Japan Spirit and Form #8: Escape into Fantasy

“Escape into Fantasy” is the eighth episode of the NHK series, “Japan: Spirit and Form,” and looks at the art of the late Edo Period and the artists’ shift to themes of fantasy and violence and images of ghostly horrors and apparitions. Artists featured include: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Ito Jakuchu, Soga Shohaku, Nagasawa Rosetsu, and Katsushika Hokusai. We also see live footage of scenes from Kabuki plays which influenced the art of this period. Host Shuichi Kato compares these works to European portrayals of similar subjects, including Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” He then takes us back to Buddhist art of an earlier era of Japan and the depiction of “hungry ghosts” and the like. Kato gives a number of mini-lectures in this episode and is the only expert we hear from. Lots of art is shown. Narration in English by Ashley Thom. Music by Akira Mitake.

Видео Japan Spirit and Form #8: Escape into Fantasy канала Art of East and West