500-600 words 36 hours Japanese culture reading

PREMODERN JAPAN

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hane, Mikiso. Premodern Japan : a historical survey / Mikiso Hane, late of Knox College, Louis G.

Perez, llinois State University. — Second edition. pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8133-4970-1 (e-book : alk. paper) 1. Japan—History—To 1868. I. Perez,

Louis G. II. Title. DS850.H36 2014 952—dc23

2014032427

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents

Preface Introduction

1 THE EARLY YEARS Geographic Setting The Mythological Origins of Japan Japanese Prehistory Japan’s Neighbor: Korea Early Yamato Society: Fourth and Fifth Centuries The Indigenous Cults Social Practices and Conditions Architecture

2 THE ADVENT AND ASSIMILATION OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION The Introduction of Chinese Civilization Buddhism Prince Shōtoku The Taika Reforms Culture of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries Social and Economic Conditions Marriage and Gender Relations Internal and External Foes

3 THE HEIAN PERIOD The Age of Court Aristocracy The Central Government Culture Nara-Heian Buddhism The Rise of Shōen The Emergence of the Warrior Class (Samurai) The Triumph of the Samurai The Rivalry of the Taira and Minamoto Clans

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4 THE KAMAKURA PERIOD The Kamakura Shogunate (1185–1333) The Hōjō Regency Foreign Relations: The Asian Continent The Mongol Invasions and the Decline of the Kamakura Bakufu The Ethos of the Samurai Women and Inheritance Kamakura Buddhism Culture

5 THE ASHIKAGA PERIOD AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE DAIMYŌ Political Developments Ashikaga Rule The Decline of the Shōen The Onset of the Time of Troubles The Rise of the Daimyō and the Warring States The Peasantry Economic Growth The Influence of Zen Buddhism on Culture Other Cultural Developments

6 THE RESTORATION OF ORDER Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Hideyoshi’s Domestic Policies The Ninja Azuchi-Momoyama Culture Gender and Sexuality Contact with the West Christianity in Japan The Introduction of Western Things

7 THE EARLY TOKUGAWA PERIOD The Triumph of Tokugawa Ieyasu The Power Structure Administrative Structure The Administration of Justice

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Social Structure The Samurai The Peasants The Townspeople Other Classes Family Hierarchy and Women

8 INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN

Neo-Confucianism The Zhu Xi School in Japan The Wang Yang-Ming School Ancient Learning National Learning Agrarian Egalitarianism The Culture of the Townspeople Prose Fiction Theater Woodblock Printing and Painting Haiku Education The State of Buddhism

9 THE LATE TOKUGAWA PERIOD Political Developments Economic Problems The Pleasure Quarters The Lot of the Peasants Population Control Peasant Uprisings Agricultural Improvements Forestry Intellectual Currents: Reformers and Critics

10 THE FALL OF THE TOKUGAWA BAKUFU Sakoku The Arrival of Commodore Perry The Immediate Consequences

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The Mentality of Sonnō Jōi The Rise of the Anti-Bakufu Forces The Meiji Restoration

Appendix A: The Internet Appendix B: Chronological Chart Appendix C: List of Shōguns Selected Bibliography Index

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Preface

In many ways this revision is decades overdue. My late good friend Mikiso Hane first wrote the early half of a two-volume history (Japan: A Historical Survey) in 1972. Then he revised it somewhat to stand alone as Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey. In 1991 he revised it again. That version has not been revised since. Miki once told me that he intended to bring it up to date “at the turn of the twenty-first century.” He never got around to it; he passed away in 2003.

I rewrote Miki’s modern Japan half of the textbook—twice, in fact. After a decade, I took up the premodern half. You have the results in your hands. Generally speaking, I have tried to retain Miki’s voice wherever I could. His work on religion, the arts, and culture are still magnificent. Students tell me that his prose is still clear and easy to understand after four decades. Unless there has been a significant change in consensus, I have retained his words and interpretations.

A Word About Sources and Citations I have chosen to put source citations and clarifications at the end of each chapter for quick and easy reference and to avoid cluttering up the flow of the narrative. I have retained almost all of Miki’s citations except for those clearly out of date. His translations from Japanese are retained. Miki was a great translator; we owe much to him for access to some great Japanese scholars, Maruyama Masao especially. Translation is a tough job; most of us have tried it, if only because our dissertations required it. In my own case, I always feel like the shade-tree mechanic in that I find leftover parts and pieces after I am done.

I have used the endnotes to cite sources for new quotations I have employed but also to suggest particularly good sources that a student might consult to flesh out what I have suggested. Long ago (in the previous century) when I was an undergrad, I valued most those histories that provided suggested readings right in the footnotes.

Regarding the new bibliography, I have found that recent scholarship has nearly doubled since Miki’s last edition. This is mostly due to the explosion of higher education in the last half century. In former times only wealthy people could afford to send their children to college, and then few would “waste” the effort by allowing them to pursue esoteric topics like Japanese history. The idea of the first child of a Chicano illegal immigrant farm worker family to graduate from high school spending much time in college puzzling out Japanese history was unimaginable. By far the best of the “new stuff” is in what has been called the “subaltern voice.” The influx of women into the profession has profoundly changed it. We must remember

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that Miki was among the very first to include discussions on gender, sexuality, and the “nonpeople” (variously called hinin and eta). As Jim Huffman eloquently noted in Miki’s obituary, he had “led the way for his American peers in making women, workers, and peasants a serious part of the narrative.”1

Because this revision is intended to make Japanese history more readily available to younger scholars, I have chosen to cite only English-language sources. Citations to Japanese-language sources are retained in the endnotes for each chapter to cite sources for Miki’s translations.

To facilitate the use of the bibliography, I have added new subsections (The Arts, Gender and Sexuality, Religion, etc.) for quick reference. When in doubt about a new source, I have repeated the entry in more than one section. I have tried to keep that to a minimum in the interest of space.

Illustrations The folks at Westview Press have commissioned cartographers to delineate changes that I think can best be expressed in line maps. I chose not to bring in new full-color illustrations because they drive up the price for the book beyond what I believe to be reasonable. If one wants to see a plethora of excellent color illustrations, one only has to type in names and places (Hiroshige, Utamaro, Kabuki, Ise, etc.) into a decent search engine, and one has access to scores of examples. Please see the appendix on the use of the Internet at the end of the book.

Names and Transliteration The Hepburn system of transliteration of the Japanese language will be employed. This entails using the “shi” instead of “si,” using “n’” at the end of some words to indicate that sound (the only consonant without a vowel sound), as well as the use of macrons (small horizontal marks, as in “Chōshū”) to indicate elongated vowels. Surnames are written first (e.g., Tokugawa Ieyasu) followed by the “given” or personal name, but we will use the personal name when differentiating between two people with the same surname (e.g., Ieyasu and Nariaki, both named Tokugawa). The only exceptions will be when the person is better known using the Western system (Mikiso Hane or D. T. Suzuki). Also, place names that should be written with macrons that are now more commonly written without (Tōkyō vs. Tokyo or Ōsaka vs. Osaka) will appear in their modernized form. We will employ the new Pinyin style (Beijing) instead of the old Wade-Giles (Peking) for Chinese unless the latter system is used in a quotation or title (Peking duck).

Thanks! I wish to thank all the folks who contributed to this revision. My good friend Betsy Dorn Lublin kindly read the first draft, as did seven anonymous reviewers employed by Westview Press. I also wish to thank (alphabetically) Sydney DeVere

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Brown, Roy Hanashiro, Ethan Segal, James Stanlaw, and Roger Thomas for ideas, clarifications, and kind words of encouragement along the way. Obviously, all the editors at Westview over the decade are appreciated for their patience. I know the publication of textbooks is a vested-interest business, but these folks have served beyond the call of duty.

My students at Illinois State University have also provided me with help and suggested revisions during the last eighteen months. I taught Premodern Japanese History twice during that time, using this textbook. I often asked them what they liked and didn’t like and what wasn’t clear. I have employed their suggestions. This is the only credit they will get.

My long-suffering wife Karla is, as ever, to be thanked for her patience. I’d also like to thank Alexandra Mackey, who tended to Millie and Gabby, giving me some “space” and time to write.

LOUIS G. PEREZ Normal (still!), Illinois

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Introduction

Today Japan is the seventh–most populous country in the world. More than 126 million people are crowded into an area slightly smaller than the state of Montana. The islands that make up the nation are mountainous, and only slightly more than 14 percent of the land is farmed. Although the country is poor in natural resources, it is the world’s third–most productive industrial nation.

Japan’s position in the world was not always as prominent as it is today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Japan was a significant presence in world affairs. In the first half of the twentieth century, Japan emerged as a major military power in East Asia. However, following defeat in World War II, the country renounced militarism and began concentrating on economic development.

Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan was relatively isolated from the external world, with contact restricted primarily to Korea and China and to the Dutch, although relations with the other European countries did prevail briefly from the mid-sixteenth to the early seventeenth century. In a sense Japan was a cultural satellite of China, remaining under its influence for centuries following the introduction of Chinese culture in the fifth and sixth centuries. By adopting, adapting, and assimilating the fruits of Chinese civilization, Japan developed a culture and way of life and established institutions and values that were distinctly its own. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Japan was exposed to Western civilization, and another period of importation and assimilation ensued. Yet the traditional attitudes, ways, and institutions persisted; consequently, contemporary Japan cannot be adequately understood without an examination of its early history.

Before the massive influx of Chinese culture that started in the fifth century, Japan had indigenous beliefs, institutions, and practices; some survived the “Sinification” (made more Chinese, “Sino” is the shorthand for China) process and persisted to the present. Among these were hundreds of indigenous cults that in the medieval period became known as Shintō. Shintō became an animistic folk religion that acknowledges the presence of sacred beings—gods and spirits—in nature. Myths about creator deities and the belief that the imperial dynasty was founded by the descendants of the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu-no-Omikami) were propagated by the clan that gained political hegemony. These beliefs formed the basis of state Shintō, which was used by the leaders of modern Japan to unify the people under the imperial family.

The emperor system came to be intimately associated with Shintō. The ancestors of the current imperial family established their political dominion around

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the late fifth or early sixth century; this family remains the central political entity today. This is not to say that it remained the actual source of power through the ages, but it did persist as an institution to which even the actual wielders of power, the shōgun (military deputy), had to pay at least pro forma honor. Thus loyalty to the imperial court was stressed as a quintessential principle of Japanese behavior by proponents of imperial rule.

Another characteristic of the Japanese that persisted through the ages is a strong sense of group identity, whether it be with the clan, the family, or the community. Thus, individualism in traditional Japan never developed into an acceptable mode of behavior. This suppression of individual interests for the good of the group was reinforced by the advent of Confucianism around the fifth century, which built its moral code around the family system. The emphasis on group interests led to an idealization of values such as submissiveness, obedience, self-sacrifice, responsibility, and duty. The emphasis on group interests also resulted in a parochial outlook with a strong demarcation between the “in-group” and the outsiders. This attitude structured not just the relation of the family, clan, or village to others but also ultimately that of “we, the Japanese,” to foreigners. This insular mentality, a product of the island geography of the country, fostered a pronounced ethnocentrism and a belief in the homogeneity and uniqueness of the Japanese people. This mode of thinking is manifested in the modern age as militant nationalism; traces of nationalism first began to surface from time to time after the seeds of cultural nationalism began to sprout in the Heian period (794–1185).

The Confucian emphasis on preserving the hierarchical order of “superior” and “inferior” persons and the maintenance of proper relationships to ensure social harmony (that is, the “inferior” person should behave in accordance with his or her station in the family and society) came to be strongly embedded in Japanese mores. This social imperative was reinforced by the emergence of the samurai as the dominant force in the late twelfth century. The proper order of things came to be enforced by the edge of the sword, not simply by moral rectitude inculcated by learning, as the Confucian scholars taught.

The Confucian hierarchy based on gender and age came to define the place of women in Japan. Despite some evidence that early Japan may have been a matriarchal, or at least matrilineal, society, the Chinese philosophy emphasized male dominance. The acceptance of the Confucian social philosophy and the ascendancy of the samurai class resulted in a steady decline in women’s social standing, although women were still accorded property rights even after samurai rule was established in the late twelfth century. It was not until the Tokugawa era (1600–1867) that gender discrimination came to be enforced stringently among the samurai class; as noted in Chapter 7, however, relationships between men and women among the townspeople remained less rigid.

The emergence of the samurai, and their ascendancy from the late twelfth to the

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mid-nineteenth century, was a significant factor in the formation of the Japanese way. The militaristic side of Japan emerged as the antipode to the civilian side, which had been nurtured and fostered by the Heian court aristocrats who had adopted the Chinese code of propriety, decorum, moderation, and composure. The samurai favored direct action and decisiveness. The code of the warriors (Bushidō) that came to be idealized in the years of shōgunal rule stressed such ideals as loyalty, self-sacrifice, courage, martial valor, honor, integrity, and other Spartan virtues. Such values functioned as counterpoints to the genteel ways of the court aristocrats as well as to the freer and more hedonistic ways of the townspeople in the Tokugawa era. Likewise, the disdain for materialism fostered by Confucian and samurai value systems was offset by the townspeople’s unabashed pursuit of riches. We shall see that the pursuit of wealth during the Tokugawa era became institutionalized among the merchant class. Contemporary Japan’s economic success is not surprising in light of this tradition. Thus, the Japanese value system, like those of virtually all other societies, evolved in a multifaceted manner from its origins.

In addition to affecting Japan’s social and political institutions, Chinese civilization also influenced Japanese cultural, intellectual, and literary realms, which included the writing system, philosophical schools, and arts and crafts. Most of these influences entered by way of Korea, after having gone through some modification there. Similarly, Korean arts such as pottery, painting, and sculpture evolved radically from the Chinese ideals. Nationalist scholars later asserted that before the advent of Chinese influence, with its emphasis on artificial rules of propriety, decorum, and rectitude, the cultural artifacts of Japan reflected the free and natural sentiments of the people. Here too we can see the two faces of traditional Japan: one that is more naturally Japanese and another that is heavily infused with Chinese culture. The influence of Chinese art and culture and the development of a distinctively Japanese style in art and literature—with aesthetic sensitivity toward nature that is reinforced, some would say, by Zen aesthetics—is discussed in Chapter 5.

Buddhism, which came to Japan at about the same time that Chinese culture began to inundate the country, also shaped the Japanese outlook and culture in significant ways. Although it did not become a state religion (the Japanese, like the Chinese, believe that one can worship many gods and participate in many different religious practices at the same time), Buddhism did eventually permeate the entire land.

A significant economic factor that molded Japanese society and outlook is the near-total reliance on agriculture as a means of subsistence in traditional Japan. Rice culture, which entered Japan in the Yayoi period (circa 250 BCE–CE 250),2 determined the style of farm work through the ages. Working the handkerchief-sized paddies and rugged hillside terraces to produce the necessary crops to feed the

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population taught the peasants patience, diligence, frugality, and discipline. These qualities were later reinforced by the samurai, who bound the peasants to the soil and insisted on a strict adherence to the virtues of frugality, hard work, and obedience to meet the economic needs of the medieval order. These characteristics persisted into the modern age and contributed to the creation of the modern economic “miracles” of the mid-nineteenth century and later the postwar mid- twentieth century.

But the peasants did not always remain docile and submissive: periodically they rose up in protest. Hence the revolutionary tradition is not totally absent from Japanese history. Widespread and large-scale peasant uprisings broke out in the Ashikaga (1336–1573) and Tokugawa years, even when such nonviolent acts as submitting petitions to the ruling class led to certain death.

Despite the resulting stress on Japan’s harmony, propriety, and hierarchical order, the pattern of its political history is one of constant conflict and bloodshed, beginning with the struggle to establish a dynastic order from the third to fourth century CE. This pattern continued through the power struggles in the Heian years, the emergence of the samurai in the outlying regions and the sanguinary power struggle among them, the establishment of military rule by the Minamoto clan, the conflict with the imperial forces, the struggles that continued into the Ashikaga years, and the Age of the Warring States of the latter part of the fifteenth century and throughout most of the sixteenth century. It was not until the Tokugawa family established its hegemony that peace and stability ensued for almost two and a half centuries. While the struggle for power was taking place in the political arena during the entire military era (1180–1868), the peasants continued to work the land, suffering privation, famines, epidemics, and repression. The townspeople were busy perfecting the arts and crafts.

During the years of turmoil and disaster, literature and the arts survived and enjoyed peaks of creative splendor. This is seen in the art and architecture that followed the introduction of Chinese culture and its Japanization in the Heian period. The result was the golden age of literature produced by great Heian women writers like Lady Murasaki and Sei Shonagon and the production of Japanese poems, diaries, essays, and military romances. The profound influence of Zen aesthetics is reflected in painting, architecture, landscape gardening, Nō (sometime written Noh) theater, ceramics, the tea ceremony, calligraphy, the construction of multistory picturesque castles, and the production of fine armor and swords in the Kamakura (1185–1333) and Ashikaga (1336–1573) years. In the Tokugawa era the culture of the townspeople flourished with woodblock prints, haiku, Kabuki theater, puppet theater, novels, and folk art.

Japanese history, like the history of all societies, is an unfolding of multifaceted developments, a montage of political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual elements. But to give a coherent structure to this kaleidoscopic phenomena, some

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sort of framework is required. The most convenient schema in a general historical survey is still a chronological sequence centered on political developments. This historical survey of pre-Meiji Japan is organized in this conventional manner.

NOTES 1. Jim Huffman, “Mikiso Hane: 1922–2003.” Journal of Asian Studies 63 (2004): 571–

572. 2. Instead of the Judeo-Christian system of dating, the following will be used: what used

to be referred to as “BC” (before Christ) will now be “BCE” (before the Common Era); “CE” (Common Era) will replace “AD.”

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1

The Early Years

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

The Japanese archipelago, consisting of the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu and more than one thousand smaller islands, juts into the Pacific Ocean in a convex arc. The total area of Japan is 145,834 square miles, which is slightly larger than Germany and smaller than Zimbabwe. It is about the size of the state of California in the United States. To the north the Russian- administered Kuriles, a large number of small volcanic islands, extend to Kamchatka Peninsula, while to the south the Ryukyu Islands stretch out toward Taiwan.

The Japanese islands are mountainous, with considerable volcanic activity. Offshore on the eastern side are great deep-water trenches, five or six miles below sea level. Along the coast on the same side, the mountaintops reach two miles above sea level. This great range of elevation from sea bottom to mountain peak causes enormous geological strains and stresses, resulting in constant shifts in the rock masses.

The archipelago was created when a portion of Asia broke off the continent. It now sits astride two continental plates that push in opposite directions, creating a tremendous uplift that has scoured the islands, forcing up mountains along its spine. Moreover, the archipelago contains about five hundred volcanoes, and earthquakes, a related phenomenon, are commonplace occurrences, with an average of about 1,500 tremors annually. Since 1596 there have been twenty-three major earthquakes, each resulting in the death of more than a thousand people. The latest, in March 2011, called the Great Tohoku Earthquake, measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and was the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since modern record keeping began in 1900. More than 20,000 were estimated killed by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.1

Seventy-two percent of the country is hilly or mountainous, with an average slope of more than fifteen degrees. But nearly 65 percent of the land with a slope of fifteen degrees or less is tilled. The total area under cultivation, however, amounts to less than 14.3 percent of the landmass. The highest elevations are located in the Gifu Node in central Honshu. A dozen or more mountains measuring 10,000 feet are located in these highlands, known as the Japanese Alps, including Mt. Fuji (12,461

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feet). There are no extensive lowlands in Japan. The typical plain is a small isolated

area in a coastal indentation or mountain basin. The largest of the plains, the Kantō Plain, where Tokyo and Yokohama are located, has an area of only 5,000 square miles, or 3.2 million acres. Other major plains are the Nōbi Plain at the head of Ise Bay, where Nagoya is situated (450,000 acres), and the Kinai Plain at the head of Osaka Bay, where Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are located (310,000 acres). These are the most important plains, on which six of Japan’s largest cities were built. Other fairly large plains are the Ishikari in southwestern Hokkaido, the Echigo in northwestern Honshu, the Sendai in northeastern Honshu, and the Tsukushi in northwestern Kyushu. This lack of flat land suitable for agriculture has made Japan the fifth–most densely populated country (which includes land-locked Singapore, Hong Kong, or Gibraltar) in the world, with a population of about 126 million. The average for the whole country is 343 persons per square kilometer, but for the Tokyo metropolitan area it is an astounding 5,751!2 About three-quarters of its population is jammed into about 14 percent of its landmass.

