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41-506: On display in the gallery are eighty large paintings, forty in "Japanese style" ( Nihonga ) and forty in "Western style" ( Yōga ), that depict, in chronological order, scenes from the Emperor's life and times. The gallery opened to the public in 1926, with the final paintings completed and installed ten years later. The selection and investigation of suitable topics for the paintings was overseen by Kaneko Kentarō , who also served as head of

82-424: A 65 year old tourist from America was arrested for property damage after he carved the letters of his last name into one of the shrine’s wooden torii gates with his fingernails. Meiji Shrine is located in a forest that covers an area of 70 hectares (170 acres). This area is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when

123-469: A Japanese territory, with materials being utilized from every Japanese prefecture , including Karafuto , Korea , Kwantung , and Taiwan . It was estimated that the cost of the construction was ¥5,219,00 in 1920 (approximately US$ 26 million today), about a quarter of the actual cost due to the donated materials and labor. It was formally dedicated on November 3, 1920, completed in 1921, and its grounds officially finished by 1926. The interior volume of

164-405: A bid to move away from the importance of the painted line from East Asian painting tradition. Because of this tendency to synthesize, it has become increasingly difficult to draw a distinct separation in either techniques or materials between Nihonga and Yōga . The artist Tenmyouya Hisashi (b. 1966) has developed a new art concept in 2001 called "Neo-Nihonga". Nihonga has a following around

205-507: A gallery storeroom. Discussion of which topics should be selected for the paintings began at committee level at the beginning of 1916 and, two years later, eighty-five possible subjects were selected, those rejected including Commodore Perry's Arrival at Uruga . Later in 1918 a panel of five began their research trips across Japan, to confirm suitability, document locations, and draft explanatory texts, amongst them Goseda Hōryū  [ ja ] , who prepared "provisional paintings". In 1921

246-414: A glue from fishbone or animal hide is used. If polychrome, the pigments are derived from natural ingredients: minerals , shells, corals , and even semi-precious stones like malachite , azurite and cinnabar . The raw materials are powdered into 16 gradations from fine to sandy grain textures. A hide glue solution, called nikawa , is used as a binder for these powdered pigments. In both cases, water

287-415: A public competition in 1918, Kobayashi Masatsugu 's design was the following year selected from the one hundred and fifty-six submissions received, Furuichi Kōi and Itō Chūta numbering amongst the judges. With some amendment by the shrine's building department, construction began in 1919 and ran until 1926, Ōkura Doboku, a legacy firm of what is now Taisei Corporation , starting their work in 1921. This

328-581: Is centered on the shrine buildings and includes a treasure museum that houses articles of the Emperor and Empress. The treasure museum is built in the Azekurazukuri style. The Gaien is the outer precinct, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort. It also includes a variety of sports facilities, including

369-635: Is sacred and inviolable", as well as Itō Hirobumi 's Commentaries on the Constitution, in which he observes that the Tennō should not be the subject of common talk. The Naien or inner precinct of Meiji Jingū was constructed between 1912 and 1920, supported by central government funds. In 1915, the Meiji Shrine Support Committee was established to raise funds for and plan the shrine 's Gaien , or outer precinct. After

410-686: Is used; hence nihonga is actually a water-based medium . Gofun (powdered calcium carbonate that is made from cured oyster , clam or scallop shells) is an important material used in nihonga . Different kinds of gofun are utilized as a ground, for under-painting, and as a fine white top color. Initially, nihonga were produced for hanging scrolls ( kakemono ), hand scrolls ( emakimono ), sliding doors ( fusuma ) or folding screens ( byōbu ). However, most are now produced on paper stretched onto wood panels, suitable for framing. Nihonga paintings do not need to be put under glass. They are archival for thousands of years. In monochrome Nihonga ,

451-525: The Kamakura period , Donald Keene writes that these "reveal very little individuality", eschewing realism "instead to convey courtly elegance or Buddhist consecration". A trend that lasted "well into" the nineteenth century, this was in part also an artefact of the artist typically not knowing what the emperor looked like. The earliest, extant though unpublished, photograph of the Meiji Emperor

