Word: nara
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Many of the items on exhibit were glittering reminders of the Nara era (710-794 A.D.)-the golden age of Japanese art, when the Japanese were beginning to throw off the influences of India and China and to develop styles of their own. In those days, artists of every sort swarmed about the great Buddhist temples at Nara, 20 miles south of Kyoto. Some worked with stone, wood and metals. Others chose lacquer, mixing it with powdered incense, spreading it on linen strips over models of wood or plaster, and then painting their work in flaming vermilion, gold and blue...
Among the most striking statues in the exhibition was a Nara-period lacquer of the demigod Karura, one of the legendary protectors of Shakamuni Buddha. His unknown craftsman visualized him as looking a good deal like an ancient warrior, with stern glance, hanging jowls and a suit of mail-but distinguished from ordinary mortals by a belligerently bird-like beak...
...artillery counterfire from Manila Bay's forts, in his own terse words, "has been effective." His ack-ack guns and runty Air Force were deadly: last week they brought down 15 Japanese planes, including two dive-bombers that mistakenly strafed their own infantry (a regiment of General Akira Nara's 65th Division) with heavy casualties. His observation that the invaders were seeking entrenched positions was evidence that General MacArthur still had the temerity and strength to counterattack...
...SHIZUMA NARA...
...real object of my visit was to study and try to catalogue the sculpture of the Eighth century. This is chiefly centered around Nara, and so, using this town as headquarters, I managed to visit and inspect most of the temples and monasteries in the vincinity. I spent a great deal of time in the monastery of Horyuji. This is the oldest standing wooden building in the world. It was built in the Seventh century, and is a veritable treasure house for the most interesting and priceless of relics...