Issue 3 Inside this issue: Spring 2014 Editor’s Note 2 Upcoming Events 3

IAJS News: A summary of Japan-related academic events in 6 Israel Special Feature: Voices in Japanese Art Research in Israel 10

Featured Article: The Brush and the Keyboard: On Being an 13 Artist and a Researcher

Collecting Japanese Erotic Art: Interview with Ofer Shagan 18

Japanese Art Collections in Israel 21

New Scholar in Focus: Interview with Reut Harari, PhD Candidate 29 at Princeton University New Publications: A selection of publications by IAJS members 32

The Israeli Association for Japanese IAJS Council 2012-2013 The Israeli Association of Studies Newsletter is a biannual Japanese Studies (IAJS) is a non publication that aims to provide Honorary President: -profit organization seeking to information about the latest Prof. Emeritus Ben-Ami encourage Japanese-related developments in the field of Japanese Shillony research and dialogue as well as Studies in Israel. (HUJI) to promote Japanese language education in Israel. We welcome submissions from IAJS Council Members: members regarding institutional news, Dr. Nissim Otmazgin (HUJI) For more information visit the publications and new researches in the Dr. Michal Daliot-Bul (UH) IAJS website at: Dr. Irit Averbuh (TAU) www.japan-studies.org Image: Itsukushima, Aki. Utagawa field of Japanese Studies. Please send Dr. Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti Hiroshige II (1829-1869). Section of your proposals to the editor at: (Beit Berl College & HUJI) General Editor: Ms. Irit Weinberg emaki-mono, ink and colour on paper, [email protected]. Dr. Helena Grinshpun (HUJI) Language Editor: Ms. Nikki Littman 1850-1858. ©Tikotin Museum of Art Dr. Alon Levkowitz (HUJI)

Dr. Rachel Shaoul (TAU) IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 1 EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Friends of IAJS, paintings of the monk artists

It is with great pleasure that we present the third issue of Hakuin Ekaku and Sengai the IAJS Newsletter. This issue is dedicated to the Gibon; Dr. Shalmit Bejarano research and exhibition of Japanese art in Israel. on the emergence and development of Kōshokuzu, Japanese art is a major focus of interest in Israel, for pictures of rice agriculture laypeople and scholars alike. Israel is the home of the and silk production; and Dr. Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, the only museum of its Etty Glass Gissis on the artistic and metaphoric role of kind in the Middle East, dedicated specifically to Japanese mirrors in Ukiyo-e. art and comprising more than 7,000 items. Israel also hosts a number of other important Japanese art collections, The newsletter also includes announcements of upcoming including the Jacob Pins Collection which features a events related to Japanese studies, as well as reports on number of rare woodblock prints. major events of the last six months and announcements of new publication by IAJS members. Finally, we conclude In this issue we highlight the commitment of Israeli scholars with our regular feature: an interview with a promising and curators to Japanese art. Three Israeli curators young scholar. This time we talk to Ms. Reut Harari, a PhD present the Japanese art collections held in their candidate at Princeton University. Ms. Harari’s research museums: Dr. Ilana Singer talks of the Tikotin collection; deals with Japanese medical history from the Meiji era Ms. Shir Meller-Yamaguchi presents several exhibitions of through to the Pacific War, specifically focusing on: the Japanese modern art held at the Wilfrid Israel Museum of relationship between medicine, war, and gender; the place Asian Art and Studies; and Ms. Miriam Malachi from the of medical hierarchies on the battlefield; medical ethics; Israel Museum discusses the Marcel Lorber Department of and the interaction between military technology, and Asian Art which includes the Pins Collection of Japanese medical practices and knowledge. Art. In addition, Dr. Shalmit Bejarano conducts an interview with Mr. Ofer Shagan, an Israeli collector of It was our goal to shed some light on the work being Japanese art based in Japan, whose passion for Japanese undertaken in the field of Japanese art in Israel, and we art has made his shunga collection one of the biggest in sincerely hope you will enjoy this issue. the world and motivated him to write five books on the Irit Weinberg topic. IAJS Newsletter Editor

We also feature an article by Dr. Ayelet Zohar, an artist and scholar of Japanese art, who talks about the intersection between the research and the practice of art. In addition, this issue introduces the recent research of three scholars of Japanese art in Israel: Dr. Galit Aviman on the Zen

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 2 UPCOMING EVENTS

International Workshop on 12th Biennial Conference Japan’s Anime Industry: of Asian Studies in Israel Attainments and Prospects

Venue: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Truman Venue: University of Haifa, May 25-26, 2014 Institute, May 21, 2014 Keynote Speaker: George Wada, president of Wit Studios The 12th Biennial Conference of Asian Studies in Israel will Organizers: Dr. Nissim Otmazgin, Hebrew University and take place at the University of Haifa on May 25-26, 2014. Dr. Michal Daliot-Bul, University of Haifa The theme of this year's conference is “Asia as an Idea/ Asia as a Consolidating Unity” and it will focus on the interactions and intersections between various Asian countries and cultures, as well as transcultural flows in Asia. IAJS members will participate in various discussions and presentations on subjects ranging from the pan-Asian contextualization of the Tōhoku disaster, through changes in Japanese industry and politics in the global age, to mutual influences in art and popular culture between Japan and its neighbors.

For additional information please visit:

On May 21, 2014, the Department of Asian Studies at the http://asia.haifa.ac.il/ASI2014/ Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Louis Frieberg

Center for East Asian Studies will hold an international workshop entitled “Japan's Anime Industry: Attainments and Prospects,” bringing together scholars and professionals from the anime industry in Japan, Israel, and beyond. The participants include the famous anime producer, Mr. George Wada, president of Wit Studios. Panelists will address topics related to media distribution and convergence, and the changing structure and the globalization of the anime industry.

For additional details and program please visit: http://new.huji.ac.il/en/event/21071

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 3 UPCOMING EVENTS

Prof. Carol Gluck Visits Israel Performing Japanese Traditions: Lecture series and workshop for Temporal and Spatial doctoral students Reconsideration of Dramatics, Poetics, and Rituals Practices

Venu: The Zalman Shazar Center and the Historical Research Workshop of the Israel Society of Israel Science Foundation Jerusalem, 27.5-1.6.2014

Venue: Tel Aviv University, June 15-17, 2014 Prof. Carol Gluck of Columbia University, New York, will Language of the Workshop: English and Japanese (with give a course of lectures titled "Modern Japan and the translation) Work of History" in the framework of the lecture series "The Keynote Speaker: Prof. Mikio Takemoto, Waseda Jerusalem Lectures in History in Memory of Menahem University, Tokyo Stern" established by the Historical Society of Israel. The Organizers: Prof. Zvika Serper and Dr. Irit Averbuch, Tel Aviv University lectures schedule is as follows: Sponsors: Israel Science Foundation (ISF); The Japan Tuesday, May 27, 2014: "The Arrow of Time" Foundation; Center for Japanese Studies, Thursday, May 29, 2014: "The Angel of History" University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), USA; Tel Aviv University. Sunday, June 6, 2014: "After the Shipwreck"

In addition, on May 28, 214, the Historical Society of Israel in collaboration with IAJS will host a special workshop in which Prof. Gluck will meet with doctoral students in the The research workshop will investigate the performative field of Japanese Studies from all the universities in Israel. aspects of Japanese traditions through several prisms, with The students will present their research and receive the cooperation of a diverse group of prominent scholars valuable feedback from this renowned scholar. from Japan, Europe, USA, Canada, and Israel. It will focus Prof. Gluck is a well-known mainly on two general fields—the performing arts and historian of modern Japan. Among religious ritual practice—in both their temporal and spatial the works she has authored and dimensions, and will touch upon further performative edited are Japan's Modern Myths aspects of politics, gender, and the arts. (Princeton University Press, The workshop will open with an examination of the junction 1985), Showa, The Japan of of religious ritual and performing arts, focusing on the Hirohito (Norton, 1992), Asia in Western and World History Shugendō tradition. It will then explore medieval and (M.E. Sharpe, 1997), and Words in Motion: Toward a modern esoteric traditions and imperial rites, in both their Global Lexicon (Duke University Press, 2009). political and spatial dimensions. A discussion on the

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 4 UPCOMING EVENTS performative aspects of Zen practice will further the Mariko Okada, Oberlin University, Tokyo & University of examination of this focal theme of religious ritual Michigan Kimie Ōshima, Kanagawa University, Yokohama performance. In the field of the traditional performing arts, Fumi Ōuchi, Miyagi Gakuin Womens' University, Sendai consolidation of performance genres, as well as temporal Cody Poulton, University of Victoria, Canada changes and transformations of performative elements, will Jacob Raz, Tel Aviv University be explored in relation to Nō, Kyōmai, Kabuki, and Jennifer Robertson, University of Michigan Bunraku. A consideration of performative aspects of the Stanca Scholz-Cionca, University of Trier, Germany Gaynor Sekimori, SOAS, University of London arts in their spatial dimensions will be followed by Zvika Serper, Tel Aviv University discussions on the performance of gender in both Ben-Ami Shillony, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem traditional and modern theatres and on the various Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei, University of California, Los possibilities of performing narrations in pre-modern and Angeles modern Japan. The workshop will conclude with an Mikio Takemoto, Waseda University, Tokyo Ayelet Zohar, Tel Aviv University investigation of the transition of elements from traditional theatres to cinema.

