Template talk:Japanese art history

Historical periods and the purpose of the template
In a moment of spontaneity, I have stolen the French art history template and converted it to be used for Japanese art. I have already added it to the page Japanese art, but nowhere else yet, as I am eagerly awaiting input and opinions. I'm also really not sure where to fit it in on that main page - the picture of the Kamakura Daibutsu is just too gorgeous to remove.

The goal here is to try to prompt further organization and input into articles related to Japanese art. I am on the fence as to including a section, as French art does, on historical periods, as I am not sure where to break them down. We could simply do Art of the Nara period, Art of the Heian period, Art of the Kamakura period, Art of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Art of the Edo period, and so on, but that leaves a number of gaps not so easily categorized or named. Do we group Kofun, Haniwa, Jomon, Yamato, and Asuka periods, and then what do we call them? Do we group Meiji with Taisho? Do we group Showa with Taisho and/or with Heisei? Do we make a distinction between "Modern Art", "20th Century art", and "Contemporary art"?

In any case, I am hoping to resolve these grouping and naming situations in order to create a bunch of red-links (or links to articles needing expansion) in the "historical periods" section, so as to spur further input and article creation.

Comments, ideas, suggestions? Thank you very much for your help and input. LordAmeth 23:22, 1 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Under the catagories page, I think printmaking and swordmaking are missing. Both are extremely prominent Japanese artforms.  Same with adding swordsmiths under Japanese Artists.

Other than that, looks great! MightyAtom 23:34, 2 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I have added the Japanese swords category under General Art Categories; there does not appear to be any proper categories for "Japanese swordsmiths" or "Japanese printmaking", and we do already have Ukiyo-e under Schools and styles. But I thank you for pointing out that omission. LordAmeth 00:26, 3 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Hmmm...I think I see a blank spot in Wikipedia! There are articles on sosaku hanga, shin hanga and ukiyo-e, but no over-all article on Japanese printmaking.  Ah well, until somebody makes it, I guess that will have to do...