Japan Book Club: The Old Man Mad About Drawing – Part 2
This week we want you to read the next four chapters of The Old Man Mad About Drawing by Francois Place. In chapters 5-8, the characters in the story experience all sorts of aspects of Japanese culture. The characters see a Japanese play presented in the Kabuki style, they learn about wood block prints, they see Japanese calligraphy, and they attend a sumo wrestling match.
These are all important pieces of Japanese culture that we’ll be discussing throughout the year. For now though, we want you to pick one of those four topics and do a little research about it. Using what ever resources you want to, find out as much information as you can about that topic.
You actual assignment this week is to post five interesting facts about Kabuki, Sumo, Japanese calligraphy, OR wood block printing. Be careful not to repeat what other students have already put. Be sure to type out your answers in complete sentences. Be sure to back up your ideas with some examples, evidence, or proof. Be sure to check back and see what other people say too. Be sure to comment on what they say.
Every student in our Japan group is required to participate. You must comment on this post with your thoughts, then come back and comment on what other people have said – you are required to make an effort to keep the conversation going by replying to at least 2 other students (more than just “I agree” or “you are right.” Give them reasons why you agree/disagree or what they said that was meaningful – make this a discussion).
Next, we’ll be reading Bushido: The Soul of Japan a story about the samurai by Inazo Nitobe – you can look for a copy if you want, but I will be sending everyone a free ebook copy of Bushido when we get to it. We’ll start that in about four-five weeks.
Minooka TAP 
1- In Japan, calligraphy is called shodou, or “the way of writing”.
2- Part of elementary school children’s education is calligraphy.
3- Japanese calligraphy has influenced Western artists like Picasso.
4- The 3 basic Japanese writing styles are Kaisho (correct writing), Gyousho (traveling writing), and Sousho (grass writing).
5- School children are first taught Kaisho. When taking notes, people would write in Gyousho which is the Japanese way of cursive. Only a few trained people are able to read Sousho which doesn’t allow your brush to leave the paper.
I think it would be difficult to do Sousho since you cant lift your brush off of your paper. Also, I find it interesting that calligraphy was actually a part of Japanese students curriculum in elementary school.
I find that Picaso was influenced by calligraphy very cool. Also, it is interesting that elementary school students education is calligraphy. All of the facts you have written are all very interesting.
I agree with all of you. Learning calligraphy in elementary sounds extremely interesting. But connecting to Syd’s i think it would be very difficult to do. My aunt tried to teach me calligraphy once, but i epically failed at it.
1. Japanese Calligraphy has roots in chinese Calligraphy
2. The most famous Calligrapher in Japan was a man by the name of Wang Xizhi, who came from China.
3. Calligraphy is now a subject in Elementary school in Japan.
4. During Edo, Calligraphy was popularized when trade with China increased.
5. Japanese Calligraphy actually influenced Zen Buddism.
I suppose a lot of things in Japan came from China. Considering how close they were and I believe that they had good relations, it’s not that surprising. I was shocked to see, however, the most famous calligrapher came from China.
It’s interesting that Calligraphy is taught in elementary school, as it is so much of a part of their culture. We don’t really have things like that here.
its kind of funny that the most famous calligrapher in Japan was from China, interesting fact none-the-less though.
I find it interesting that calligraphy influenced an entire religion.
1. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only widely adopted in Japan surprisingly late, during the Edo period.
2. Woodblock-printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century.
3. By the eleventh century, Buddhist temples in Japan were producing their own printed books of sutras, mandalas, and other Buddhist texts and images.
4. Images in books were almost always in monochrome (black ink only), and for a time art prints were likewise monochrome or done in only two or three colors.
5. In Japan, a multi-colour technique, called nishiki-e (“brocade pictures”), spread more widely, and was used for prints, from the 1760s on. Japanese woodcut became a major artistic form, although at the time it was accorded a much lower status than painting.
I’m not shocked to see that most images in books were only 1-3 colors. It would seem to be very tedious having to layer more and more colors onto a single picture. I just wonder how happy the workers were when the first color printing press came to Japan
It’s interesting that woodblock printing didn’t become popular in Japan until the Edo period. I thought it would have been around a lot longer.
i find it interesting that china had it for a long time and that the japanese didn’t adopted it till later in the edo period without already adopting it.