The workshop is intended to add an essential layer to the field of performance studies in Japan, and to lay the groundwork for a conceptual redefinition of the performative aspect of Japanese culture. The participating scholars who come from various disciplines will enable a unique exchange of viewpoints and analytical approaches.

Speakers (in alphabetical order): Irit Averbuch, Tel-Aviv University Shalmit Bejarano, Tel-Aviv University Mari Boyd, Sophia University,Tokyo Linda Ehrlich, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Aaron Gerow, Yale University, Connecticut Steven Heine, Florida International University Erez Joskovich, Tel-Aviv University Yoriko Kanda , Keiwa Gakuen University, Shibata, Niigata Susan Klein, University of California, Irvine Laurence Komniz, Portland State University Arie Kutz, Tel-Aviv University Yaara Morris, SOAS, University of London

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 5 IAJS NEWS A summary of Japan-related academic events in Israel

The Elizabeth Anna Gordon Art in European collections,” (JBAE), sponsored by Hōsei Collection University in Tokyo and the University of Zurich. The generous support of the Japan Foundation and the NLI has Over the last year, the National Library of Israel (NLI) has enabled the launching of the digitization of the Elizabeth been working on the catalogization and digitization of a Gordon Collection. This project is under the supervision of rare collection of Buddhist paintings and prints from the Dr. Milka Levy-Rubin, curator of NLI Humanities Collection, Bakumatsu era (1853-1867) to the Meiji period (1868- and Shoshana Adelstein, head of the NLI Asian and Africa 1912). The hitherto unknown collection of more than Department, with cataloging provided by Naama hundred pictures was donated to the library in 1925. Eisenstein. The project is still in progress, but we wanted to

The donor was Elizabeth Anna Gordon (1851-1925) who take this opportunity to offer you an initial peek into this visited Japan for the first time in 1891 as part of a world unique collection. tour with her husband, the Scottish member of Parliament For more details visit the NLI website:

John Edward Gordon (1850-1915). The visit impressed the http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/digitallibrary/gallery/ couple favorably, and upon their return to England, they Humanities/Elisabeth-Gordon/Pages/default.aspx joined the Japan Society in London. In 1907 Mrs. Gordon Text by Dr. Shalmit Bejarano and Naama Eisenstein returned to Japan and, except for one extended visit to her home country around 1916, she remained in Japan until her death in Kyoto in 1925. Conference Proceedings: Mrs. Gordon held a strong interest in religions, especially in Urbanism, Urban Space, Urban early Christianity and Buddhism which, perhaps influenced Culture: Perspectives on Japanese Economy, Politics and Culture in the by the conference of world religions in Chicago, she Past and in the Present believed to be related. While in Japan, she enthusiastically Based on the papers given at the First Annual studied Buddhism and collected numerous Buddhist books Conference of the Israeli Association for Japanese and artworks. After her death, a portion on this collection Studies (May 5-6, 2013, University of Haifa) we have was donated to the Jewish National Library. A few of the compiled conference proceedings on urbanity in Japan edited by Dr. Michal (Miki) Daliot-Bul (University of items were exhibited in 1940, but then, during the 1948 Haifa). The papers explore the complexity War of Independence, the collection had to be rescued and the changing functionality of urbanism, urban from the besieged Mount Scopus and placed in the new space, and urban culture in Japan from economic, library on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University, political, social, and cultural perspectives. where it was first catalogued by librarian Kikue Eppstein. The papers have been uploaded to our website and are available at: Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Shalmit Bejarano, a connection http://www.japan-studies.org/Conference-Proceedings- was made with the digitization project “Japanese Buddhist 2013-vol-II.html

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 6 IAJS NEWS A summary of Japan-related academic events in Israel

Japanese Language Proficiency First Manga Library Opened at the Test Hebrew University The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), On December 18, 2013, the Department of Asian Studies organized jointly by IAJS and the culture section of the at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem inaugurated a library Embassy of Japan in Israel took place on December 1, dedicated to manga. The library offers approximately 200 2013 at Haifa University. The exam was taken by around manga books, focusing mainly on Japanese history. seventy students with varying levels of proficiency. Among these are series of famous Japanese manga artists such as Tezuka Osamu, Mizuki Shigery and Nakazawa Kenji. The aim of this collection is to provide both education and entertainment, using this highly popular medium. The library is managed by the student club “Nippon” and is located in room 1121 in the Faculty of Humanities.

The success of the event was due to the efforts of Mr. Shimada Seiya and Ms. Morimoto Nanako of the Embassy of Japan, Ms. Sigal Schneider, Dr. Michal (Miki) Daliot-Bul and Ms. Rika Einy of the Haifa University, Ms. Noa Oppenheim of the Hebrew University, and Dr. Mika Levy- Yamamori of Tel Aviv University. Fifth Annual Japanese Speech Contest The 5th annual Japanese Speech Contest was held on Monday, May 12, 2014 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The contest was organized by the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University and the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies, in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Israel. The contest showcased a wide range of wonderful speeches by students from universities across Israel.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 7 IAJS NEWS A summary of Japan-related academic events in Israel

Classical Japanese Reading Fukushima and Beyond: Workshop Three Years Since the Great East Japan Earthquake A special workshop dedicated to reading classical Japanese texts was held at Tel Aviv University, March 4-7, On March 10, 2014 a conference commemorating the third 2014. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Kazuko anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami disaster that Kameda-Madar (Hawaii Pacific University) and comprised struck Japan on March 11, 2011 was held at the University of three meetings. of Haifa.

His Excellency Ambassador Hideo Satō.

Dr. Kazuko Kameda-Madar (third from left) His Excellency Ambassador Sato opened the conference and participants of the workshop. and was followed by speakers from various fields and

The workshop focused on the text Genjō Sanzōe (the disciplines. Prof. Rotem Kowner (University of Haifa) and illustrated scrolls of the monk Zuanzang). Dr. Kameda- Dr. Shlomit Paz (University of Haifa) offered some Madar gave an introductory lecture about the scroll which introductory remarks, profiling various aspects of the was painted by Takashina Takakane (active ca.1309- earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. Mr. Nissim Ben 1330), the head of the Imperial Painting Bureau (kyūtei Shetrit, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs edokoro), and inscribed by important calligraphers such as and Israel’s previous ambassador to Japan, gave an Sezonji Tsunetada (dates unknown) and his son Sezonji overview of the Israeli aid provided at the time of the Yukitada (1286-1350). The ensuing meetings were disaster. dedicated to the reading of the original text under the Dr. Shay Pintov (Ben Gurion University), Dr. Shulamit guidance of Dr. Kameda-Madar. Bresler (Kibbutzim College and the University of Haifa) and Shira Taube-Dayan (University of Haifa) contributed to a The workshop was sponsored by IAJS and the Japan discussion of the various medical and psychological Foundation. aspects of the relief work. Dr. Rachel Shaoul (Tel-Aviv

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 8 IAJS NEWS A summary of Japan-related academic events in Israel

University), Dr. Ayelet Zohar (Tel Aviv University, Technion will share their experience and knowledge with students in and Bezalel Academy) and Prof. Christopher Pokarier small theme-focused workgroups. The featured topics are: (Waseda University) examined various aspects of the * Cultural and Media Studies - Dr. Michal (Miki) Daliot-Bul. Fukushima aftermath, including debates on Japan’s energy * History - Prof. Rotem Kowner. policy, social aspects of the disaster, and its impact on the * Religious Studies - Dr. Irit Averbuch. visual arts. * Anthropology and Gender - Prof. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni. * International Relations - Dr. Rachel Shaoul * Political Science - Dr. Nissim Otmazgin. * Art - Dr. Shalmit Bejarano.

