ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Takashi Kurai Monday said the 2017 marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan and hoped to further extend this friendship and to promote and strengthen the cultural ties between the two countries.
He was speaking at an exhibition, “Japanese Traditional Art & Dolls Display” here at his official residence. The Embassy of Japan in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Foundation Trust organized the exhibition.
In his brief address, he said this small exhibition introduced Japan’s traditional woodblock prints which were uniquely developed in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868).
This exhibition also featured the display of representative dolls which have been a part of everyday life in Japan since ancient times.
Ambassador Takashi Kurai in his welcome remarks while appreciating the works of artist Saba Hussain said today’s exhibition aims to introduce the traditional Japanese woodblock prints and traditional Japanese dolls to the Pakistani people.
Ambassador Kurai stated that woodblock printing in Japan started during Aska Period (593-710) to mainly introduce and spread Buddhism text and painting.
However Japanese woodblock printing flourished and developed into art and amusement form during the Edo period in early seventeenth century (1603-1868), and today this printing technique is used all over the world.
He also pointed out the difference between the western woodblock printing and Japanese one that western one uses oil-based ink and Japanese one uses water-based ink which give different impression of the end product.