Rivers water most of these plains, but they are generally short, swift, and shallow, and therefore not suitable for navigation. The two longest rivers are the Ishikari in Hokkaido (227 miles) and the Shinano in central Honshu (229 miles). The mountain rivers are important as sources of irrigation for the rice fields and for hydroelectric power.

The mountains are unusually susceptible to erosion and landslide. The steep slopes are covered by a thick canopy of conifers that blocks sunlight to the forest floor, inhibiting the natural soil building common to broadleaf deciduous forests. The thin soil often contains large amounts of slick volcanic ash, which does not hold well, particularly after logging or fire has stripped the mountains of their natural vegetative cover. Volcanic and seismic activity routinely shakes the country, making landslides and erosion a natural part of Japanese existence. Because the Japanese have crowded up to the very edge of these mountains, landslides and erosion have tumbled down on small villages with great regularity and great cost in human life.

Japan proper has a remarkably long coastline, about 17,000 miles, or one linear mile of coast for each 8.5 square miles of area. Although the coastline contains few natural harbors, most of the lowlands have sea frontage. Along with the extensive coastline, this has fostered a strong maritime outlook in the Japanese. Virtually all Japanese have grown up within a short distance from the seaside. A large part of the coastline has indentations and irregularities that, together with the many tiny islands along the coastline, make the landscape strikingly beautiful and diverse.

Because the Japanese archipelago extends from 31 to 45 degrees north latitude, there is a marked contrast in the climate between the northern and southern regions. Discrepancies in surface configurations, great differences in altitude, and diversity

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in the effects produced by the Pacific Ocean and the Japan Sea also account for notable differences in climate. A large part of Japan lies at subtropical latitudes. Consequently, in most areas climatic conditions are conducive to plant growth and are not too harsh for human comfort.

The monsoonal air masses affect the climate in a significant way. In the winter great waves of dry, cold polar air descend from the Lake Baikal region of Siberia. In the summer moist tropical and subtropical maritime air masses, originating over the warmer parts of the Pacific Ocean, move into eastern Asia. Thus, although the winter winds blow prevailingly from the northwest, the summer winds blow from the southeast. The winters are colder and the summers hotter and more humid than normal for regions with Japan’s latitude.

During late spring and early summer, a period of abundant rain, high humidity, and cloudiness sets in. This is the so-called bai-u, or “plum rains.” In the late summer and early fall, violent storms and typhoons strike the islands, causing much damage to the rice fields as well as to dwellings and the general landscape. It is not uncommon to have more than a dozen typhoons hit Japan annually, causing tremendous property damage and loss of life.

The two ocean currents washing the shores of Japan also influence its climate. A cold current from the north, the Okhotsk Current, and a warm stream from the south, the Japan Current, converge off northern Honshu. A smaller stream from the Japan Current swings into the Japan Sea from the Tsushima Strait and flows northward as far as Hokkaido.

Japan’s climate is much like that of the US Atlantic Seaboard or the Mississippi Valley in similar latitudes. Temperatures in January range from about ten or fifteen degrees Fahrenheit in northern and central Hokkaido to thirty-five or forty degrees on the lowlands of central Honshu and forty-five degrees in the extreme south of Kyushu. July temperatures in central and southern Japan range from seventy-seven to eighty degrees. August is slightly warmer than July in most areas. High temperatures combined with high humidity make the summers extremely sultry and oppressive.

Japan has a considerable amount of precipitation year round; although it rains more in the warm months than in the winter, the difference in precipitation between summer and winter is not great. Even in the driest cool season, each month sees 2 or 3 inches of precipitation, with several times this amount in the warm months. Where precipitation is heaviest, it may exceed 120 inches annually; while where it is lightest, in the Inland Sea region, it averages 40 inches per year.

Snow falls throughout the main islands, although it is light in the southern regions. In Hokkaido (the island north of Honshu) and all across the Japan Sea side, snow remains on the ground all winter. In the mountainous regions of western and northern Japan, the snow reaches a depth of six or seven feet in January.

The growing season varies from about 120 to 130 days in central and eastern

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Hokkaido to 250 days or more along the extreme southern and eastern littoral. The region around Tokyo has an average growing season of 215 days.

Rice, grown in paddy fields, is the most important food crop produced. Today 55 percent of the cereal acreage consists of rice fields. Barley, wheat, oats, soybeans, potatoes, and a variety of vegetables are also grown. Tea, cotton, flax, and mulberry (for silkworms) constitute important supplementary-income crops for farm families. Because only a little more than 15 million acres is arable, intensive cultivation is practiced, and terraced fields climb the hillsides of the Japanese landscape.

Because Japan is an island nation, the sea is an important source of food. Seafood is the chief source of protein in the Japanese diet. The warm Japan Current yields sardine, mackerel, tuna, bonito, skipjack, albacore, and seabream, while herring, salmon, cod, and crab are fished from the Okhotsk Current. Many edible seaweeds are also extracted from the sea. Japan has led the world in the production of dried sea products, both for human consumption and as rich fertilizers.

Japan is one of the most completely forested countries in the world. About 55 percent of the island is forested and another 8–9 percent is potential forest land. The forests are a source not only of timber but of charcoal, wood fuel, wood pulp, and a variety of foods. Broadleaf forests occupy about 50 percent of the forest land, while coniferous and mixed forests occupy 29 and 21 percent, respectively.

Japan does not have an adequate supply of mineral resources. Because Japan’s coal is of poor quality or is simply too costly to mine economically, a supply of better quality must be imported for heavy industrial use. Petroleum resources are extremely limited: in the early twenty-first century, 99.9 percent of the crude oil consumed came from abroad. Japan’s iron mines supply only a small percentage of the country’s industrial needs. The supply of copper, limestone, and sulfur is adequate, but lead, zinc, and phosphate and potassium materials for fertilizers must be imported.

THE MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF JAPAN

According to Japanese mythology—based upon the first historical accounts, the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters; completed in 712) and the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan; completed in 720)—sky and heaven gradually separated from the primordial chaos in the universe, and primal deities appeared. They were followed by a series of mated deities, ending with the creative pair, He-Who- Invites (Izanagi) and She-Who-Invites (Izanami). They stirred the sea with a spear and created an islet. Descending upon it, they created many other deities as well as the other islands of Japan.

Izanami died while giving birth to the Fire God and descended into the

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underworld of Yomi (darkness), where putrefaction and pollution prevailed. Longing to see his wife, Izanagi followed her into the land of darkness, but she drove him back because she was ashamed to be seen by him in her state of putrefaction. Returning from the land of darkness, Izanagi cleansed himself, and as he washed his left eye—left being the side of honor—the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu (which means “shining in heaven”), was born, and from his right eye sprang the Moon God. As he washed his nose, the Impetuous-Male-Deity (Susano-o), the Storm God, came into being.

The Sun Goddess and the Moon God ascended to the sky, the former to rule at Takamagahara (Plain of High Heaven) and the latter to serve as her consort. This precedent, like the joint rule of Izanagi and Izanami, helped to establish the custom of dual, mated political leaders. The Storm God was to rule over the earth. When Susano-o, who was an unruly character, visited his sister in the sky, he behaved obstreperously, damaging her rice fields and defiling her house with excrement. In anger Amaterasu shut herself up in a cave, darkening the world. To lure her out, the heavenly gods engaged in dancing and merrymaking. When Amaterasu opened the door of the cave to see what was taking place, the gods compelled her to leave the cavern, tying up the entrance with a strong straw rope (shimenawa), and thus the world was made radiant again. This story may be connected with ceremonies conducted during a solar eclipse or during the winter solstice to revive the waning power of the sun. It was also intended, some maintain, to signify the triumph of light over darkness, peace and order over savagery and destruction.

Susano-o was banished to the earth for his misconduct. He first traveled to Korea, then to Izumo in western Honshu. From Izumo, Susano-o’s descendant, Ōkuninushi, ruled the earth. The Sun Goddess, wishing to extend her authority to the earth, sent several messengers to persuade the Great-Land-Master to abdicate in her favor. After resisting several of Amaterasu’s attempts to persuade him, the ruler of the earth finally agreed to submit to her authority. The Sun Goddess then sent her grandson, Ninigi, to rule the earth.3

Ninigi descended to the earth at Tsukushi in northern Kyushu and brought with him three items that became symbols of the imperial rule: a bronze mirror (a symbol of the Sun Goddess and of purity), a sword (courage) that was used by Susano-o to slay a huge serpent, and a curved-bead necklace (benevolence) that warded off evil spirits.

Ninigi’s great-grandson, Waka-mike-nu, left Kyushu to conquer the rest of Japan. Sailing through the Inland Sea, he entered the Kinki region (the area that encompasses Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara) and established his rule in Yamato in 660 BCE. He then became the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu.4

Among other mythological figures two deserve mention because they came to be popularly regarded as actual historical personages of heroic stature. One is

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Yamato-takeru, who performed great military feats in conquering the rebellious people in the south (the Kumaso) and in the north (the Ezo). The other is the Empress Jingū, who is said to have led an expedition against Silla, a premodern Korean state.

Mythological tales similar to those found in Japan are told in other parts of Asia, especially among the peoples of Korea and Southeast Asia and the nomads of northern Asia.5 Perhaps most anthropologists (and a growing number of historians) are now convinced that Japan’s mythological origin stories owe more to Chinese ideas of ancient origins than to anything native. The interplay between the indigenous religious cults and the Chinese stories centered on magic and imported technologies (more below).6

JAPANESE PREHISTORY

Archaeologists and historians fail to agree about the origins of the Japanese.7 There is a consensus, however, that the early inhabitants came from different areas in several separate waves of immigration. Some of the early inhabitants are believed to have been a Tungusic people who came from the northeastern region of the continent by way of Hokkaido or Korea. It is also thought that people of Malayan origin came from the south—from South China or perhaps from Southeast Asia—by way of Taiwan and the Ryukyus, while others of Mongoloid origin came by way of Korea. Small islands dot the Tsushima Strait from Korea to Kyushu at intervals of less than forty miles. The relatively shallow waters (120–150 feet) make the journey possible during good weather. Skeletal fossils of animals not indigenous to Japan suggest that migration from the continent stopped thousands of years ago.

The Japanese language seems to have links with both the Polynesian and Altaic languages. Some authorities theorize that a language of southern origin was spoken in the Jōmon period (see below), while in the Yayoi period a new language, Altaic in character, entered from the continent.

Until very recently there was no concrete evidence to substantiate the existence of Paleolithic peoples in Japan, but archaeological discoveries since 1947 indicate that this was the case. Tools made of roughly flaked stone dating from perhaps 200,000 years ago have been discovered. Archaeological remains of microlithic artifacts, that is, tools of sharp-edged stone flakes, indicate that Mesolithic peoples were present in Japan around 30,000 BCE.

Among the early inhabitants of Neolithic Japan were, it is believed, ancestors of the Ainu, an indigenous people who inhabit Hokkaido today. (There are at present only about 20,000–30,000 Ainu in existence.) Other scholars would suggest that the progenitors of the Ryukyuan people were also probably related to these ancient Jōmon people.8

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The early stages of the Neolithic age in Japan, known as the Jōmon period, extended from about 4500 BCE to 250 BCE. On the basis of carbon 14 tests conducted on archaeological finds, some authorities now contend that the Jōmon period started around 7000 or 8000 BCE. The term jōmon (cord marking) describes the type of decoration on pottery associated with this age. Jōmon earthenwares are among the earliest pottery in the world. They have designs of high relief made with cord impressions. This era is divided into several periods based upon the changing style of pottery, which became increasingly more complex in later stages.9

Five thousand years ago the Jōmon people, with a population of more than 100,000, lived near the sea coast and gathered shellfish for food. A large number of shell mounds, principally in the Tokyo Bay area, have been found at archaeological sites that had been inhabited by Jōmon people. Those living in mountainous areas hunted game and lived on fruits, nuts, berries, and edible roots. These early folk used fishhooks made of animal bones and ground and chipped stone tools and lived in pit dwellings covered with thatched roofs. The houses were circular, had several supporting pillars for the slanting roofs, and a fireplace of earthenware or stone. Clay figurine fetishes were used to ensure fertility and guard against pernicious forces. It appears from the iconography of these idols that the sun and the spirits of stones were worshipped in this period.

The later years of the Neolithic age are called the Yayoi period (ca. 250 BCE–CE 250) because pottery belonging to this culture was first discovered at a place called Yayoi in Tokyo in 1884. The Yayoi pots, symmetrical and reddish in color, were fashioned on pottery wheels and are less elaborately decorated than Jōmon pieces. The designs are simple and neat, generally consisting of straight lines. Yayoi pottery, fired at a higher temperature, is technically superior to Jōmon pottery, and a greater variety of earthenwares were produced. There were three basic types: plain jars used for cooking, decorated urns for storing food, and more elaborately designed dishes on pedestals in which offerings to the gods were placed.

Yayoi culture is believed to have emerged around the third century BCE in northern Kyushu. It would appear that it was influenced by two different cultural forces, one from the south and the other from the north. Rice cultivation, which was not yet practiced in northern China, came to Japan from the south. It may have been introduced from Southeast Asia or by immigrants fleeing the Han conquerors, who were extending their control into South China. Perhaps it entered from South China by way of southern Korea. At any rate, the introduction of rice cultivation revolutionized the way of life of ancient Japan and established the basis for the economic life of the people until the industrial age.

Although rice cultivation indicates a southern influence, the polished stone implements of Yayoi culture show links with Korea, Manchuria, and northern China. As we have already noted, it is possible that during this period Japan came

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under the influence of people who belonged to the Altaic world. The Yayoi decorative designs resemble ornaments found in areas where the Altaic languages were spoken. Around the second century BCE, bronze and iron implements were introduced from China and Korea. Among the bronze artifacts were swords, halberds, and mirrors used for religious and ceremonial purposes.

The agricultural implements used in the Yayoi period were crude wooden and stone tools such as hoes, rakes, spades, semilunar knives, and adzes. In the later stages of the period, iron implements came to be used for household and agricultural purposes, and the Yayoi men used iron swords, spears, and halberds for weapons. Remnants of looms and fabrics indicate that weaving was also introduced from the continent in this period. Pits and caves continued to be employed, but new styles of construction were common as well. Huts were now constructed above the ground, and wooden posts and beams were used to hold up thatched roofs. The dead were buried in urns, dolmens, and stone cists; a variety of artifacts, many of Chinese origin, were buried with them.

In the Yayoi period, with the population numbering around 600,000, there were two population centers. One was near the present city of Nara in the Yamato Plain and the other was in northern Kyushu near Dazaifu. Evidently, they adhered to different religious cults. The people in Yamato used bronze bells for ceremonial purposes, while those in Kyushu used gems and bronze spears, swords, halberds, and mirrors. Although the swords and halberds are believed to have come from the continent, the bronze bells used in the Yamato region are not found there. These bells were fairly large, some as long as four feet, and were decorated with engravings of farming and hunting scenes.

The ritualistic use of these artifacts was apparently linked with political control. An ancient account states that shields and spears sent to the governors and chiefs were interred in the sacred hills to ensure the protection of the frontiers; thus, the bronze spear became a symbol of divine presence as well as of power. That the possession of ritual symbols endowed the possessor with special authority is seen in the fact that the imperial family traditionally used three symbols—the sacred sword, mirror, and gem—to assert its special authority and legitimacy.

The first written accounts of Japan are found in the historical chronicles of China, specifically in the History of the Kingdom of Wei (a kingdom in North China, CE 220–265), written in CE 297, and in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, compiled around CE 445. These histories mention the existence of more than one hundred communities in Japan and note that a number of envoys were sent from Japan to the Han court in what is the present-day city of Xian (Chang-an) and to the Han governors in Korea. The first envoy is said to have arrived in the Han capital in CE 57. A golden seal presumably given to one of the rulers of northern Kyushu by an emperor of Later Han China in the first century was found in 1784. Its authenticity has been questioned, but many authorities now consider it to be

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genuine. According to the Chinese records, Japan underwent a period of civil strife in

the second century CE, but eventually the nation was unified under a queen referred to as Pimiku. Pimiku (or Himiko in Japanese, meaning “daughter of the sun”) was not a proper name but rather a term applied to female rulers in general. The Himiko mentioned in the Chinese histories was a shaman, a priestess who served as an intermediary between supernatural forces and the people. The History of Wei states that Himiko “occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people. Though mature in age, she remained unmarried. She had a younger brother who assisted her in ruling the country. After she became the ruler, there were few who saw her. She had one thousand women as attendants, but only one man.”10

Historians disagree about the location of the land ruled by Himiko. The History of Wei states that Himiko resided in Yamatai, located on an island southeast of Korea. This might indicate that Yamatai was in northern Kyushu, but if the distances given in the History of Wei were followed, it would be located on the high seas. The similarity of the names might signify that Yamatai was actually Yamato in central Honshu, but Yamatai, which means “gateway to the mountains,” was not an uncommon place name.

All sorts of theories based upon mythological, linguistic, and archaeological evidence have been set forth to prove that Himiko’s kingdom was in either northern Kyushu or the Yamato Plain, but neither side has been able to substantiate its contention.11 It would appear that northern Kyushu had much greater contact with the continent, but the History of Wei states that when Himiko died in the middle of the third century a great mound was constructed as her tomb. This, the proponents of the Yamato thesis argued, proves that Himiko ruled in the Yamato Plain, because the practice of constructing large tombs did not prevail in northern Kyushu. In the late 1980s, however, archaeological excavations in northern Kyushu led to the discovery of a fortified town with a large burial mound. This finding has provided the Kyushu school with additional arguments to support its contention.

The hypothesis that Himiko was the ancestor of the Yamato imperial family, or that she was a historical personage, is open to question. If she were, it might not be unreasonable to assume that she was located in Kyushu, because it appears that early clan chieftains contending for power moved from Kyushu to the Yamato region sometime after Himiko’s reign. The fact that the symbols of imperial authority—swords, mirrors, and gems—have been found in abundance in the burial sites of northern Kyushu would tend to uphold the Kyushu theory. However, in 1986 a bronze mirror from the Wei dynasty was discovered in the Yamato region. It is argued that this may be one of the one hundred mirrors that the History of Wei states the Wei ruler presented to Himiko.

It is possible that the Kyushu people had imported new weapons (such as long

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swords and iron armor) and had learned new techniques of warfare (such as the use of warriors on horseback) from the continent and were thus able to overwhelm their rivals in central Honshu.12 At any rate, by the middle of the fourth century, the ruling family that had established its authority in the Yamato region had more or less unified Japan except southern Kyushu and the outlying areas to the north, which were not pacified until the ninth century.

The period from about the third century CE to the early eighth century is known as the Yamato period. It is also referred to as the “age of ancient tombs” because important personages were interred in large burial mounds (Kofun).

JAPAN’S NEIGHBOR: KOREA

Scholars investigating Japanese-Korean historical relations have cited numerous forms of evidence—place names, shrine names, common myths and tales, archaeological finds—to point out that Korean immigrants or invaders with close ties to the three Korean kingdoms of Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla13 played decisive roles in the formative period of Japanese history, not only materially and culturally but also politically. In fact, these historians believe that one of the early emperors, Ōjin, was a Korean chief, Homuda, a member of the Puyo ruling house of Paekche.14

In CE 400 Korea was divided into three kingdoms: Koguryo in the northern half, Paekche in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast, a division that occurred during the second half of the first century BCE and lasted until the second half of the seventh century CE. In the central part of the southern tip was Mimana, or Kaya, a small area with close ties to Japan.

Koguryo quite naturally was under strong Chinese influence and had adopted Confucianism and Chinese institutions and practices. Paekche also had close Chinese ties, mainly with South China. It was frequently beset by its larger and more powerful neighbors and was willing to accept Japanese aid against both Koguryo and Silla. Silla was the least Sinified of the three kingdoms, although later it too began to adopt Chinese culture. Earlier, the southeastern region had maintained close contact with Japan, but with the establishment of the kingdom of Silla relationships became strained.

