|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
The city of Kyoto has undergone radical shifts in its significance
as a political and cultural center, as a hub of the national
bureaucracy, as a symbolic and religious center, and as a site for
the production and display of art. However, the field of Japanese
history and culture lacks a book that considers Kyoto on its own
terms as a historic city with a changing identity. Examining
cultural production in the city of Kyoto in two periods of
political transition, this book promises to be a major step forward
in advancing our knowledge of Kyoto's history and culture. Its
chapters focus on two periods in Kyoto's history in which the old
capital was politically marginalized: the early Edo period, when
the center of power shifted from the old imperial capital to the
new warriors' capital of Edo; and the Meiji period, when the
imperial court itself was moved to the new modern center of Tokyo.
The contributors argue that in both periods the response of Kyoto
elites-emperors, courtiers, tea masters, municipal leaders, monks,
and merchants-was artistic production and cultural revival. As an
artistic, cultural and historical study of Japan's most important
historic city, this book will be invaluable to students and
scholars of Japanese history, Asian history, the Edo and Meiji
periods, art history, visual culture and cultural history.
The city of Kyoto has undergone radical shifts in its significance
as a political and cultural center, as a hub of the national
bureaucracy, as a symbolic and religious center, and as a site for
the production and display of art. However, the field of Japanese
history and culture lacks a book that considers Kyoto on its own
terms as a historic city with a changing identity. Examining
cultural production in the city of Kyoto in two periods of
political transition, this book promises to be a major step forward
in advancing our knowledge of Kyoto's history and culture. Its
chapters focus on two periods in Kyoto's history in which the old
capital was politically marginalized: the early Edo period, when
the center of power shifted from the old imperial capital to the
new warriors' capital of Edo; and the Meiji period, when the
imperial court itself was moved to the new modern center of Tokyo.
The contributors argue that in both periods the response of Kyoto
elites-emperors, courtiers, tea masters, municipal leaders, monks,
and merchants-was artistic production and cultural revival. As an
artistic, cultural and historical study of Japan's most important
historic city, this book will be invaluable to students and
scholars of Japanese history, Asian history, the Edo and Meiji
periods, art history, visual culture and cultural history.
Can an imperial city survive, let alone thrive, without an emperor?
Alice Y. Tseng answers this intriguing question in Modern Kyoto, a
comprehensive study of the architectural and urban projects carried
out in the old capital following Emperor Meiji’s move to Tokyo in
1868. Tseng contends that Kyoto—from the time of the relocation
to the height of the Asia-Pacific War—remained critical to
Japan’s emperor-centered national agenda as politicians,
planners, historians, and architects mobilized the city’s
historical connection to the imperial house to develop new public
architecture, infrastructure, and urban spaces. Royal births,
weddings, enthronements, and funerals throughout the period served
as catalysts for fashioning a monumental modern city fit for
hosting commemorative events for an eager domestic and
international audience. Using a wide range of visual material
(including architectural plans, postcards, commercial maps, and
guidebooks), Tseng traces the development of four core areas of
Kyoto: the palaces in the center, the Okazaki Park area in the
east, the Kyoto Station area in the south, and the Kitayama
district in the north. She offers an unprecedented framework that
correlates nation building, civic boosterism, and emperor reverence
to explore a diverse body of built works. Interlinking
microhistories of the Imperial Garden, Heian Shrine, Lake Biwa
Canal, the prefectural library, zoological and botanical gardens,
main railway station, and municipal art museum, among others, her
work asserts Kyoto’s vital position as a multi-faceted center of
culture and patriotism in the expanding Japanese empire. Richly
illustrated with many never-before-published photographs and
archival sources, Modern Kyoto challenges readers to look beyond
Tokyo for signposts of Japan’s urban modernity and opens up the
study of modern emperors to incorporate fully built environments
and spatial practices dedicated in their name.
|
|