Faces By KLM

Japan Magic

A special reverence for craft pervades Japanese aesthetics. This may have to do with Japan's claim of being the world's oldest pottery producing culture. The world's earliest ceramics have been identified as being from the Jomon culture which was roughly contemporary with the civilizations of Mesopotamia, the Nile and the Indus Valley.

The Jomon hunter-gatherers lived on the island now known as Japan about 12,000 years ago. The earliest art objects created in Japan are the pottery vessels known as Jomon koki, or rope design ware and the idols which are called dogu, or clay dolls. Both the vessels and the figures not only show a great variety of form, but also have an extraordinary expressiveness which renders them one of the most remarkable artistic achievements of any Neolithic culture. There is a feeling of mystery about them, as well as a strange beauty which appeals to modern taste because it recalls contemporary expressionist and surrealist art.

According to archeologists, Jomon pottery is unique in that it represents the only example of vessel making by nonagricultural peoples. In all other parts of the world, vessel making only developed alongside agriculture and hunter-gatherers did not make pottery.

Jomon potters decorated their clay vessels by marking/pressing into clay with sticks wrapped with cords. These forms are hand built from coils, as no potters' wheel was known at this time. Many are quite large and the scale and design are impressive.

Some of the most remarkable achievements of the Jomon period are the clay figures representing human beings or animals. Some of these are a high as one foot, while others are as short as two inches. Most of them have small perforations indicating that they might have been suspended, with others obviously intended to be stood up. Their bodies are often covered with linear designs, commonly spirals; their facial expressions are strange, with staring eyes that suggest the magic associated with eyes in many primitive civilizations. In all these figures the human form is highly abstract, and yet, in spite of its distortions, it is clearly recognizable. Most of the figures are female deities with prominent breasts and swelling hips, and in this way they are similar to prehistoric European fertility idols such as the Venus of Willendorf.

Further reading:

Ancient Jomon of Japan (Case Studies in Early Societies) by Junko Habu ISBN - 0521772133

Jomon Reflections: Forager life and culture in the prehistoric Japanese archipelago by Simon Kaner, ISBN 1842170880

The Arts of Japan: An illustrated history by Hugo Munsterberg, ISBN 0804800421

Lee Daniels is a studio potter living and working on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington, USA. She graduated from California State University Long Beach with a BA degree in Art Education and graduate work in sculpture and educational media. She worked as a graphic designer specializing in logo design for over 20 years. She quit her day job in 2001 and has been happily working in clay every since. Check out her website at http://leedanielspottery.com

Know any mangas or animes with fantasy or magic that has romance?

Know any mangas or animes with fantasy or magic that has romance?

Other ones than listed above...

Fushigi Yuugi, Tail of the Moon(not as much magic, but ninja skills), Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne(Same person who did Full Moon), Dazzle, Oyayubihime Infinity(Not about magic powers, but about a butterfly tattoo that connects people), Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts(Magical Nuts make a girl become a pretty older girl), Recipe for Gertrude, Red River(A bit more of a mature title though), Mugen Spiral

I hope these help.

Make Ice Coffee Japan Cyril Takayama Magic Japanese Magician

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

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