Prof. Rotem Kowner

IAJS Grads Workshop

From left to right: Prof. Ben-Ami Shillony, Dr. Nissim Otmazgin, The 3rd workshop by IAJS Grads, ”Planning and Dr. Etty Glass Gissis. Conducting Field Research in Japan,” took place at the

Hebrew University on January 19, 2014. A panel of IAJS Grads is a network of graduate and research speakers including Prof. Ben-Ami Shillony, Dr. Irit students supported by IAJS. The network activities are Averbuch, Dr. Nissim Otmazgin and Dr. Etty Glass Gissis, initiated by students for students, with the supervision shared their experience in conducting field research in and support of leading scholars in the field of Japanese Studies in Israel. Japan. They discussed the ways to prepare for field The mission of IAJS Grads is to promote research research in Japan, expected difficulties and methods to domains that are not addressed by existing academic deal with them. frameworks. IAJS Grads offers a forum for debating research topics, locating bibliographical sources, The next IAJS Grads Workshop will take place at Tel assistance with academic connections, information on Aviv University on June 22, 2014 and will focus on the studying abroad, and more. subject of defining and developing a research topic. The workshop will be conducted in the format of thematic mentoring. Leading scholars of Japanese studies in Israel

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 9 SPECIAL FEATURE Voices in Japanese Art Research in Israel

Zen Paintings in Edo Japan Dr. Galit Aviman

My love for Japanese art in general and Zen paintings in particu- lar has intensified over the years. One of my strongest memo- ries is from my days as a graduate student, on a special collabo- rative program between Kyoto University and the Kyoto National Museum; all the classes and seminars took place at the mu- seum where the students had the opportunity to observe the art (including national treasures) and to learn first-hand about the work of the museum. I cannot forget the feeling of joy the first time I saw a painting by the Zen monk-painter - Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) at close range and with no glass protection. Japanese Buddhist art, Zen paintings and Zenga are some of my research interest in recent years. Hakuin Ekaku, however, together with Sengai Gibon (1750–1837), another prominent monk-painter from the Edo period, continue to be the main focus of my study. Their Hakuin Eikaku. Daruma. Indianapolis Museum of paintings are at the center of the discussion of my forthcoming book Zen Paintings in Edo Japan Art. (1600-1868): Playfulness and Freedom in the Artwork of Hakuin Ekaku and Sengai Gibon to be published at the end of this year.

The book explores the free attitude and playfulness reflected in the artwork of these two monks. This attitude is one of the qualities which distinguish Zen Paintings of the Edo period from those of earlier periods. Although the concept of freedom is an issue of considerable importance in Zen Buddhism, no in-depth research has yet been undertaken on the reflection of this free attitude in the lives and artwork of Edo period Zen monk-painters, such as Hakuin and Sengai. The work strives to under- stand the nature of this particular expression and to identify its sources. I propose a multifaceted approach, combining a ho- listic analysis of the paintings, as units of both text and image and their interrelationship, together with contextualization of the artwork within the specific historical, art historical, cultural, social and political environments in which they were created.

Galit Aviman lived in Japan for ten years in total. She received her BA in East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Je- rusalem, Israel. With the aid of the Monbusho Fellowship she completed her MA at Kyoto University. She received her PhD at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel with the support of the Doctoral Fellowship of the Kreitman Foundation. In 2010 she conducted her post-doctoral studies at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA, funded by the Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Yad-Hanadiv Foundation. In 2012 she con- ducted research at the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism Hanazono University in Kyoto with the support of the Japan Foundation Fellowship Program. Her forthcoming book to be published with Ashgate Publishing focuses on free- dom and playfulness in Zen paintings of early modern period Japan.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 10 SPECIAL FEATURE Voices in Japanese Art Research in Israel Kōshokuzu: Pictures of Rice Agriculture and Silk Production Dr. Shalmit Bejarano Depictions of plowing farmers and weaving women are often described in historical texts as illustrations of the livelihood of commoners in nostalgic prewar Japan. Thousands of such pictorial images survive, extending from the early sixteenth century wall-and-door paintings of the Daisenin subtemple in Kyoto to Meiji period photographs and prints. Many of these agrarian vignettes, even those created within completely different contexts of time and place, format or audience, repeat specific themes and features. For example, a scene of irrigation with a woman and child bringing food to the workers can be traced in most images (see illustration). The overall atmosphere of such pictures is idyllic, and pastoral society is thus imagined as harmonious. These images, however, are quite far from the written primary and secondary sources describing the life of peasants and commoners of pre- modern times in pejorative or gloomy terms, and they thus provoke many questions regarding the reproduction of agrarian pictures and their retrospective usage as historical texts. My research contextualized the reproduction of kōshokuzu within the little we can find about their artists, patrons, and audience. The artists most commonly associated with kōshokuzu are the Kano painters and their disciples. Students at the Kano workshops were able to practice the drawing of technical vignettes of working farmers by copying earlier models which included Chinese paintings and illustrated books, as well as models drawn by master painters of the school. These models were newly adapted and reproduced throughout Japan as symbols of Confucian ideals which came to reflect local ideals of prosperity and harmonious rule during the Edo period. This

Picture of Rice Agriculture, detail. Originally same symbol of rice farmers as an icon of harmonious society was subsequently Daisen'in Temple, c. 16th. adopted by the Meiji regime. It is thus necessary to contextualize the pictures of farmers before accepting them as documentation of commoners' lives. Moreover, such contextualizing indicates changing trends towards regime and authority in the subtle changes that this supposedly set theme carried through history.

Dr. Shalmit Bejarano is a Japanese art historian. Her dissertation (University of Pittsburgh) analyzed the emergence and development of kōshokuzu (pictures of rice agriculture and silk production) from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries and argued for their charged political messages. Her MA thesis (Dōshisha University, Kyoto) interpreted the ubiquitous display of seasonal motifs along walls and sliding doors and debated the magical and political messages conveyed by such displays. Dr. Bejarano teaches Japanese art history and Japanese history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. She is currently involved in several projects including the study of "copying" (utsushi) in Japanese pre-modern art through the prism of agrarian pictorial motifs, as well as research into illustrated books by Tachibana Morikuni (1679-1748), and the Elizabeth Gordon collection of religious paintings at the Israeli National Library. She is also working on an annotated Hebrew translation of Kamo Chōmei's Hōjōki in memory of her daughter Noya.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 11 SPECIAL FEATURE Voices in Japanese Art Research in Israel

The Artistic and Metaphoric Role of Mirrors in Ukiyo-e Dr. Etty Glass Gissis Mirrors play a significant role in ukiyo-e prints, conveying a broad spectrum of meanings at different philosophical and artistic junctions in Japanese history. Mirror depictions create an exchange between the reflector and the reflected; understanding what is visible (reflected) or invisible (not reflected) is important for comprehending the mirror's artistic and metaphori- cal roles. Mirrors traditionally served as a metaphor for Buddhist and Shinto deities, symbolizing wis- dom and enlightenment. Most manifestly, the mirror-moon analogy represents an important philosophical concept: the shape of mirrors, like the full moon, is a perfect natural form. For practitioners, it also embodies enlightenment. In Buddhist terms, the word daienkyōchi represents the wisdom of Buddha in the form of a circle. An examination of the mirror-moon trope as represented in rituals and religious paintings Suzuki Harunobu. Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand. From the series, Eight can offer new insights into the analogy between the mirror and the moon. There is a rich Views of the Parlor. 1766. Chūban. tradition, which inspired the work of many poets and artists, of using both the moon and the mirror as metaphors for religious thoughts. One example is the pictorial and metaphorical development of the mirror-moon trope in Suzuki Harubobu's Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand (Kyodai no Shugetsu), evident in the composition of the open window, the figure’s sight line, and the use of color. Regarding the role of mirrors in yakusha-e (actor prints), the Shunkan theme was very popular in Kabuki theater, for example in Shunkan monogatari. This theme refers to an historical event which took place in the Heian period when Shunkan, the high priest of the Hōshō temple in Kyoto, plotted against the rule of the Taira clan and was exiled to the remote island of Kikaigashima. In the context of the story, the mirror has a three-fold function: it serves as the crux of the play revealing the truth; it is used by the artist as a tool for expressing his imaginative and free interpretation of the text; and lastly, it acts as an attribute in the portrayals of Shunkan, identifying him, presenting him authentically, and emphasizing his energy. In prints by artists pre-dating Utamaro—i.e., the early stages of mirror depictions in ukiyo-e prints—simple depictions of a beauty or a couple in front of a mirror developed into a more sophisticated mode of mirrors with reflections. In some pictures, the figure ap- pears together with its reflection, the virtual image, while in others only the virtual image is depicted. During the late Edo period, mirror depictions in ukiyo-e suggest a surrealistic type of expression, endemic to the Utagawa School. Early representations of mirror images appear in numerous yakusha-e and are thought to be sections of diptychs or triptychs in which the reflection has become detached from the source, similar to many prints of the Katsukawa School. In the next stage, sin- gle prints include mirrors that are detached from the holder or from their stand. My study, like the important mirror metaphors, approaches the past as a mirror to be looked into by those living in the present.

