the correct order, not arbitrarily. When you learn Chinese characters, you draw one stroke after the other. This is called the square (Kaisho) style of writing kanji.
This style of writing kanji, however, is rarely used in everyday life. Instead, there are two faster styles of writing, in which the kanji become a little bit less legible, just like when writing Roman letters in a fast way. These two styles are called semi cursive (gyosho) and cursive (sosho).

Kaisho

Sosho

Gyosho

Japanese Dolls
Dolls have been manufactured since the early days of Japanese culture. Today, there exist various types of Japanese dolls. The following is a description of only a few of the most famous ones:

Daruma Doll

Kokeshi Doll

Hakata Doll

Daruma dolls are spherical dolls with a red painted body and a white face, but without pupils. They represent the Zen monk Bodhidharma. It is the custom to paint one of the doll's pupils in the beginning of a new year, make a wish and paint in the second pupil, if the wish comes true. Takasaki's Shorinzan Daruma Temple is the birthplace of daruma dolls as good luck charms.
Kokeshi dolls are simply shaped, wooden dolls from Northern Honshu, which originated as souvenirs distributed at hot spring resorts during the Edo Period. Kokeshi dolls have neither arms nor legs, but a large head and a cylindrical body.
Hakata dolls are clay dolls manufactured in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu. They are worked out in great detail and painted beautifully.

Hina Dolls

Various dolls are used during festivals. Among them are hina dolls, which are displayed during the girl's festival and samurai dolls, which are displayed during the boy's festival.

Ikebana
Ikebana is the art of arranging flowers aesthetically. One tries to represent the three elements sky, earth, and mankind in a well balanced relation.
Traditional ikebana, called kado ("the way of the flower"), developed in the 16th century. There are many different schools of traditional ikebana. In addition, modern styles of ikebana (avant-garde ikebana) have evolved. Some of these styles use glass, iron, and other materials instead of flowers.

Kabuki
Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theater with its origins in the Edo Period. In contrast to the older forms of Japanese performing arts, such as Noh, Kabuki was popular among the common townspeople and not of the higher social classes.
Kabuki plays are about historical events, moral conflicts, love relationships and the like. The actors use an old fashioned language which is difficult to understand even for some Japanese people. Actors speak in somewhat monotonous voices accompanied by traditional Japanese instruments.
Kabuki takes place on a rotating stage (kabuki no butai). The stage is further equipped with several gadgets like trapdoors through which the actors can appear and disappear. Another specialty of the kabuki stage is a footbridge (hanamichi) that leads through the audience.
In the early years, both men and women acted in kabuki plays. Later during the Edo Period, the Tokugawa Shogunate forbade women from acting, a restriction that survives to the present day. Several male kabuki actors are therefore specialists in playing female roles (onnagata).


Ukiyo-e
The art of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), originated in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) during the period of Japanese history, when the political and military power was in the hands of the shoguns, and the country was virtually isolated from the rest of the world. It is an art closely connected with the pleasures of theatres, restaurants, teahouses, geisha and courtesans in the even then very large city. Many ukiyo-e prints by artists like Utamaro and Sharaku were in fact posters, advertising theatre performances and brothels, or idol portraits of popular actors and beautiful teahouse girls. But this more or less sophisticated world of urban pleasures was also animated by the traditional Japanese love of nature, and ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige have had an enormous impact on landscape painting all over the world.