This image was taken at Mayonashi, a beautiful little place where travelers can enjoy and be mesmerized by the marvelous scenery. Traveling through Mayonashi is a great experience for both travelers and visitors because Mayonashi includes various scenes like plains, mountains, valleys, riverside, and village. One can taste both the nature side and the colonized side of Japan, and how they are interacting together.
In this image, there is a man sitting by the riverside. I can't exactly tell what he is doing, but it seems like he is fishing or doing some kind of chore. The fresh, crisp water of the riverside is flowing down by the man. There are big trees and a lot of vegetation all around, and there are some magnificent valleys of Mayonashi in the back. The scenery seems very peaceful, and the place seems like it hasn't been disrupted by humans at all.
This image portrays how beautiful certain parts of Japan are. The whole picture is filled with different symbols of nature, portraying the "isolated Japan" and the love that Japanese people have for nature. This beautiful image can also explain why Japan was so against being westernized. They love being part of the nature, and they probably don't want to destroy such magnificent setting. They just want to leave things the way they are, and live as a part of nature. This image can also portray how small humans are compared to nature, indirectly emphasizing the idea of Japanese society that westernization, which is created by people, is bad because it can destroy nature.
In this image, there is a samurai wearing a dress of ceremony. This particular dress is worn during different ceremonies like wedding, and holidays like New Year. Traditionally, Japanese women can choose whatever style or color they want their dress to be, but men have certain restrictions on what they can wear.
In this picture, a serious, determined samurai is wearing a purple and green-colored dress. He has two swords on his left side, and it seems like he has another sword on his right side. Since it is known that Samurai wore four swords during the time of war, he probably has another sword on his back that we cannot see due to his standing position. The purple colored dress represents his rank in the society. Since purple portrays royalty, he is probably in a high position. His swords on both sides of his body makes him look intimidating, yet powerful. He also looks very serious and strict, which can represent his authority and his power. His focused gaze towards the left side can also be seen as him looking forward to the near future as a responsible, determined leader.
Nara-san,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with what you were saying about the Japanese and nature in your first picture. When we think of modernization, we think iron works and steel production, buildings everywhere, etc. The Japanese preferred the simplicity of nature and truly appreciated for what it was. So what you are saying there really does drive home the point about being against something so beautiful such as nature.
As for the person, his serious face draws the viewer in by grabbing their curiosity of why. That also goes along with the turning the head away from the camera. Perhaps he isn't looking straight at the camera in a way of staying "I'm better than you" in a sense? Like, the viewer is of a lower status, hence the purple in his ceremonial dress. Just one question though: why do you think women were allowed to wear whatever they liked whereas the men had set outfits?
Kelly chan!! ~
DeleteThanks for your input. I really love the first image because it really portrays the beauty of nature in Japan. For the second samurai picture, I think women were allowed to choose whatever they want to wear because I feel like Japanese women portray their beauty and their character through beautiful designs and colors of their traditional Japanese dress. On the other hand, I feel like men had set dress code because power and authority is important to them. Having a set outfit emphasizes the idea that only "important" people can get to wear them, and show others their status in the society.
Nara~!
ReplyDeleteI like the pictures you chose! We can tell that the mountain is so big because the man is so small. At the same time, old Japanese thought that people could not beat the nature because it is so magnificent. Some people even thought that the nature is the place where the God lives. So they regard the nature as a important thing.
For the samurai, I think your analyze is perfect. He really looks strict and stands straight which express the image of the samurai.
Kaho! :]
DeleteThank you so much for your comment! I really think my first picture represents the greatness of nature, and how Japanese people appreciates nature very much. ^^
Hey Nara!
ReplyDeleteI really like the picture at Mayonashi. I didn't see the man in the picture until you mentioned it. I think that shows how small we are compared to such a magnificent setting like this one. Nice analysis, I couldn't agree with you more :)
There's definitely a serious feel in the second image. The samurai looks very stern and intimidating. I think the way his dress broadens his shoulders also adds to the intimidation.