Yamamura Toyonari (Kôka)
2022 is slowly coming to an end. Are you ready for a party? Or have you decided to stay at home and just do nothing (like I have)? Anyway, we hope it was a good year for you and you're ready for 2023!
Today with this beautiful woodblock print showing a huge firework, we will travel to Japan. The art of fireworks in Japan is called Hanabi ("flower fire"). Although fireworks originated in China following the invention of gunpowder, it was popularized and developed in Japan during the Edo Period (from 1603 to 1868) and has come to hold cultural significance both in physical displays and as a metaphorical symbol of ephemeral beauty.
During the Edo period, fireworks were authorized by the shogun to both celebrate the end of famine and pray to the gods of water that epidemic diseases were avoided. (Edo, currently Tokyo, is located on several rivers and marshes.) Restaurants had a contest for the best fireworks and a pair of fireworks manufacturers, Tamaya and Kagiya, competed to look for more and more innovative and impressive solutions. The characteristic peony- or chrysanthemum-shaped artworks were developed in Japan; they resemble blossoms of bright colors against the velvety background of the sky.
See you tomorrow! Have a good time tonight. :)
P.S. To inspire your creativity for your New Year's resolutions see a selection of the best fireworks in art. <3 What a way to end the year!