In the middle of the seventh century, Silla allied itself with Tang China and put an end to the kingdoms of Paekche and Koguryo (in 660 and 668, respectively). Many people from these kingdoms fled to Japan. Some became influential figures in the Japanese court and played significant roles in implementing reforms, known as the Taika Reforms, in the late seventh and early eighth centuries.

Silla managed to free itself from Tang political domination and extended its authority over the entire peninsula, unifying Korea for the first time. Thereafter,

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Korea remained unified except for brief periods. From the end of the eighth century, Silla was plagued with internal disturbances. In 935, order was restored under the Koryo dynasty, which remained in power until 1392. Korea, however, became tributary to the ruling powers of China. When the Mongols conquered China, they also made repeated military forays against Korea and in 1258 finally brought it to its knees. With the expulsion of the Mongols from China in 1368, Korea freed itself from Mongol control but, under a new ruling family, the Yi, entered into tributary relationship with the new Chinese dynasty, the Ming. The Yi dynasty lasted from 1392 to 1910, when Japan annexed the peninsula.

EARLY YAMATO SOCIETY: FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES

The period from the unification of Japan by the imperial family to the time when the country came under the massive cultural, political, social, and economic influence from China and Korea is still a rather obscure era. The conditions that prevailed around the time of unification are matters of conjecture again. Himiko was a priestess who served as the medium conveying to the people the words and laws of the gods. Religious and political functions were regarded as one and the same. Governmental functions were called matsuri—worship of or service to the gods. The act of being possessed by the gods when receiving their words was called noru. The noun of this word is nori, meaning “law”; laws, then, were divine decrees. Religion served as an instrument of political control. Ordinarily the shamans were female, so the rulers were usually women. The History of Wei states that after Himiko’s death a king was placed on the throne, but the people refused to obey him, and civil strife ensued. To restore order, Iyo, a girl of thirteen, was placed on the throne.

After a period in which various clan groups contended for power, the clan that emerged as the founder of the imperial dynasty extended its authority to outlying areas. In administering the land, it either appointed its own officials or allowed the conquered chieftains to continue as governors (kuni-no-miyakko). In areas not under the immediate control of the imperial clan, the head of the uji (customarily translated as “clan”) of each area was allowed to manage its own land. There is ample evidence that many of the uji leaders were women. It is apparent that women continued to predominate in some areas well into the sixth century.

Joan Piggott refers to the uji as “conical clans” because the authority was pyramidical at the top and wider at the bottom. She characterizes the uji as “more than a basic kinship group. It was a specific political structure born of a relationship that was formally recognized by grant of a noble title (Kabane) and a post in the royal retinue.”15 It was a lineage group organized around the main family. Each uji had a chief (uji-no-kami) and worshipped a guardian god (uji-

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gami). Thomas C. Smith’s comments about the relationship of the family to farm tenants seem applicable also to the uji: “one of the distinctive features of the Japanese family is its capacity for almost indefinite expansion to include not only remote relatives within its lines of authority, but persons having no blood or marriage relationship to the family at all.”16

As a member of the ruling elite, each uji controlled its own land and also had under its authority workers organized into associations or corporations (see below). The imperial family, before it gained ascendancy over the other uji, was one of the uji contending for land and power.

Many scholars suggest that immigrants from the Asian continent not only brought with them new technologies such as wet-rice cultivation, iron making, and silk sericulture but also imported their magico-religious ideas. Michael Como suggests that weaving in particular was the province of women. A folk religion centered on the geomancy of early Taoism (yin-yang cosmology) seems to have migrated to Japan along with the women who brought these new skills from the mainland. The folk story of Toyouke-no-hime, who is credited with bringing sericulture to Japan, became the Japanese equivalent of the great Chinese shaman the Queen of the West. The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, is also conflated with these female immortals. “Absorbed into the very heart of the emerging royal mythology, these and other such figures played a major role in reshaping both the royal cult and the nascent Japanese Buddhist tradition.”17

Joan Piggott concurs and notes that the early history of female-male dual rule was probably also imported from the continent to Japan at the same time. Indeed, the early Japanese myths pair male and female rulers. Ordinarily, if the pair was not a married couple, the woman was the elder. The Izanagi-Izanami creators, the Sun Goddess and Moon God, are such examples. Piggott notes, “The frequent appearance of dual-gender pairs of deities in the mythology of early eighth-century texts likewise suggest a social paradigm of gender complementarity.”18 The dual rulers Himiko and her brother fit into that paradigm nicely, as do the later female emperors like Suiko, Jito, and Kōken, all of whom served jointly with a husband, brother, nephew, or uncle. Piggott characterizes this political system as “gender complimentary and contrapuntal, with the female partner charged with the sacral duties.”19 Cornelius Kiley notes that the Silla dynasty in Korea had similar male- female dual rulers and the Liao in China (907–1125) also traced kingship through both the female and male lines that frequently intermarried to ensure imperial legitimacy.20

The Yamato uji, tied closely to the Hata extended Korean family service community (be), managed to parlay the new technology and related religious system into real political power. By conflating the Queen Mother of the West with Amaterasu, they created a dominant imperial cult. The Yamato owed its capture of

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the throne “to its success in mobilizing groups of skilled immigrants, and supervising the distribution of foreign prestige goods.” These were luxury items such as mirrors, bells, swords, jewelry, and the like granted by the Chinese and in turn distributed to members of the Japanese clan chieftains (kuni-no-miyakko), thereby binding them to the ruling family.21

With the growth of imperial power, the number of kuni-no-miyakko increased. By the middle of the seventh century, just prior to the Taika Reforms, there were perhaps as many as 120 such officials. Around the fourth century the imperial government began to confer titles of nobility (Kabane) upon the chiefs of the leading uji. It seems these titles had been used prior to this, but the imperial family sought to assert its authority over the clan chieftains by assuming the right to confer them officially. With the titles went certain official functions and positions that were hereditary. Without a title one could not occupy a high government position. Among the patriarchal chieftains, those claiming direct descent from the legendary first emperor, Jimmu, or from the founding gods occupied the highest places in the political and social hierarchy. The former were given the title of omi and the latter muraji. The clans of the omi and muraji and the imperial family were the major landowners. Those chieftains who held the title great omi or great muraji were authorized to hold key government positions.

Another institution came into being about the same time as the Kabane system, the hereditary associations or corporations called be. They were under the control of the imperial family and the leading uji. Members of these functional communities were required to perform fixed services for the uji to which they were attached or to supply them with certain commodities. They were not slaves, for they retained their personal freedom.

As imperial power grew, the leading clans themselves were organized into functional corporations to serve the emperor. For instance, the head of the Mononobe family, holding the title of muraji, was responsible for the maintenance of weapons for the imperial family. The head of the Otomobe family, also a muraji, was responsible for the safety of the emperor. There were be for every category of occupation: those engaged in military and religious affairs, rice-field workers, fishermen, sake makers, weavers, grooms, smiths, potters, arrow makers, bow makers, mirror makers, lapidaries, cooks, scribes, and so forth. These classifications eventually came to denote family names, in the same way that words such as “carter,” “cooper,” “miller,” “sawyer,” and “smith” came to be used as surnames in English.

Immigrants from Korea and China, many of whom were skilled artisans, constituted important elements of the corporation system. For instance, toward the end of the third century CE, a considerable number of weavers arrived in Japan from Paekche and were organized into a weavers’ corporation. By the middle of the sixth century, 7,053 households belonged to this community, numbering, it is

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estimated, more than 30,000 members. Many scholars suggest that these immigrant communities incorporated not only their technologies but also their magico- religious systems into their new home. Como suggests that “immigrant and service lineages closely associated with continental technologies and cults shaped both the fables and parameters, in terms of which courtiers and rulers conceived and expressed the visions of all under Heaven.”22 In addition, many of the Korean communities intermarried with Japanese uji families, including with the Yamato imperial house.

By subjugating the uji and making them serve as functional corporations, the imperial family was able to extend its control over the rest of the populace, because the be under the authority of the uji fell indirectly under imperial control. These institutions remained in existence until the Taika Reforms movement was initiated in the seventh century, although they had begun to deteriorate prior to that because of disputes over titles and positions among the leading uji.

THE INDIGENOUS CULTS

As the imperial family extended its authority over several rival families, its ancestral god, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, became the chief deity of the entire land. Most scholars now believe that her entire religious provenance was invented, using the creation stories of several alternate spirits to cobble together the maximum theological power.23 She was enshrined at Ise, which is still today the sacred city of the native religion known now as Shintō. For purposes of historical accuracy, however, the term Shintō is a relatively recent invention; one could more properly call the religious amalgam “the indigenous cults.”

Each uji had its own tutelary or patron deity, the uji-gami, who was usually the founder of the clan or a prominent ancestral figure. In addition, it was believed that a whole host of kami was present in all things in nature. There were deities identified with the woods, streams, mountains, fields, rain, fire, water, stones, grass, trees, and so on. Some animals, such as snakes and foxes, were also believed to possess supernatural powers and were worshipped out of fear. Worship of the lingam, or phallus, was also practiced. All spirits and deities were referred to as kami, that is, superior beings.

In worshipping the kami, ritual purity was stressed, and purification rites constituted an important part of these native cultic ceremonies. Even today the compounds of Shintō shrines are kept immaculate. Visitors to Shintō shrines usually wash their hands and rinse their mouths with water before entering the sacred grounds, and the Shintō priest waves his sacred wand over their heads to drive the evil spirits away and cleanse the worshippers spiritually.

The ancient imperial court employed an official whose function was to

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preserve the ceremonial purity of the entire community. It was his duty to observe the taboos and to conduct the rites of abstention. Another official was assigned the task of reciting the litany of purification twice a year to cleanse the people of pollution. The ancient Japanese made no animal sacrifices to the gods because blood was considered to be defiling. Instead, grain, fruits, and vegetables were proffered to the kami in times of thanksgiving.

This preoccupation with cleanliness and purity was carried over into the moral outlook of the early Japanese. Instead of relying on abstract standards of good and evil, they judged everything in terms of purity and impurity: what was pure was good, what was soiled was bad. “To do good is to be pure; to commit evil is to be impure,” states a thirteenth-century Shintō religious tract. Thus an “unclean” mind or heart was abhorred while a “clean” mind or heart was admired. The early Japanese evidently did not possess a sense of guilt but were governed instead by a sense of shame. It was shameful to be polluted. Recall Izanami’s humiliation when Izanagi followed her into the land of darkness and saw her in her state of pollution.

Another fundamental moral characteristic of the people of Yamato was their pragmatic, utilitarian nature. To the early Japanese, what was agreeable was good; what was disagreeable was bad. The pleasant, the beautiful, the auspicious, and the valuable were all regarded as good. But even fetid and noxious elements in nature contained elements of utility and therefore were considered good. The kami were also responsible for the fertility in animal and human excrement (nightsoil), in ashes, and in vegetative detritus, all used for fertilizer. As Como notes, “Because agricultural societies depend heavily on nightsoil for fertilizer, the deity of the lavatory in particular occupied an important place in each household’s aspiration for wealth.”24

Because these early cults centered upon the uji, the concept of clan solidarity, with its stress on submission to the authority of the chieftain, was emphasized. Defense of clan interests required military valor. This is now reflected in Shintō by the worship of swords, spears, and bows and arrows as symbols of militaristic gods.

Each community and each uji worshipped its own kami in sanctified grounds marked off by trees or fences. Later, these primitive sanctuaries were replaced by shrines whose entrances were marked by wooden or stone portals known as tori-i, consisting of two quadrangular beams placed upon two round columns. Sacred ground is also indicated by the presence of straw or paper ropes that represent the straw rope (shimenawa) that the other kami used to seal up Amaterasu’s cave after she was lured back to provide sunlight for the world. Shintō ceremonies today are simple and austere, consisting of thanksgiving offerings, the recitation of liturgies by the priest, and dancing accompanied by singing and the playing of musical instruments.

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SOCIAL PRACTICES AND CONDITIONS

The native religious cults of ancient Japan had no formalized theological or philosophical interpretation concerning the afterlife; apparently, it was believed that after death one went to the land of darkness, where everything was polluted. Consequently, death was viewed as defiling. The History of Wei records that “mourning is observed for more than ten days, during which period they [the bereft] do not eat meat. The head mourners wail and lament, while friends sing, dance, and drink liquor. When the funeral is over, all members of the family go into the water to cleanse themselves in a bath of purification.”25

Upon the death of emperors and great chieftains, huge sepulchral mounds were built to entomb them. This practice started around the end of the third century or the beginning of the fourth century. Some of the tombs were of immense dimensions; the keyhole-shaped barrow of Emperor Nintoku (early fifth century) encompasses eighty acres and is ninety feet high and four hundred yards long. In terms of the area it occupies, it is the largest tomb in the world. With the dead was buried a mélange of personal belongings and ornaments, such as bronze mirrors, swords, knives, curved beads, arrowheads, armor, and helmets.

Swords found in the tombs indicate that the long single-edged sword of Han China had replaced the short sword of early Yamato in popularity by the second half of the fifth century. Also, by this time the paraphernalia of the mounted warrior had begun to replace the foot soldier’s armor.

In addition to these objects, which were buried with the dead, a large number of clay images—known as haniwa (circle of clay) were placed around the mound to strengthen the sides and prevent earth washouts. These terra-cotta figures, which represent human beings, horses, birds, armor, furnishings, utensils, houses, and the like, have proven invaluable in enabling archaeologists to reconstruct the mode of life of that era. It is assumed that these artifacts were designed to replace human beings—perhaps slaves—who had formerly been buried alive with the dead emperor or chieftain. “When Pimiku passed away,” records the History of Wei, “a great mound was raised, more than a hundred paces in diameter. Over a hundred male and female attendants followed her to the grave.”26 No archaeological evidence has been unearthed, however, to confirm that mass retainer burial was in fact practiced.

The Nihongi states that, when the younger son of Emperor Suinin (who is thought to have ruled in the third century) died and his personal attendants were buried alive with him, “for several days they died not, but wept and wailed day and night. At last they died and rotted. Dogs and crows gathered and ate them.” The emperor was grieved by all this, and, five years later when the empress died, he asked his ministers to devise a way to avoid burying her attendants with her. One of his advisers called together hundreds of clay workers and had them make figures of

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men, horses, and other objects and told the emperor, “Henceforth let it be a law for future ages to substitute things of clay for living men, and to set them up at tumuli.” The emperor thereupon issued a decree stating, “Henceforth these clay figures must be set up at tumuli; let not men be harmed.”27 This, it is generally agreed, is a purely legendary account of the origin of the haniwa. Cylinder-shaped haniwa were used at least a century before the time of this story. Sepulchral mounds ceased to be constructed after the introduction of Buddhism because Buddhists favored cremating the dead. By the beginning of the ninth century, cremation had become prevalent throughout the land.

Polygamy was common in this society, and marriages between close members of the family circle—such as half-brothers and sisters, aunts and nephews, and stepmothers and stepsons—took place, all to preserve the close relations within the family. After marriage, the wife continued to live with her parents; the husband either visited her periodically or came to reside with her family (uxorilocal or matrilocal relations). This is an aspect of the matriarchal nature of early Japanese society. The prominent place held by female deities—after all, the chief deity of Japan is the Sun Goddess—and female rulers attest to this fact. Until the late eighth century, the Japanese throne was frequently occupied by an empress. Even during the Tokugawa period, the imperial court was twice headed by women. Although Japan eventually became a decidedly patriarchal society, remnants of matriarchy persist to the present. For example, when there is no male heir, the family line is continued through the female line.

As in other primitive societies, trial by ordeal was practiced in early Japan. The History of the Sui Dynasty, written around CE 630, states, “Sometimes pebbles are put in boiling water and both parties to a dispute made to pick them out. The hand of the guilty one is said to become inflamed. Sometimes a snake is kept in a jar, and the accused ordered to catch it. If he is guilty, his hand will be bitten.”28

The protection of the farmers’ rice fields was one of society’s chief concerns. Severe punishments were meted out to troublemakers who destroyed the banks of rice paddies, filled in irrigation ditches, removed water conduits, reseeded fields, and planted stakes in rice fields to cause harm to others.

Certain actions were considered to be unclean and polluting and were therefore condemned. Skinning an animal alive or skinning it hind-end first was such an offense. It was also believed that the gods viewed as unclean albinos and people with external tumors and warts.

The punishments meted out in ancient Japan were harsh. The History of Sui reports that “it is customary to punish murder, arson, and adultery with death. . . . Other offenses are punished according to their nature—sometimes by banishment and sometimes by flogging. In the prosecution of offenses by the court, the knees of

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those who plead not guilty are pressed together by placing them between pieces of wood, or their heads are sawed with the stretched string of a strong bow.”29

ARCHITECTURE

During the early Yamato period, the simple but striking style of architecture that we see in Japanese shrines had come into existence. These shrines, with their raised platforms, boxlike structures, bargeboards extending above the roofs like the upper half of the letter X, heavy billets set crosswise across the ridges of the roofs, and unpainted, undecorated woodwork, were designed to blend into their natural surroundings. The early shrines still standing at Izumo and Ise are good examples of the style of architecture that prevailed during this protohistoric period.30

At Ise there are two shrines four miles apart, the Inner and the Outer Shrines. The Inner Shrine was founded, according to the early chronicles, by Emperor Suinin and is dedicated to the Sun Goddess. The Outer Shrine is dedicated to the goddess of agriculture and sericulture. These shrines are surrounded by cedar trees in a beautiful setting. They are supposed to have been reconstructed every twenty years. The sixty-second rebuilding since the beginning of this practice in the seventh century took place in 2013. The buildings are constructed without nails or complicated joints, and the plain, unadorned style of the original shrines has been retained.31

The early aristocracy lived in houses built on raised platforms, a style of dwelling that came perhaps from the southwest Pacific. Haniwa replicas of houses indicate that relatively substantial abodes were being built by the fourth and fifth centuries, perhaps with the aid of immigrant Korean workers. The Koreans apparently introduced the practice of using planks in walls and roofs and taught the Japanese how to construct houses on an exactly regular plan using evenly spaced rectangular windows. Models have been found of two-story buildings with fancy gabled roofs with overhanging bargeboards.

The haniwa figures, with their simple but bold geometrical shapes, are thought by art historians to be among the most interesting ancient sculptures. A characteristic that distinguished Japanese from Chinese art—the fact that Japanese artists let the material determine their technique rather than allow their designs to dominate the material—is seen in the use of clay by the haniwa makers. The skill of Japanese artists in using natural material effectively and their sensitivity to the natural environment have been distinctive features of Japanese art throughout history.

Slavery existed from the earliest times. Himiko is said to have sent slaves as tributary gifts to China in the third century. Ordinarily, war captives were enslaved, but their children could be emancipated (particularly if one of their parents was not

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a slave). Debt peonage, whereby people sold themselves or their children into slavery to pay off a debt, was common. Young girls (and sometimes boys as well) were sold into prostitution. They could be emancipated by paying off their original price, often with a sum added as “good will.”

Prostitution was an accepted institution. Transshipment points (river fords and deltas, crossroads, etc.) were common places for this traffic in sex. Although common prostitutes frequently found themselves in the profession as the result of their parents’ debt, some “higher class” prostitutes plied the trade by choice. They were allowed to own property, even other prostitutes, particularly those who were themselves slaves. Hitomi Tonomura has quipped that “women could both have and be property.”32

Prostitutes of both genders were not held in contempt because society saw them performing a service. They were allowed to inherit and often to assume “regular” (i.e., nonprostitute) lives after they ceased to ply their sexual careers. Indeed, as Tonomura has suggested, “In ancient Japan, sexual intercourse seems to have lacked the restrictive moral imperatives—sex for reproduction only—idealized in Judeo- Christian societies.”33 Several literary tales recount somewhat idealized trysts.34

Indeed, sexual relations between genders in the early period was casual at best. Sexual experimentation by the youth was considered normal. “Night crawling” (yobai), or premarital sex, was common, with young men “sneaking into” the bedrooms of young women. There were no real formal marriage “ceremonies.” Marriage usually consisted of the new “husband” staying over for breakfast after the third tryst, thus declaring his intent to become part of the family.

