Page 262 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868
P. 262
Landscape is the firstborn of
City, Country, creation. It was here long, long before we were ever dreamed. It was here
Travel, and without us. It watched us arrive. How strange we must have seemed." 1
Vision in Throughout history cultures have internalized countless ways of coming
Edo Cultural to terms with their environment. The landscapes in this book unfold to 261
Landscapes us the rich, emotional worlds created by the Japanese in response to
their surroundings. Because these worlds seem so "natural," it is easy to
overlook that what we see in these pages is not nature, however, but
M E L I N D A T A K E U C H I
culture: it is representation of representation.
The Japanese paradigms for landscape resist linear narratives.
By the Edo period landscape as a discursive field had evolved for more
than a millennium. Elements of Chinese thought mingled with Japanese;
conflicting claims to the land, like argument over the relative superiority
of native gods versus imported Buddhas, were thrashed out in the
theaters of politics, religion, and art. Let us begin by excavating some of
the layers of meaning that accrued to landscape through Japanese his-
tory. As will be clear, many objects in the book fit more than one of these
conceptual situations.
Ritual appropriation by mewing (kunimi}: To view the landscape
implied taking possession of it, a ceremonial practice dating from
protohistoric times. Even as late as 1582 the warlord Akechi Mitsuhide
ascended sacred Mount Atago outside Kyoto, directed his gaze across
the prospect, and composed ritual poetry the day before he assassinated
Opposite: detail of Great Wave (cat. 169)