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Cities

James Fox explores how the artistic life of three Japanese cities shaped the country's attitudes to past and present, east and west, and helped forge the very idea of Japan itself.

Dr James Fox explores how the artistic life of three great Japanese cities shaped the country's attitudes to past and present, east and west, and helped forge the very idea of Japan itself.

Beginning in Kyoto, the country's capital for almost a thousand years, James reveals how the flowering of classical culture produced many great treasures of Japanese art, including The Tale of Genji, considered to be the first novel ever written. In the city of Edo, where Tokyo now stands, a very different art form emerged, in the wood block prints of artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige. James meets the artisans still creating these prints today, and discovers original works by a great master, Utamaro, who documented the so-called 'floating world' - the pleasure district of Edo.

In contemporary Tokyo, James discovers the darker side of Japan's urbanisation, through the photographs of street photographer Daido Moriyama, and meets one of the founders of the world-famous Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata, whose haunting anime film Grave of the Fireflies helped establish anime as a powerful and serious art form.

1 hour

Last on

Fri 18 Oct 2024 06:30

Music Played

  • Cradle of Filth

    Death Magick For Adepts

  • Miwon

    Shinkansen

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter James Fox
Producer Matthew Springford
Executive Producer Richard Bright

Broadcasts

  • Mon 19 Jun 2017 21:00
  • Tue 20 Jun 2017 02:30
  • Mon 26 Feb 2018 21:00
  • Tue 27 Feb 2018 02:10
  • Tue 19 Mar 2019 20:00
  • Wed 20 Mar 2019 02:55
  • Tue 3 Dec 2019 00:30
  • Thu 14 May 2020 00:30
  • Wed 26 Aug 2020 22:00
  • Tue 7 Sep 2021 22:45
  • Fri 17 Sep 2021 02:30
  • Wed 19 Oct 2022 00:55
  • Thu 20 Oct 2022 03:05
  • Tue 24 Oct 2023 23:30
  • Wed 25 Oct 2023 08:30
  • Thu 26 Oct 2023 21:30
  • Fri 27 Oct 2023 06:30
  • Fri 27 Oct 2023 23:30
  • Sun 29 Oct 2023 15:05
  • Mon 30 Oct 2023 11:00
  • Fri 11 Oct 2024 16:30
  • Sun 13 Oct 2024 21:05
  • Mon 14 Oct 2024 12:00
  • Tue 15 Oct 2024 23:30
  • Wed 16 Oct 2024 08:30
  • Thu 17 Oct 2024 22:05
  • Fri 18 Oct 2024 06:30

Featured in...

成人论坛 Four's Japan season

成人论坛 Four's Japan season

Three weeks of programmes on the art and culture of Japan.