Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Dynamics Between East and West in Meiji’s Japan: Hishida Shunsō, Morotai, and Nihonga Paintings

Peishan HuangWesttown School*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

The phenomenon of globalization has led to a growing interconnectedness across nations and regions, giving rise to extensive cross-cultural exchanges, establishment of commercial alliances, and significant societal transformations. This paper examines the embedded dynamics between the West and the East by analyzing three paintings of Hishida Shunsō, the Morotai technique he developed, and the Nihonga movement in the Meiji Period, which opposed the dominance of Western paintings by insisting on traditional Japanese paintings and art styles. This research has identified three Nihonga paintings that Shunsō created in the three stages of his career and a text he wrote near the end of his life (during the final phase of the Nihonga movement), which explains the development of the Morotai technique and discusses the progression of the Nihonga movement in the Meiji period. In the discussion, the paper compares the West and East with respect to five aspects: the embedded Western bias in the Nihonga movement, the comparison between Nihonga and Yoga, the Western perception of the Morotai technique and the Western Gaze on the East, the shift in Japan’s national identity, and the localization of the globalized West in domestic Japanese society. The paper concludes that the success of the Nihonga movement and of Morotai-style paintings show that domestic Eastern culture actively sought to maintain its position under the pressure of Western influx by integrating Western ideas and Eastern techniques.

Keywords: cultural dynamics; national identity; Nihonga movement; Meiji period; Hishida Shunsō
Published: December 7, 2023
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/18/20231186
Volume: CHR Vol.18
pp. 256-266
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