The Use of Imported Persian and Indian Textiles in Early Modern Japan

It is well known that high-quality imported textiles have long been used as status symbols by various elites around the world. Japan is no exception. From the early 17th century, despite the policy of seclusion being in place, Japanese rulers received Persian and Indian textiles and carpets as diplomatic gifts from the Dutch. How and why were imported Persian and Indian textiles used by the ruling class in Japan? Why were these imported textiles valued by the Japanese generally? What were the similarities and differences in the reception of these textiles among the Japanese and Europeans? How did the Japanese merchants and ordinary people get access to these imported textiles? In order to consider these issues, this paper will discuss, from an art historical perspective, the variety of uses of imported Persian and Indian textiles in Japan. For instance, a tradition developed of using these textiles as covers for the tea caddies used in the tea ceremony. Persian and Indian textiles were also pasted on albums which then continued to be valued by successive generations. This paper concludes with a discussion of the political and cultural significance of the use of Indian carpets in Shinto festivals. From the 18th century, Indian carpets, especially those from the Deccan, were imported into Japan by the Dutch and used as float covers during the Kyoto Gion Festival and also, as this researcher discovered, during the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, a tradition which continues to this day

Tribal Textiles and the Mingei Circle in Japan: Muneyoshi Yanagi’s View on Carpet

Tribal carpets and textiles have been enthusiastically collected by connoisseurs and ordinary people in Europe and the United States for years. Along with a number of publications on tribal carpets and textiles, several recent exhibitions such as Portable Storage: Tribal Weavings from the Collection of William and Inger Ginsberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art indicate a keen academic interest in the West. In contrast, tribal carpets and textiles did not gain the attention of the majority of Japanese. However, some Japanese, especially Yanagi Muneyoshi and his friends in the Mingei circle, notably Hamada Shoji, Serizawa Keisuke, and Tonomura Kichinosuke, have been collecting tribal carpets and textiles since the mid-twentieth century. This paper focuses on this little-known fact and explores how and in what circumstances these textiles were collected. As discussed elsewhere by the author, Indian and Persian carpets were brought to Edo-period Japan by the Dutch East India Company and used for special occasions such as festivals. Then, from the early twentieth century, a privileged few, such as aristocrats, scholars, and businessmen, had the chance to visit Europe and the United States and became exposed to carpets as daily furnishings. Some took tribal carpets and textiles back to Japan. While several Japanese handbooks on the use of carpet as interior decoration were published in the 1920s, most Japanese were unfamiliar with carpets. It was in this context that Yanagi Muneyoshi found beauty in carpet designs and came to regard carpets and tribal textiles as idealized artifacts. In the 1950s, Yanagi actually used a saddle bag made by a Persian nomad as a cushion in his library. Using his work as source material, this paper examines why carpets and tribal textiles were highly valued by the Mingei circle and compares their view with William Morris’s attitude toward Oriental carpets

Role of Adhesion Molecules in Eosinophil Activation: A Comparative Study on the Effect of Adhesion Molecules on Eosinophil Survival

Background: Adhesion molecules participate in an important part of inflammatory process in relation to the accumulation of inflammatory cells, such as eosinophils. The expression of adhesion molecules differs depending upon the cells and tissue. In the present study, to elucidate these differences, a comparative study was performed on the prolongation of eosinophil survival via adhesion molecules. Methods: Blood eosinophils were purified using Percoll and anti-CD16 antibody coated magnetic beads. Eosinophils were incubated with or without the various concentrations of adhesion molecules for 18 or 36 h. Eosinophil survival was analyzed by a flow cytometer with staining by annexin V (AV) and propidium iodide (PI). Results: Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, fibronectin (FN) and cellular fibronectin (cFN), but not vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, significantly prolonged eosinophil survival compared with control. The present comparative study for eosinophil survival showed the following tendency: cFN=FN>ICAM-1>VCAM-1. Moreover, enhancement of prolonged eosinophil survival by connecting segment- 1 was greater than that by FN and cFN. Conclusions: The regulation of adhesion molecules, by not only preventing eosinophil adhesion but also eosinophil activation, may be a potential target in the treatment of allergic inflammatory disorders