This book takes the reader into the innermost heart of the Japanese home, the intimate recesses of palaces, castles, and tea-ceremony houses, the very sanctuaries of Shinto and Buddhist places of worship. Strking illustrations, together with an authoritative discussion of the style, periods, and purposes of Japanese buildings and gardens, make this book a definitive analysis of these increasingly popular facets of Japanese art.

The history of Japanese metalwork, including ceremonial implements, arts and armor, lanterns, and mirrors, is given ample illustration and comprehensive coverage in this volume. Representative specimens of pottery and porcelain are included, and full treatment is given to the history and development of the various forms of Japanese ceramics.

In this book the progression of Japanese painting from the pre-Buddhist period in the sixth century to its emergence as a fully-formed Japanese tradition in the fourteenth is graphically portrayed in many handsome plates which faithfully capture the spirit and quality of the priceless originals. The explanatory notes accompanying each plate, along with the decisive text describing the history of Japanese painting during the period, make this volume a definitive reference work for the art student as well as an introduction for the layman just discovering the charms of Japanese art.

This book explains Japanese art after the Muromachi Period. While studies on the earlier periods are concerned with the currents of artistic styles, studies of art after the Muromachi Period are centered around the styles of individual artists. Artists began to inscribe their names on their works, and their styles become discernable from one another. Furthermore, art was set free from the restrictions of religion and literature, and promoted the establishment of an art for art's sake.

To summarize, the present book does not attempt to deal with the Meiji or post-Meiji Periods. Rather, in an effort to outline the general history of Japanese sculpture, it is devoted chiefly to Buddhist statues, with the addition of 'Haniwa', 'Gigaku' masks, and 'Noh' masks.

The profuse illustrations in full color, together with the informative captions and text, of the present volume offer a unique opportunity to appreciate the works of the superb artisans of the past. The development of the refined art of lacquer from its simplest rudiments to the fully developed 'makie' form, known in the West as "gold lacquer," is treated comprehensively.