674 MODERN PAINTING 



threat of foreign complications was coupled with the actual struggle 

 of overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate. The gleam of the sword 

 and the flash of gunpowder were before the people's eyes by the year 

 1860. Kioto and Yeddo became the main centres of commotion, and 

 unrest was over all the country. Uprisings in various provinces 

 culminated in the general civil war which began in the vicinity of 

 Kioto, and convulsed the nation from Kiushiu to Yesso. It was in 

 those days that the art-treasures of the daimios were scattered to 

 form the ornaments of Western museums, when Buddhist painting 

 and sculpture in the monasteries were wantonly destroyed in the 

 mistaken zeal of Shinto converts. 



It is heart-rending to hear of the burning of wonderful lacquer 

 boxes to collect their gold, for nobody could afford what was con- 

 sidered a luxury in that moment of universal calamity. Painters had 

 to abandon their profession. Those who did not follow the wars had 

 to eke out a hard subsistence by rude hand-work. 



The Restoration was accomplished in 1868, which marks the year 

 when the last remnant of the army of the Shogunate was defeated and 

 submitted to the authority of the imperialists. It was in that year 

 that his Majesty the present Mikado ascended the throne and in- 

 augurated the enlightened policy which was to give Japan a place 

 in the family of nations. But the necessary friction attending the 

 adjustment of the old to the new social and economic conditions was 

 a source of constant disturbance. We had riots and rebellions, the 

 last of which, the Satsuma Rebellion of 1878, was of quite a serious 

 nature. After that, peace was assured, and art had a chance to 

 survive. In 1882 we had our first national exhibition of painting. 

 But the community was too deeply involved in solving the problems of 

 modern industrialism to show any deep sympathy for the revival of 

 art. The best energies of the leading men were devoted to the fram- 

 ing and application of constitutional government, and the revoking 

 of the ex-territorial jurisdiction inflicted upon us by the foreign 

 powers. 



Another great drain on our resources and intellect was the organ- 

 ization of the army and navy to secure our independence; for our 

 national existence was threatened by the continental aggression on 

 our legitimate line of defense. We must try to live before we could 

 paint. In 1894-95 we had the Chinese War. At the present moment 

 we arc in a death-grapple with one of the mightiest military nations 

 of Europe. 



The ravages of war are bad enough, but in Japan we have the hard 

 task of facing the antagonistic forces which peace itself had brought 

 to bear upon us. I refer to the onslaught of Western art on our 

 national painting. A great battle is raging among us in the contest 

 for supremacy between Eastern and Western ideals. With what 