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492-731: The Meiji Restoration . An iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken had been known to visit was chosen as the building's location. Construction began in 1915 under Itō Chūta , and the shrine was built in the traditional nagare-zukuri style, using primarily Japanese cypress and copper. The building of the shrine was a national project, mobilizing youth groups and other civic associations from throughout Japan, who contributed labor and funding. The main timbers came from Kiso in Nagano, and Alishan in Taiwan, then

533-546: The Yomiuri Shimbun featured a reported sighting of one hanging in a house of ill-repute in the Yoshiwara district, and it was not until 1898 that the official ban was lifted. In the meantime, commissioned by Hijikata Hisamoto , Chiossone 's 1888 goshin'ei ( 御真影 ) (pictured above) had come to be widely distributed in the form of reproductions, not least, though initially only upon request, to schools across

574-621: The 1872 photographs, of the young Emperor in court dress, with them when they set off again for the US, the following year two new photographs, this time of the Emperor of Japan in Western dress, were taken and sent on to the Mission with the earlier pair (selected from the seventy-two taken at the first session). The final official photographs of the Emperor were taken later in 1873 after the return of

615-530: The Gallery specially opened to the public for one day the following day, although at this point only five paintings had been dedicated, one nihonga , four yōga . The same year also saw the dedication of the Gaien or Meiji Shrine's outer gardens, covering some 77 acres (31 ha). From 1 October 1927 the Gallery was open on weekends and public holidays only. 21 April 1936 saw a special commemorative ceremony on

656-608: The Meiji period. The impetus for reinvigorating traditional painting by developing a more modern Japanese style came largely from many artist/educators, which included Shiokawa Bunrin , Kōno Bairei , Tomioka Tessai and art critics Okakura Tenshin and Ernest Fenollosa , who attempted to combat Meiji Japan's infatuation with Western culture by emphasizing to the Japanese the importance and beauty of native Japanese traditional arts. These two art critics, and in particular Tenshin who

697-447: The Mission, with the Emperor, his top-knot now cut off, in the Western military uniform that was to become his customary attire. These photographs were not widely distributed: when in 1874 someone in Tōkyō began selling unauthorized copies, after debate in government about the propriety of selling such, such sale was prohibited. Continuing to circulate nevertheless, the 16 April 1878 edition of

738-664: The Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts ), he trained many painters who would later be considered Nihonga masters, including Yokoyama Taikan , Shimomura Kanzan , Hishida Shunsō , and Kawai Gyokudō . The term was already in use in the 1880s and a discussion of the context at the end of the Edo period is traced in Foxwell's monograph on Making Modern: Japanese-style Painting . Prior to then, from

779-571: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government approved a plan to develop 28.4 hectares of Meiji Jingu Gaien. A new sports stadium, hotel and three skyscrapers are planned for the site. In September 2023, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a UNESCO advisory body, warned of 'irreversible destruction of cultural heritage' if the project, which will result in the loss of 3,000 trees and open park space,

820-929: The US, as well as domestic waters and the high seas), and how neither Emperor nor Empress appear in a quarter of the paintings, the Emperor hidden in a further thirteen (the remainder: 15 Emperor standing (including 1 with the Empress), 12 sitting (including 2 with the Empress), 5 riding, 1 in a carriage, 8 the Empress (standing), 1 the Empress (hidden)). While there are eighty paintings, there are not quite eighty different artists, Kondō Shōsen and Yūki Somei  [ ja ] responsible for two, and Kobori Tomoto for three. The pictures each measure approximately 3 metres (9.8 ft) by 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) to 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in); as such together they run almost 250 metres (820 ft) and, at this scale, are sometimes described as "murals" ( 壁画 ) . Tosa washi

