Influences In History

In 1854 Japan opened it's ports to the United States after Commodore Perry landed in Edo, which we now know as Tokyo. His arrival caused the government to realize that they would be unable to defend their country against foreign powers if they remained isolated. The opening of ports and exchange of goods caused an influence in artists of the time as Japanese art moved internationally. Influences of the woodblock prints emerged mildly in impressionist artists, but greatly influenced artists in the art nouveau.

The art of the secessionists was inspired by the flatness and abstract shapes of Japanese art, as well as by nature. This more abstract art broke free from the art of the past, standing out starkly as a change as the world began to evolve rapidly, representing a dynamic time when everything began to change and change quickly.

This time was a great deal like the past few decades have been in current times. Where the generation before might have had to scrap for a computer, a large part of the American generation today was raised on computers. Old games and even military hand-eye coordination systems have had to be updated simply because children are advancing so quickly with a multitude of video games available, perhaps the largest creator and supplier of which would be Japan.

Since their army was dissolved in World War II, Japan has become a technological center of the world and has widely influenced the current American culture. Many illustrative artists today have been inspired by the growing availability of Japanese comics and cartoons, known as manga and anime. While it may have started as amateur and hardly recognized as art in younger artists, the anime/manga influence has moved into commercial art and American cartoons/comics as well.

Though artists influenced by Japan today might be seen as so called Ð''geeks' or Ð''nerds' by today's standards, in many ways they are like