1. Japenese woodblock printing dates as far back as 770 C.E.
2.Woodblock printing wbegan to be used for ukiyo-e
3.thefirst man who was creditded with making woodblock artists famous was Hishikawa Moronobu
4.during the nineteenth century there was a general decline in woodblock paintings
5.Durin the postwar years, younger artistsmoved towards western mediums and styles, but some still practiced traditonal Japenese woodblock painting.
I wouldn’t have expected for the Japanese woodblock printings to have been started that long ago, it astonishes me on the Japanese technology they had in such early years.
Its really awesome that the woodblock printing went back so far!
I can’t believe how early the wood block process started. It jut amazes me how smart people were back then. Also, it’s good to see that even though new techniques were made, people still used wood block painting
1. The kanji for Kabuki means sing, dance and skill (in kanji).
2. All the roles were played by men, even the women roles.
3. A little after WW ll, the japanese wanted to forget the styles from the past, including kabuki.
4. Like in Edo and Kyoto, Kabuki had different traditions depending on the region you were in.
5. There are only 11 major operating Kabuki theatres left in Japan.
I think it’s strange that there are so little kabuki theaters left. It’s such a big part of Japanese culture you would think they’d try to do it just a tad bit more.
They are getting more and more modern and they need to keep SOME old Japanese culture.
Kabuki
1) sometimes translated to “the art of dancing and singing.”
2) estimated to have begun around 1603
3) originally written as 歌舞妓 which translates to singing and dancing prostitute
4) because many of the female dancers where also sold as prostitutes, it was given that name.
5) After WWII, occupying troops in Japan banned Kabuki, the ban ended though in 1947.
I find that Intresting that many of dancers were prostitutes. I just wonder why they sold a lot of the girls as prostitutes.
1. The earliest written mention of Sumo is found in the Kojiki,a book from 712, which is the oldest example of Japanese writing.
2. Sumo wrestlers are banned from driving cars.
3. Women are not allowed in the dohyo (where sumo wrestlers fight).
4. There are currently 55 wrestlers officially listed as foreigners.
5. Sumo wrestlers have to grow long hair and form a top knot.
It doesn’t surprise me that the earliest Japanese writing is about sumo wrestling. Also, who would have thought that wrestlers aren’t aloud to drive cars. I wonder if it’s because of ceremonial purposes.
I am in no way surprised to learn that sumo wrestlers is not allowed to drive. It would be a problem with their enormous weight for not only the wrestler but other dirvers too.
1. The japanese tradition of Kabuki started in the 17th century.
2. During a Kabuki theater the audince yells the names of the actors during the play.
3. All female Kabuki characters have been played by male actors called Onna-gotta.
4. One of the famous characteristics of the Kabuki stage is that the stage revaolves which is called mawari- butia.
5. Kabuki is actualy three words combined to make one Ka means singing, Bu means dancing, and Ki means acting.
I think it would be rude to yell at people while they’re acting, but I guess it’s normal.
1. Kabuki was believed to begin in dry riverbeds of Kyoto.
2. A kabuki stage also includes a hanamichi, a walkway that projects into the audience.
3. Occasionally, kabuki preformances included a “wire-trick.” This allowed the actors to fly above the stage. This technique is used in today’s broadway productions of Peter Pan.
4. Many sewamono plays are called, “love suicides.” This is the kind of style that Romeo and Juliet is written in. It’s when the characters cannot be toghether in life, so choose to be together in death.
5. In Edo, kabuki plays were extravagent and overwhelming. In Kamigata, kabuki was greatly toned down and was focused more on nature.
i find it very interesting that kabuki was believed to begin in dry riverbeds and that the wire-tricks are used by both us and the japanese
I think plays like in #3 are so weird I never really understand them.
It is so fasinating to see that we adopted some aspects of Kabuki into our own culture and theaters too! The wire trick is always spectacular.
Sumo wrestling
1. the “diapers” the sumo wrestlers wear are called muwashi and are very important because with out one they would be naked.
