Larry writes:

> This weekend I attended two exhibits of Japanese Culture.
>
> The first was at the New York Public Library, an exhibit called "Ehon
> [picture books]: The Artist and the Book in Japan." This is an
> exhibition of books from The New York Public Library, mainly from the
> Spencer Collection, chronicling the development of "ehon" in Japan from
> 764 to the present. The exhibit runs through Feb. 4, and for those in
> the New York City area, it is well worth a looksee. Admission is free.
>
> One book made me laugh: it is a picture book written in English. The
> illustration on the page it was open to is of two men in a restuarant.
> One says to the other, "Let us order a dish of stork." The other
> replies, "But I fear a long bill."

> The second exhibition is at The Japan Society gallery. It is
> called "Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century." It
> runs through January 21, and costs $10, but is well worth it. The
> exhibit was originally shown at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2005,
> but has been expanded for this exhibition.
>
> Among the highlights are works by the founding members of the Soodeisha
> group, as well as the rarely seen masterwork by Yagi Kazuo, on loan
> from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, "A Cloud Remembered" (Kumo
> no kioku)(1959).
>
> Larry
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/3974
>

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Larry, san.
Just this morning in the Japan Times :

*(c) Japan Times* Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070116f2.html

New York library shows off ancient Japan cultural trove


By ALANNA ROSENBERG and MARTIN ROSENBERG
Special to The Japan Times

NEW YORK -- Picture a scroll 12 meters long and 240 years old depicting
travel along the Yodo River.

Or contemplate the painstaking production of 1 million copies of a text 12
centuries ago that were only meant to be preserved, not read, along with
Buddha's blessings, in tranquil shrines on foggy hillsides.

A cultural landmark at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the New
York Public Library, with more than 50 million items in its collection, has
one of the most elaborate holdings of Japanese literary artifacts outside of
Japan, with an estimated 1,500 books and other forms of text and 300
manuscripts.

Between now and Feb. 4, the library is offering a unique glimpse of its vast
Japanese collection, which includes woodblock prints, photographs and
manuscripts, in the exhibition "Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan."

Today's Japanese commuters clutching their "manga" comic books in lurching
trains and Westerners with paperbacks perhaps little realize that some of
the earliest roots of books sprouted in Japan not long after the fall of the
Roman Empire, as a form of communication known as "ehon," or picture texts.

The library's exhibit is causing a minor sensation in New York's cultural
world, where things Japanese are increasingly coveted in the decades since
Sony and Toyota launched their invasion of America's eager consumer market.

The exhibit appeals to New Yorkers and visitors alike who want a deeper
understanding of Japanese cultural history to go along with their love of
sushi and electronics. Japanophiles have also been flocking to the library
since the exhibit opened last fall.

In a recent review in The New York Times, a critic described the display in
poetic terms: "It is mica that gives the full moon its pale, shimmering
haze; eggshell that leavens the colors of pigments; soot that darkens the
oldest inks. The exotic objects unroll, revealing scrolls, or flip open,
showing scrims or textured papers on which images of 13 centuries are
disclosed: delicate spider webs and imposing elephants, erotic encounters
and brutal acts, seashells and atomic explosions."

The Times reviewer concludes: "For as in so many of the ehon, when the
evanescent is carefully contemplated, something timeless is revealed."

The exhibition's curator, Roger S. Keyes, is a visiting scholar in East
Asian studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a former
Mel and Lois Tukman Fellow at the New York Public Library's Center for
Scholars and Writers.

"One secret of the appeal of ehon is that their artists see with such
imagination and clarity, draw with such verve, and embrace any subject,
however humble or imperfect," Keyes explained.

"Ehon are indescribably intimate," he said. "They are so beautifully made,
of such attractive and sensuous materials, that they attract, seize and hold
a reader's attention. Ehon provide revelation, energy and inspiration and
turn willing readers into artists. They empower people."

The exhibit chronicles the development of ehon from 764 to the present, and
demonstrates the beauty and originality of Japan's earliest book designs.

*Ehon* are scrolls and books that combine pictures and verse to tell a story
about man, nature and the universe.

They were originally created as religious offerings and therefore were not
meant to be read. It is believed that one of the first was mass-produced,
painstakingly, starting around 764 at the direction of Empress Shotoku as an
act of reverence for the Buddha. One ehon, the "Perfection of Wisdom Sutra,"
was given to a Shinto shrine in 1279 to protect against a Mongol attack.

The beginnings of the literary tradition are explored in the first portion
of the exhibit, "Origins," which features early Buddhist books and
nonreligious texts.

"The Art of the Book" has books spanning the last 400 years. Other works are
presented in separate sections that explore the themes of "Heaven," "Earth"
and "Humanity."

"The Art of the Book" emphasizes the artistic element of creating and
reading ehon. Artists designed their books in a fashion common in Japanese
culture: separating the outside and inner worlds with a series of barriers.

"Heaven" includes all of the bodies in the overarching sky.

"Earth" presents ehon focused on the land, sea and all nonhuman animals.
These scrolls present topographical, symbolic and imaginary landscapes.

Mount Fuji, the large, symmetrical often-climbed peak that has been sacred
for centuries, is frequently represented, notably by Katsushika Hokusai in
"One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji."

Down by the sea, one can almost hear the sound of the surf while staring at
Kitagawa Utamaro's evocative "Gifts of the Ebb Tide" from 1789. It shows
hunters of seashells strolling Shinagawa beach.

"Humanity" depicts its namesake in all its diversity -- including different
kinds of people in different stations of life. These ehon show the
historical societal stratification that was present between the Imperial
family and nobility, the samurai and the ordinary people.

All of the works in this exhibition are from the collections of the New York
Public Library, primarily the Spencer Collection and the Print Collection of
the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs.

"The Spencer Collection at the New York Public Library is home to over 300
manuscripts and 1,500 printed books from Japan," said David Ferriero, Andrew
W. Mellon director and chief executive of the research libraries at the New
York Public Library. "Today we continue to acquire significant Japanese
material and materials related to the art of the book."

Paul LeClerc, president of the library, said much of the material in the
exhibit is now available electronically through a digital gallery, allowing
people around the world to take a look.
To see examples of Ehon, go to,, http://www.nypl.org/digital/index.htm ,,
and type .. ehon .. in the search gallery field.
...................................
(c) Japan Times
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070116f2.html

.......................


The full EHON link: This is really great !
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?keyword=ehon&x=\
12&y=4

Enjoy Japanese Culture ! And thanks, Larry for bringing this up!

by the way, a long bill
................................ could be the long beak of a stork
................................ or the expensive bill at a restaurant!


GABI

http://darumasan.blogspot.com/


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