Dr. Etty Glass Gissis received her PhD (2012) from Gakushuin University, Tokyo. She is currently a lecturer of Japanese art and culture, working also as an independent curator.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 12 FEATURED ARTICLE

The Brush and the Keyboard: On Being actions that express and criticize aspects of both personal and social frameworks. Contemporary art has become an an Artist and a Researcher arena of expression that utilizes images, regardless of Dr. Ayelet Zohar their source, while the artist intervenes to create their My professional identity context and meaning. is clear: I am a scholar My own education as an artist began at the Midrasha Art and an artist. Are these School, one of the strongholds of Israeli contemporary art, opposing faculties of the where I majored in painting, video, and installation art mind, or are they, rather, (1986). The main skill acquired—through lessons, complementary critiques, debates, and discussion of exhibitions—was the capabilities that enrich capacity to (effectively) look and watch. one other? Asian traditions refer to In the early 1980s, before entering art school, I had had bunjinga, mostly translated as literati painting, representing the opportunity to live in Japan. Upon graduation, I the perpetual tension between scholarship and the arts. In realized that my interest in Japanese culture and arts had the following, I would like to share some thoughts, piqued, and I thus decided to study in the Department of reflections and visual references with which I hope to East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University. Already expand this discussion. trained in the arts and dedicated to my studio practice, I had my first one-person show during my first year at the As a professional artist the education I received was university, with one piece playing with images of "Ancient mostly the training of the eye. This consisted of viewing, Pool and a Frog" (after Bashō's famous haiku). From that looking, watching, and then being able to articulate what point on, I was determined to combine my understanding the eye sees. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, of Asian arts with my contemporary training, within the Western art has moved away from the skillful crafts (of context of Israeli life and art history. description and decoration) to new levels of complexity and sophistication, developing from the ready-made to the The Israeli context deserves a short reference here. Israeli conceptual, from photography to new media. Being an art of the 1960s-70s engaged in what was later to be artist today demands an intricate blend of abilities requiring known as Want of Matter (Dalut Hahomer): a style that both theoretical understanding and visual skills. This trend stemmed from the critique of the Bezalel Art Academy and echoes the (idealized) past, the literati tradition of East the arts associated with spiritualism in Jerusalem and went Asia, when praise for technical professionalism was limited on to create what would later be coined as the art of Tel and disparaged, highlighting connoisseurship (shumi) and Aviv—secular, mundane, enigmatic, and relating to pop-art the pure mind of the scholar-practitioner. Being a and other international movements of the time, using contemporary artist today means creating images/objects/ simple materials, words, photos etc. Many of the artists

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 13 FEATURED ARTICLE associated with this style used bare plywood boards as the technique was absorbed by substance of their work; a signifier of the ordinary, non- the Nihonga institutionalized elitist approach to commonplace art materials. For me, system and is, in practice, however, the exposed, simple plywood board was also the non-existent. In the Chinese constituent of traditional Japanese woodblock prints. art academies, on the other Hence, one of the first series I created was made on hand, ink painting was simple plywood boards, using Japanese woodcut knives to thriving, with numerous create cut surfaces similar to woodblocks. In contrast to excellent departments and the Asian tradition where the board is then covered with teachers. Feeling like paint and printed on paper, I kept the stamp of the cut Sesshū, Eisai, Dōgen and surface and displayed it in the gallery as is. Mostly, I did many other Japanese artists not simply start from a plain wooden board but actually and scholars who had "erased" existing paintings by cutting into the wooden Fig. 2. Ayelet Zohar. Hong travelled to China in search Ren's 'Landscape In Snow' texture through the painting's surface [Fig.1]. On My painting Desk. 1995. of the roots of traditions that Ink and acrylic on xuan paper. had changed too drastically My next goal was to study ink painting, as this medium 180X60 cm. beautifully echoed in Japan, I enrolled in the Israeli art’s attention Studio of Landscape Ink Painting at the Central Academy to simplicity and was of Fine Art in Beijing. It was an intriguing encounter; a contemporary artist, educated in Japanese culture, coming also a major style of into a traditional, Northern Style professional studio. My Asian classical art — a method combining training had led me to admire but also to question each the writing process and every element: what is a (good) line? How to and visuality, text and (meaningfully) copy? What is a challenging, contemporary image, and past and ink-painting? [Fig. 2]. present, in a In my own research and teaching, I make a special effort Fig. 1. Ayelet Zohar. Letter to a thoughtful and to share my understanding with readers and students. I Japanese Friend.1996. Ink, acrylic, enamel, and woodcut on plywood. seamless manner. I have focused on works of contemporary Japanese art for 178X122 cm. found that the values my research and analysis over the years, concentrating of this non-material, thin-looking, modest art form provided particularly on the practice of Japanese photography, not a profound echo of my own artistic desires. Nonetheless, necessarily art photography, but photography as a tool in as my awareness of the history of Japanese art in the contemporary art. My master’s research (Tel Aviv nineteenth and twentieth centuries grew, I realized the University, summa cum laude, 2000) focused on questions improbability of engaging with ink painting in Japan; the of gender, post-colonialism, and trans-culturalism in the

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 14 FEATURED ARTICLE corpus of Morimura Yasumasa, the artist who has almost My PhD research centred on the way war trauma and single-handedly changed the face of contemporary art in memory were silenced issues in Japanese society. This Japan. has become a central subject for numerous Japanese artists over the past two decades, as they question the older practices of disregard and evasion. I looked at issues concerning war memory, taking a further step by challenging notions of national, ethnic and geographical limitations. I chose to analyse an art practice (rather than specific works) that reconsiders processes of multifocality, using the themes of camouflage and invisibility (University of London, 2007). Finally, during my postdoctoral research (Stanford University, 2007-9), I developed three further topics that derived from this rather theoretical study, applying my conclusions to photographs by Suzuki Norio of Onoda Hirō (one of the last holdout stragglers) and to Fig. 3. Ayelet Zohar. Shunga (Behind the Screen series), After staged performances by Tsukada Mamoru of Japanese Harunobu. 2001. Ink on Korean paper. 100 x100 cm. imperial army soldiers. I also wrote about Yamashiro Chorus of Melodies I simultaneously developed a series of paintings that Chikako's series and the torments of Okinawan identity; Morimura Yasumasa’s performance of "translate" Japanese shunga (erotic art) into a system of Rising the Flag in Iwo Jima repetitive lines created by the paper's texture and (2010) and Koizumi Meiro’s re- represent the structure of bamboo-screens, mosquito nets, enactments of Kamikaze pilots within the context of wooden folding screens, etc. [Fig. 3]. This painting series contemporary Japanese urban life. I have compiled these Beyond and academic research has grown into a major curatorial varying analyses into my first manuscript entitled Hiroshima: The Return of the Supressed project and exhibition which advanced my understanding , currently under of Morimura's vision, his tremendous influence on the review. younger generation of artists in Japan, and the expanding My own art work has developed into an examination of war field of gender and sexuality in Japanese art and life and political aspects of life in Israel: a series of ink painting (Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, 2005). This exhibition, scrolls entitled Border Scrolls (2001) represent the together with the work of other excellent scholars who exertions of the Israeli landscape [Fig. 4]; the Binoculars contributed to the project, became the edited volume series (2010) represents images of the border viewed PostGender: Gender, Sexuality and Performativity in through the circles of binoculars, painted on two identical Japanese Culture (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009). round-in-square paper formats, as used in Japanese bird- and-flower paintings [Fig. 5]; the Marun al-Ras series

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 15 FEATURED ARTICLE

(2011) combines ink with oil painting and depicts the Deconstruction in Contemporary [Ceramic] Arts was an mountains of Lebanon as viewed from Israel [Fig. 6]; most international group show of contemporary artists who look recently, the Sniper series (2012) is a set of collages of at broken porcelain as a potential starting point for new patterned wallpaper depicting the ultimate image of creativity (Benyamini Ceramics Centre, Tel Aviv, 2013). camouflage and invisibility, namely the sniper [Fig. 7]. Currently on show is Two Moons on the Shore, Mechanical Bird in Norwegian Wood: Haruki Murakami and Contemporary Art (Contemporary by Golconda

Fig. 4 Ayelet Zohar. Border Scrolls #1 (Squares). 2001.Ink on scroll paper with stamps. 40X400 cm. (detail).

Fig. 5. Ayelet Zohar. Smoke in Landscape (Binocular Series). 2011. Ink on Japanese paper. 35X70 cm. Jennifer Robertson and Celeste Brusati Collection. Ann Arbor, MI. Fig. 7. Ayelet Zohar. Sniper in Black. 2011. Wallpaper on plywood. 150X122 cm.

