Introduction:
A nation’s military has always been an incredibly significant facet of society. While the primary motivation behind this martial class is rooted in national security and defense, the status and artistic representations of the military is also commonly an indication of a nation’s identity and political culture. This correlation is certainly present within Japan’s military, especially as we consider the changing significance of the samurai. The goal of this article is to use chronological case studies to track representations of the military throughout Japanese art history in order to evaluate the contemporaneous Japanese political cultures. Through this evaluation, it is possible to recognize that art focusing on this social group is indicative of larger political attitudes, social hierarchies, and national identities. This study will also address the evolving military class as it relates to “Japan-ness.” The case studies utilized include examples from four distinct periods within Japanese art history. My evaluation will serve to interrogate the question: As Japanese artists attempt to redefine Japanese identity throughout time, is there an abandonment of historical conceptions of “Japan-ness” or do their values remain consistent?
Case Study #1: Kamakura Period Military Art During First Warrior Government
Japan had been ruled by an emperor since the 5th century. However, during the Heian Period (794-1185 CE), as the government began to grant private hereditary lands, or shoen, and disband the military, it became clear that the established system was in jeopardy as they lost tax revenue and manpower. Soon, many private armies and military clans emerged in Japan, which led to the nationwide Genpei War between the two most powerful clans: Taira and Minamoto. With the Minamoto victorious, Minamoto Yoritomo established a new military government, the Kamakura Shogunate. This begins the Kamakura Period, and the seizure of power by the military class. In this new system, Yoritomo’s bakufu, or shogunate, took control of political and economic affairs; the emperor remained a figurehead that directed cultural and religious affairs.
Figure One: Unknown Artist, Heiji Monogatari Emaki (Sanjo Scroll) or Illustrated Tale of the Heiji Civil War (Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace), late 13th century, color and ink on paper, 699.7 m x 41.3 cm, Japanese, Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
This image, titled Heiji Monogatari Emaki, is a painted narrative handscroll (emakimono) from the thirteenth century. The scroll is painted according to the contemporaneous Yamato-e style, and depicts the fiery Heiji Rebellion between the Taira and Minamoto, a smaller skirmish leading up to the aforementioned Genpei War. Paintings during this time were some of the first artistic representations of the samurai, and they were intended to glorify the emerging group. The figures are highly stylized with abbreviated facial features. This quality gives the samurai a sense of unity, despite the limitations of this convention. Likewise, these samurai are distinct from the peasant militaries used by the Heian government. Both sides have expensive armor with aesthetic considerations, painted with a vivid color palette and clean lines, demonstrating their economic status and aspiring courtliness. Finally, the style of the painting as a narrative scroll glorifies the subject matter, giving it a propagandistic undertone as it demonstrates the strength and authority of the new ruling family. As demonstrated through this work, the Kamakura Period of Japanese art history is largely characterized by art of the militant. Thus, much of the artwork resulting from this time is indicative of the political, social, and economic power generated from this group. The samurai are shown as courtly, beautiful, and dignified.
Case Study #2: Edo Period Military Art During Third Warrior Government
This case study focuses on samurai portraits from the Third Warrior Government during the Edo Period (1615-1868). The ruling military clan at this time, the Tokugawa Shogunate, exhibited incredible control over the Japanese population, even closing the country’s borders for a period of time. Since the need for a military declined, samurai were forced into bureaucratic roles. Other samurai were forced to be employed by the lower class as the government began to centralize power, lower stipends, and drain the daimyos of their finances.
Figure Two: Buncho, The Actor Ichikawa Komazo II as a Samurai, 1768, color woodcut, 30.7 cm x 14.5 cm, Japanese, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Carlotta Mabury Collection.
Image URL: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AMICO_SAN_FRANCISCO_103846128
Figure Three: Torri Kiyomasu II, Segawa Kikunojo in a Samurai Role, circa 1735, hand-colored print, 12 3/8 in x 5 15/16 in, Japanese, The Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Image URL: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AMICO_MINIAPOLIS_103820969
Figure Four: Katsukawa Shunko, Sawamura Sojuro III as a Samurai, circa 1786, color woodblock print, 12 11/16 in x 5 13/16 in, Japanese, The Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Image URL: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AMICO_MINIAPOLIS_103820863
The figures above belong to a genre of samurai portraiture prevalent during this time. The paintings are incredibly courtly in appearance. Each features a samurai positioned in an authoritative and individualistic manner. Each is depicted with emblems of their perceived status: colorful and sophisticated robes, two swords at the hip, and the traditional hairstyle known as the chonmage. It is clear from the exaggerated and gaudy representations that the samurai were falling as a social class as the need for a military declined. However, the samurai still clung to their influential status and their portraiture reflected this.
Figure Five: Felice Beato, Ronin (Masterless Samurai), circa 1860, photography, Japanese, University of California, San Diego.