As noted earlier, marriages were matrilocal, with males residing with the female’s family after the marriage was accomplished. In the imperial court, young men came to the capital to make their careers, but wives stayed in their natal home. The young man’s in-laws provided financial backing as long as he represented their interests at court. Inheritance descended through the matriline, children being raised in their mother’s natal home. As we shall see, when the court became increasingly patriarchal with the adoption of Chinese sociopolitical systems, men began to demand their own (neolocal) homes in the capital, but these were still to be financed by his in-laws.35

Polygamy by both genders was common in the early period, but, as time went on, only males were still able to take on “other” wives. Some rich women were able to carry on extramarital affairs, but society began to frown on women taking on “other” husbands. Matrilocal marriages continued into the medieval period (after the eleventh century), and even in that male-dominated era women still were able to own property and pass on and accept inheritances in their own names.

Indications provided by archeological evidence suggest that sexual mores were decidedly more relaxed in the early period. Apparently, the native cults considered

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sexuality to be natural and free from religious concepts of “sin.” Perhaps the Japanese could not imagine that their kami would punish them for behavior that was pleasurable and of course, necessary for procreation. After all, the kami participated in sex, both for pleasure and procreation. Why would humans do otherwise? Neither virginity nor chastity before marriage was particularly valued or necessary.36 There were no apparent strictures against premarital experimentation, including those that would later be characterized as homosexual or autoerotic, no injunctions about the sin of “spilling seed.” Even after Chinese misogynistic ideas of sexual propriety came to predominate, the only commonly accepted social constructs for sexuality appear to be concerned with the Confucian obligation to provide male heirs for the continuation of the family. As long as a man produced a suitable heir, his sexual expressions were given relative free rein. Male-male sexual relations were both common and “natural” and did not firmly categorize the lovers as less manly than those who did not participate. Indeed, as we shall see later in the book, male-male sexuality came to be the preferred emotional attachment among warriors.

We do not have archeological evidence that female-female sexual relations were considered to be either taboo or unnatural. Given the global human experience, such relations did exist and perhaps the fact that no social penalties appear to have been leveled against it should be some indication that pre-Confucian Japanese society saw no reason to punish it or to characterize it as abnormal. After all, as long as it was practiced in privacy, no children resulted to cloud inheritance, and no one was otherwise shamed or damaged.

As we shall see in a later discussion of gender and sexual relations, extramarital sexual expression (involving all genders) was considerably freer of social moral control than we in the West consider normal.

NOTES 1. It also caused the meltdown of the Daiichi nuclear reactors at Fukushima. See Tom

Gill, Bregette Steger, and David H. Slater, eds. Japan Copes with Calamity: Ethnographies of the Earthquakes, Tsunami and Nuclear Disasters of March 2011 (New York: Peter Lang, 2013).

2. For a concise treatment of Japan’s physical features, see Gina Barnes, “Japan’s Natural Setting,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 3–15.

3. The submission of Ōkuninushi is seen as the conquest of the Izumo forces by the Yamato forces. Susano-o and his descendants were identified with a political entity in Izumo with ties to Korea, distinct from the Kyushu-Yamato group. See Ch. 2.

4. The compilers of the Nihongi seem to have arrived at the date 660 BCE in the following manner: The Chinese had a cyclical time system in which 60 years formed a small cycle, and 1,260 years a large one. An event of revolutionary significance was believed to occur every 1,260 years. The innovations introduced by Prince Shōtoku dated

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to the year 601 were interpreted as constituting a revolutionary event. Counting back 1,260 years from CE 601, 660 BCE was designated the year for the founding of the imperial government.

5. Recently scholars have analyzed the similarities between the Korean and Japanese myths and have presented persuasive arguments concerning the Korean origins of many Japanese myths about the early gods. Ōbayashi Taryō, “Japanese Myths of Descent from Heaven and their Korean Parallels,” Asian Folklore Studies 43, no. 2 (1984): 171–184.

6. After several decades of Japanese-language scholarship, this theory is convincingly argued in two recent English-language sources. Joan R. Piggott, The Emergence of Japanese Kingship (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997); and Michael Como, Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009).

7. In the post–World War II era, archaeological excavations have been conducted extensively, facilitated in part by the relaxation of restrictions on digging in areas that the imperial government considered to be sacred grounds.

8. See discussion in Melvin C. Aikens, “Origins of the Japanese People,” in Friday, Japan Emerging, 55–65.

9. Recently anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution have theorized that around 3000 BCE a Japanese boat that had been blown off course landed in Ecuador, bringing with it Jōmon pots. These influenced the style of Valdivian pottery, which is nearly identical to Jōmon pottery. See “An Ancient Japanese-Latin American Connection?” New York Times, January 3, 1966, 1.

10. L. Carrington Goodrich, ed., Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories: Later Han Through Ming Dynasties, trans. Ryusaku Tsunoda (South Pasadena, CA: Perkins, 1951), 13.

11. For an entertaining account of these various theories, see Walter Edwards, “In Pursuit of Himiko: Postwar Archeology and the Location of Yamatai,” Monumenta Nipponica 51, no. 1 (Spring, 1996): 53–79.

12. Japanese historian Egami Namio proposed what has been called the “horse rider theory,” which suggests that Japan was conquered militarily and therefore the Yamato imperial family descends from those invaders. This claim is now generally dismissed, but Egami’s American student Gari Ledyard published a provocative article, “Galloping Along with the Horseriders: Looking for the Foundation of Japan,” Journal of Japanese Studies 1, no. 2 (1975): 217–254.

13. There is an alternate transliteration of Korean names, but we shall continue to use this one because very few histories employ the new one.

14. See Ōbayashi Taryō, “Japanese Myths of Descent”; and Piggott, Emergence. 15. Piggott, Emergence, 55. 16. Thomas C. Smith, “The Japanese Village in the Seventeenth Century,” Journal of

Economic History 12, no. 1 (Winter 1952): 17. 17. Michael Como, Weaving and Binding, 80. 18. Piggott, Emergence, 40. 19. Piggott, Emergence, 20. 20. Cornelius J. Kiley, “State and Dynasty in Archaic Yamato,” Journal of Asian

Studies 33, no. 1 (November 1973): 25–49, esp. 33–34. 21. See Charles Holcombe, “Trade-Buddhism: Maritime Trade, Immigration, and the

Buddhist Landfall in Early Japan,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 119, no. 2

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(April–June 1999): 290. 22. Como, Weaving and Binding, xiv. 23. See Alan Miller, “Ame no Miso-ori Me (Heavenly Weaving Maiden): The Cosmic

Weaving in Early Shinto Myth and Ritual,” History of Religions 1 (1984): 27–48; and Russell Kirkland, “The Sun and the Throne: The Origins of the Royal Descent Myth in Ancient Japan,” Numen 44, no. 2 (May 1997): 109–152. Mark Teeuwen proposes to call the ancient indigenous cults jingi after the Chinese term meaning “deities of heaven (jin) and earth (gi).” Herein, we shall use the more cumbersome “indigenous cults” because it is more descriptive. See Teeumen’s excellent summary, “What Used to Be Called Shinto: The Question of Japan’s Indigenous Religion,” in Friday, Japan Emerging, 66–76.

24. Como, Weaving and Binding, 110. 25. W. G. Aston quoted in Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology

(New York: Viking, 1962), 475. 26. Goodrich, Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories, 14. 27. Campbell, Masks of God, 476. 28. Ibid., 477. 29. Goodrich, Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories, 11. 30. “One cannot but remark on the similarity of these buildings to those still used in

Indonesia, notably by the Batak of Sumatra.” Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; New York: Abrams, 1964), 74.

31. See Cassandra Adams, “Japan’s Ise Shrine and Its Thirteen-Hundred-Year-Old Reconstruction Tradition,” Journal of Architectural Education (1984–) 52, no. 1 (September 1998): 49–60.

32. Hitomi Tonomura, “Sexual Violence Against Women: Legal and Extralegal Treatment in Premodern Warrior Societies,” in Women and Class in Japanese Culture, eds. Hitomi Tonomura, Anne Walthall, and Wakita Haruko (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999), 91.

33. Ibid., 146. 34. For a short reading on the topic, see Janet R. Goodwin, “Shadows of Transgression:

Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution,” Monumenta Nipponica 55, no. 3 (Autumn 2000): 327–368. See also her monograph, Selling Songs and Smiles: The Sex Trade in Heian and Kamakura Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007).

35. See two studies on early marriage practices: Peter Nickerson, “The Meaning of Matrilocality: Kinship, Property, and Politics in Mid-Heian,” Monumenta Nipponica 48, no. 4 (Winter 1993): 429–467; and Wakita Haruko and Suzanne Gay, “Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan from the Perspective of Women’s History,” Journal of Japanese Studies 10, no. 1 (Winter 1984): 73–99.

36. See Hitomi Tonomura, “Black Hair and Red Trousers: Gendering the Flesh in Medieval Japan,” American Historical Review 99, no. 1 (February 1994): 140–141.

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2

The Advent and Assimilation of Chinese Civilization

THE INTRODUCTION OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION

The fifth and sixth centuries are truly significant for Japanese cultural history because it was during that time that Japan was influenced by Chinese civilization on a massive scale, much in the manner in which the country was subjected to the influence of Western civilization in the nineteenth century. With the introduction of the Chinese writing system and arts and crafts and the infusion of Confucian and Buddhist thought, Japan became a “civilized” nation. During the seventh and eighth centuries, the continental culture and institutions were assimilated by the Japanese. Immigrants from Korea also played a significant role in this process.

The recorded history of Japan starts with the fifth century, for writing was introduced from the continent around CE 400. The historical chronicles that are extant were not compiled, however, until the early part of the eighth century. Consequently, not all of the Japanese accounts of events and conditions between the fifth and eighth century are reliable, but they augment other historical evidence to give us a fuller understanding of Japanese history than we have for the preceding period.

From the middle of the third century to the beginning of the fifth century, there is no mention in the Chinese historical records of any contact with Japan (due, perhaps, to unstable conditions in China), but fifth-century records mention a number of Japanese missions arriving in China. The Japanese emperors whose names are recorded in these chronicles can be identified as historical figures. The first emperor (referred to as ō, or “king,” in this period) regarded by many historians as a historical personage is Emperor Sujin, who ruled either circa CE 240 or circa CE 270–290. A number of historians considered him the real founder of the imperial government in Yamato, not the legendary Emperor Jimmu mentioned in the mythologies. But now some historians consider Sujin to have been a mythical figure too.

Only the kings or emperors after the reign of Ōjin (Homuda, who came from Korea), who is believed to have ruled around CE 400, are seen as actual historical figures. Many historians believe that a number of “kingly” chieftains contended for power in the fourth and fifth centuries and that it was not until Emperor Keitai of the early sixth century, who overthrew the dynasty established by Ōjin, that the

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imperial dynasty, which extends to the present, was established on a firm foundation. It is likely then that there were three dynasties in the Yamato period: one established by Sujin; the second by Ōjin and his son Nintoku; and the last, which persists to the present, founded by Keitai. The imperial dynasty is not an unbroken line from 660 BCE (from the time of Emperor Jimmu) to the present, as the official history books, which presented myths as history during the prewar years, claimed.1 Still, the Yamato “dynasty” is the oldest extant in the entire world.

Relations with the continent were carried on prior to the fifth century through Korea. Technical knowledge and material goods had previously entered Japan from the continent, but during the fourth and fifth centuries a large number of artisans and craftspeople immigrated to Japan. Some scholars estimate that more than a million Koreans filtered into Japan over a period of two centuries.2 Many were fleeing political instability on the peninsula, particularly the chaos caused by the changes in Chinese dynasties. Many others came seeking a better life in Japan. Most integrated with the Japanese people, entering at the top of the society because they brought superior technologies and knowledge with them. The Koreans were especially important in pottery, ceramics, leather working, and metallurgy. Because they were literate in the Chinese orthography, many served as scribes and bureaucrats in the early Yamato government.3

The Chinese who had fled their country after the fall of the Han government and had gone to Korea were again forced to escape the political turmoil there. They arrived in Japan in the early fifth century and were organized into functional communities (be) to serve the imperial family.

One of the most significant importations from the continent was the Chinese writing system. No doubt some knowledge of Chinese writing had filtered into Japan before its official introduction, but the chronicles recount that, during Emperor Ōjin’s reign, the king of Paekche sent an envoy, Wani, to Japan with a list of one thousand Chinese characters and a copy of the Confucian Analects. The introduction of the Chinese system of writing expanded the Japanese vocabulary tremendously and introduced new concepts to Japanese intellectual world. The introduction of the writing system was an epoch-making event that propelled Japan into a new stage of its history. Henceforth, records were kept, chronicles were compiled, poetry was anthologized. Chinese literature and philosophy came to be studied, and Confucianism, one of the decisive forces in molding the Japanese character and mode of thought, started to establish its roots in Japanese soil. As historian David Pollack has observed, “The Japanese genius for enthusiastically shaping often puzzling disparate bits and pieces of imported ‘superior’ cultures to its own inductable end is clearly demonstrated in the uses that the Japanese made of Chinese culture throughout premodern history.”4

Not long after the introduction of Chinese learning to Japan, Confucian values

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and ideals started to be mirrored in the proclamations and decrees of the Japanese emperors. Confucian virtues such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness were extolled. There was also an emphasis on maintaining proper relationships between ruler and subject and between father and son. The idea that government should be founded upon the moral character of the ruler also entered Japanese political thought. Confucianism did not become deeply embedded in the Japanese way of life and thought until the Tokugawa era, when the ruling family adopted neo-Confucianism as its official philosophy and actively inculcated Confucian moral ideals into the minds of the people. From around the fifth and sixth centuries, Chinese learning and Buddhism constituted the basic ingredients from which Japanese learning and culture emerged and developed.

In the sixth and seventh centuries, the second wave of cultural influence from the continent swept over Japan. Again, a large number of Koreans, escaping the political turmoil of their homeland, immigrated to Japan. With them they brought knowledge of medicine, the art of divination, and the calendar.

A far more momentous event was the introduction of Buddhism to Japan during this period. Again, there are indications that some segments of the Japanese society, particularly the immigrants from the continent, were already familiar with Buddhism, but the official introduction and formal adoption of this religion did not occur until the latter half of the sixth century. In either 538 or 552, the king of Paekche presented Buddhist images and scriptures to the Japanese court with, it is said, the following message: “This doctrine is amongst all doctrines the most excellent. But it is hard to explain, and hard to comprehend. . . . This doctrine can create religious merit and retribution without measure and without bounds, and so lead on to a full appreciation of the highest wisdom. . . . Every prayer is fulfilled and naught is wanting.”5

Whether to adopt the new religion became a matter of major political controversy at the imperial court. At that time, there were two powerful factions competing for power. One group was led by both the Mononobe family (in charge of arms) and the Nakatomi family (in charge of religious affairs). The other faction was headed by the newly risen Soga family, which was responsible for financial affairs. The former, representing the conservative faction, opposed the adoption of the new religion, while the latter, representing the new power bloc, favored it. Following a series of intrigues and open clashes, the Soga faction crushed the Mononobe and Nakatomi families in 587, and the adoption of Buddhism was officially sanctioned. Thus, even the religion that was to play a vital role in molding the Japanese culture and character was initially a pawn in the struggle for power and influence.

BUDDHISM

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Buddhism was founded in the sixth century BCE in northern India by Gautama Buddha, who, distressed by the human suffering and misery that he saw around him, set out to discover a way to free his fellow humans from their suffering. After years of searching for the answer to his quest, he attained “enlightenment” and formulated what he believed to be the true principles of life, known as the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. First, he taught that life is full of sorrow: birth, disease, old age, and death are misery. The second principle that the Buddha taught was that the cause of all this misery is desire. The craving of the self to satisfy its ego6 results in the perpetuation of the cycle of birth-death-rebirth and, therefore, in endless misery. Third, the only way to break this cycle and end suffering is to free oneself from this craving, that is, to extinguish the ego. Finally, this is accomplished through an eightfold path that entails adhering to right views, right intentions, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Right views consist of understanding the nature of reality, that is, the truth that life is in a constant state of change and flux, and nothing is permanent or absolute. The phenomenal world is only an illusion; there is no absolute reality behind it. Neither the soul nor the self is an absolute entity. The self is actually an ever- changing composite of psychological states, part of a stream of universal consciousness. What persists after death is not the soul but karma, the result of our deeds. It is our ignorance that leads us to believe that we are individual entities and that causes us to crave satisfaction of our selfish impulses. By following the eightfold path and gaining self-mastery and self-knowledge, the sense of the self is extinguished, and the state of nirvana is attained.

Because the Buddha never clearly explained what the state of nirvana is and because the exact nature of the eightfold path is open to varying interpretations, many different Buddhist sects came into existence. But Buddhism can be divided into two major branches: Mahayana, or the Greater Vehicle, and Hinayana, or the Lesser Vehicle. The adherents of the latter group prefer to be called Theravada Buddhists, or the followers of the Way of the Elders. Although Buddhism eventually declined in India, it spread to other parts of Asia and flourished as one of the major religions of the world. Theravada Buddhism spread into Southeast Asia, while Mahayana Buddhism extended into China, Korea, and Japan. The former stresses the attainment of the state of nirvana through self-knowledge and self-mastery, whereas the latter offers salvation with the help of bodhisattvas, merciful Buddhist deities who have attained enlightenment but have postponed entrance into the state of nirvana to help those who are incapable of gaining salvation by themselves.

As we noted, Buddhism was adopted officially in Japan because of the triumph of the Soga family over its political rivals. Buddhism’s beneficence, the chronicles record, was judged in terms of its ability to outdo the indigenous deities in controlling the forces of nature, but no doubt the ruling class was most impressed

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by the learned scriptures and beautiful artifacts that accompanied the religion. In the early period of its adoption, Buddhism appealed only to a small elite, who either took a scholastic interest in its scriptures or were interested in its more esoteric and ritualistic aspects. The common folk were at first largely unaffected by the new religion, but as Buddhist temples and monasteries began to be constructed, not only in the seat of the imperial government but also in the outlying provinces, the impact of Buddhism upon the lower classes began to grow. Joan Piggott suggests that the building of temples created what Clifford Geertz calls the “theater state,” that is, legitimation of the imperial state by pageantry, ritual, and the building of impressive public monuments.7

PRINCE SHŌTOKU

After Buddhism was officially adopted in Japan, it found a powerful and enthusiastic supporter in the person of an exceptionally able leader, Prince Shōtoku Taishi (574–622), who exercised authority as regent to the Suiko Empress from 593 until his death. This was a continuation of the dual male-female sharing of imperial power; Suiko was his aunt.

There was an urgent need to reorganize the government and strengthen the position of the imperial court. The leading clans had ensconced themselves in the central government and had begun to overshadow the imperial authority. Moreover, the rivalry among the leading families was undermining the stability of the government. Also, in the provincial areas the clan chieftains and the provincial governors appointed by the imperial court were beginning to act independently of the central government, usurping the right of taxation and extending their power by seizing the lands of their weaker neighbors. There is some evidence to indicate that the general disorder of the period was caused in part by the rise in population and the consequent struggle over existing resources.

To deal with this situation, Prince Shōtoku, in cooperation with the Soga family, initiated certain changes. Hoping to end the hereditary control of top government posts by the entrenched elite families and allow men of ability to rise to positions of importance, he established a table of ranks. There were to be twelve grades for government officials. Unlike the old Kabane noble ranks, the new system granted rank to individuals and was not to be inherited. Reflecting the Confucian influence, senior and junior ranks entitled “virtue,” “benevolence,” “propriety,” “good faith,” “righteousness,” and “wisdom” were created. In theory, men of talent were to be appointed to these ranks and assigned appropriate government positions.

