Edo Period Woodblocks and Today's Manga

  So two days ago, our group visited the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which is a museum specializing, as the name says, in cultural objects from the Edo Period all the way up to modern times in Japan. Since our trip is about "Japanese Cool", one of the very cool things about Japan is the manga. Manga is EVERYWHERE here! Their are gigantic stores dedicated to it anyway you go in Tokyo; at every train stop, on every store corner, anywhere you could imagine. But how are these two periods related?

   So even before the Edo Period, printing artworks with a woodblock was a popular medium for an artist to work in. The lines on these works stylized the Japanese figure to have an elongated face, beautiful curves, and all set in a beautifully decorative landscape. This is seen in the first picture I have posted. In the second picture we see the modern day evolution of this print. Although, the second picture of the woman with the sword is much more complex and colorful, the stylization is still the same, still very Japanese in style. Her curves are accentuated, her face is long and beautiful, and the setting she is placed in is absolutely gorgeous. Woodblocks may have introduced Japanese artwork to the world, but it is modern day manga that keeps it alive!