Dr Monika Chansoria 
"Byakue Kannon" (White-Robed Kannon, 1908) by Yokoyama Taikan. In 1903, five years prior to creating this piece, Yokoyama traveled to India. Inspired by his journey, he began incorporating Indian elements into his Buddhist-themed works over the following years. (Source: National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo website)
It is often said that art unites, and politics divides. Be it countries, states, regions, or cultures, they all amalgamate around art, for it is interpreted as a driver of social evolution. Having the ability to link people and create cross-cultural bridges, art forms may vary depending on geographic specifics.
However, they remain consistent when it comes to creative instincts and human expressions. Art wields unimaginable power to connect people, lands, and cultures. It unifies diverse art forms prevalent in global cultures.
Art, in all of its forms, remains the most essential component of diverse cultures, given its centrality in communicating ideas, political viewpoints, socio-philosophical renaissance, and the very revival of expressions.
When it comes to deciphering key gradations and cross-cultural identities that define the essence of global civilizations, perhaps appreciating the diversity of respective art forms is a foremost requisite.
Indo-Japanese Cultural Cooperation
In this context, the Indo-Japanese cooperation drew upon many commonalities. These include a very significant cultural connection, with its origins rooted in ancient history. For Japan, India remained the birthplace of Lord Buddha and Buddhism.
As a source of inspiration for centuries of artistic, literary, and philosophical expression, India attracted devout Buddhist and literary figures. Okakura Tenshin, a Japanese scholar and art critic during the Meiji Restoration era, was among them. Okakura left Japan on December 5, 1901, disembarked at Colombo, and after a brief stay in Madras, arrived in Calcutta on January 6, 1902.
The Indian and Japanese interactions in the field of art are more than 100 years old, famously rooted in the late 19th-century legacy of Swami Vivekananda's visit to Japan in 1893.
In fact, India and Japan's interactions on art and aesthetics have underlined distinct elements such as the use of colors, patterns, imperfections, and transience. The exchanges also brought out how dissimilar art forms provide diverse and wide-ranging perspectives on culture, traditions, values, beliefs, and social standards.
This trend continued well into the 20th century, when Indian Nobel laureate and poet, Rabindranath Tagore opened his Calcutta home to many luminaries who were involved in Asia's cultural renaissance.
Yokoyama Taikan Meets Tagore
A notable Japanese visitor to Tagore's home was none other than Okakura Tenshin. Also known by the name Okakura Kakuzo, he famously published The Book of Tea (1906) following his visit to India.
Once Okakura Tenshin returned to Japan from Calcutta in October 1902, he sent two distinguished Japanese artists to Calcutta to meet Rabindranath Tagore.
One was painter Hishida Shunso, and the other was a fascinating artistic figure in the name of Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958). They sought to exchange artistic ideas and discuss Indian and Japanese views on art with Tagore.
The Travelling Artist
Born in the Ibaraki Prefecture, Yokoyama looked up to Okakura Tenshin as his mentor and lived through the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. He enrolled in a private Tokyo English School for four years. The language skills he learned at this school aided Yokoyama greatly in his later years as a professional artist traveling to distant lands, including India.
In 1889, he entered the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko, (Tokyo School of Fine Arts, now, Tokyo University of the Arts), and graduated in 1893. Nearly a decade later in 1898, he joined Okakura Tenshin in establishing the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsuin) in Yanaka.
In 1903, Yokoyama held exhibitions in Calcutta (India) and in 1905 in New York, Boston, London, Berlin, and Paris, where his painting style was highly acclaimed. This style was Nihonga (日本画), which uses mineral pigments, organic materials, and ink on paper or silk. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912).
Yokoyama introduced and promoted a painting technique that came to be called "Moro-tai" (朦朧体). The technique departed from the traditional use of outlines, giving paintings a softer look.
Global Recognition
After returning to Japan, he moved to Itsuura (Ibaraki) briefly but returned to Tokyo more than a year later. Then, he moved to Kayacho, Shimotani-ku (presently the Yokoyama Taikan Memorial Hall, Taito-ku) in 1908.
Yokoyama became renowned in the field of art globally following his visit to India. Through his art, he established himself as a leader in the Japanese art world, including serving as an envoy to the Japan Art Exhibition in Rome in 1930. Subsequently, he became a teishitsu gigeiin (Imperial Household Artist) in 1931.
He was one of the first persons to be awarded the Order of Culture in 1937. Yokoyama's long-standing contributions to the development of Japanese art also earned him the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the First Order of Merit.
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Author: Dr Monika Chansoria
Learn more about Dr Chansoria and follow her column "All Politics is Global" on JAPAN Forward, and on X (formerly Twitter). The views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organization with which she is affiliated.