2. Sumo wrestling is more than fat guys in diapers pushing each other it is a serious sport to the Japanese and involves weight, speed, intellect, technique and guile.
3.The minimum height and weight is 167 cm and 67 kg for a sumo wrestler.
4. Tournaments run 15 days and the ones in Tokyo are called. (basho)
5 The wrestlers in Sumo are called as rikishis and sumo wrestling is a specific ritual to them.
I like the fact that the tournaments are sometimes called Basho. I also wonder why else the muwashi is important besides the fact it keeps them from begin naked.
Do you know the height and weight in English units (pounds feet and inches)
Sumo
1.) Sumo is associated with Shinto religion
2.) Nomi no Sukune is said to be the the human creator of sumo
3.) Sumo’s popularity has changed according to the whims of its rulers
4.) A new dohyō is built for each tournament by the yobidashi (announcer or beckoner)
5.) Sumos do a ritual dance where it is said they wrestle with a Kami (a Shinto divine spirit)
I think that woodblock painting is so cool and a neat way to copy a picture. It’s such a cool process to preform but it takes a lot of time and a lot of ink.
1. Kabuki means sing, dance and skill, but is sometimes translated as the art of singing and dancing
2. A kabuki stage features a projection known as a hanamichi.
3. There are many different styles of designs for a kabuki stage such as Mawari-butai (revolving stage), Seri (traps), Chūnori (riding in mid-air), and Hiki Dōgu (small wagon stage).
4. The 3 main categories for a kabuki theater is jidai-mono (historical, or pre-Sengoku period stories), sewa-mono (domestic, or post-Sengoku stories), and shosagoto (dance pieces).
5. Strict laws during the Edo period prohibited the representation of contemporary events and particularly prohibited casting it in a bad light, although enforcement varied greatly over the years.
I think it is very interesting that in the Edo period, the Japanese prohibited the representation of kabuki. They must not have known how important kabuki is to their culture.
Kabuki
1- The stage rotates and also has hidden trapdoors that allow actors to appear and disappear.
2- From 1673 – 1841 was when the kabuki thrived its structure formalized.
3- Women were banned to act in the Kabuki theaters so there are actors that specialize in playing women roles.
4- The left stage is where the important or high ranking characters are and stage right is where the lower ranking characters are.
5- At Kabukiza Theater in Osaka tickets for the whole show can range from 2,400 yen to 16,000 yen and offer an “english earphone guide” is offered.
I think it is weird that women couldn’t act in kabuki even acting as women. And it is fascinating that a kabuki ticket can cost from 31 dollars to 208 dollars.
Drew, thats normal in a lot of acting. In Shakespeare’s plays, men played both male and female roles in everything.
It’s weird that women were banned in Kabuki, I know a lot of tradition excludes women, but it’s still surprising.
I wonder why female actors are banned from acting in Kabuki theaters
wait so if women cant act a guy has to act out a womens part??? O.o
i think it is cool that there are trap doors to help actors dissapear and apeare. also there were alot of countrys were women were band from acting.
Sumo Wrestling:
1. A new dohyo (ring) is built for each tournament by the yobidashi (announcer or beckoner).
2. There are six divisions in sumo: makuuchi, juryo, makushita, sandanme, jonidan, and jonokuchi.
3. When sumo wrestlers are outside, they must wear wooden sandals called geta that make a clip-clop sound when one walks in them.
4. When the bout is over, the referee must immediately designate his decision by pointing his gunbai or war-fan to the winning side.
5. Woman are not allowed to enter or touch the sumo wrestling dohyo.
How did the ring get its name?
why do sumo wrestlers have to wear wooden sandles? why not just shoes ?
Wouldn’t the Sandals make a sumo wrestler trip or fall at times?
In traditional Japanese sumo wrestling…
1. On average, a sumo wrestling match lasts less than 10 seconds.
2. Sumo wrestlers are called rikishis.
3. There are six different divisions in sumo, makuuchi, makushita, sandanme, jonidan, jonokuchi, and one more division that I cant spell with my keyboard.
4. Sumo wrestlers are banned from driving cars, for reasons of tradition and safety concerns due to weight.
5. Sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of between 60 and 65, more than 10 years shorter than the average Japanese male.