Gallery, Tel Aviv, till May 31, 2014), a curatorial project that brings together Japanese and international artists whose work reflects some aspects of Murakami Haruki’s literature. The show presents an array of media and imagery, and I chose to match each of the presented images with sections taken directly from Murakami's Fig. 6. Ayelet Zohar. Lala Land (Marun al-Ras Series). 2010. Ink and oil paint on plywood. 122X248 cm. literature [Fig. 8]. Ha'aretz Daily Newspaper (Amos Schocken) Collection. Tel Aviv. In the past three years my research has moved in two Over the past decade I have been invited to curate several new directions. First, my research entitled Ink and Index exhibitions, many relating to Japanese themes. The considers the relations between ink painting and curatorial project Smashing!: Fragments, Fragility and

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 16 FEATURED ARTICLE photography in the early years following the introduction of six different themes: the Arabian prince and the slave photography to Japan. An inquiry into the work of early (including dromedary representations); the belly dancer photographers, including Esaki Reiji, Shiina Sukemasa, and the veiled wife (from the earliest to the most recent and Yokoyama Matsusaburo, has revealed some Japanese translations of Arabian Nights); the terrorist and surprising images concerning experimentations with light the refugee (including a group of films that discuss the and dark, reflection and opacity, monochrome and Palestinian-Israeli conflict from a Japanese point of view). transparency, traces and representations, the idea of The research has greatly expanded, and several articles bokuseki (ink traces), and the question of indexicality in concerning aspects of the discussion are to be published photography theory. My findings thus far reveal how in the near future. photographers in Japan have used the medium in an To conclude, my experience as an artist has nurtured my unusual manner which could be termed "anti- approach to the research of Japanese arts and visual photography." culture, equipping me with a good eye that allows me to investigate unusual images and discourses that may not otherwise have been considered. I believe that the classic Asian approach to art and intellectual creativity as mutually combined best describes my own engagement in both fields.

Dr. Ayelet Zohar is an artist, independent curator and visual culture researcher, specializing in Japanese photography. She is a lecturer at the Art History and the East Asian Studies Departments, Tel Aviv University, as well as the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Fig 8. Exhibition Invitation. 2014.

In addition, my most recent research project concerns the encounter between Japan and the Middle East, examining images of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in Japanese art (from late Edo to the present), and exploring their role in Japanese political and cultural imagination. This has turned into a manifold work with offshoots developing into

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 17 INTERVIEW

Collecting Japanese Erotic Art to compete with well-known collections by buying better Interview with Ofer Shagan copies of the renowned painters. Later on I realized that shunga tell the story of Japanese society and that the Interviewed by Dr. Shalmit Bejarano interesting and more creative parts are often to be found in Ofer Shagan (48) is an Israeli-born shunga collector who the unsigned and lesser known books. currently lives in Tokyo. His most recent book Japanese Q: How do you find these books and artworks? Erotic Art: The Hidden World of Shunga was published in A: At auctions and through art dealers. Sometimes I am 2014 by Thames & Hudson. His previous book (in approached by people who have been bequeathed an art Japanese) was titled Encyclopedia of Japanese Erotic Art: collection by their father and who are unhappy to discover Shunga (2011) and was published by Heibonsha. that he secretly collected shunga. Shagan's collection of Japanese erotic art is considered Q: And how do you study them? the largest in the world. It comprises 5000 illustrated books and 2000 single prints from the Edo period (1600-1868), A: The study of shunga leaves much to be desired. I find and 300 painted scrolls, some dating as early as the that most shunga studies tell the history of style and pay Muromachi period (1333-1573). A former art dealer, little attention to social interpretations. There are Shagan has devoted his energies and skills in the last exceptions, starting with Timon Screech's book (with decade to collecting and learning about shunga. His whose interpretation I sometimes disagree), Hayakawa definition of shunga is broad and refers to all images Monta, Andrew Gerstle, and the recent exhibition at the depicting genitals, yet he emphasizes that shunga is not British Museum curated by Tim Clark. Still, this exhibition pornography. Using many hitherto unknown prints, he stressed the aspect of sexual arousal, and for me such an argues that unlike pornography, the main function of interpretation overlooks many of the existing images. I am shunga was not sexual arousal, as the images do not sorry to say that many academics do not deal with the focus on moments of climax. Many shunga books, in fact, subject because they would not get financial support from tell stories of devotion between couples which extend Japanese official sources, or because they cannot work beyond the futon; others use sexual acts to channel with respectable museums which, at best, hold only small criticism against the current political and social affairs. collections of shunga. Many scholars come to consult my collection and share their advice. Q: When did you first encounter shunga, and how did you form your collection? Q: And how about non-academics?

A: Shunga were first shown to me in the back room of an A: My collection is often mentioned in popular weekly art dealer in 1991, and I was drawn to the free depictions magazines (for men, but also for women). I find that of sexual pleasure, especially that of women. I started people who read about my approach to shunga are less purchasing first out of curiosity and ignorance; I was trying likely to blush and raise misconceptions when this subject

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 18 INTERVIEW

comes up in conversation. stimulate sexual arousal. In a print of a woman

Generally I divide shunga prints into five main subjects: masturbating to an image of a Kabuki actor, he is depicted sex education, gossip, protest, social consensus, and fully dressed. I don’t think that it is arousing for a woman to humor and fantasy. Despite their supposed link to the imagine the man she admires with another woman nor it is pleasure quarters, only ten percent of the shunga depict fun for a man to think of the huge size of another man’s geisha and courtesans. Among these, many show the dark genitalia. aspects of the sex trade and the demanding of money Q: So you do not think there was a gender distinction from clients. It is only in hiding that geisha are shown enjoying sex. I actually wanted to publish in the book a photograph I took in Shinjuku showing a mass grave of geisha in order to expose their suffering, but the publishers objected. It is true that there are images of courtesans praying to an icon in the shape of a phallus, but such icons represented a charm against venereal diseases.

Back to the issue of sex education. The earliest artworks on the subject were Heian period illustrated hand scrolls with twelve scenes, which were tremendously expensive. Married couple, home scene. These were used to educate couples and included detailed explanations instructing men and women where to touch between the viewers of shunga? and what to do for sexual pleasure as part of family life. A: No. Shirakura Yoshihiko, who published widely on These later developed into popular printed books that shunga and contributed to my books, even noted that it maintained a consensus of loyalty and pleasure within was women who purchased shunga books. marriage. Looking at sex in and of itself was not an issue in a society where there was no concept of privacy. You As for the third issue—protest. It is clear from the have to understand that having sex on the street was only pejorative way in which samurai and peasants are outlawed here in 1956. Viewing love-making was not an depicted in shunga that its patrons were from the artisan issue. and merchant classes. I have prints in which a samurai is depicted raping a farmer or an old woman. Sex in such Gossiping is the second category to consider. People images is an allegory for the coercive force of the regime. enjoyed reading and imagining the life of high class people When I see such images I purchase them immediately, and particularly of Kabuki actors. There are even prints without checking how famous the painter was. I find the comparing the size of Kabuki actors' genitalia. But it is social message of the period more important than the important to understand that these were not meant to name of the artists.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 19 INTERVIEW

Shunga convey clear norms for what was acceptable and within the consensus, and in that, the painters were in accordance with legal conventions. For example, rape was considered a crime, and rapists are depicted as ugly, hairy, sometimes tattooed or crippled. When adultery is depicted, there are scenes of tears and revenge, emphasizing the pain involved. Another interesting example of the connection between shunga and marital life are the images of pregnancy in the erotic books. Some “Passing wind” scroll. images depict the male organ with the fetus and later show a scene of birth. Q: I recently encountered several blogs that brought up the "passing wind competitions." I thus cannot agree with those who maintain that shunga was pornography. A: I have several versions of these scrolls as well, and I shunga As for fantastical images that focus on the male organ, I categorize them as . Apparently "passing wind" was an annual court ritual that was aimed at exorcizing evil spirits. The earliest surviving scrolls are from the Muromachi period, although the origin must have been Heian. These scrolls were later considered as charms to dispel pests and were collected by samurai and peasants for this purpose.

Q: I remember that the late collector Jacob Pins said that there are two types of collectors: those who like to secretly keep artworks for their sole pleasure, and those whose enjoyment lies in the sharing. Forced sex between peasant and samurai. A: Indeed, my enjoyment of the collection is derived from think that these convey or arouse fears rather than desire. sharing it and letting others study the items. In 2005, works One funny book tells the story of a man who goes through from my collection were exhibited at the Israel Museum, an enlargement operation and later tells his friend of his and in 2009, at the Tikotin Museum. I would gladly exhibit difficulties in having sex. The message of this story is in any places that can offer the right conditions. I also clearly educational, conveying the message that one enjoy sharing artworks, and my next plan is an exhibition should be satisfied with one’s lot. of sumo prints at the Tikotin Museum.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 20 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL

Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art of Japanese culture, displaying a broad cross-section of art, both traditional and modern, and emphasizing the aesthetic values unique to Japanese art. Dr. Ilana Singer Blaine Many artworks in the collection are extremely rare, The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art on the crest of Mount Carmel is dedicated exclusively to the preservation and especially among the woodblock prints from the Edo exhibition of Japanese art works, and is the only one of its period (1600-1868). For example, the print by Utagawa kind in the Middle East. The Museum, a municipal Toyokuni (1769-1825) depicting the Kabuki actor Bandō Gohiiki aikyo foundation, was set up in 1959 on the initiative of Felix Hikosaburō III as Kudō Suketsune in the play soga Tikotin (1893-1986) from Holland, and Abba Khoushy [ Fig. 1] by Nakamura Jusuke II. The play was (1898-1969), then mayor of Haifa. The Museum’s aims presented at the Kawarasaki Theatre in the first month of are: to acquaint Israelis with Japanese culture; to promote 1794. In the same year Tōshūsai Sharaku (active ca. 1794 mutual understanding between Israel and Japan and -1795) also submitted a design for a print of the play, but between East and West; and to encourage study and did not receive the commission. This may have been one research of the arts and culture of Japan. reason for his disappearance after only eight months of creativity. Toyokuni’s print in the Museum’s collection is The Museum's collection the only known copy in the world. comprises more than 7,000 items: paintings, prints, drawings, painted screens, textiles, antique illustrated texts, ceramics, miniature carvings (netsuke), lacquer and metal work, antique swords and functional crafts mainly from the 17th to 19th centuries, as well as modern Japanese art. The collection has increased over time, and Fig. 2. Nakayama Tomisaburō as a shirabyōshi in the Kabuki play Fig. 1. Kabuki actor Bandō "Musume Dōjōji"; Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806); Signature: Hikosaburō III as Kudō other private collections Utamaro hitsu; Uchiwa-e, fan-shaped woodblock colour print Suketsune. Utagawa Toyokuni (nishiki-e), 1795; 19.9 x 26.8 cm (1769-1825). Signature: Toyokuni have been donated to the ga. Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei, Museum. Exhibitions Kansendō. Woodblock colour The fan print (uchiwa-e) by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753- print (nishiki-e), hosōban, 1795; present a variety of aspects 1806), depicting the Kabuki actor Nakayama Tomisaburō 30.4 x 14 cm

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 21 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL in the role of a shirabyōshi (female dancer) in the play A very rare surimono Musume dōjōji [Fig. 2] is also very rare. Utamaro did not print [Fig. 4] is by the usually create uchiwa-e or prints depicting Kabuki actors, young Katsushika and there are very few remaining fan-print sample Hokusai (1760-1849) catalogues from the 18th century. All fan prints from that who was, at the time, period were intended for daily use and were consequently very influenced by the not well preserved. Utamaro designed the print in 1795, style of Katsukawa shortly after Sharaku disappeared. There is a similar print Shunshō (1726-1793) in a private collection in Japan, but the actor’s name and and even signed his family crest are different. Publishers often re-used the works “Shunrō”. same block in order to make a quick profit. Fig. 4. Girls picking tea. Nevertheless, one Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). can see how talented Another rare print, also Signature: Shunrō ga. Woodblock colour print (nishiki-e), and original this by Utamaro, depicts koban. 21.8 x 16.2 cm Three Beauties of Today young man was. [Fig. 3]. This is one of Another fan print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) in the only three extant from Museum’s collection portrays the ferry between Kuwana the first edition. The and Atsuta [Fig. 5] and is one of a series of eight views. other two are in Boston The copy in the Tikotin Museum is one of the five prints and Tokyo. The girl on from the series that have been discovered. the left worked in a tea house, but was so Fig. 3. Three beauties of today arrogant that a customer Takashima-Hisa, Naniwaya-Kita and Tomimoto-Toyohina. Kitagawa threw faeces at her. In Utamaro (1753-1806). Signature: Utamaro hitsu. Censor's seal: order to prevent such kiwame. Publisher: Tsutaya Juzaburō, Koshodō. Woodblock shameful incidents in colour print (nishiki-e) on mica ground. ōban, ca. 1794. 35.8 x 24.5 the future, the government forbade publishers to include names of respectable people in prints, and artists were only allowed to add the names of prostitutes and actors to their works. When Utamaro’s first Fig. 5. Returning sailboats at Chichiri ga hama. Series: “Eight views of Ekiji – internal and external”. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). edition was published the order had been proclaimed for Signature: Hiroshige ga. Uchiwa-e, fan-shaped woodblock colour print (nishiki-e). 22.2 x 29.6 cm the second time, so that in the second edition of the print the names of the women do not appear.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 22 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL

Hiroshige created 1869), probably of Eight Views of Famous Places, and this series was originally included in a hand-scroll (emaki-mono). immediately after Such drawings were designs for folding screens (byōbu) his Fifty-Three that were never made, but they are, nonetheless, far more Stations of the valuable than the screens themselves would have been. Tōkaidō Tōkaidō (, Felix Tikotin’s dream was that this Japanese museum gojūsan-tsugi ) in would be a centre for the study of Japanese arts and the Hōeidō Edition culture, and for extending Israeli knowledge about Japan. (1833–1834), In the educational branch of the Museum, workshops when his art was at based on the exhibitions are conducted for pre-school and its peak. Other schoolchildren, for teachers, and for other groups. Courses prints from the are conducted on the Japanese language, calligraphy and Fig 6. Sukeroku. Utagawa Kunisada (1786 series are in Japan -1865). Signature: Kunisada ga. Seal: ink drawing, ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) and toshidama. Ink and colour on paper and in the Victoria 27 x 17.8 cm cooking, as well as activities for children. Special events and Albert on Japanese arts and culture are also held. These include Museum. The Tikotin Museum is home to the third largest lectures, films, tea ceremony, festivals and celebrations, uchiwa-e collection in the world after the Victoria and many of which are held in the Raphael Angel Auditorium. Albert Museum and the Jasinsky Collection. In 2000, the Tikotin Museum received the prestigious The Museum also houses several rare drawings, among Japan Foundation Special Award, which is conferred them the drawing by Utagawa Kunisada (1786 -1865) of annually on institutions that make significant contributions Sukeroku [(Fig. 6]. It is unlikely that other drawings by to cultural exchanges with Japan. In 2003, the committee Kunisada still exist. of the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture for evaluating the quality of exhibitions and collections ranked the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art second only to the Israel Museum in order of merit. In 2009, the Japanese Foreign Minister commended the Tikotin Museum for its exhibitions and for reinforcing the ties between Israel and Japan.

Fig. 7. Itsukushima, Aki. Utagawa Hiroshige II (1829-1869). Section of emaki-mono, ink and colour on paper, 1850-1858. 26.3 x 58 cm

Another rare drawing is of Itsukushima in Aki Province [Fig. 7]. It is one of a series by Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 23 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL

Marcel Lorber Department of museum, and this rich and varied bequest formed the core Asian Art at the Israel Museum, of the Department of Asian Art. Jerusalem Another outstanding collection was gifted by the Austrian- born musician Marcel Lorber, London, who also provided an endowment that is honored in the name of the Miriam Malachi, Curator department. The Lorber gift of more than 200 objects The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, was inaugurated on May included 18th century netsuke and inro, a superb group of 11, 1965. The Museum’s curatorial program is led by its Chinese Qing dynasty rhinoceros horn cups, Chinese snuff Wings for Fine Arts, Archaeology, and Jewish Art and Life. bottles and jade carvings, and a few Tibetan sculptures. More than thirty exhibitions and special displays are The eminent mathematician Dr. Samuel Eilenberg, New mounted each year, while the Youth Wing for Art Education offers an extensive program of courses and activities. The Israel Museum’s encyclopedic collections contain nearly 500,000 objects, and its annual attendance approaches 1,000,000 visitors.

Among the ten departments of the Fine Arts Wing is the Marcel Lorber Department of Asian Art, led for more than three decades by its founding curator Rebecca Bitterman. Thanks to her wealth of knowledge and passionate approach to Asian art, awareness of the department grew quickly, both in Israel and abroad. As support for the department grew, so did the collection. 1985 saw the inauguration of the gallery for Asian art, endowed by Selma and Hillel Picciotto, which was renewed and reconfigured in 2010.

The collection was formed in 1968 when Wolf Ladejinsky of Washington, D.C. donated a group of Southeast Asian sculptures and early Chinese ceramics. Ladejinsky, who for decades worked in Asia as an expert on agricultural reform, felt that his collection would greatly contribute to Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) The Courtesan Hanaogi of the Ogi-ya Reading a Letter, 1794 Israeli appreciation of Asian culture. Following his death in Oban woodblock color print 1975, his collection of more than 700 artworks came to the

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 24 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL

York, a great collector of groundbreaking book, The Japanese Pillar Print, in 1982.

