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Shoami
''Shoami'' (and ''Ko-Shoami'') is a name of an artistic school (style) for making sword-guards (tsuba), mounted on a Japanese sword ('' uchi-gatana'' or just katana). The sword-guard is one of the most important symbols of the samurai. Etymology The "ami" part of this name, which derives from the name of the Amida Buddha, was once used to indicate a rank among priests of a branch of Buddhism called Jishu. Later, after the founding of the Ashikaga shogunate, a number of men engaged in serving the shogunal house in artistic or technical capacities included this word in their names. History In the Muromachi period, samurai of high standing began to use the ''uchi-gatana''; and as a result, outstanding guards for these weapons came into demand. Possibly the elevation of the status of the silver-smith to a position where he was entitled to use a name like Shoami dates from the time when craftsmen began producing fine sword guards of this kind. Naturally, as the popularity of the ''u ...
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Umetada
''Umetada'' is a Japanese style of decoration for metal work. It may have been used by silversmiths since the Muromachi period. But in the Momoyama period, a certain Umetada Myoju (1558–1631) emerged to become the founder of the manufacture of so-called "new swords," or ''shinto'', and to rank with Kaneie and Nobuie as a great designer and maker of sword guards. Although he is said to have done metal carving for sword mounts, not a single sword guard that can safely be said to have been carved by him remains. Most of the things that do remain are works in inlay, (zogan) in copper, brass, and ''shakudo'' using designs that recall the colorful pictures of the Ogata Kōrin school. Umetada Myoju established the style and the fame of the Umetada name, which flourished greatly after his time. But he was not the first to make sword guards in the Umetada style. Both nameless craftsmen and a certain Mitsutada are known to have done this kind of work before Myoju. It seems likely that was ...
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Toreutics
The term ''toreutics'', relatively rarely used in English, refers to artistic metalworking – hammering gold or silver (or other materials), engraving, or using repoussé and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs or small engraved patterns. Toreutics can include metal-engraving – forward-pressure linear metal removal with a burin. Toreutics is extremely ancient, and depending on the metal used will survive burial for periods of centuries better than art in many other materials. Conversely if above ground it was likely to be melted down and the metal reused. Until the Middle Ages it was also among the art forms with the highest prestige. Archeological background It was practised in the Bronze Age and was well established centuries before the shaft graves. Toureutic items of special quality from the Iron Age are the Certosa situla from Italy and from Slovenia the Vače situla and the Vače belt-plate. Toreutics flourished to an unusual degree among the peoples of Asia Mi ...
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Higo Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The castle town of Higo was usually at Kumamoto City. During the Muromachi period, Higo was held by the Kikuchi clan, but they were dispossessed during the Sengoku period, and the province was occupied by neighboring lords, including the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Kyūshū and gave Higo to his retainers, first Sassa Narimasa and later Katō Kiyomasa. The Kato were soon stripped of their lands, and the region was given to the Hosokawa clan. During the Sengoku Period, Higo was a major center for Christianity in Japan, and it is also the location where the philosopher, the artist and swordsman Miyamoto Musashi stayed at the Hosokawa ''daimyō''s invitation, Hosokawa Tadatoshi third lord of Kumamoto, while comple ...
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History Of Decorative Arts
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth, or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term ''history'' refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past, or to individual texts about the past. Historical research relies on primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive to integrate the perspectives of several sources to devel ...
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Aesthetics
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , accessed on 15 September 2024. Aesthetics examines values about, and Critical thinking, critical judgments of, artistic taste and preference. It thus studies how Artist, artists imagine, create, and perform works of art, as well as how people use, enjoy, and criticize art. Aesthetics considers why people consider certain things beautiful and not others, as well as how objects of beauty and art can affect our moods and our beliefs. Aesthetics tries to find answers to what exactly is art and what makes good art. It considers what happens in our minds when we view Visual arts, visual art, listen to music, read poetry, enjoy delicious food, and engage in large artistic projects like creating and experiencing plays, fashion shows ...
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Scabbard
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbines and rifles for transportation and protection. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the millennia, including leather, wood, and metal such as brass or steel. Most commonly, sword scabbards were worn suspended from a sword belt or shoulder belt called a baldric. Antiquity Scabbards have at least been around since the Bronze Age, and are thought to have existed as long as the blade has. Wooden scabbards were typically covered in fabric or leather; the leather versions also usually bore metal or leather fittings for added protection and carrying ease. All-metal scabbards were popular items for a display of wealth among elites in the European Iron Age, and often intricately decorated. Little is known about the scabbards ...
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Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the List of cities in Japan, ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled fro ...
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Miyamoto Musashi
, was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (sword saint) of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (or Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored and ''Dokkōdō'' (獨行道, ''The Path of Aloneness''). Both documents were given to Terao Magonojō, the most important of Miyamoto's students, seven days before Musashi's death. ''The Book of Five Rings'' focuses on the character of his Niten Ichi-ryū school in a concrete sense; his own practical martial art and its generic significance. ''The Path of Aloneness'', on the other hand, deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life's philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences. It is believed that Miyamoto was a friend of Mizuno Katsushige, Mizuno Katsunari, a Tokugawa shogunate gene ...
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:Category:Japanese Words And Phrases
{{Commons Words and phrases by language Words Words Words A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ...
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Tsuba
Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings (''Commons:Tosogu (Japanese sword fittings), tosogu'') that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. refers to the ornate mountings of a Japanese sword (e.g. ''katana'') used when the sword blade is being worn by its owner, whereas the ''Commons:shirasaya, shirasaya'' is a plain undecorated wooden mounting composed of a ''Commons:Saya, saya'' and ''Commons:Tsuka, tsuka'' that the sword blade is stored in when not being used. Components *: The ''Commons:category:Fuchi, fuchi'' is a hilt collar between the ''Commons:category:Tsuka, tsuka'' and the ''Commons:category:Tsuba, tsuba''. *: The ''Commons:category:Habaki, habaki'' is a wedge-shaped metal collar used to keep the sword from falling out of the ''Commons:category:Saya, saya'' and to support the fittings below; fitted at the ''ha-machi'' and ''mune-machi'' which precede the ''Commons:category:Nakago, nakago''. *: A hook-sha ...
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