Has a sumo wrestling match ever lasted longer than 10 seconds?
Sumo-
1. Sumo wrestling is the national sport in Japan, though baseball is very popular.
2. Sumo wrestlers eat a stew called Chankonabe to fatten up, it is sold in many restaurants.
3. The minimum height and weight of a wrestler is 167 cm and 67 kg.
4.Tournaments run fifteen days, starting and ending on Sundays.
5. Sumo wrestling originated as a religious ritual performed at Shinto shrines.
I want some Chankonabe to see what it tastes like, and it’s very interesting that this is a religous sport.
The Tradition of the Japanese Sumo…
1. Sumo was actually a ritual dance that forced the wrester to wrestle a divine spirit (kamis) at the imperial court.
2. Sumo wresters are forced to wear a chonmage (a topknot) and a Japanese dress any time out in the public. These are signs for identification outside the stables.
3. Once a sumo wrestler becomes a yokozuna (or grand champion), they are forced into retirement as soon as they are no longer fit to sumo.
4. The average sumo wrestler wieghs 265 to 350 pounds.
5. Wrestlers lower than the jūryō are not paid, but instead have allowances
So according to your fact, most Sumo wrestlers are even fat compared to the fatsest people in the world. Which is a guy who weighs 550 pounds.
Well it makes sense because they do eat all day and stuff but they also train. Regular old fat people that was 550 pounds eat and do nothing because they can even stand up without breaking their ankles.
I never knew sumo was actually a ritual dance that forced the wrester to wrestle a divine spirit (kamis) at the imperial court but how did it turn into a sport?
i didnt know they didnt get paid, but how come they dont get paid like other sport players??
that’s interesting that sumo was a ritual dance. also i find it interesting how some only get an alouence.
1. Kabuki was popular among the common townspeople and not of the higher social classes.
2. Kabuki means sing, dance, and skill. Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as “the art of singing and dancing.” The kanji of ‘skill’ generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre.
3. Since the word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning “to lean” or “to be out of the ordinary”, kabuki can be interpreted as “avant-garde” or “bizarre” theatre.
4. The history of kabuki began in 1603 when Izumo no Okuni, possibly a miko of Izumo Taisha, began performing a new style of dance drama in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto.
5. After World War II was Kabuki almost dead.
If you go on the website below you can see a glimpse of a Kabuki fight scene
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*5. After World War II, Kabuki was almost dead
Woodblock printing
1 Woodblock printitng is catagorized into two styles, traditional, and creative.
2. These catagorizations don’t really define the styles. Traditional can be creative, and creative has many tratiotional elements.
3 Famous designers often had little to do with the final product. The details were often added by assistants midway through the printing procecess.
4 Creative printmaking is very popular in Japan today, while Traditional printmaking is on its last legs.
5 Traditional printmaking flourished in the 16 – 18 hundreds, while creative flourished in the 20th century.
So basically, the designers get all the credit for something they only had a small part of. It seems opposite nowadays with like music production or movies.
-Japanese calligraphy is the artistice writing of the Japanese writing.
-The most known Japanese calligrapher was Wang Xizhi.
-Sumo is a collective sport where on e wrestler tries to force another wrestler out of a circular ring.
-Sumo wrestling was used in the Shinto religion.
-Woodblock printing was used as an ancient type of copying.
1.Sumo was always performed outdoors until the first Kokugikan was built in Ryogoku, Tokyo in 1909
2.Sumo wrestlers are banned from driving cars because of weight
3.Only higher ranking wrestlers are allowed silk loincloth
4.No women are allowed in the dohyo
5. keshou-mawashi (ceremonial aprons) are given to wrestlers by their fan clubs
Then do the lower ranking wrestlers were cotton? or some other kind of material?
1. The sport sumo originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally.
2. It is generally considered to be a gendai budō (a modern Japanese martial art).
3. Over the rest of Japanese recorded history, sumo’s popularity has changed according to the whims of its rulers and the need for its use as a training tool in periods of civil strife.
4. Current professional sumo tournaments began in the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in 1684, and then were held in the Ekō-in in the Edo period.
5. Often wrestlers have little choice in their name, which is given to them by their trainer (or stablemaster), or by a supporter or family member who encouraged them into the sport.