861-560: The completion of the paintings and exactly one year later the Gallery opened to the public on a full-time basis. In December 1944 the Gallery closed due to the war situation. With the US Occupation , the Gallery was requisitioned by occupying forces ( cf. , the Bayreuth Festspielhaus ), a state of affairs that continued until 1952. More recently, in 2005 2,200 glass plates from the time of construction were found in

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902-469: The country, where it helped foster "patriotism and loyalty to the emperor". Around a dozen incidents have been catalogued, between the mid-1890s and 1947, of teachers risking their lives to save this portrait from tsunami , fire, earthquake, air raid , even theft. Such respect and reticence might be understood in the light of the Meiji Constitution , according to Article 3 of which "The Emperor

943-646: The distinguished Doctorate level curriculum at Tokyo University of the Arts. Most recently Pola Museum did a seminal survey in an exhibit which included Makoto Fujimura , Lee Ufan , Matazo Kayama , as well as Natsunosuke Mise, called "Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga", curated by Hiroyuki Uchiro. Nihonga are typically executed on washi (Japanese paper) or eginu ( silk ), using brushes. The paintings can be either monochrome or polychrome. If monochrome, typically sumi (Chinese ink) made from soot mixed with

984-507: The earliest museum buildings in the country, the architecture , in which straight lines are emphasized, is "memorable, solid, and stately", and in June 2011 the gallery was designated an Important Cultural Property , for its "excellence of design" and "superior construction techniques", in particular those used in the shell dome and for the lighting the painting galleries, which are naturally lit from above. Completed on 22 October 1926,

1025-707: The early modern period on, paintings were classified by school: the Kanō school, the Maruyama-Shijō school, and the Tosa school of the yamato-e genre, for example. At about the time that the Tokyo Fine Arts School was founded, in 1887, art organizations began to form and to hold exhibitions. Through them, artists influenced each other, and the earlier schools merged and blended. With the additional influence of Western painting, today's nihonga emerged and developed. Nihonga has gone through many phases of development since

1066-555: The editorial boards of Dai-Nihon Ishin Shiryō and Meiji Tennōki  [ ja ] , major contemporary historiographic undertakings respectively to document the Meiji Restoration (in 4,215 volumes) and the Meiji Emperor and his era (in 260 volumes); as such, the gallery and its paintings may be viewed as a highly-visible historiographic project in its own right. In his brief survey of pre-Meiji Japanese imperial portraiture, surviving exemplars of which are known at least from

1107-671: The final eighty were proposed, and these were approved the following year. A recent analysis of the subject matter of the paintings has highlighted their range of topic (11 showing palace scenes, 10 grand politics, 11 diplomacy, 18 military, 8 economy, 4 education, 3 health, 3 religion, 1 transport, 5 "love for the people", the remainder cultural pursuits and/or visits to prominent figures), geographic setting (15 in Kyōto , 37 in Tōkyō , also Hokkaidō , Tōhoku , Kantō , Kinki , Chūgoku , Kyūshū , Okinawa , also Taiwan , Manchuria , Korea , Karafuto , and

1148-483: The form of a spacious central hall, beneath the dome, clad in domestically-sourced marble (56% from Mino-Akasaka in Gifu Prefecture , the remainder from Ehime , Fukushima , Gunma , Okayama , Yamaguchi , &c ) and with a marble and mosaic tiled floor; the two painting galleries open off to the sides, each with forty paintings, to the right the first forty nihonga , to the left the forty yōga . One of

1189-416: The gallery extends some 112 metres (367 ft) from east to west and 34 metres (112 ft) from north to south, rising to a height of 32 metres (105 ft) at the apex of the central dome , its two wings standing some 16 metres (52 ft) high. The outer walls are faced with Mannari granite  [ ja ] from Okayama Prefecture , copper sheeting covering much of the roof. The interior takes

1230-557: The materials were supplied by the government. Gravel was sourced from a government-owned direct collection site along the Sagami River , Asano Cement, a legacy firm of today's Taiheiyō Cement , provided the cement , and steel was brought at a heavily discounted rate from the government-owned Yahata Steel Works , the connecting railways and steamships carrying the loads at half the usual freight rate as their contribution to this important national project. Of reinforced concrete ,