The prince also promulgated in 604 what is known as the Constitution of Seventeen Articles.8 It is not a constitution as we ordinarily understand the term, that is, a document that defines the structure, functions, and powers of the

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government. Rather, it is a set of moral injunctions that were intended to serve as guiding principles for government officials. These moral injunctions were meant to strengthen the authority of the imperial family. Article III states, “When you receive the imperial commands, fail not scrupulously to obey them. The lord is Heaven, the vassal is Earth. Heaven overspreads, and Earth upbears.” Article XII decrees, “Let not the provincial authorities . . . levy exactions on the people. In a country there are not two lords; the people have not two masters. The sovereign is the master of the people of the whole country.”9

The Confucian influence on its framers is discernible throughout the entire constitution. The Confucian ideals of propriety, good faith, harmony, and so on are upheld in different passages. The Legalist viewpoint is seen in this document in its emphasis on properly meting out rewards and punishments.10 As one might expect, Buddhist precepts are also embodied in the document. Article II, for example, reads, “Sincerely reverence the three treasures. The three treasures, viz. Buddha, the Law, and the Priest-hood, are the final refuge of the four generated beings, and are the supreme objects of faith in all countries.”11

Throughout most of Japanese history, an aversion to dictatorial rule prevailed. This is reflected in Article XVII of the constitution: “Decisions on important matters should not be made by one person alone. They should be discussed with many.” This injunction did not immediately produce significant changes in the government, but it provided the basis for later attempts to centralize political power.

Prince Shōtoku and the reformers who followed him not only adopted the Chinese view that the emperor was the supreme ruler possessing the sanction of heaven but went further and equated him with heavenly power itself. Being the direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, the emperor was not a mere mortal who received the Mandate of Heaven—a mandate that the Chinese emperor received because of his superior moral character—but was a living god.

Around this period or soon after, the emperor came to be referred to as Aketsu- mikami (manifestation of kami, or god) or Arahito-gami (kami appearing as man). Thus, although Confucian concepts were imported into Japan, the Japanese did not speak of the Mandate of Heaven, a basic principle in Confucian political philosophy. In a way, the military rulers (shōgun) who emerged later were the ones who received the Mandate of Heaven, that is, the imperial mandate to govern on behalf of the emperor. Consequently, although they became the real wielders of power, they never eliminated the emperor; they continued to pay lip service to him as if he were the true sovereign. The emperor was necessary as the symbol of heaven, and his outward approval, or even tacit consent, was indispensable to the shōgun.

It was also during Prince Shōtoku’s time or slightly later that the term tennō

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(heavenly prince) came to be applied to the emperor, rather than the terms ō (king) or ōgimi (great lord) used until then. The term tennō was also imported from China; its first use is found in the Shih Chi [Historical Records], written by the great Chinese historian Sima Qian (known also as Ssu Ma-ch’ien in the old Wade- Giles transliteration system) in the first century BCE.12

Efforts to broaden contact with China continued during Prince Shōtoku’s regency and after. Embassies to the courts of Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) were dispatched, and students and monks were encouraged to travel to China to study its religion and culture. Sixteen missions were sent to China during the Tang period.

THE TAIKA REFORMS

The imperial court’s efforts to strengthen the authority of the central government failed. The reformers’ hope of weakening the position of the entrenched elite families was not fulfilled because the new table of ranks failed to replace the old Kabane system as the basis for power and status in the government. In the provinces, leading clans continued to extend their landholdings at the expense of weaker clans and to poach on public lands and forests. At the center, the Soga family, which steadily gained in power after their victory over the Mononobe and Nakatomi families, had fastened a firm grip on the government and began behaving in an arbitrary fashion, controlling the succession to the imperial throne. It appeared as if they might even usurp the sovereignty of the imperial family. Consequently, their opponents awaited an opportunity to oust them and to effect a general reform to strengthen the authority of the imperial court.

The situation in Korea also caused the political leaders in Japan to feel the acute need to strengthen the powers of the central government. Korea, it appeared, might fall under the control of Tang China. If this were to happen, Japan’s security would be endangered. The Sui dynasty had invaded Korea three times during the second decade of the seventh century in an attempt to bring the kingdom of Koguryo under its control. These invasions had failed, but in 644 the founder of the Tang dynasty led a huge army against Koguryo. Japan’s old antagonist, Silla, cooperated with the Tang authorities and attacked Koguryo and Paekche, hoping to establish its hegemony over all of Korea with the aid of the Tang forces. Japan sent an expeditionary force into the Korean peninsula to aid Paekche, but the Japanese forces were defeated in 663 at Paekch’on. This had an important impact on Japan’s relations with the continent because it undercut the close political ties Japan previously had with Korea. It also affected internal politics significantly. The possibility that the Tang government might invade Japan after bringing Korea under control alarmed the Japanese court and touched off a reform movement to

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strengthen its internal political foundation. In 644 the foes of the Soga rallied around Prince Naka-no-Ōe (626–671), who

later became Emperor Tenchi, to liquidate the Soga family. A leading figure in this coup was Nakatomi-no-Kamatari (611–669), a descendant of the foes of the Soga family at the time of the Buddhist controversy. Part of his reward for his support was that he was allowed to found the powerful Fujiwara family that was to dominate the imperial government for the succeeding four centuries or so.

With the removal of the Soga, the new ruling clique set about initiating political, social, and economic reforms. The object was to strengthen the imperial authority and weaken the influence of the powerful families entrenched in the outlying regions.

The series of reforms started by Prince Naka-no-Ōe and his supporters is referred to as the Taika Reforms, after the era name they adopted.13 An edict was issued in 646 calling for reforms, but not all changes were implemented immediately; they extended into the next century. In 702 the Taihō (Great Law) Code, a compendium of penal laws and administrative practices, was written. This was a codification of all the administrative and legal changes that had been implemented or had been under preparation since 646. The reformers looked to Tang China for their models, though they did not, of course, introduce exact replicas of Tang institutions and practices. For the sake of convenience we can consider the changes listed in the Taihō Code as the major aspects of the general reform movement labeled the Taika Reforms.

The initial step taken by Prince Naka-no-Ōe and the reformers was to reaffirm the supremacy of the imperial authority. “The imperial way,” they asserted, “is but one. But in this last degenerate age, the order of Lord and Vassal was destroyed. . . . Now, from this time forward . . . the Lord will eschew double methods of government, and the vassal will avoid duplicity in his service of the sovereign.”14

The central government was reorganized. The offices of the great omi and the great muraji were abolished and replaced with the minister of the left, the minister of the right, and the minister of the center. The last of these served as the personal adviser to the emperor and consequently was the most important government official. Initially Nakatomi-no-Kamatari held this post. Under the Taihō Code, the occupant of this post was made the highest administrative officer and was called the dajō daijin (chancellor). He presided over the Dajōkan (Grand Council of State), which included the minister of the left and the minister of the right. The former was in charge of all the administrative departments and the latter served as his deputy. The office of dajō daijin was frequently left open, in which case the minister of the left usually served as the chief administrative officer.

Under the Dajōkan there were eight ministries or departments: Central Administration, Ceremonial, Civil Affairs, People’s Affairs, War, Justice, Treasury,

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and Imperial Household. An Office of Deities (Jingikan), having precedence over the Dajōkan, was created to manage indigenous rituals at the court.

In local administration, the country was divided into sixty-six provinces, which were subdivided into 592 counties, which were in turn broken down into townships consisting of fifty households each. Provincial governors appointed by the central government were instructed to prepare registers of all the free and unfree subjects of the land and to investigate the titles of the clan chieftains claiming landownership and authority in their districts. Armories were to be built, and all weapons in the possession of private persons were to be stored in them.

These local reforms did not, however, spell the end of the authority of the clan chieftains; many were appointed governors of the provinces where they were entrenched. Generally speaking, the county heads were also chosen from among former landowners and clan leaders. Despite its desire to do so, the imperial government was not in a position to uproot all the vested interests in the outlying areas.

The reforms, however, did spell the end of women in government offices. Within the Chinese Confucian political philosophy, misogyny was firmly entrenched. Previously, women served in the imperial court, especially as managers. They were indispensable as liaisons between the emperor and the Women’s Quarters. In the era when women were emperors, women served as conduits between the male and female halves of the imperial court.

Many historians claim that the political disturbances caused by Kōken, the last female emperor during the era (749–758), ended the possibility that women would serve again and thereby politically disenfranchised all women. She later served again as emperor, changing her reign name to Shōtoku (764–770). Her alleged dalliance with a charismatic Buddhist priest, Dōkyō (700–772), who tried to become emperor has been cited as an example of women being too emotional to be entrusted with the throne. Piggott dismisses the assertion, noting that, more than anything, the political crisis was not of her making but rather the result of dissention at court over imperial succession.15

With the Taika-Taihō Reforms, only men were allowed to serve in the government. Each office came with a land grant to finance the position. Many offices became hereditary and so that land became in effect private property. Although women could still inherit, possess, and alienate property, they could not add to their estate by virtue of political position, compounding the tragedy of their removal from politics.

The provincial governors were given the power to levy taxes, but initially they did not have judicial authority. This remained in the hands of the county heads. The people, however, had the right to appeal the decisions of the county heads to the central government. The provincial governors’ term of office was limited to about six years, but the county heads held lifetime tenures, and their sons frequently

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succeeded them. Consequently, they were able to develop and protect their interests in their respective counties.

The be, or functional communities, were abolished as part of the effort to undercut the strength of the major clans. This did not mean that the members of the corporations were made free and independent. Instead of being under the direct control of the clan chieftains, they were now under the authority of the imperial government.

In the economic realm a significant attempt was made to change the nature of land tenure. Again following a practice of Tang China, where a policy of maintaining equal landholding prevailed, the Taika reformers sought to equalize landholding in order to weaken the power that the clan chieftains exercised over the land and people under their control. For this purpose all land in the country was to be nationalized. To set an example, Naka-no-Ōe transferred his land and workers to the public domain in 646 and asked other property holders to follow suit. They did so without much resistance because they were usually appointed governors of the areas in which their interests lay. Thus, although in theory they derived their authority from the imperial government, in reality they managed to retain their former privileges and interests. Moreover, the plan to nationalize all land was not put fully into effect. Important clansmen were allowed to hold a certain amount of land, commensurate with their rank and position. By special fiat the emperor also created tax-free estates for privileged members of the court or aristocracy.

The nationalized land was to be redistributed among the people. For this purpose a census was taken, and population registers were compiled. Everyone except slaves,16 who were given smaller allotments, was to be given an equal share of land: 2 tan (1 tan was 30 paces long by 12 paces wide) for each male over the age of six and two-thirds that figure for each female. Individual families, however, did not have independent control over their land allotments. The family allotments were incorporated into communal holdings under the jurisdiction of local leaders. Members of the imperial family and nobility were entitled to larger allotments, from 16 to 160 acres, depending upon rank. Every six years a general redistribution was to be effected to ensure continued equality in holding.

An additional inducement for the land-reform program was the government’s desire to increase its revenue by bringing private estates into the public domain. Consequently, at the same time the new land policy was introduced, taxation was systematized, and a tax of 2–3 percent of the harvest was instituted. Estates held by monasteries and shrines, however, were exempt.

Although the land tax was fairly light, there were other forms of taxation that added to this burden. Each adult male was required to contribute to the government a fixed amount of such goods as silk and hemp fabrics. All citizens had to perform corvée (unpaid labor as a “tax” in return for the use of the land) for both the central government and the local authorities. The amount of labor exacted by the former

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was normally ten days a year but could be extended up to forty more days. When labor services were not needed, the government asked for contributions of produce instead. The provincial governors could demand up to sixty days’ service each year. In addition to the regular corvée, construction work on special projects such as the temples, shrines, and public buildings was required.

The Taihō Code also instituted military conscription. One-third of all males between the ages of twenty-one and sixty were required to serve from one to three years in the army. Their own families decided who was required to serve. While the recruits were in the army, they were obliged to provide their own weapons, food, and other necessities. The cost to their families was prohibitive. Archery training and horse riding was very time consuming and prohibitively expensive. The conscript militias did not fare very well when pitted against the nomadic emishi who were in effect “professional” soldiers. Because of its ineffectiveness, the conscript army was abandoned in 792. We shall see that the long-term effect on the society would be enormous.

In theory, the Taika Reforms opened government posts to men of ability and merit, but high government positions were still closed to men low in the newly established system of court ranks. A person’s standing in this system depended upon his family background or upon his success in examinations taken after attending the government college. The practice of choosing officials by means of examinations was also imported from Tang China, but in Japan the college was open only to children of government officials, limiting government service to family members of the governing clans. As a result, the new system did not in reality provide for “a career open to talent.” The ruling class was determined to preserve the hereditary governing caste. In 682 the emperor issued an edict stating, “Let the lineage and character of all candidates for office be always inquired into before a selection is made. None whose lineage is insufficient are eligible for appointments, even though their character, conduct and capacity may be unexceptionable.”17

Another practice borrowed from China was the establishment of barriers (sekisho), checkpoints in strategic places to restrict the movement of people. It proved particularly useful in controlling peasants fleeing the tax collectors.

The establishment of a permanent capital was another practice adopted from China. In 710 Nara was selected by the ruling family as the site of the new capital. Prior to this, the location varied with each emperor because his residence became the center of government. Because death was regarded as defiling, no emperor resided in the house of the former emperor. As a result, no permanent seat of government came into existence. Many scholars also note that because of the prevailing uxorilocal customs, scions were raised not with their fathers but with their mother’s folks. It became customary for the new emperor to move the “capital” to his maternal family’s “palace” rather than move to his dead father’s place. In addition, his imperial career was much easier to protect within the bosom

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of his natal family than it would have been to move to the old palace, where potential rivals lived.18

A previous attempt to establish a permanent capital was at Fujiwara, which was laid out on a grid system in the Chinese manner. The palace was located in the northern area of the plat, and the higher one’s status, the closer one was allowed to live in relation to the palace. Fujiwara almost ceased to exist, however, when the city was dismantled and the building materials were used to establish Nara.19

For the first time there was to be a capital city. This had a double significance because prior to this time hardly any Japanese community could have been called a city or even a town. Now an elaborate city and capital—modeled after the Tang capital of Xian, although only half its size—was constructed. It was laid out in checkerboard fashion with the imperial court placed at the center of the northern end of the city. A major thoroughfare, about 280 feet wide, ran through the center from north to south, dividing the city into two parts. One aspect of the layout of the Chinese capital that the builders of Nara did not adopt was the practice of building a wall around the city. At this time the Japanese were evidently less security conscious than the Chinese. Perhaps they also abhorred the idea of cutting the city off from its natural environment. Public buildings, residences for the aristocracy, and many Buddhist structures were built in Nara, which became the center of political and cultural life in Japan from 710 to 784. The population at its peak is estimated to have reached 200,000. The years in which Nara was the capital are known as the Nara period.

The objectives of the Taika reformers were not fully attained and the changes introduced were not thoroughly implemented, but the imperial institution was strengthened and the authority of the central government was fortified. The emperor was endowed with greater prestige and dignity. The central government’s administrative organs were systematized, and its control over provincial and local areas was strengthened by eliminating the be and nationalizing the land. In theory, the people and the land were now in the public domain, not the private possessions of the clan chieftains. The systems of taxation and compulsory service and the penal code were all designed to strengthen the central government’s control over the populace.

The power and prestige of the prominent clans, however, were not diminished. The uji leaders were now incorporated into the top rungs of the central government’s new bureaucracy as high officials or as provincial and county governors. They retained the privilege of collecting the taxes from the areas to which they were assigned. Moreover, they were paid generous stipends, were exempt from taxation, and were given special consideration in the enforcement of penal laws against them. The status and privileges of the officials of the upper ranks were inherited by their children. Thus, the leading families retained their

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special status. In addition, they were acquiring a strong cultural tradition, which gave them a further advantage over the common folk; they were becoming a cultural as well as a political aristocracy.

At the beginning of the eighth century, the number of officials occupying the higher ranks of the bureaucracy is estimated to have been no more than 125 men. They held the highest offices in the central government and served as governors of the key provinces. In addition, approximately ten court aristocrats were involved in decision making at the very top level. These two groups constituted the elite— politically, socially, economically, and culturally. The gap between the aristocracy and the common people was further widened by the fact that the aristocracy tended to remain in the capital and manifested a growing unwillingness to serve in the countryside.

CULTURE OF THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES

Chinese civilization had a more lasting impact on Japan in the cultural sphere than in the political and social realms. The art and architecture that came from China were primarily Buddhist in nature, and, as temples and monasteries were constructed throughout the land, the cultural level of the society was greatly enhanced. The shapely, well-balanced tile roofs, the many-storied pagodas, and the vermilion gateways of Buddhist precincts undoubtedly would have made a Chinese or a Korean visitor of this period feel very much at home.

The art of sculpture took root in Japan and flourished rapidly, reaching a level of figural art “never surpassed in the Far East.”20 The Buddhist structures that were springing up throughout the countryside were embellished with expertly carved wooden images and glittering bronze figures of the Buddha, the Kannon (Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara), and other Buddhist deities. Paintings and frescoes with Buddhist motifs also added new dimensions to the culture of Japan.21

The most renowned of the Buddhist edifices was the Hōryūji. The original buildings, constructed in 607, were destroyed in a fire and were rebuilt at the end of the seventh century. Nonetheless, they are believed to be the oldest wooden buildings extant in the world today. The plan of the monastery was patterned after the style of building in the Chinese Six Dynasties (222–589), with a relatively asymmetrical arrangement of the buildings. The five-story pagoda,22 with its gently curving tile roof, occupies a prominent place in the compound, as does the Golden Hall. The structures convey a sense of order, balance, and cohesion; the pagoda in particular has a stately dignity and grace. The buildings use the Chinese bay system, a modified version of post-and-lintel construction employing intricate bracketing designed to transfer the weight of the heavy tile roof down through the wooden parts into the main columns that support the structure. The interior of the buildings

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is adorned with Buddhist frescoes and wooden and bronze statues. The construction of Buddhist monasteries was given further impetus by

Emperor Shōmu (701–756), who ordered them to be built in all sixty-six provinces as a partial religious response to the smallpox epidemic that was ravaging the land. Historian Conrad Totman observes, “Japanese monument builders, like their counterparts in other societies, were well aware that awe-inspiring edifices help sustain the prestige and well-being of one’s cause by promoting a sense of awe, envy, and even inferiority in those one is seeking to influence.”23

In Nara itself, the Tōdaiji temple, where a great bronze Buddha more than fifty feet tall is housed, was constructed in the middle of the eighth century. The Great Buddha sits on a lotus petal with his right hand signifying “fear not” and his left hand making a boon-bestowing gesture. The Tōdaiji complex is much larger than Hōryūji, occupying about twenty acres. The columns, bracketing, and other architectural elements are also more elaborate and massive. The several halls house innumerable Buddhist images—made of dry lacquer, clay, wood, and gilded bronze—patterned after early and middle Tang styles. The cost of building Tōdaiji was enormous: 51,590 persons donated lumber, and 2,179,973 persons donated their labor.24 The ecological cost was also very high. Thousands of old-growth trees were felled for lumber; the resulting clear-cutting of forests caused extensive erosion. The imperial government was greatly worried, so it began a number of programs intended to preserve the available timber stands. But after a few years the building boom began again.25

The Shōsōin, where more than 6,000 objects from this era are housed, was also built in the Nara period. Among the treasures stored here are the oldest printed manuscript extant in the world, brocades, silk fabrics, screen panels, musical instruments, mirrors, bowls, ivory works, lacquerware, dance masks, and weapons. Many of these were imported from China. Some items show traces of Eastern Roman, Persian, and Indian influence. Evidently, objects from distant areas had found their way to Japan. The articles stored in the Shōsōin are still in excellent condition because the log construction “breathes with the seasonal changes in humidity, keeping out the damp and allowing the dry air of late summer and fall to circulate freely.”26

Buddhism was still restricted largely to the aristocracy during this period. The abstruse philosophy was beyond the comprehension of commoners. In fact, both upper and lower classes together were attracted more to the pomp and ceremony of the rituals, the glitter of the benevolent-and merciful-looking images, and the special powers that they believed the Buddhist gods possessed than they were to Buddhist doctrine. In a way, Buddhism was regarded as a magical cult. The people prayed to the Buddhist deities to give them good fortune, good health, and prosperity and to ward off the evil spirits. They also prayed to the deities to help

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them escape the pains and miseries of life as well as the many hells that popular Buddhism envisioned.