Image URL: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001211422
Almost a century later, the samurai’s decline is more evident. During the mid-1800s, imperial authority was being restored. Meiji rulers stripped samurai of all power; they were forced to give up their domains, they were heavily taxed to reduce their financial resources, and they were made to give up their weapons. Figure 7 shows the samurai’s reduced position in Japan’s social hierarchy. The photograph portrays a ronin, a former samurai without a master. A harsh departure from previous depictions, this figure is not lavished in robes. He is shown in muted rags, carrying his minimal belongings over his shoulder. The shift in tone demonstrates how the samurai were no longer a necessary facet of society, and ceased to be treated as such.
Case Study #3: Military Depictions During 1950s Samurai Films
After the establishment of a parliamentary government, the samurai as subjects dwindled. However, during the 1950s, there was a huge cultural movement towards creating samurai films, featuring a critical retrospective on the samurai. These samurai films typically focused on the Sengoku and Tokugawa periods, between 1478 and 1868. The centering of these periods in film during this time indicates an interest in the samurai and a reevaluation of their iconic historic roles.
Figure Six: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers, “Seven Samurai (1954) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers,” February 8, 2018, digital movie trailer for Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Japanese, Youtube.
Image URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ1TOratCTo
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is often considered the epoch of this emerging genre. The film narrates the story of seven ronin, hired by peasants to protect their village from bandits. This emphasizes how the declining military class often became reliant upon the lower class.
Peter Cowie examines the formal elements across Kurosawa’s films in his book, Akira Kurosawa: Master of Cinema. He indicates that Kurosawa wanted the Japanese to be “more aware of their country’s history and traditions.” Kurosawa demonstrates this desire to educate through cinematography, especially use of color. Kurosawa limits his film to black and white. This decision creates the illusion of distance in time from the Tokugawa Period, allowing for a critical re-examination of the subject matter from both a historic and artistic perspective. The environment in Seven Samurai and other samurai films allows artists to escalate the representations of the samurai as a falling institution, but this harsh depiction is juxtaposed by nostalgia for the values of dignity and honor (bushido) that were associated with this group.
Case Study #4: Military Depictions During Postwar Japan
The 1940s-1950s marked the end of World War II in Japan. Although there was an end to the war, new perceptions of violence had already formed and would influence the next generation of artists. One movement that arose in the wake of postwar Japan was the Provoke Movement. Named for a photography magazine published in Japan in the late 1960s, Provoke lasted for only three issues and attempted to help Japan self-identify and separate itself from the political culture of World War II.
Figure Seven: Kazuo Kitai, Childrens’ Resistance Corps, from the series “Sanrizuka,” 1970, gelatin silver print, 18.9 cm x 28.6 cm, Japanese, Art Institute Chicago.
Image URL: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/214202/childrens-resistance-corps-from-the-series-sanrizuka
Figure Eight: Kazuo Kitai, Women Facing the Police on a Hilltop, from the series “Sanrizuka,” 1971, gelatin silver print, 18.6 cm x 28.6 cm, Japanese, Art Institute of Chicago.
Image URL: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/214200/women-facing-the-police-on-a-hilltop-from-the-series-sanrizuka
While Kurosawa’s era experienced a formal military, postwar Japan experienced the total disbanding of the formal military and the beginning of American occupation. These images were taken between 1969-1970 by Kazuo Kitai, an artist who submitted work to Provoke. It exposes us to a new understanding of a militant class and violence. These images, each part of the series “Sanrizuka,” show various scenes related to the Sanrizuka Struggle, a violent conflict between the Japanese government and the local agricultural community over the building of an international airport on their land.
The photographs are printed in black and white. The result gives the impression of bleakness and confusion. Likewise, the figures are shown in multitudes, not individualized. They are obstructed by helmets and fogginess. This lack of individualization indicates that these new soldiers are dehumanized and dispensable. This marks an obvious shift in postwar media depicting militant behaviors; there is no underlying nostalgic tone or nationalism surrounding the military, only gruesomeness and a sense of dread at conflict.
Conclusion:
Across just seven centuries in Japan, political culture related to the military shifted so drastically that it became cyclical. The Heian Period peasant military can be compared to modern working class militant groups such as agrarian resistance corporations and student protesters.
There are many speculations as to what influenced the evolution of artistic representations of violence and the military class. One of the most popular theories among scholars is that the shift in Japanese culture can be attributed to contact with the West. Bharne writes in his article, “Manifesting Democracy,” that “The transformative formal and intellectual influences of Western democratic concepts on Asian urbanity and identity formation…remain paramount to the discourse on Asian cities today.” The popularization of Western democratic governments is concurrent with the deconstruction of daimyo rule and the shogunates as demonstrated in the photographs from the 1800s. Additionally, many artists the centuries following were heavily influenced by the presence of Europe and the United States. Kurosawa is quoted saying that he has “learned from this grammar of the Western,” and, likewise, there is no doubt that Japan was exposed to American values during the occupation. Despite the Western influences potentially impacting Japanese political culture and perceptions of violence and the military, there must still be a common thread of “Japan-ness” uniting sociopolitical values across these distinct periods. Isozaki, the architect who coined the term “Japan-ness,” describes the struggle to create something Japanese out of modernity. Even though modern Japanese artists are subverting preceding representations of the militant class, they still draw from historically Japanese inspirations, especially in aesthetic choices such as color, narrative quality, and perspective, creating something distinctly Japanese even in the face of globalization.
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