1271-495: The national stadiums ( Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium , National Stadium , and the newer National Stadium ), and the Meiji Memorial Hall (Meiji Kinenkan), which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century. Today it is used for Shinto weddings as well as meeting rooms rent and restaurants services. In February of 2023,

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1312-552: The painting. Meiji Shrine#Naien Meiji Shrine ( 明治神宮 , Meiji Jingū ) is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya , Tokyo , that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken . The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama , south of Kyoto . After the emperor's death in 1912, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in

1353-477: The rise of a new Western painting style, Yōga . Hashimoto Gahō , a painter of the Kano School , was the founder of the practical side of this revival movement. He did not simply paint Japanese-style paintings using traditional techniques, but revolutionized traditional Japanese painting by incorporating the perspective of Yōga and set the direction for the later Nihonga movement. As the first professor at

1394-896: The shrine complex when originally built was 650 tsubo . Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha ( 官幣大社 ), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government-supported shrines. The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II . The present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in October 1958. Meiji Shrine has been visited by numerous foreign politicians, including United States President George W. Bush , United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle . In November 2024,

1435-479: The shrine was established. The forest is visited by many as a recreation and relaxation area in the center of Tokyo. The entrance to the shrine complex leads through the Jingu Bashi bridge. Meiji Shrine is adjacent to Yoyogi Park which together is a large forested area. The entrances open at sunrise and close at sunset. The shrine itself is composed of two major areas: The Naien is the inner precinct, which

1476-571: The technique depends on the modulation of ink tones from darker through lighter to obtain a variety of shadings from near white, through grey tones to black and occasionally into greenish tones to represent trees, water, mountains or foliage. In polychrome Nihonga , great emphasis is placed on the presence or absence of outlines; typically outlines are not used for depictions of birds or plants. Occasionally, washes and layering of pigments are used to provide contrasting effects, and even more occasionally, gold or silver leaf may also be incorporated into

1517-599: The world; notable Nihonga artists who are not based in Japan are Hiroshi Senju , American Makoto Fujimura , and Canadian Miyuki Tanobe . Contemporary Nihonga was the mainstay of New York's Dillon Gallery between 1995 and 2015. The "golden age of post war Nihonga" from 1985 to 1993 produced global artists whose training in Nihonga has served as a foundation. Takashi Murakami , Hiroshi Senju , Norihiko Saito, Chen Wenguang, Keizaburo Okamura and Makoto Fujimura all came out of

1558-540: Was called the father of modern Japanese art, championed the preservation of traditional art with innovation and synthesis with Western-style painting. Nihonga was thus not simply a continuation of older painting traditions viewed in this light. Moreover, stylistic and technical elements from several traditional schools, such as the Kanō-ha , Rinpa and Maruyama Ōkyo were blended together. Some Western painting techniques were adopted, such as perspective and shading, in

1599-671: Was selected as the official support for the paintings, although not all artists chose to use it. Nihonga Nihonga ( Japanese : 日本画 ) is a Japanese style of painting that uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from its counterpart, known as Yōga (洋画) or Western-style painting. The term literally translates to "pictures of Japan." Nihonga began when Okakura Tenshin and Ernest Fenollosa sought to revive traditional Japanese painting in response to

1640-545: Was taken late in 1871 at the Yokosuka Naval Yard . The next photographs were taken the following year, in response to a request by the Iwakura Mission , delegates having observed Western diplomats exchanging portraits of their respective heads of state. When Itō Hirobumi and Ōkubo Toshimichi briefly returned to Tōkyō , they were instructed to return with an official portrait; though they did not take

1681-531: Was temporarily suspended due to the Great Kantō earthquake , after which the scaffolding was taken down and temporary barracks built to shelter victims, some 6,400 of whom were accommodated on the site. Construction resumed in May 1924. Internal finishing works began in 1925 and the building phase was completed late the following year. While Ōkura Doboku were responsible for most of the construction work and finishing,

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