Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts
Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasonsprovides a compelling account of how Japan has appropriated, interpreted, and valued nature over the centuries. Haruo Shirane's wide-ranging study tracks the culture of nature in Japan and especially the central role of waka in constructing a vision of nature that influenced all the arts. In its breadth, depth, and accessibility, his book is of great value not only to scholars and students of Japan but also to anyone interested in the intersections of art and nature.(Andrew M. Watsky, Princeton University)A tour de force. Haruo Shirane synthesizes the long and complicated encoding of flora, fauna, toponyms, and annual events of the Japanese landscape and calendar, untangling their synchronic connections and their historical development from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries, from the small cuckoo (hototogisu) as a harbinger of summer in theKokinshuto the lovemaking of cats as a topic for comic haikai verse in the Edo period. Shirane's book is essential for anyone interested in virtually any genre of the traditional Japanese arts: poetry, costume, painting, noh theater, architecture, tea ceremony, flower arranging -- or even Japanese sweets (wagashi)!(Joshua Mostow, University of British Columbia)'Sensitivity to nature' is one of those commonplaces about Japanese tradition that, because of its all-too-easy association with cultural nationalism, tends to set many people's teeth on edge. This engaging and impressive study provides a welcome antidote. Drawing from literary, visual, historical, and religious sources, Haruo Shirane cuts through the clichés to uncover multiple, evolving, and sometimes surprising dimensions of the Japanese relationship with nature from early times to the present.(Kate Wildman Nakai, professor emerita, Sophia University)A comprehensive view of the subject, replete with fascinating detail, and full scholarly apparatus.(David BurleighJapan Times)As accessible as it is erudite, this volume will appeal to those with interest in any aspect of the arts...Highly recommended.(Choice1900-01-00)A vital contribution to our understanding of the literature, art, and daily practices of Japan over the centuries.(Elizabeth OylerMonumenta Nipponica1900-01-00)