Collecting Japanese Art

[marknsx]

I have never been to Japan. Its next on the list.
I have admired the Japanese culture for many years now and have started a modest collection of art including Hiroshi Yoshida prints and blue and white vases.I also have a very rusty short sword (wakizashi) recovered from Iwo Jima.
Does anyone else collect Japanese art?

[goldtop]

My Other Half has been studying Japan for many years (academically), so after dozens of trips, we have a lot of Japanese objets around the house. For myself, I like where art/design meets craft (and engineering).

I've got quite a few Japanese guitars, and I've got a thing for washi (traditionally made Japanese paper). There was an exhibition in England a while ago: http://sainsbury-institute.org/news-events/washi-exhibition-of-japanese-paper-and-papermaking/ These guys are in their 70s and still working at it.

We have a friend who collated the definitive book on washi, with full page samples from individual paper makers around Japan, and it's absolutely stunning. Costs a few thousands dollars to buy the set of 10 (I think) volumes. Each page is like a piece of art in itself.

(PS: You have to go!)

[marknsx]

Sounds fascinating.
I will go. Its a shame that I can't take my NSX with me.
When do you recommend going. Season wise I mean?

[goldtop]

I'm no expert, but I'd suggest April-ish for pleasant climate. And ideally in sakura (cherry blossom) season.

Summer is best avoided as it gets very hot and VERY humid.

[havoc]

I'm no expert, but I'd suggest April-ish for pleasant climate. And ideally in sakura (cherry blossom) season.

Summer is best avoided as it gets very hot and VERY humid.

Yes. April and October are the prettiest times of year to visit, and the busiest tourist wise. Sakura in early-mid April - very pretty / Autumn colours in October (earlier in the north) - similar to a New England fall.


One thing that very nearly caught me out when we were there - it's now illegal to import a katana or wakazashi into the UK. If you want one then you have to have a sporting reason (i.e. member of a Kendo club or similar), and I think it has to be a UK-sourced modern manufacture replica (some very good ones around apparently), OR an already-in-the-UK 'antique'.

Not into their art particularly, but do find their culture very interesting - if you do book to go out there and want any suggestions, drop me a line...

[marknsx]

Wonderful thank you both for your replies. I do love my photography so can't wait. Maybe I can hire an NSX out there?

[goldtop]

Maybe I can hire an NSX out there?

As the chubby canine says "oh, yesss": http://fun2drive.co.jp/cars/honda_nsx.html

I didn't do this myself but have seen quite a few fans of Gran Turismo hire these cars to do a touge run, all while safely wrangled by the hire company's boss.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

For the season wise, it depends on which part of Japan you are visiting.
Japan has four distinctive seasons and depending on where you are, the climate could dramatically change even on the same day.
In summer, lots of places could hit about 40degC but some areas could be below 30degC.
In winter, one area may never see the snow whereas on the same day in different location, the accumulated snow fall could reach a few metres.

Generally speaking, spring or autumn is the best time visiting Japan.
Depending on your allergen, you may suffer from hay fever if visiting in spring although the chances are very rare if you spent most of your life in Europe. I suffer from hay fever in Japan but not in UK.

There is rainy season just before start of the summer and will last for about 1 month so best avoided.
Again, depending on the location, the start/end of the rainy season differs a lot.
It could start from around late/May or mid/June and ends around late/June or mid/July.
Unlike in UK, there are lots of mosquito flying around from late spring to autumn so be prepared.

Most of the city area has Japanese and English signs and public transport is so organised (they will apologise even for a few minutes delay) and operates until very late in the evening (at least in the big city area) that if you study how to use them in advance, it will make your stay even more interesting. If you got lost, just ask someone around you. Most of the people are not fluent in English but everyone especially the young generations have studied English at least 6 years or more at school so understands some of the vocabulary.

You can get LTE SIM only contract with SMS support for about £5/month with 3GB data included and 1 month contract so very useful for short stay.
That’s what I use when visiting Japan. If using VPN, there are lots of public wifi AP although not much point in using them when you can use your own data SIM.
So far, even using different SIM (different phone number) in the same phone used in UK, it didn’t overwrite/erase the WhatsApp, Viber, Line, etc account information so they kept working as if you are still in UK.

If you decided to visit, just let me know.

Kaz

[marknsx]

Thanks Kaz I will do