With the arrival of monks from China and Korea, however, a small circle of specialists began studying the religion seriously. Six Buddhist schools arose during the Nara period, but none became a major movement. Three became extinct, while three have survived to the present with only a small number of adherents. The largest of these, the Hossō school, aimed at discovering the ultimate reality of cosmic existence through the investigation of the specific nature of all existence and a mystical apprehension of the nature of the soul. The second, the Kegon Sect, sought communion with the Buddha (who embodies the cosmic soul) and, through him, communion with all beings. The third, the Ritsu school, emphasized monastic discipline and the mystical concepts embodied in the mysteries of the initiation ceremonies.

Some Buddhist priests were not content merely to engage in scholastic or mystical activities but sought to spread the word among the people and to do good works by building roads and bridges into previously inaccessible areas. The most notable of these missionaries was a monk named Gyōki (668–749), who was first condemned as a rabble-rouser and preacher of false doctrines but was later honored as a high priest.

The native religious cults retained the following of the masses, but increasingly they began to pale next to Buddhism because they had no priestly caste, no elaborate moral code, and no heaven or hell. Neither could they match the glitter and glamor of the Buddhist artifacts and rituals. Moreover, the wealth and profundity of Buddhist teachings greatly overshadowed the native cults. As a result, even at this early stage attempts were made by what eventually became known as the Shintōists to reconcile their traditional beliefs with Buddhist concepts so as to enhance the nativist spiritual and intellectual standing. This kind of syncretism did not take concrete form until the following centuries, however. Like the Chinese, the Japanese did not demand exclusive loyalty to any one religion; a person could worship at both a shrine and a Buddhist temple. Thus, the indigenous cults and Buddhism coexisted peacefully.

Perhaps an even more significant cultural development of this period was the emergence of a native written literature. At the beginning of the eighth century, the mythologies and legends concerning the founding of Japan, which had been transmitted orally down through the ages, were transcribed in the Kojiki and Nihongi.27 Both works were patterned after Chinese chronicles and contain a number of stories that are not part of the indigenous tradition.

The compilation of these histories was started in the 670s as a project to revise and expand two earlier accounts, one a genealogical record of the imperial family and the other a collection of old tales. These two histories, it is conjectured, were written in the sixth century, but neither has survived. Their existence is known only

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because they are mentioned in the Kojiki. It is believed that, in addition to oral tradition and the two earlier works, the Nihongi and the Kojiki28 were based on Chinese and Korean sources. Accounts of political events prior to the sixth century are considered to be unreliable because the historical record was commissioned by Emperor Temmu (who reigned from 673 to 686) to justify and glorify his dynastic lineage. The truism that “history is written by the victor” applies here. Political rivals such as the Soga family are depicted negatively. The official accounts formulated in Temmu’s reign were incorporated in the Kojiki and Nihongi. The Kojiki consists primarily of mythological and legendary tales and contains very little that might be regarded as historical. The Nihongi, however, focuses more on history proper, and its coverage extends to CE 697. As noted above, its accounts of earlier years are questionable, but accounts from about the sixth century are considered to be fairly accurate, although they are still embellished with materials taken from Chinese and Korean, especially Paekche, sources.

Although they are not entirely reliable as historical documents, as records of myths and legends of early Japan, the Kojiki and Nihongi are significant. For one thing, they aided in establishing the tradition that claimed a divine origin for the imperial family. Partly because of the sanctity and authority conferred upon it by these accounts, the imperial family was able to maintain its special status above the rest of the society. These records became authoritative “scriptures” in the modern age when the ultranationalists turned to them to prove the uniqueness of the Japanese national polity.

The Kojiki and Nihongi symbolized the growing sense of ethnocentrism that is discernible in the seventh century. Japan is viewed in these accounts as a unique land. In fact, it was depicted as being at the center of the universe, and the ancestral god of Japan, the Sun Goddess, was seen as the ruler of the entire world. From around the middle of the seventh century, the term Nihon, “the place where the sun rises,” came to identify Japan. Much of the cultural activity of this era sprang from the Japanese desire to rise to the level of China.

Another significant literary accomplishment of this period was the compilation of the Man’yōshū, a collection of more than four thousand long and short poems from the earliest period—although the majority of the poems anthologized had been composed after the fifth century—to about 760. The collection is invaluable not only for its intrinsic literary merit but because it reflects the moral and intellectual outlook of early Japan. It is noteworthy that it includes poems composed not just by emperors and court nobles but also by nameless plebeians. Korean influence is also present in the anthology. One of the three main poets of the Man’yōshū, Yamanoe Okura, it is now believed, was a Korean immigrant to Japan.29

Motoori Norinaga, an eighteenth-century authority on the subject, indicated that the outlook that prevails throughout the Man’yōshū is one of spontaneous,

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unadorned expression of natural human sentiments—even excessive sentimentality. The Confucian ideals of order, control, and restraint had not yet begun to mold the attitudes of the Japanese. The anthology consists of poems about nature, the landscape, the four seasons, flowers, birds, moonlight, the sorrows and joys of life, and, above all, love. The belief that a man must not lay bare such “unmanly” sentiments as love for the opposite sex, particularly his spouse, had not yet become embedded in the Japanese mind, whereas, by the Tokugawa period, love of wife and children came to be condemned as self-indulgence.

What appear to be Buddhist and Confucian ideas are discernible here and there in the Man’yōshū. For example, poems seem to reflect the Buddhist view of the ephemeral nature of life. There are frequent expressions of loyalty to the emperor and admonitions that faithful service to him was essential for the preservation of the honor of the family and clan.

The Spartan attitude of the warriors of later years had not come to the fore as yet. A warrior taking leave of his family at the command of his sovereign departs with a heavy heart; nostalgia and longing for loved ones are expressed unashamedly. Indeed, traditionalists claim that the Man’yōshū embodies the Japanese outlook before Japan was strongly affected by Chinese culture. The influence of Chinese poetry and literature could not be kept out of the literary realm for long, however. In the newly established college and in the provincial schools, the Chinese classics formed the core of the curriculum. The educated soon became well versed in Chinese poetry and literature, and they came to admire and emulate the works of such great Tang poets as Li Bo and Du Fu.

In addition to utilizing Confucian concepts to buttress their political authority, the ruling authorities sought to instill in the people other aspects of Confucian thought. For instance, in 757 the emperor advised every family to keep a copy of the Xiao Jing (Hsiao Ching, a Confucian discourse on filial piety) and learn its contents. The Xiao Jing taught that filial piety forms the foundation of all virtues and that all other teachings must be based upon it.

In other cultural developments, musical instruments, including a variety of wind, percussion, and string instruments, as well as dances, including those in the Indian style, came from the continent.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

In the economic realm, too, the influence of the continent pervaded. Improvements in agricultural tools and cultivation played an enormous part in the development of Japanese society. The first instances of rice agriculture had come from various Asian areas in the second through the third centuries. The short rice hybrid had triumphed over the long grain variety, perhaps because it seemed to be better

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adapted to Kyushu and southern Honshu weather patterns. At first the “natural rainfall” method of planting was practiced. That is, although the rice was grown in flooded fields (hence the name “wet rice”), farmers did little more than build raised-earth ridges around the field to contain the water. Seeds were sown using the broadcast method, and the plants grew pretty much as they had germinated. Farmers weeded the fields and tried to shoo away birds and perhaps remove some insects, but they did little else until the grains were ripe enough to harvest. Then they used their primitive tools to cut the grain-bearing heads, leaving the long rice stalks in the field. The grain was stored in sheathes until needed; often standard-sized sheathes were used as money.

With the advent of Korean tools, particularly iron knives, iron-tipped sickles, shovels, and plows, the Japanese were better able to dig deeper and to more readily move earth. At some point they began to dig ditches, weirs, sluices, and other irrigation systems with these tools. No doubt the Koreans who brought these technological advances instructed the Japanese in their use. But they also began to teach other innovations such as the transplantation method. In this method, the available land was divided into equal quarters, and one section was flooded by irrigation before the spring monsoon rains arrived. The quarter-field was used as a seedbed and allowed to grow for a few weeks. In the meantime, the other three- quarters of the area was plowed, fertilized (see more below), and otherwise prepared for the rains. When those fields were flooded by the “plum rains,” the seedbed shoots were uprooted, their roots washed and then laboriously transplanted individually into the waiting flooded fields.

Transplantation is a counterintuitive innovation. At that point the seedlings have absolutely no nutritive value for humans. They are little better than green grass. But when transplanted in precise rank-and-file rows (about three inches apart) their roots have the maximum space to grow. The seedlings grow faster and stronger, and they produce twice to three times as much as plants that grow in a haphazard manner. Also, apparently the Koreans showed that by cutting the rice stalk closer to the ground (with long-handled iron-tipped scythes), the stalks could more easily be used to flail the grains and thereby begin the winnowing, polishing, and storage phase of harvest. Koreans later brought harrow teeth and chain-linked flails (nun- chucks) that would do this task even better.

The Japanese also began to import buffalo draft animals to plow the fields and to transport materials. Curiously, they were not commonly ridden as transportation and for centuries were not used to pull wheeled carts; perhaps because the Koreans did not teach them such innovations. Later, two-wheeled oxen carts became the transportation of the imperial court. The Japanese did, however, begin to employ the harvested rice stalks as fodder for these animals, along with grasses and other plants that grew in the forests or other upland dry fields. They began to mix cattle droppings into their fertilizer. Because they had to tether the animals to keep them

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from foraging in the rice fields, it was easier to collect the droppings. This brings us to a need for a clarification of fertilizer. In the old swidden

(slash-and-burn) agriculture method, farmers slashed vegetation on hillsides and then burned off areas after the slashed vegetation had dried out. They then planted in those cleared fields. The ash served as a natural fertilizer for a few seasons. When the land lost fertility after a couple of years of growing the same crop, the farmer moved on to another area and repeated the process. The played-out field was allowed to lie fallow for a few years, and then the swidden process started again.

Obviously that works for upland “dry” fields that depend on natural rainfall. It does not work as well for lowland wet-rice fields. Farmers found it necessary to artificially fertilize these fields. “Green” fertilizer that was collected as natural vegetation detritus on forest floors or swamps was tossed into collection pits to be mixed with human feces and other trash and fireplace ash that was allowed to rot or compost. Often, the rice stalks were tossed into the pit as well or plowed under when preparing the ground for the next planting. With the new animal droppings, the compost pit was obviously much enriched. Because the new transplanting system created neat rows of plants, the farmer could now ladle diluted fertilizer (the pure fertilizer was too strong and would burn the plant) directly on the plant, thereby maximizing the benefits.

Other dry-field plants were introduced to Japan from the Asian continent as well. Various strains of wheat, barley, millet, sorghum, and other “lesser grains” could be grown in upland dry fields without the intensive labor required of wet- rice cultivation. These grains were not as productive as rice, which is an inordinately “cost-effective” crop: three to four times as much rice is produced for each seed in comparison to the other crops. The carbohydrate return on rice is much higher than these others as well.30

Naturally, these new plants and tools benefited the Japanese enormously. Nutrition improved tremendously, and, as one would expect, the population increased dramatically. But the spread of disease from Korea and China in many ways undercut the benefits of this agricultural revolution. Scholars have concluded that epidemics swept through Japan like wildfires, sometimes killing thousands. William Wayne Farris suggests that these epidemics hit Japan in waves about thirty years apart. Smallpox, in particular, killed the very old and the very young. Then thirty years after it had died out, another wave hit the new generation that had not acquired a natural immunity.31

Medical knowledge and drugs also came from China during this period, and the long tradition of Chinese medicine in Japan was founded. This included the use of not only herbs but also acupuncture (treatment by needles) and moxacautery (cauterizing with moxa leaves). But medicine in this age, of course, was powerless

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in face of the periodic epidemics that broke out. The smallpox epidemic of 735– 737 killed 25–35 percent of the population.32 Population figures are notoriously inaccurate,33 but most historians now agree that the population of the Jōmon era was about 120,000. By the end of the Yayoi, because of the introduction of wet-rice and better agricultural methods and tools, it had burgeoned to about 2 million. By the Taika-Taihō era, it had increased to about 5–6 million. But by 950 CE it had declined to 4.5–5.5 million.34 In addition to the epidemics, some scholars include the environmental degradation caused by two centuries of heavy timber use as contributing significantly to this decline.35 We will revisit this demographic topic when we reach the medieval era.

From the middle of the seventh century, copper, gold, and silver mines came to be exploited more extensively in Japan. Prior to this, most of the minerals used in Japan were imported from Korea. The Ritsuryō Reforms instituted an elaborate hard road system throughout the country. Governors were required to create horse stations along the official roads. As a result, commerce expanded, and markets began to spring up in the major cities. In 708 the government minted its own coins, but a money economy did not develop to any significant extent right away. Rice and fabrics remained the chief mediums of exchange during the Nara period.36

Trade between Japan and the Asian continent remained vital during the era, especially for the import of new technologies. Domestically, most of Japan was a rural, self-sufficient, agricultural economy. Goods were bartered in the provinces, but the tribute tax payments contributed to the development of an important market in Nara and later in Heian-kyō. Lower-ranking bureaucrats traded surplus goods in the capital, at first as barter exchange, but later copper coins from China began to become the medium of exchange. We will deal with the economy again when we approach the late medieval era.

Few people traveled in those days, but those who did could depend on good, sound roads. The governors’ corvée peasants kept the roads in good repair and maintained horses that could be used by official couriers. Naturally, other travelers used these roads as well, though they had to pay for any help that they required. A few monks on pilgrimages, itinerant entertainers, and merchants took advantage of this innovation. In the Heian era, the government maintained six official roads (with scores of local off-shoots). In 836 a government report stated that a total of 402 horse post stations were maintained, staffed with 3500 horses for the use of official couriers and traveling bureaucrats. The horse relay system was remarkably effective. Messengers could travel the eight hundred kilometers (almost five hundred miles) between Dazaifu in Kyushu to Heian-kyō in about eleven days. The same trip with pack horses typically took twenty-seven days.37

The smallest administrative unit introduced under the Taika Reforms was the township or village, consisting of fifty households. The size of the households

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varied, but usually they consisted of several small or nuclear families within an extended family. The census records show that one household in central Honshu had 96 members, 59 of whom were slaves. Another in northern Kyushu included 126 members, 37 of whom were slaves.

Although slaves had existed in earlier days, the Taihō Code mentions them as senmin (base people, which included other semi-indentured people) and distinguished them from free people (ryōmin, or good people). Slaves could be bought and sold, but masters did not have judicial authority over them; slaves who committed a crime were tried by the magistrates. They were expected to work around the house and in the fields and also to perform corvée in place of their masters. It is believed that they were not treated too harshly, and their lot was more or less akin to that of household servants of later ages.

Although the Taika reformers adopted the patriarchal concepts of China, in reality it appears that women continued to enjoy a status equal to that of men. Wives had property rights, and women were given court ranks independent of their male relatives. Family life still centered on the mother. In most instances husband and wife lived apart, and the latter kept and raised the children, but the practice of patriarchal control of children was becoming more prevalent in the late seventh century.

Polygamy was still common among the upper class. The emperor had a number of wives, and the Taihō Code made provisions for the emperor to have nine concubines. There were also more than two hundred female attendants serving at the court. Empresses were usually chosen from the emperor’s immediate family circle, so close consanguineous marriages frequently took place. The first wife was usually chosen by his parents with political considerations in mind. Otherwise the young people were allowed to choose to marry.

By the Nara period, the aristocracy lived in houses with wooden floors and wooden or tile roofs. The common people, however, still lived in hovels with dirt floors, thatched roofs, and only primitive household furnishings. They usually went about barefoot, while members of the upper class wore wooden shoes or clogs, which were in use as early as the Yayoi period. Meals were taken only twice a day. Although Buddhism forbade the killing of living creatures and the eating of meat, the proscription was ignored by most of the people, and meat and fish were consumed. But meat was simply too expensive for most people. Animals were not raised for their flesh. Chinese foodstuffs like noodles were introduced and soon became a staple food. Buddhism also introduced the practice of cremating the dead.

MARRIAGE AND GENDER RELATIONS

Historian Hitomi Tonomura has characterized Japanese marriage practices of a

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later medieval period as “a social process without a name.” Indeed, there was no noun form for the institution in the language. “It was a practice free of governmental dictates, or legal definitions and standards . . . the boundary of ‘marriage’ was negotiated.”38

In the imperial court, young men came to the capital to make their careers, but wives stayed in their natal home. The young man’s in-laws provided financial backing as long as he represented their interests at court. Inheritance descended through the matriline, children being raised in their mother’s natal home. As we shall see, when the court became increasingly more patriarchal with the adoption of Chinese socio-political systems, men began to demand their own (neolocal) homes in the capital, but these were still to be financed by his in-laws.39

Polygamy by both genders was common in the early period, but as time went on, only males were still able to take on “other” wives. Some rich women were able to carry on extramarital affairs, but society began to frown on women taking on “other” husbands. Matrilocal marriages continued on into the medieval period (after the eleventh century), and even in that male-dominated era women still were able to own property and pass on and accept inheritances in their own names.

Because women had long been the shamanic mediums between humans and the spirit worlds, they continued to wield considerable magico-religious power. Within the indigenous (Shintō) cults, they were the herbalist-healers, the exorcists, and oracles. With the advent of Buddhism, many shamanic women infiltrated that world as well. In the early years many of the Buddhist sects accepted nuns, and very often these women served important roles between the common folk and the Buddhist establishment. Many female shamans joined the ascetic yamabushi (literally “those who live in the mountains”) mystics in the hinterlands, performing healing rituals and exorcisms.

Given Japan’s early history of female emperors (about a half-dozen in addition to Himiko and Iyo) and shamans, and matrilocal and matrilineal practices, it is not surprising that the status of women was quite high prior to the late eleventh century. Women continued to own property and attain high rank and social position; they inherited apart from their husbands and continued to dispose of their own property even after divorce and the death of husbands and sons. Some women were even allowed to hold imperial and, later, even some warrior offices; most often hiring male relatives to serve as temporary surrogates. The institution of mukō by which one “adopts” a son-in-law in the absence of a male heir continues even into the modern period. Women could even “adopt” a daughter (usually a niece or other female relative), marry her to a young man and then “adopt” him as her mukō heir!

It was not until the late thirteenth century that women would be dispossessed of their roles and privileges in the medieval era. Historian Wakita Haruko notes, “The Nara and Heian periods may be seen as a transition stage in the development of

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marriage, with a gradual shift from the wife-visiting to the adopting-a-son-in-law to the taking a wife form of marriage.”40

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FOES

From the latter part of the seventh century, Japan followed a defensive policy in its relations with Korea, in contrast to the country’s earlier attempts to extend its political influence into the peninsula. Korea was now under the control of China and Silla, Japan’s traditional foe, a potentially dangerous situation for Japan. Fearing a possible invasion from the peninsula, the Japanese rulers began to fortify northern Kyushu and southeastern Honshu. Indeed, many scholars suggest that the rival uji heads allowed the Yamato a kind of first-among-equals status (which the Yamato parlayed into real political control) in these times of foreign threats.41

A military defense command was established at Dazaifu in Kyushu. The threat from Korea persisted even after Silla drove the Tang forces out of the peninsula only a few years after they had joined forces to conquer Paekche and Koguryo. The Japanese maintained their fortifications in good repair and kept a close watch on political developments in Korea.

Toward the latter part of the eighth and beginning of the ninth centuries, the relationship between Japan and Silla became tense when the latter sent vessels to raid the Japanese coastal regions. In 894 Silla attempted to invade the island of Tsushima but failed. The potential threat of Silla contributed to the consolidation of the martial tradition by compelling the Japanese to maintain military vigilance for nearly four centuries following Silla’s destruction of the Japanese outpost in Mimana in 562.

