Ukiyo-e Prints

浮世絵版画

Occasionally I run across a quote which stops me in my tracks.

For a long time I have been thinking that I should add a box here to share them with you.

Sometimes they come from books I agree with, sometimes not. Please keep that in mind.

FROM "Edo Architecture and Tokugawa Law"

By William H. Coaldrake

Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 36, No. 3. (Autumn, 1981), p. 237.

Forty years ago A. L. Sadler, in his pioneering study A Short History of Japanese
Architecture, noted the use of architectural terms for many official titles in Japan.
He cited examples such as mikado 御門, meaning literally 'honorable gate' but actually
referring to the emperor, and heika 陛下, literally 'below the [palace] steps'
but used in the same way as 'His Majesty'. While noting the linguistic relationship
between architecture and official titles, Sadler did not pursue further the implications
of his observations.

AND

...reference to government or its
rulers in architectural terms seems to border on the universal. To cite some examples:
the title 'pharaoh' literally means 'great house'; 'the palace' is a frequent
way of referring to the monarchy and 'the White House' is synonymous with the
presidency in the United States; the idea of an 'upper house' and 'lower house' is
intrinsic to parliamentary systems; and metaphors such as 'structure of power' and
'policy framework' are constantly used. These linguistic links are a result of a tendency
to seek in physical forms the embodiment of intangible principles.

BAD BOYS

AND

THEIR TATTOOS

PLEASE CLICK ON THE SPYING BAD BOY EGGS BELOW TO GO TO OUR FIRST AND SECOND TATTOO PAGES.  PAGE ONE IS ON THE LEFT AND PAGE TWO IS ON THE RIGHT.

CLICK ON THE BAD BOY SPYING EGGS ABOVE TO GO TO THE FIRST TATTOO PAGE!

ABOVE IS A DETAIL OF

J.W.'S TATTOO

IN PROGRESS

PAGE TWO IS NOW BASICALLY

DEVOTED TO THE PROCESS.

CLICK ON THE DRAGON ABOVE

TO SEE WHAT WE MEAN.

CLICK ON THE BAD BOY SPYING EGGS ABOVE TO GO TO THE SECOND TATTOO PAGE!

CLICKING ON THE IMAGE ABOVE WILL TAKE YOU OUR BAD BOYS AND THEIR TATTOOS PAGE 3.

 OUR INTERACTIVE

INDEX/GLOSSARY PAGES

*****

CLICK ON CAMEL TO GO TO A THRU Bl, ETC.

A thru Bl

Bo Thru Da

De thru Gen

Ges Thru Hic

Hil thru I

J thru Kakure-gasa

Kakure-mino thru Kento

Kesa thru Kuruma

Kutsuwa thru Mok

Mom thru N

O thru Ri

Ro thru Seigle

Seikichi thru Sh

Si thru Tengai

Tengu thru Tsuzumi

U thru Yakata-bune

Yakusha thru Z

PUBLISHERS

CLICK ON THE GHOST LANTERN BELOW TO GO TO THE FIRST OF OUR FIVE PAGES DEVOTED TO PUBLISHERS' SEALS ORGANIZED BY THEIR SHAPES.

OR

CLICK ON ANY OF THE SEALS BELOW TO GO TO THEIR SPECIFIC PAGES.

PAGE TWO

IS ALPHABETICAL

A THRU G

(click seal below)

PAGE THREE

IS ALPHABETICAL

H THRU J

(click seal below)

PAGE FOUR

IS ALPHABETICAL

K THRU M

(click seal below)

PAGE FIVE

IS ALPHABETICAL

N TO Z

(click seal below)

SUPPLEMENTAL PAGE

WITH EXAMPLES OF SEALS

WE HAVE NOT OFFERED YET

(click on the ginko leaf below)

SOME OF

KUNIYOSHI'S

PUBLISHERS

(click on the composite head below)

SELECTED TOPICS

CLICK ON THE TITLES OR THE IMAGES TO GO TO THOSE SPECIFIC PAGES

LIGHTNING IN JAPANESE PRINTS

 LIONS & PEONIES

THE MANY USES

OF EBI

WHY PORT TOWNSEND?

CLICK ON THE PICTURE OF STICKY

  BELOW TO FIND OUT WHY.

HE WONDERS WHY YOU HAVEN'T VISITED YET.

(STICKY LEADS YOU TO OUR FIRST PAGE.  CLICKING ON THE VIEW OF DIABLO LAKE WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THE SECOND PAGE.)

A FEW OF THE

ITEMS WHICH HAVE SOLD

CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO GO TO SPECIFIC PAGES

Click on the Kunisada print

shown above to go to the first page  of selected items which we have sold: A thru L

Click on the Yoshitora print shown above to go to the second page  of selected items which we have sold:

 M thru Z