A World of Edo Art

Much of Japan is blessed by a temperate climate, bountiful rain, and four distinct seasons that produce an array of stunning natural vistas. Yet, as an island nation with over one hundred volcanoes situated over four tectonic plates, it is perennially vulnerable to jolting earthquakes and the ravages of the fires and tsunami that can follow in their wake. For centuries, Japanese people have celebrated both the majesty and the terrors of nature as gifts of the Shinto gods in their rituals, their poetry, and their art.

Like their ancestors, Edo artists venerated nature's mysteries, utilizing the dramatic expanses of large folding screens and the lengths of hanging scrolls to enchant and awe viewers. Close examinations reveal finger-tipped waves clawing the air, tiny golden globes of dew drops scattered across grasses, dragons wrestling with clouds for command of the skies, microscopic details of flower petals and tree leaves, and the enduring enigma of a forest shrouded in mist. As their artworks mesmerize us with their exquisite splendor, they also forewarn us of how we ignore nature's dominion at our peril.