The Meiji period was the source of many anxieties about the modernity brought in from overseas. However, this also meant reaping the benefits of the modern life. Ukiyo-e prints were used in the Edo...Show moreThe Meiji period was the source of many anxieties about the modernity brought in from overseas. However, this also meant reaping the benefits of the modern life. Ukiyo-e prints were used in the Edo period to entertain people like modern social media and in the early Meiji period, this continued. Meiji Ukiyo-e prints showing trains, carriages, modern buildings, and schools were used to show the Japanese people around the country what positive things modernity could accomplish. These prints manufactured a positive form of modernity that had a soothing effect on people who had feelings of anxiety about the country opening up, foreigners coming in, and the political and cultural systems changing. The government could censor ukiyo-e prints and thus might even have a say in the changing topics to introduce modern things like trains and Western-style buildings. Publishers and the government's influence on the prints' topics could have made a manufactured positive modernity. Also, prints showed scenes that were either beautified scenes of reality or made up by artists to help manufacture a positive image of the Meiji period. Meiji ukiyo-e prints had the effect of creating a positive notion of reality not only for the image of Japan as a great nation to the foreign powers but also as a way to show the capabilities of Japan’s modernization skills to the nationals living in the Meiji era Japan.Show less
This thesis identifies the ideals of risshin shusse ("Rising in the world") as portrayed within Meiji period sugoroku boardgames targeted at elementary school students. It compares the actual...Show moreThis thesis identifies the ideals of risshin shusse ("Rising in the world") as portrayed within Meiji period sugoroku boardgames targeted at elementary school students. It compares the actual realities of children at the time to that which is portrayed in the sugoroku and places the primary sources in their historical context.Show less
It is well known that Meiji era woodblock print designers Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親 (1847-1915) and Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延 (1838-1912) fought during the Meiji restoration on the side of the...Show moreIt is well known that Meiji era woodblock print designers Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親 (1847-1915) and Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延 (1838-1912) fought during the Meiji restoration on the side of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, because the majority of academic secondary literature on prints tends to focus on the Meiji government's grand 'modernisation' project rather than dissenting voices, it has not been widely discussed to what extent their history as Tokugawa loyalists is expressed in their oeuvre. This thesis attempts to take a fresh approach by reexamining the early works by Kiyochika and Chikanobu. A thorough scrutiny of both visual object and historic context will show that there is more to the Meiji print than meets the eye.Show less
The Meiji Period of Japanese history (1868 - 1912) is considered a pivotal time for the development of the modern Japanese nation, and is marked by the introduction of innumerable elements and...Show moreThe Meiji Period of Japanese history (1868 - 1912) is considered a pivotal time for the development of the modern Japanese nation, and is marked by the introduction of innumerable elements and institutions from the West, as well as by a strong focus on domestic culture, traditions, and artistic productions. Among others, the institution of the "museum", as perceived in Europe and North America, was introduced to Japan in this period. This thesis explores the relationship between the newly established Japanese museums and their role in the Japanese process of nation building, by analyzing the opening of the museums in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara, and examining theories of nationalism and of museum studies.Show less
De Meiji-periode bracht vele veranderingen met zich mee, zowel politiek als maatschappelijk. Het omvallen van het Tokugawa shogunaat had ook grote gevolgen voor religieuze groeperingen, waaronder...Show moreDe Meiji-periode bracht vele veranderingen met zich mee, zowel politiek als maatschappelijk. Het omvallen van het Tokugawa shogunaat had ook grote gevolgen voor religieuze groeperingen, waaronder de boeddhistische organisaties. Naast het feit dat deze niet meer de privileges hadden die ze wel genoten onder het shogunaat, werd er ook een hoop materieel, waaronder tempels, kunst en grondgebied, goed beschadigd tijdens de haibutsu kishaku 廃仏毀釈 . Sommige vormen en organisaties binnen het Boeddhisme, zoals Shugendo (de praktijk van het verkrijgen van niet-alledaagse krachten in het berggebied), werden verboden, ceremonies werden verboden of overgenomen. Een echter nog belangrijker gevolg voor het Boeddhisme in Japan toendertijd was het inhoudelijk aanpassen aan de moderniteit, Westers gedachtegoed en het nieuwe geïmporteerde concept religie wat tot voor kort nog niet bestond in Japan. In deze thesis wordt gekeken wat er door deze reorganisaties van het rituele landschap allemaal is veranderd binnen het Japanse Boeddhisme en wat Japans Boeddhisme überhaupt inhoudt. Vervolgens wordt ook het gedachtegoed van enkele geleerden besproken, wiens gedachtegoed invloed heeft gehad op de shinbutsu bunri en de manier waarop de situatie van het Japanse Boeddhisme door deze scheiding is veranderd. Dit zijn Inoue Enryō 井上円了(1858-1919) en in iets mindere mate Shimaji Mokurai島地 黙雷 (1838-1911).Show less
This essay asks what the differences and similarities were between the Seikan debate and the debate surrounding the Taiwan Expedition. By comparing the motivations behind and rhetoric around these...Show moreThis essay asks what the differences and similarities were between the Seikan debate and the debate surrounding the Taiwan Expedition. By comparing the motivations behind and rhetoric around these two instances of aggressive foreign policy, this essay aims to shed a light on the degree of Western and traditional ideological influence and consequently show how Japan saw great changes in its ideological discourse during the early years of Meiji rule (1868–1877).Show less
This BA final paper analyzes the large amount of classical Chinese style poetry (known in Japanese as kanshi) written by Japanese poets during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and attempts to...Show moreThis BA final paper analyzes the large amount of classical Chinese style poetry (known in Japanese as kanshi) written by Japanese poets during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and attempts to place it in the larger context of Meiji society, Meiji world views (particularly of China) and international relations. Throughout the argument of this paper it becomes clear that, despite the fact that these poets employed the classical Chinese language and were fond of many aspects of classical Chinese culture, they considered their nation as the true successor to this classical Chinese legacy and that their judgement on modern China was harsh.Show less
The advent of photography in Japan coincided with a period during which the country was about to undergo major change. The opening of Japan under the Meiji Revolution in 1868 would lead to the...Show moreThe advent of photography in Japan coincided with a period during which the country was about to undergo major change. The opening of Japan under the Meiji Revolution in 1868 would lead to the massive importation of Western technologies, and a rapid establishment of photographic studios soon followed. One social formation that arose at the time appeared to gain an increasing access to modern technologies; the photographic studio became a popular place to visit among middle class people, who demanded a portrait picture for the integration of the family into modernity and who used it to make sense of their fast changing lives. This thesis inquires to what extent the concept of Westernization was visualized in photographic portrait imagery and how it was shaped by the Japanese photographer and the middle class subject in particular.Show less