Southeast Asian art, Many others have donated beautiful and important Asian enriched the museum with artworks, and still others have provided, and continue to more than ninety bronze provide, generous funds enabling the steady expansion of sculptures and artifacts this department which houses the only major from Indonesia. A generous comprehensive collection of Asian art in Israel. anonymous donor enabled Some of the recent exhibitions relating to Japanese art the purchase of, among include Japanese Pleasures: Actors and Courtesans in other items, some fine 17th Woodcuts from the Pins Collection (curators Etty Glass century Chinese furniture Gissis and Rebecca Bitterman) held in 2004. The and a rare, historically woodblock prints and paintings displayed in this exhibition important set of thirteen represent a form of popular urban culture that developed in Spring and Autumn period Japan during the Edo period and are from the Jacob Pins Chinese bronze bells dating Collection in the Israel Museum. from the 7th–6th century Another exhibition held in 2004 was titled Splendors of BCE. Imperial Japan: Meiji Masterpieces from the Khalili Following the passing of Collection (curator Rebecca Bitterman). It included eighty Jacob Pins in 2005, the pieces on loan from the important Khalili Collection in museum’s Japanese London, exhibiting creations of Japanese master holding was greatly craftsmen of the Meiji period such as life-size bronzes enriched by the bequest of inlaid with gold and silver, delicate enamels, and lacquer his collection of some 500 works of the finest quality and detail. Japanese prints, paintings, Okumura Masanobu (1685- A major exhibition, Rising Sun, Melting Moon: 1764) and sculptures, as well as Contemporary Japanese Art (curator Talia Amar), was The Actor Sanokawa his library of almost 1,000 Ichimatsu as a Puppeteer, held in 2005. This exhibition featured prominent Japanese Holding a Puppet Japanese art books, some Representing the Courtesan artists of different generations among them Yoshitomo Matsuyama, ca. 1740 extremely rare, now Trimmed kakemono-e Nara, Nobuyoshi Araki, Yasumasa Morimura, Yoshihiro woodblock color print available to the public in the Suda, Tabaimo, and Chiho Oshima. These artists address Israel Museum Art Library. both universal and specifically Japanese issues in ways Professor Pins, a Jerusalem artist, scholar and teacher, that are at times intimate, and at times replete with social spent half a century building his renowned collection which criticism, employing cultural icons, childhood heroes, is particularly strong in early “primitive” prints and pillar manga, and anime. With their references to traditional prints – a subject on which Pins published a

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Japanese masterpieces and popular Western and artists included Aya Ben Ron, Zoya Cherkassky, Roi Japanese culture, and representing a wide variety of Kuper, Hila Lulu Lin, Yehudit Matzkel, Doron Rabina, Roee media, many of the works break down the barriers Rosen, Yehudit Sasportas, Tal Shochat, and Eliezer between genres. Sonnenschein.

Another important exhibition titled Crossplay: Male Actors, Female Roles in Kabuki Theatre (curator Miriam Malachi) was held in 2012. This exhibition offered a glimpse into the world of Kabuki, presented through a display of thirty prints and paintings from the museum’s collection and original kabuki costumes on loan from the historical collection of the department store Isetan Mitsukoshi, Tokyo. It was organized jointly with the Japan Foundation, along with the film and theatre company Shochiku and the department store Isetan Mitsukoshi.

An upcoming exhibition, Unfolding Worlds: Japanese Screens from the Gitter-Yelen Collection (curator Miriam Malachi), will be held from June 7-November 27, 2014 and will feature a group of exquisite Japanese folding screens from the Gitter-Yelen Collection, world-renowned for its quality, which illustrates the richness of Japanese art. The fifteen screens on display date from the 18th to the 20th century and reflect the range of topics covered by Japanese artists, as well as the cultural attitudes and

The Poetess Ono no Komachi as an Old Woman ideals of the different time periods. Late 18th century

All illustrations of artwork in this section are copyright the Israel In 2006 the museum hosted Far and Away: The Fantasy of Museum, Jerusalem© Japan in Contemporary Israeli Art (curator Mira Lapidot). The exhibition explored the phenomenon of “Japanism” in contemporary Israeli art via a selection of recent works notable for their striking Japanese influence. Their visibly Japanese sources run the gamut from traditional fine arts to pop culture (mainly manga and anime). The featured

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 26 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL

Intercultural Bridge — Japanese and Israeli potters who explored and reinterpreted the and Israeli art at the Wilfrid tradition of Japanese pottery. Butoh—Dance of the Soul (2011) introduced the roots of Israel Museum Butoh, its unique aesthetics, and its influence on Israeli Shir Meller-Yamaguchi, Curator dancers. The exhibition featured the works of photographers from Israel and Japan: Drora Spitz, Nourit The Wilfrid Israel Museum of Asian Art and Studies has a Masson-Sekine, Akiko Miyake, Hiroko Komiya, and Gen collection of Near and Far Eastern art bequeathed to Fukuda. It also presented videos from the Butoh Kibbutz Hazorea by Wilfrid Israel (1899-1943), friend and performances of Kazuo Ono, Tatsumi Hijikata, Sankai patron of its young founders. The museum was founded in Juku, Dairakudakan, Atsushi Takenouchi, and Maya 1951 and was the first museum in Israel to exhibit East Dunsky. Asian art. It includes some 2000 pieces from India, Japan, Nepal, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Persia, Egypt and Greece. The museum offers a permanent exhibition of East Asian art from the museum's collection, alongside exhibitions of contemporary Asian and Israeli artists who relate either aesthetically or conceptually to Asian art. It employs a humanistic and multi-cultural approach which draws from the character of Wilfrid Israel himself. The collection includes only a few items of Japanese art, including bronze mirrors from the 18th-19th century, a Haniwa grave statuette from the 5th century, and a Noh mask from the 16th century. In the past few years, the curatorial approach has emphasized contemporary exhibitions, introducing Japanese art and its influence on Israeli art. The following examples of temporary exhibitions demonstrate the various presentations of Japanese art. Butoh-Dance of the Soul (2011), work of Akiko Miyake. The exhibition Yunomi (2010, curated by Anat Turbowicz), based on the D.A.G collection, presented the simplicity This exhibition continued on to Haifa University (2012) and modesty of Japanese pottery. At the heart of the under the title Asian Window Gallery and was collection were thirty-five teacups made by Japanese accompanied by a major conference on Butoh, co- "Living National Treasures" and by American, European

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 27 JAPANESE ART COLLECTIONS IN ISRAEL organized with Prof. Rotem Kowner. In 2013, it was installation of a floating mountain from a plastic sheet exhibited in the Japanese embassy in Tel Aviv, hanging from the ceiling by threads of black glue. The accompanied by lectures and dance performances work emphasized the negative space and changing introducing Butoh to the Israeli public. volume above and beneath the plastic sheet. Yasuaki attempted to look beyond form and matter as reflected in the Buddhist Heart Sutra: "form is void, void is form." Form is simultaneously both present and absent; it is revealed momentarily within the space and subsequently disappears into the void.

The most recent exhibition, Three Years After, relates to the Fukushima disaster, with the renown Israeli Butoh-Dance of the Soul (2011), work of Drora Spitz. photographer Alex Levac and the Japanese artist Kota In 2012—the 60th anniversary of Israel-Japan diplomatic Takeuchi. relations—the museum held a unique exhibition supported The next exhibition will introduce the influence of Raku by the Japan Foundation entitled Inner Space, with the ceramic art on Israeli artists. emerging contemporary Japanese artist Onishi Yasuaki. In the future, the museum plans to further explore the While in residence in the kibbutz, Yasuaki created an creative relations between Asian and Israeli art.

Onishi Yasuaki, Reverse of Volume.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 28 NEW SCHOLAR IN FOCUS

Reut Harari started studying medicine. I was very PhD Candidate at Princeton idealistic and wanted University to do something that As part of IAJS’s commitment to the promotion of new would help other scholarship, each issue will introduce an emerging people. Medicine scholar. In this issue we interview Reut Harari who seemed like the deals with Japanese medical history from the Meiji Era obvious choice. But, through the Pacific War after starting my

studies, I was more drawn to classes about the history of medicine, medicine What inspired your interest in Japan? and art, medical anthropology, and psychology and My relationship with Japan started when I was born, you medicine. I realized that I wanted to study humanities and I might say. My father, Ehud, is a political scientist missed working with the Japanese language. Eventually, I specializing in Japanese politics. My mother Ruti, his decided to look for ways to contribute other than holding a partner in crime, has an endless love for Japan, leading her scalpel. I changed my major to History and East Asian to constantly investigate Japanese literature, art, and Studies. After that, I found myself still digging into topics politics. Both also cultivated many friendships over the related to medical humanities, especially the history of years, creating an environment whereby Japan was a medicine. Under Prof. Asaf Goldschmidt’s guidance and natural part of the landscape. The funniest part, perhaps, is kind support, I decided to make it my main focus. that when my parents wanted to talk about things they didn’t want me and my sister and brother to understand, they would talk in Japanese. Thanks to my father, I visited Can you tell us about your current research? Japan briefly while at school. After graduating from high I am currently studying for my PhD at Princeton University school I spent about a year in Tokyo until my enlistment to in the History of Science Program. I am fortunate to have the IDF. That’s when I studied Japanese intensively for the Professor Benjamin Elman and Professor Sheldon Garon first time. After my military service, I returned to Tokyo by as my advisors. I am researching the history of Japanese myself for a year to continue my language studies. I also military medicine from the Meiji era to the end of the Pacific worked part-time in the Japanese Parliament Upper House War, focusing specifically on the development of the role of which was a fascinating experience. the military medic. I find this role to be a fascinating prism

for understanding the complicated relationship between war, military and medicine in comparative and historical Can you tell us about your academic studies? contexts. In war, the military’s goal is to defeat its I studied for my BA at Tel Aviv University. I originally