Internal forces—hostile domestic tribes—also kept the imperial government preoccupied with military preparedness. The tribes of Kumaso and Hayato in Kyushu and the Ezo in the north resisted the imperial forces for centuries. The racial origins of the Kumaso and Hayato are not known, but from the early years of the Yamato state the imperial government was compelled to send its warriors against them. The Kumaso tribe disappeared from historical accounts early, but it was not until the beginning of the eighth century that the Hayato were brought under control. By the middle of the seventh century, the Ezo were driven out of the Kantō region and were pushed into northeastern Honshu.42 They continued to defy the imperial government, however, which found it necessary to send expeditionary forces against them periodically. Advance outposts were established in the north, and constant vigilance was maintained. The general in charge of the expeditionary troops was given the title seiitaishōgun, generalissimo in charge of subduing the barbarians. (After the late twelfth century, this office was used as a stepping stone to exercise military control over the entire land.) In the early eighth century, the

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northern region was brought more or less under the imperial government’s control, although a major campaign had to be launched against the Ezo again at the end of the century. Like Silla, these domestic opponents of imperial authority can be viewed as having contributed to the strengthening of military tradition early in Japanese history.

NOTES 1. See Joan R. Piggott, The Emergence of Japanese Kingship (Stanford: Stanford

University Press, 1997), esp. 125–129. See also Cornelius J. Kiley, “State and Dynasty in Archaic Yamato,” Journal of Asian Studies 33, no. 1 (November 1973): 25–49.

2. Melvin C. Aikens, “Origins of the Japanese People,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 64.

3. Piggott, Emergence, 56–57. 4. David Pollack, “The Informing Image: ‘China’ in Genji Monogatari,” Monumenta

Nipponica 38, no. 4 (Winter 1983): 361. 5. W. G. Aston, trans., Nihongi (New York: Paragon, 1956), part 2, 66. 6. We consciously use the Freudian term interchangeably with the term “self.” 7. Piggott, Emergence, 139. 8. Prince Shōtoku’s authorship of the constitution as well as the other reforms ascribed

to him has been questioned in recent years. Some historians credit the Soga family with these reforms. Kim Sok-hyong and Matsumoto Seichō, “Kodaishi no Naka no Chosen to Nihon” [Korea and Japan in ancient history], Chūō Kōron (December 1972): 285.

9. For the Seventeen Articles, see Aston, Nihongi, part 2, 129–133. 10. The Legalists, opponents of Confucianism, believed that moral precepts were

useless in governing the people. Rigorous enforcement of the law was the method they favored.

11. The four generated beings are beings “born from eggs, from a womb, moisturebred, or formed by metamorphosis (as butterflies from caterpillars).” Aston, Nihongi, part 2, 129.

12. There is considerable controversy about the use of the word “emperor” in Japan, particularly before there was an “empire” per se. Joan Piggott makes a good case for the use of “heavenly sovereign,” the literal translation of the common term tennō. See Piggott, Emergence, 127 and 144. For purposes of consistency, however, the term used herein will be “emperor,” simply because it is less confusing for students who encounter that term in most other English-language sources.

13. Era names in China designated periods with auspicious names to emphasize change from one imperial calendar age to another. The system called nengō in Japan was one of the innovations introduced by the reformers.

14. Aston, Nihongi, part 2, 197–198. 15. Joan R. Piggott, “The Last Classical Female Sovereign: Kōken-Shōtoku Tennō,” in

Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, ed. Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 47–74, esp. 65.

16. Estimates of the size of the population and number of slaves during this time vary. Earlier estimates held that the overall population numbered between 3 and 3.5 million, with

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slaves constituting about 5 percent of this figure. More recently it has been estimated that the population was about 6 million, with the slave population running as high as 10 or 15 percent.

17. Aston, Nihongi, part 2, 357. 18. See Ron Toby, “Why Leave Nara? Kammu and the Transfer of the Capital,”

Monumenta Nipponica 40, no. 3 (Autumn 1985): 331–347. 19. Ironically, the emperor Shomu briefly moved the capital from Nara to Kuni, then to

Shigaraki, and then back to Nara in 745. Ross Bender, “Emperor, Aristocracy, and the Ritsuryō State: Court and Politics in Nara,” in Friday, Japan Emerging, 113–114.

20. Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall; New York: Abrams, 1964), 146.

21. In art history the period roughly from the middle of the sixth to the middle of the seventh century is known as the Asuka period, and the eighth century is called the Tempyō period.

22. Scholars suggest that the building of Chinese-style pagoda supplanted the ancient tombs (Kofun) as symbols of imperial power.

23. Conrad Totman, Green Archipelago: Forestry in Pre-Industrial Japan (Ecology & History) (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 78–79.

24. Piggott, Emergence, 266–267. 25. Totman, Green Archipelago, 3. 26. Lee, Far Eastern Art, 274. 27. The Nihongi is also known as Nihon-shoki. 28. The former was written in Chinese, the latter was written in an esoteric Sino-

Japanese orthography called Man’yo-kana. The Kojiki was never really clear until Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801, see below) deciphered it in the late eighteenth century.

29. See Roy Andrew Miller, “Plus Ça Change,” Journal of Asian Studies (August 1980): 776.

30. Much of the forgoing information is gleaned from Dana Morris, “Land and Society in Heian Japan,” in The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan, eds. Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 183–235, esp. 185–192.

31. William Wayne Farris, Population, Disease and Land in Early Japan, 645–900 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985), 53–58.

32. Ibid., 142. 33. William Wayne Farris is the acknowledged expert among English language

demographers, so we shall use his estimates. 34. Farris, Population, Disease and Land, 87. 35. The English language authority here is Conrad Totman. See his Green Archipelago. 36. See Ethan I. Segal’s concise article, “Awash in Coins: The Spread of Money in

Early Medieval Japan,” in Currents in Medieval Japanese History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey P. Mass, ed. Gordon M. Berger, Andrew Edmund Goble, Lorraine F. Harrington, and G. Cameron Hurst III (Los Angeles: Figueroa Press, 2009), 331–361. See also his monograph, Coins, Trade and the State: Economic Growth in Early Medieval Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011).

37. Carlotte von Verschuer, “Life of Commoners in the Provinces: The Owari no gebumi of 988,” in Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, ed. Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007), 305–328,

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esp. 306–307. 38. Hitomi Tonomura, “Black Hair and Red Trousers: Gendering the Flesh in Medieval

Japan,” American Historical Review 99, no. 1 (February 1994): 129–154. 39. See two studies on early marriage practices: Peter Nickerson, “The Meaning of

Matrilocality: Kinship, Property, and Politics in Mid-Heian,” Monumenta Nipponica 48, no. 4 (Winter 1993): 429–467; and Wakita Haruko and Suzanne Gay, “Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan from the Perspective of Women’s History,” Journal of Japanese Studies 10, no. 1 (Winter 1984): 73–99.

40. Wakita Haruko and Gay, “Marriage and Property,” 87. 41. For an interesting summary, see Zuikei Shuho and Charlotte von Verschuer,

“Japan’s Foreign Relations 600–1200 A.D.: A Translation from ‘Zenrin Kokuhōki,’” Monumenta Nipponica 54, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 1–39.

42. Historians formerly believed that the Ezo were the ancestors of the Ainu, but considerable doubt has been cast upon this theory. Most scholars suggest that the emishi, the Ainu, and even the people of the Ryukyus probably share Jōmonera ancestors.

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3

The Heian Period

THE AGE OF COURT ARISTOCRACY

Nara had served as the first “permanent” capital of Japan. Modeled on the Chinese capital of Xian, Nara served as the center of imperial power for less than a century. Massive Buddhist temples surrounded the palace, and before long the Buddhist establishment began to threaten the imperial institution itself. Because the imperial house routinely appointed abbots to these temples from among their own “cadets” (sons who would not inherit the imperial mantle), the temples and the palace were culturally, economically, and even politically intertwined.

The “Dōkyō controversy,” when a charismatic priest attempted to ascend to the throne during the reign of the Emperor Kōken (see above, Chapter 2), was only one incident of Buddhist interference in imperial politics.1

In 784 Emperor Kammu (737–806) decided to move the capital in order to escape the influence of the powerful monasteries in Nara. He first moved to Nagaoka, near Kyoto, but, believing the new capital to be plagued with the spirit of the dead, he moved once again in 794 to Heian-kyō (Kyoto), which remained the seat of the imperial court until 1868. Many scholars contend that Kammu wished to establish the capital closer to his political allies, who were mostly Korean immigrant technologists.2

The new capital was laid out in the same manner as Nara, that is, in a checkerboard pattern. It was built on a larger scale, however, extending about 3.5 miles from north to south and 2.5 miles from east to west. The imperial palace was located at the middle in the north, and from it an avenue 300 feet wide ran south.

The city of Kyoto was then known as Heian-kyō, so the period from 794 to the establishment of the military government in Kamakura in 1185 is labeled the Heian era. Several significant developments took place during this period, among them the deterioration of the institutions and practices established by the Taika Reforms, the decline of imperial authority, the ascendancy of the Fujiwara family, the rise of the court aristocracy and its culture, and, toward the end of the period, the emergence of tax-free manors and military supremacy in the provincial regions.

THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

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The administrative system established by the Taika Reforms changed its character when two new governmental organs were created at the beginning of the ninth century. They were the Kurōdo-dokoro (Bureau of Archivists) and the Kebiishi (police commissioners). The former served as the private secretariat of the emperor, assisting in the drafting of imperial rescripts and decrees, the latter as the judicial and police agency. As personal advisors to the emperor, officials in these offices came to wield more authority than the ministers in the Dajōkan. The Grand Council’s authority was weakened further as regents to the emperor emerged as powerful political figures in the latter part of the ninth century.

There were two types of regents, sesshō and kampaku. The sesshō served as regent during the minority of the emperor or during the reign of an empress. In 858 this post was occupied for the first time by a person not of royal blood, a member of the Fujiwara family who was a descendant of Nakatomi-no-Kamatari. The kampaku, whose post was first established in 884, governed on behalf of the emperor regardless of her age. By the end of the ninth century, political power was concentrated in the hands of the Fujiwara family, which had come to monopolize the regency. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, the office of the kampaku was made a regular organ of the government, and Fujiwara family members occupying the office ruled as virtual dictators. The emperors during this period devoted their time mainly to ceremonial and cultural activities.

The rise of the Fujiwara family to the position of supremacy was a slow process, effected by gaining control of key government posts, acquiring large tax- free estates, and intermarrying with the imperial family. The apex of Fujiwara power, wealth, and glory was reached during the regency of Michinaga (966– 1027), who dominated the court for thirty years.3 Two of his sisters were imperial consorts, and two of their offspring became emperors. Four of his daughters became imperial consorts, and two of his grandsons and one great-grandson mounted the throne.

In most instances during this period, the wife and children remained with her family, while the husband visited or came to live with them; as a result the maternal grandfather and uncles exerted great influence over the children. For this reason the Fujiwara wedded their daughters to emperors whenever possible. When a son was born out of such an arrangement, the emperor was persuaded to abdicate, and the young heir was placed on the throne, enabling the Fujiwara to exercise political authority on his behalf. The new emperor was apt to be provided with another Fujiwara girl as his consort, most likely his aunt or cousin. For example, the two emperors who were Michinaga’s grandsons were both wedded to his daughters. G. Cameron Hurst notes that “the emperor was as much a member of the Fujiwara regent’s house as he was of the Imperial house.”4

Of course, the Fujiwara were not the first to enjoy control over the imperial

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house. The Hata uji, a Korean service (be) community had married many of its daughters into the Yamato uji and thereby enjoyed unparalleled influence in the fourth and fifth centuries.5 Later, the Soga had done the same, controlling the Yamato through what may be called “uterine politics.”6 That is, by controlling every emperor through the maternal household, the young scions were controlled from the time they were in their mother’s uterus. When Nakatomi-no-Kamatari and his ally Naka-no-Ōe had done away with the Soga, the Fujiwara had captured the imperial family in a similar manner.

With all the power and wealth they desired at their disposal, the Fujiwara in Michinaga’s time wallowed in sumptuous luxury and extravagance while the common people lived in a state of abject poverty. It is noteworthy, however, that although the Fujiwara family dominated and virtually overshadowed the imperial family, it made no attempt to liquidate it and establish a dynasty of its own. Respect for the emperor was deeply embedded in the Japanese mind by this time, and the Fujiwara could exercise power only by utilizing the imperial family’s prestige. Certainly this respect was as much a matter of deep-seated taboos as it was for the imperial religious charisma. It should be noted that, despite this era of peace and alleged nonviolence, there were an astounding fifty-nine incidents of political assassinations during the era!7

As regents, members of the Fujiwara family conducted the affairs of government through their own house organs, staffed by majordomos and stewards who were also government officials. At first, the Fujiwara family sought to uphold the Taika land reform program and endeavored to discourage the growth of tax-free estates (shōen, see below). It kept its own holdings down to a minimum, also. As the acquisition of tax-free estates became prevalent, however, it too began to accept estates from donors as payment for immunity from government control and taxation. By the time of Michinaga’s regency, the Fujiwara family had accumulated huge holdings. Its power, however, was based not on landholding but on its marital ties with the occupants of the throne.

The domination of the imperial government by the Fujiwara was finally broken during the middle of the eleventh century, when the actual powers of government passed into the hands of the retired emperor, who controlled political affairs from behind the throne. The decline of the Fujiwara regency resulted partly from the fact that the paternal side of the family was growing in importance. Wives were beginning to leave their families to establish independent households with their husbands. The office of retired emperor (Insei) had in fact been created two centuries before but had gained no real political power until the mid-eleventh century. This practice was initiated by Emperor Shirakawa (1053–1129). When he came to the throne, there was no dominant figure among his Fujiwara relatives, so he was able to reassert the authority of the emperor. After his retirement, in order to

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curb the Fujiwara family, he continued to exercise political power as the guardian of his successor, who was only eight years old. This practice was continued in the succeeding years. After retirement the emperors usually entered a monastery, forsaking the secular world. Following Emperor Shirakawa, the retired emperors ran the government from the cloister, a practice later historians labeled “cloister government.” This situation did not end political intrigues at the court because the rivalry between the Fujiwara family and the imperial family was merely replaced by a power struggle between the emperor on the throne and the retired emperor in the cloister.

Emperor Shirakawa also brought the newly emerging regional military forces into the central political scene by using them as imperial guards as well as agents to subdue those who defied the imperial authority. This development not only evinced the declining power of the central government but also portended other changes.8 Indeed, the military forces brought into the capital by Shirakawa tended to stay and to enforce their own martial law over the emperor, the Insei, the nobility, and the temples. As we shall see, within three decades the military families came to dominate the political scene and gave only lip service to those people and institutions that had invited them into the capital.

The decline in the central government’s authority was caused by its neglect of provincial administration and its inability to prevent the emergence of tax-free estates, as well as by continuous power struggles and political intrigues. Moreover, political offices fell into the hands of incompetent, untrained, or immature officials. Important posts were treated as hereditary possessions of privileged families and in some instances came to be occupied by youngsters barely in their teens.

In the early eleventh-century novel The Tale of Genji, Prince Genji’s son is given a court rank at the age of twelve, but his father decides that he must be given “a good, solid fund of knowledge,” unlike sons of other members of the court aristocracy. Prince Genji notes that “a boy of good family moves ahead in rank and office and basks in the honor they bring. Why, he asks, should he trouble himself to learn anything? He has his fun, he has his music and other pleasures, and rank and position seem to come of their own accord.”9

CULTURE

The Heian culture was that of the court aristocracy, which manifested highly refined taste in art and literature and strongly developed customs and modes of behavior. This was an age when the court nobles (kuge) placed heavy emphasis on form, appearance, and decorum. There were prescribed rules for all aspects of life. An art historian described the period thus: “Here was artifice rather than art. . . . What most occupied the thoughts of those courtiers were ceremonies, costumes, elegant

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pastimes like verse-making, and even love-making conducted according to rules.”10

Composure was important at all times for a noble at the court, even if he were ill or inebriated. Laughing with one’s mouth wide open or wailing out loud were considered to be in poor taste. It was a highly self-conscious age. How one appeared in the eyes of others was the never-ending concern of the members of the court circle. This extreme sensitivity to appearance and form became so deeply implanted in the Japanese mind that it seems to have become a prominent feature of the Japanese character.

Heian society was also a highly snobbish and status-conscious world, in which pedigree and birth determined everything. For instance, it fixed individuals’ place in the table of ranks, which in turn determined their position in the government, emoluments, power, and proximity to the emperor. Common people were looked upon as insensible subhuman creatures and constantly referred to as “strange” and “grotesque.” Even nonplebeians of a lesser social status were held in contempt. Prince Genji’s son “winces” at having to mingle with his “shabby and uncouth” classmates. Sei Shōnagon, a renowned literary figure of this era, indicates her contempt for the common people in her masterpiece, The Pillow Book. Once when she was at a temple, she found that “a throng of commoners had settled themselves directly in front of me. . . . They looked like so many basket-worms as they crowded together in their hideous clothes, leaving hardly an inch of space between themselves and me. I really felt like pushing them all over sideways.”11 The aristocrats in the capital were also very contemptuous of the country “rustics.” Characters in The Tale of Genji constantly refer to the provincial regions as “uncivilized,” “barbarous,” “wretched” places.

The Japanese language is characterized by the many different levels of politeness that can be expressed by the proper use of polite and honorific terms. By the Heian period this practice too had become firmly established. Referring to things that were hateful to her, Sei Shōnagon remarked, “It is particularly unpleasant to hear some foolish man or woman omit the proper marks of respect when addressing a person of quality; and, when servants fail to use honorific forms of speech in referring to their masters, it is very bad indeed.”12

During the height of Fujiwara dominion, extravagant luxury, ostentatious display, and decadent sensuality prevailed at the court. Showy splendor characterized the costumes, buildings, furnishings, ceremonies, festivals, and processions. The comforts and pleasures of this world were pursued assiduously even in religious life.

The Heian court circle was also a society with highly polished aesthetic taste. Prince Genji shows a keen sensitivity to beauty in nature. At one point he says, “But aside from house and family, it is nature that gives me the most pleasure, the

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changes through the seasons, the blossoms and leaves of autumn and spring, the shifting patterns of the skies.”13

When love notes were passed back and forth among the lovers in The Tale of Genji, the touchstones for worthiness were beautiful handwriting and refinement of poetic expression. A girl composing a reply to a missive she received from Prince Genji is timid, sure that any answer from her would seem hopelessly countrified. She chooses richly perfumed Chinese paper and wrote only this, in a faint, delicate hand, “You speak of lines and rushes—and by what line. / Has this poor rush taken root in this sad world?” The hand is immature, but it shows “character and breeding.” Genji is more confident about having her move in to his mansion as his mistress.14

The court aristocrats’ aesthetic taste was also reflected in their acute sensitivity to color and concern about combining proper colors in their dress. They regarded slight errors in matching colors as an embarrassing lapse in taste.

Heian society was also governed by what we may regard as superstitions. In a testament left by a tenth-century member of the Fujiwara family, the daily routine for a young nobleman was prescribed. Upon awakening he was to recite seven times in a low voice the name of the star under whose sway he was. Then he was to cleanse his teeth with a toothpick, wash his hands, turn west and invoke the name of Buddha and also pray to his tutelary kami. After recording the events of the previous day in his diary, he was to eat some gruel and comb his hair. Being a male it was necessary to use the comb only once in three days. Then he was to trim his fingernails on the day of the ox and his toenails on the day of the tiger. Also choosing the proper day, he was to bathe once in five days. He was to avoid bathing on the first of the month because this would lead to an early death. If he were to bathe on the eighth day, he would live longer; if he bathed on the eighteenth, he would be victimized by a thief; if he did so on the day of the horse, he would lose love and respect; and on the day of the boar, he would be dishonored.