These facts were very interesting, Ebony. I always thought the sumo wrestlers themself were the ones who decide their name.
1. it isnt certain when sumo started but it was somewhere around one or two thousand years ago.
2.Until 1174, a sumo festival was held in Kyoto every year on July 7 for the Emporer to enjoy.
3. Sumo wrestlers are called rikishi
4.A sumo tournament was called a basho.
5. Tournaments were started and ended with a tower drum called a Yagura-daiko
These facts gave me a better insight on sumo wrestling. When you stated that a sumo tournament was called a basho, I thought to myself if it had to do with Basho, the famous japanese poet.
I find it interesting how almost everyting in Japan has something to do with music, such as the drums here.
SUMO
1. Sumo wrestling is a tradition of japenese people because they have a legand that the god of japan sumo wrestled other gods out of japan.
2. One of the longest sumo matches was 15 min. long.
3. Most of the sumo wrestlers are required to live in a sumo training stables known in japan as heya.
4. Sumo was originally performed to entertain the gods.
5.The word sumo means “way of the gods.”
I find it weird how they got an idea of a god throwing other gods out of Japan.
Kabuki:
1. Kabuki was founded by a shrine maiden named Okuni in the city of Kyoto.
2.The style of Kabuki originated in 1603 in Japan where women would dance in a dramatic style and play both male and female parts.
3. Later on, women were banned and adult males started taking on all the roles and still are to this day.
4.There are three main categories to Kabuki which are domestic, historical, and dance pieces.
5. Some Kabuki programs last longer than a couple hours and some even last a whole day, therefore, providing the audience with a whole day to escape their busy lifes and enjoy the entertainment.
Woodblock Printing:
1. The earliest known woodblock printing dates from 764-770.
2. Woodblock printing originated in China.
3. Woodblock printing was also used on wallpaper and other fabrics
4. Woodblock printing in China is strongly associated with Buddhism.
5. Ukiyo-e is the best known type of Japanese woodblock art print.
I looked up some Ukiyo-e pictures and there were alot of ones with geisha. My favorite one I found was called “Traveling at Night Through the Hakone Mountains” by Hiroshige.
sumo wrestling:
1.Sumo was always performed outdoors until the first Kokugikan was built in Ryogoku, Tokyo in 1909
2.Sumo wrestlers are banned from driving cars, for reasons of tradition rather safety concerns due to weight…
3.Sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of between 60 and 65, more than 10 years shorter than the average Japanese male.
4.The sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days sumo was used in religion.
5.the keshou-mawashi (ceremonial aprons) are given to wrestlers by their fan clubs.
Sumo
1) A form of female sumo, onnazumo, was once pratice long ago in a few places in Japan. Today, it is prohibited in any thing, other than amateur settings.
2) The Governor Fusae Ohta (2000-2008) challenged the sumo Association every year for the annual Osaka tournament. As governor, she was to give the Governor’s Prize to the champion, where she’d have to walk on the dohyō. The Sumo Association would always reject her request to walk on the dohyo, instead she had to give the prize by walking beside the dohyo or having a male reperstitive give it.
3) Things called Tegata are like the autographs of sumo. Tegata consites of the sumo’s hand print with his fighting name in calligraphic style by the sumo himself. Original Tegata copies are very expsense, but you can get printed ones at a cheap coast.
4) Chankonabe, the stew sumo’s eat to gain weight, is made of these ingerdents: chicken broth (dashi), sake or mirin to add flavor, chicken (with skin still on), fish (fried and made into balls), tofu, sometimes beef, and veggies. It is reasonably healthy, high in protien dish. There is not set recipe for chankonabe.
5) The Japan Sumo Association (日本相撲協会, Nihon Sumō Kyōkai) was founded on December 28, 1925. Almost 86 years ago!
1.Traditional kabuki is only performed by men. They perform both the man and women parts.
2.Kabuki is usually much, much longer than most western movies. They are usually 4 to 5 hours long.
3.Kabuki is dancing, singing and acting all in one.
4.People say that every single scene, if paused in place, should create some sort of story in itself.
5.Kabuki started in the Edo period.
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