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 29 NEW SCHOLAR IN FOCUS adversary, usually by killing and inflicting harm. However, scientific history from the Meiji era until the end of the from a very early stage in history, militaries understood that Pacific War, one finds very significant and extreme they had to harness medical tools in order to achieve their changes. These changes both affected and could be seen strategic purposes. Within this framework, medics were through the development of the medic role. The military soldiers whose role was supposed to be dedicated to created the role of medics in the Meiji era not just because saving lives, not to fighting and harming others (though at it deemed it strategically necessary, but also because the times, necessity led to that as well). I argue then that in role was a symbol of “enlightenment” and “progress.” By war, medicine and medics themselves become a very the time one reaches the Pacific War, one learns that in complicated form of weapon. most cases medics were left without equipment, medicine,

Unlike physicians and nurses, in the Japanese case, and food. They had no means to fulfill their role anymore. military medics were “simple soldiers.” That is, soldiers who As defeat became increasingly imminent, one could add to usually had nothing to do or even, very little interest in that problem suicidal missions that questioned the very medicine. Yet, after enlistment, they were ordered to meaning of the role in general. It should be noted that the suddenly become the symbol of medical care in battle, latter were only characteristic of 1944-5, a very small part since in many cases physicians and nurses were to stay at in the entire period, but very important nonetheless. a safe distance from the front. As such, I believe medics became the ultimate bridge between war and medicine, life and death.

Medics did not just serve on the front, but also in different kinds of military hospitals, including hospital ships, where their role, the expectations from it, and the personnel they were in contact with, were very different. I discovered that each historical period entailed different challenges for the Reut Harari interviewing Mr. Tatsuo Suzuki, former medic in the Japanese navy role – medically and militarily. Each also provided medics with a different set of tools to face these challenges. The What kind of difficulties have you encountered in the very terminology used to denote “medics” changed course of your research? numerous times throughout the examined period, reflecting This project is quite challenging for a few reasons. Though its constant evolution. not as it used to be, Wartime History is still a very sensitive

As you can see, I’m interested in big questions that are not topic in Japan today, making access to certain materials limited to the Japanese context, but on which I believe the quite difficult. When you reach the Showa era, the Pacific Japanese context could be especially enlightening. When War in particular, you realize many of the military one traces Japanese political, social, strategic and documents were actually burnt before the defeat. There are details, therefore, that I will never be able to find out.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 30 NEW SCHOLAR IN FOCUS

Personal writings, such as letters and diaries, are for many fields in Japan – not just in this case, but in my particularly hard to locate and access. Many are in private case even more so. Going on this journey to people’s hands and those, which are in archives, due to privacy painful past is a very unique and powerful experience. Yet, issues, are not always accessible or even traceable in it is also quite difficult emotionally. Therefore, I need to public catalogues. On the other hand, as is characteristic of equip myself each time with a lot of energy and again, the history of the so-called “modern era” in general, the sensitivity to know how to follow my interviewees to where volume of available materials is huge. But, they don’t they feel comfortable in going. To know when to encourage always contain the answers to my questions. This makes them to talk and when to respect their silence. the search quite difficult, especially since apart from the early Meiji era, no research has been done on this subject so far. This means I have to do all the legwork myself and be creative in where and how I search for information.

Another difficulty I face concerns terminology. I deal with a military role. As such, I had to learn a whole host of different terms and expressions and obtain a different understanding of this extremely complicated organization Reut Harari interviewing Mr. Takashi Yoshida, a former combat that was the Japanese military. Many of my sources are medic in the Japanese army military legal documents, which are especially difficult to understand, since they are a distinct type of genre. What are your plans for the future?

Finally, since my narrative is centered on medics’ In the future I would like to continue exploring different experiences, I am conducting oral history interviews with aspects of Japanese history of medicine, public health and former medics. That is one of the most fascinating and science. I would especially like to further research different moving aspects of my research. It is also the most aspects of military medicine and technology and its challenging, since locating them is like finding a needle in a complicated interaction with civilian medicine and haystack, as large as Japan. All of the former medics are in technology. Many aspects of medical care and science their 90s, very few in their 80s. Time, then, is of the originate in the extreme context that war creates and within essence. Moreover, as mentioned, Wartime History is a military frameworks, persisting later on in civilian contexts. sensitive topic; military medicine is even more so. For Searching for their origin and the causes for their years, the topic was tabooed in public discussion, or limited development – comparatively and transnationally - can largely to the Meiji era, because of connotations to war shed a different light on the meaning and significance of crimes (mostly the infamous Unit 731). This signifies that I different forms of medical care. Though not limited to the need to be very sensitive in how I approach people. In modern era, I believe this is especially relevant to the most cases, I have to be introduced. This is true actually period of the so-called rise of modern warfare and science.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 31 NEW PUBLICATIONS A selection of publications by IAJS members

Kazuko Kameda-Madar (in collaboration with Princess Akiko of Mikasa and Arata Shimao) Utsushi no chikara: sōzō to keishō no matorikusu (The Power of Utsushi: A Matrix of Creation and Continuity) (Kyoto: Shinbunkaku, 2014); ISBN: 9784784217113 This publication concentrates on the emperors of Japan and brings together in four volumes, each with a special introduction, the scholarship of a variety of authors addressing ancient and classical Japan, feudal Japan, imperial Japan, and postwar Japan. This work is a one-stop reference resource, presenting high quality scholarship in English on the subject of the Japanese emperors by various experts. By selecting the best material to-date from a huge pool of sources and contextualizing them thematically, the editor has created a unique tool for rapid access not only to seminal works but also to less familiar texts. The publication contains an extensive bibliography, a glossary, and constitutional documents.

Mika Levi-Yamamori Heburaigo no Katachi (The Shape of Hebrew), 2nd edition (Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 2013) ISBN: 4560086435 This book is part of a series introducing foreign languages to the Japanese public. It concentrates on the Hebrew writing system and introduces the Hebrew script, using effective visual examples.

Nissim Otmazgin Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2013). ISBN: 9780824836948 This ambitious work provides a comprehensive, empirically grounded study of the production, circulation, and reception of Japanese popular culture in Asia. While many studies typically employ an interactive approach that focuses on the “meaning” of popular culture from an anthropological or cultural studies point of view, Regionalizing Culture emphasizes that neither the consumption perspective nor the contextual meaning of popular culture are the only salient factors in accounting for its proliferation; aspects of production and organization are also important. In addition to presenting individual case studies, the book offers a broad view of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the production and circulation of popular culture in Asia over the past two decades. IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 32 NEW PUBLICATIONS A selection of publications by IAJS members

Yona Siderer Mikan Umiaratzot Aherot/ Sokoku To Takoku Kara (From Here and From Other Countries), (Bloomington, IN: Trafford, 2013) ; ISBN (TP): 9781466991699; ISBN (eBook): 9781466991705 From Here and From Other Countries is a bilingual books of original poems written by Yona Siderer in Hebrew and Japanese.

“From Here” are poems written in Israel and they deal with the loss of both the author’s mother and a close friend. “From Other Countries” are poems written by the author as she spent time in different countries: poems from Italy reflect experiences near Lago Maggiore and other places; poems in Japanese were written during time spent working in Japan. The poems appear in both Japanese and in Hebrew on facing pages. The author was inspired also by other countries such as New Zealand and Ethiopia among others.

Irit Weinberg (translator) Mifgashim: Hamisha Sipurim Mi Yapan (Encounters: Five Stories from Japan), (Herzliya: Booxilla, 2014) This collection brings together five short stories by five important Japanese writers, all specifically selected by the translator. They reflect the theme of encounters, such as the encounter between Japan and the West and the encounter between men and women. The collection aims to introduce Israeli readers to important Japanese authors who are barely, if at all, known in Israel. The featured stories are “Fushinchū” (Under Reconstruction) by Mori Ogai, “Fukin” (The Handkerchief) by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, “Hana wa tsuyoshi” (Strong are the Flowers) by Okamoto Kanoko, “Meri Kurisumasu” (Merry Christmas) by Dazai Osamu and “Shitamachi” (Downtown) by Hayashi Fumiko.

Makiko Yamanashi (contributor) Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives, ed. Masao Yokotaand G. Hu Tze-yue (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2013) ISBN: 9781617038099

Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives makes available in English for the first time a selection of viewpoints on Japanese animation from media practitioners, designers, educators, and scholars working in the East Asian Pacific. This collection not only employs a multidisciplinary approach to understanding Japanese animation but also shows ways to research, teach, and more fully explore this multidimensional world.

IAJS Newsletter, Spring 2014 33