The British 'Discovery' of Japanese Art

The Anglo-Japanese History Project was initiated by the former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and was funded by the Foreign Ministry of Japan. The aim was to give support to British and Japanese researchers in order ‘to enable everyone to face squarely the facts of history’. The outcome was a five volume series published both in English and Japanese. The editors commissioned us to write the article submitted here.

Yuko Kikuchi's current research interest is on the issue of modernity and the discourse of cultural identities in Asian and comparative visual cultures of the non-western countries with a particular geographical focus on Japan and Taiwan. He published a monograph 'Japanese Modernisation and Mingei Theory: Cultural Nationalism and Oriental Orientalism' [RoutledgeCurzon, 2004] which examined the nationalist discourse of Mingei (Japanese folkcrafts) theory developed by Yanagi Soetsu in the 1920s from the post-colonial cross-cultural perspectives. Bamboo crafts, crafts related to the modern wars (memorabilia, war fashion, substitute products) and cultural politics involved in crafts in modern Japan, and modernities in the relationship with Mexico and Japan are the subjects of the projects that I have been developing recently. He has also been conducting research on the discourse on Taiwanese identities in crafts from the Japanese colonial to the contemporary period and editing a collection of essays by nine contributors, to be published as 'Refracted Modernity: Visual Culture and Identity in Colonial Taiwan' (forthcoming 2007). As a Keeper of the Camberwell/ILEA Collection of Applied Arts at Camberwell College of Arts, he has also been conducting research on the nature of the collection with particular interest in the Japanese objects in the collection.

The main focus of Toshio Watanabe's current research is transnational interactions of art with an emphasis on the issue of modernity and identity. He is particularly interested in exploring this not just in bilateral but in multilateral relationships, such as those between, Japan, China, Taiwan, India, Britain or the USA within the time span between 1850 and 1950.
His interest in transnational relationships covers all media, but particularly architecture, garden design, watercolour painting, photography and popular graphics. Particular emphasis is put on the consumption of these art forms locally and globally.
Projects being undertaken include following themes: the theory of modern landscape and imperial architecture in Japan, 1880s - 1940s; history and reception of modern Japanese garden; construction of Japanese Art History; British Japonisme.