These notions were based upon the Chinese concept of yin and yang and the five elements. All things in the universe were believed to be governed by two natural binary opposites: yang (male, positive, light, aggressive force) and yin (female, negative, dark, passive force) and by the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. For purposes of divination a sexagenary cycle—consisting of the twelve signs of the zodiac (rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar) and the ten celestial stems (each of the five elements was divided into two parts, the elder and the younger)—was used. By consulting this, experts could comprehend the forces that affected all human life and discover which days would be auspicious and inauspicious. These beliefs, intermixed with magical aspects of Buddhism and traditional beliefs in magic, sorcery, and evil spirits, gave the society a strong superstitious sense. Diviners played an important

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role. The court employed experts on the stars, the calendar, and the science of yin and yang. The populace at large relied heavily on fortune-tellers, geomancers, and exorcists to help them select lucky days and avoid unlucky ones, observe the proper taboos, and exorcise the evil spirits. These beliefs and practices persist into the modern era.15

In the Heian period Japanese culture came into its own. To be sure, Chinese influence was still very pronounced in all areas of Heian culture. The Tale of Genji, which is hailed as the outstanding testimony to Japan’s coming of age in the literary sphere, is honeycombed with allusions and references to Chinese poetry, literature, and history. But once we recognized the profound debt that Nara and Heian Japan owed to Chinese civilization, it would then not be a distortion to assert that in the Heian period, having assimilated and adapted what they had imported from China, the Japanese began to develop an art and literature uniquely their own.

Up to the ninth century, the Japanese consciously imported the products of Chinese culture. Students and monks were sent to China to study, and Japan sought to emulate Tang art, poetry, customs, patterns of behavior, and institutions. Toward the end of the ninth century, however, the long-standing practice of sending cultural missions to China was discontinued because of the internal difficulties confronting the Tang government just prior to its downfall.

The powerful Buddhist temples in Nara and Heian continued to send acolytes to China to study the religion. Several monks stayed there for a decade or more, returning to Japan with copies of the holy writings (sutras) and with new cultural innovations such as celadon pottery, tea, medicines, art, music, and the like. Several of the monks were allowed to establish their own temples, and in that way the continental cultural and religious influences continued to affect Japan.

A conscious effort was made to free Japan from the excessive dependence on Tang China, especially in literature, where the most significant developments had occurred. Although great emphasis was placed on the art of composing Chinese poetry during the early part of the Heian era, the composition of waka, a Japanese- style poem of thirty-one syllables, also gained in popularity at the Heian court. As early as the middle of the ninth century, Fujiwara-no-Yoshifusa (804–872), the first member of his family to hold the position of regent, wrote, “The poems that we are dedicating [to the emperor] are written in Japanese, and not a word of the land of Tang is used. There is a sacred and ancient saying that Japan is a land blessed by the muses. It is the custom of this country to compose elegant poems in Japanese when the subject matters are the gods and the imperial family.”16 At the beginning of the tenth century, Ki-no-Tsurayuki and three other poets compiled an anthology of waka called Kokinshū (Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems). It included eleven hundred poems from the time of the Man’yōshū. In its preface Ki-no-

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Tsurayuki wrote, “The poetry of Japan has its roots in the human heart and flourishes in the countless leaves of words.”17

Japanese Syllabary Chart

The Kana Syllabary System: Top figure in each box is Hiragana; middle figure is Katagana; bottom syllable is sound of the two figures above it.

The development of native literature was facilitated by the invention of two phonetic Japanese writing systems (kana) derived from the Chinese ideographs. It is not known exactly when the two systems were invented, but they were in use by the end of the ninth century. The phonetic alphabet known as hiragana (the “rounded” script), which is more cursive in form than the more formal katakana (“square” script), became the vehicle for literary expression of the Heian court ladies. The ladies in attendance to the imperial consorts were usually selected for their intelligence. Consequently, many displayed great interest in literature; in fact, they were largely responsible for the golden age of Japanese literature that flourished in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. The literary masterpieces they produced not only became classics in Japanese literature, but at least one, The Tale of Genji, came to be included among the great works of world literature. It is arguably the world’s first full-fledged novel.

The Tale of Genji was the creation of Murasaki Shikibu (978–1016?), a lady- in-waiting to Empress Akiko, one of Fujiwara-no-Michinaga’s daughters. At one point in the novel, the author has Prince Genji explain why a novelist feels compelled to write. Comparing historical chronicles and novels, he notes that there are “things in life that one never tires of seeing and hearing about” but many others

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that “one cannot bear not to tell of.”18 The story that Lady Murasaki recorded was set in the court life of her era and

centered on the love life of the central character, Prince Genji, and on other members of his family circle. The picture that Lady Murasaki paints has a decidedly feminine point of view. The novel focuses on the thoughts and feelings of the various characters as they brood and fret about their relationships with members of the opposite sex. The author is not concerned about the physical relations between the various couples. What interests her is the emotional and psychological interplay.

Why, one may ask, has this work come to be ranked as a world masterpiece? It is certainly neither intricacy of plot nor profoundness of theme that has sustained the interest of the Japanese readers for nearly a thousand years. What accounts for this is the author’s graceful poetic style, her realistic description of scenes and events, her profound understanding of human nature, her sensitive treatment of subtle psychological moods, her ability to create delicate nuances and atmospheres. Above all, it is the overall aesthetic effect that has drawn the Japanese reader to the novel down through the ages. Although it is one of the world’s longest novels, the poetic effect is sustained throughout the work, and the Japanese approach it as a work of poetry rather than prose.

If one were to select the one mood that permeates the entire novel, it might be what Motoori Norinaga characterizes as the sense of mono-no-aware, or pathos. A melancholy sense of futility and despair occurs again and again, and a Buddhist awareness of the impermanence of all things suffuses the entire work. “Nothing in this world is permanent,” Genji says. “Life is uncertain for all of us.”19

Lady Murasaki displays a wealth of knowledge about Chinese literature in her constant allusions to Chinese literary and historical figures and events. Women, Lady Murasaki realized, were viewed as inferior creatures in her age. Genji muses, “The conclusion was inescapable. Women were creatures of sin. He wanted to be done with them.” A royal personage remarks, “I have heard . . . that women are shallow, careless creatures who are not always treated with complete respect.”20 Little wonder, then, that the Chinese deep sense of misogyny finally pervaded Japanese sensibilities.

In painting, as well, a distinctive Japanese style, known as Yamato-e, emerged toward the end of the Heian era. Although initially Yamato-e dealt with Buddhist subjects, it began increasingly to depict secular scenes and tales based on the everyday lives of the Japanese. The objects depicted in this style are outlined with thin lines and filled in with bright colors. Sliding-door panels and screens were painted in the new style, but the most noteworthy medium where Yamato-e found expression was in the horizontal narrative-picture scrolls called e-makimono.

Among the most famous e-makimono is an illustration in The Tale of Genji. It is

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not as strictly narrative as the scrolls that appeared in the next era, the Kamakura period. Each scene is followed by a text and can be regarded as a separate framed picture; their function is more decorative than narrative. Concerning the style of The Tale of Genji, one authority writes, “This is not a bold splashing about, but a carefully calculated art of placement, of juxtaposition of color and texture, but particularly of placement.”21

There were also notable paintings of Buddhist deities during the Heian period. Among them are a number of renowned paintings of the Fudō, a manifestation of the cosmic Buddha Vairocana. He is depicted as a deity with fangs, fierce protruding eyes, thick eyebrows, and a powerful, muscular body. He holds a sword and a rope in his hands to combat the forces of evil and is framed by a raging fire. There were also representations of more serene Buddhist deities such as the Fugen Bosatsu, the bodhisattva of wisdom and virtue, who is depicted as a graceful, elegant Heian beauty.

The art of calligraphy also flourished during this period, and a number of master calligraphers emerged. With the invention of the hiragana writing system, brush-writing in the cursive style became a highly polished and graceful art. The elegance of one’s style of handwriting was prized just as much as the content of the poem itself and considered a mark of learning and good breeding.

In the realm of architecture, too, a distinctly Japanese style began to appear in the construction of Buddhist temples in the early Heian era. The ground plans for the temples of this period were arranged in irregular, asymmetrical patterns of placement to fit the lay of the land. One of the best-known structures of this era is the Phoenix Hall of the Byōdōin, which was built around the middle of the eleventh century in Uji near Kyoto. The Phoenix Hall is situated beside a pond, and its reflection in the water enhances the beauty of the total image. It is so named because its design suggests the mythical phoenix descending to the ground. It represents the Buddhist paradise on earth. In accordance with the developing Japanese style, the whole structure is fitted into the natural setting, but the building itself resembles the buildings depicted in ninth- and tenth-century Buddhist wall paintings in Chinese caves. The Tang influence is also seen in the exact symmetry of the building, lavish decoration, and bright red and white colors of the temple. The Phoenix Hall was used as an imperial villa as well as a Buddhist temple.

A style of architecture known as shinden zukuri characterized the dwellings built by the Heian aristocrats. It emphasized simplicity and lightness of construction. The wooden floors were raised, and the roof consisted of unpainted bark or reed. The pillars were also unpainted, and the walls were made of plain removable panels. Large rooms were partitioned by paper-cover screens (fusuma). The entire house was girded by an exterior covered passageway. The exterior screens could be slid along grooved runners in the ceiling and floor to open the house to the outside. In the winter, these paper-covered fusuma could be replaced

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with sturdier wooden storm-window screens to keep out drafts, rain, and snow. These features foreshadowed the architectural style of the houses that emerged in later periods.

NARA-HEIAN BUDDHISM

During the Nara period, scholarship in Buddhist scriptures had been pursued by learned monks, but Buddhism did not extend its influence broadly among the masses. As we noted, there were monks such as Gyōki who went out among the people, initiating a variety of projects for their benefit. Most of the powerful monasteries of Nara, however, concentrated on strengthening their political and economic position and made little effort to reach the masses.

Besides moving the capital away from Nara partly to escape the political pressures of the monasteries, Emperor Kammu also encouraged the growth of new sects that might rival the older orders. These new Buddhist movements were headed by two energetic leaders, Saichō (767–822) and Kūkai (774–835), who is also known as Kōbō Daishi. Saichō went to China in 804 and came under the influence of T’ien Tai (Tendai) and Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism. After his return he founded the Tendai Sect in Japan. This sect based its teaching on the Lotus Sutra, which it contended was identical with the Living Buddha. The Nara sects had generally derived their doctrines from secondary sources instead of from the sutras. Saichō asserted the superiority of his doctrines as based on the actual words of Buddha. He upheld Mahayana Buddhism over Hinayana Buddhism and laid the foundation for its diffusion. He also broadened the basis of Buddhism in Japan by teaching that salvation was possible for all living creatures. All living things, he preached, are endowed with Buddha-nature. The way to salvation was moral perfection and contemplation. He was allowed to establish a Tendai monastery (Enryaku-ji) atop the mountain that overlooked Heian-kyō. It became not just the center of religious teaching but also, as we shall see, an economic and political powerhouse that held sway over the capital. It should be noted that monks commonly read widely and were at least conversant in all of the sutras. Whatever their association with any of the various sects, most monks read the principal sutras of the other sects as well.

Kūkai also went abroad to Tang China and studied there for three years. He came under the influence of esoteric Buddhism and, returning to Japan, founded the Shingon (True Word) Sect. The central deity in the Shingon Sect is the Dainichi Nyorai. He was called Maha-Vairocana (the Great Illuminator) and was regarded as the primordial Buddha from whom all other Buddhas—which included deities and demons, saints and goblins, from all religions—emanated. The Great Illuminator, Kūkai taught, is in all things in the universe. The body, speech, and

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thought of the Dainichi Nyorai constitute the life of the universe. The aim of the Shingon Sect was to evoke the vitality of the “three mysteries” in the body, speech, and thought of all people. In effect, each individual was to be divinely transubstantiated. To achieve this end, the rituals employed special chants, spells, motions, and symbols; especially important were the mystic formulas, the “true word.” When the mysterious powers of the Great Illuminator were evoked, salvation as well as mundane benefits could be realized. The Tendai Sect also employed certain esoteric practices. At the end of the Heian period, the excessive reliance on magical formulae contributed to the outbreak of dissident groups that rejected esoteric Buddhism, offering a “purer” way to salvation.

Kūkai is also known for his artistic, literary, and linguistic achievements. He was one of the three outstanding calligraphers of his age and is credited with having invented the kana syllabary, although the authenticity of this attribution is questionable.

Both Saichō and Kūkai, like their predecessors, considered the protection of Japan as one of the chief functions of Buddhism. Saichō indicated that his incantations, prayers, and sermons were intended to serve the interests of the nation. Kūkai, too, professed his interest in serving the nation and offered this as the reason for establishing his Shingon center (Kongōbu-ji) on Mt. Koya, south of the capital in 819.

Another aspect of this growing strain of national consciousness in Buddhism is seen in the attempt to reconcile Buddhism with the native religious cults. Some such attempts had been made earlier, but in the tenth century this movement, under the leadership of the Shingon Sect, became more pronounced, although it was not until later in the Heian period that it developed fully. This effort to syncretize Buddhism and the indigenous cults is known as Dual Shintō. Its advocates explained that all deities on earth were merely manifestations or emanations of the primordial Buddha. Thus, Shintō kami were not distinct and separate divinities but were merely emanations of the primordial Buddha under different names.

With these continental sects established near the capital, another round of misogyny was imported as well. When Buddhism arose in northern India in the fifth century BCE, it preached that there was no gender distinction, that the body was an illusion, and that any discrimination among people (and genders) was part of the emotional attachments that kept one from inner realization and “salvation” (satori) from the painful wheel of life. As Buddhism settled into China, however, it became polluted by the joint misogyny of Taoism (the yin-yang dichotomy) and Confucianism. From Taoism came the notion of blood pollution, which taught that women’s menstrual and parturition blood polluted nature and angered the divine spirits. Women sank into a kind of hell because of that pollution, and they could only attain satori by sloughing off their female body, that is, by dying and being reborn as men. The Chinese produced an infamous “blood pond sutra” (ketsu

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bonkyō, which did not originate in India) in which special taboos were created to keep women out of temples, lest they pollute the holy site.22

That “blood pollution” philosophy was imported to Japan and began to even further permeate and poison previous Chinese-influenced notions of women’s inferior status. Women were caught on the horns of a dilemma; Kato Mieko notes that women who were barren or died in childbirth usually went to hell. Yet women were who gave birth to sons received social distinction despite being defiled by parturition blood.23

Previously, many of the Japanese Buddhist sects allowed and encouraged women to join as nuns. As early as 574 at least three women were so ordained. Subsequently, these three women went off to China to study Buddhism and returned some years later to teach other Japanese women. Shōtoku Taishi, the imperial regent, invited the Chinese monk Ganjin to found a monastery (Tōshōdai-ji) on the outskirts of Nara where women could be trained and ordained as nuns in 759. When the monk Hōnen was allowed to establish Enryaku-ji, he encouraged women to train there as nuns as well.24 But, after the importation of the pollution taboos against women (nyōnin kinsei), women began to be excluded from monasteries. By the tenth century neither Tendai nor Shingon allowed women to join, and both mountain monasteries even forbade women on temple grounds. To this day, women are not allowed on Kongōbu-ji on Mt. Koya.25 In the medieval period a few temples quietly began to accept nuns. When the Hokkeiji temple (established in Nara in 745 but fell into ruin when the capital moved to Heian) complex was re- established in 1245, a separate dormitory was built for women.26

In spite of these new developments in Buddhism in the Heian era, the religion did not spread widely among the people until the end of this age, when the doctrine of the Pure Land Sect (Jōdo Shinshū) with its worship of Amida Buddha came into existence. However, one of the monks who went among the people to bring the blessings of Buddhism to them was Kūya (903–972), who traveled throughout the country constructing roads and bridges, repairing old temples, building wells, cremating corpses abandoned on the roadside, and reciting the name of Amida Buddha.

There is little doubt that Buddhism had begun to affect the thinking of the aristocracy in a significant manner. Buddhist concepts run through all the major literary works of this period. References to Buddha and Buddhist doctrines and practices occur repeatedly in The Tale of Genji, and the concept of karma is ever present in the minds of the central characters.

Buddhism, however, like everything else, was becoming increasingly formalistic during the Heian period. Appearance rather than true piety, form rather than substance, were stressed among the court aristocrats. The Buddhist temples and images were designed to appeal to the aesthetic taste of the observers rather

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than to their deep religious feelings. People often went to the temples for pleasure and entertainment rather than for devout religious worship. They were just as likely to pray for worldly success and ease as to pray for religious salvation. Indeed, both The Tale of Genji and the thirteenth-century Confessions of Lady Nijō demonstrate that pilgrimages and religious retreats became the locus of extramarital trysts, as the remote temples and shrines were far away from the prying eyes (and ears) in the palace apartments.

Salvation was to be achieved through mechanical means, such as the routine recitation of spells and magical formulae. The esoteric sects fortified this tendency. It was believed that quantity was more important than quality. The more one recited the formulae, the better one’s chances of salvation. Thus, people kept track by setting aside one bean each time they made an invocation. One person, it was said, accumulated 3,600,119,500 beans in thirty years. It was also believed that the more images of Buddha one dedicated, the better one’s chances of entering the Buddhist paradise. One retired emperor had one thousand images of Kannon made and housed them in a structure 384 feet long. Although this occurred in the thirteenth century, it typifies the spirit of Heian Buddhism.

Despite all its defects, the Heian period was a remarkable age. It was one of the few periods in Japanese history when a heavy emphasis was placed upon peaceful pursuits. Arts and letters were the primary preoccupation of the court aristocrats in Kyoto. At the beginning of the ninth century, symbolic of the lack of force and violence during this time, was the abolition of capital punishment for government officials. This policy remained in effect until the middle of the twelfth century, when the military men came to the fore. During the Heian period, political foes were sent into exile, not executed. The literature of this era seldom mentions bloodshed and violence. A man was admired for his literary and artistic talents, not for his military exploits.

But while the court aristocrats were pursuing aesthetic values and amorous pleasures, a revolution was brewing in the countryside, and a new age was about to emerge. The makers of the new era will be of an entirely different breed and temperament—less concerned with propriety and decorum, less sensitive to the refinements of arts and letters, less squeamish about spilling blood. They will be more ruthless, more brutal, more cold blooded. They will present the other face of Japan. The polite, gentle, and sentimental Japan will fade into the background for a time. The age of “sweetness and light” will be replaced by an age of “blood and iron.” The effeminate, placid age will be superseded by a more masculine, dynamic one.

THE RISE OF SHŌEN

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While political intrigues and a poorly staffed administrative system were weakening the imperial government, significant changes were taking place in the countryside: the land reforms and legal institutions introduced by the Taika Reforms were slowly deteriorating. One of the objectives of the reformers had been to eliminate the local forces (uji) that had entrenched themselves between the central government and the people in the countryside. The authority of the central government was to have been extended throughout the nation and taxation brought under its direct control. In actuality this plan was never fully realized, because some of the local magnates managed to maintain private control over their estates through special dispensations. Those local leaders who remained in power as governors of provinces and counties were also able to retain their prestige and influence in their traditional strongholds.

In areas where land reforms were put into effect, the plan to divide the land equitably among the people failed. The scheme to redistribute the land once every six years to prevent land concentration was not enforced vigorously. In 834 the cycle of periodic redistribution was extended to twelve years, but even then redistribution was not effected as scheduled.

As a result, land tended to become concentrated in the hands of the local magnates, Buddhist monasteries, court aristocrats, and high government officials. Another factor that contributed to the concentration of landholding was the government’s encouragement of wasteland reclamation by permitting all lands that were reclaimed to be held as private property with reduced rates of taxation. Originally, the reclaimed land was to be retained as private property for one to three generations, depending upon the time and effort expended upon the project, but as the time for the reclaimed fields to be transferred to the public domain approached, the owners tended to neglect or abandon them. Moreover, the drop in population caused by the smallpox epidemic of 735–737 compelled the government to seek measures to encourage the peasants to remain on the land and farm it. As a result, in 743 the government agreed to permit permanent ownership. This resulted in a significant increase in private estates.

The monasteries were especially active in sponsoring reclamation projects. In addition, they purchased lands illegally from other landowners and acquired additional plots as gifts. In many instances these were gifts in name only. Because monastic lands were free from taxation, some landholders arranged to have the monasteries become the legal owners of their estates. By paying nominal rents to the monasteries, they were able to retain their lands while escaping taxation. As a result, the larger monasteries, such as Tōdaiji and Hōryūji, became huge landholding institutions. The holdings of a monastery (through such “donors”) might range from 1,000 to as many as 10,000 acres.

The court nobles, such as the Fujiwara, eventually accumulated enormous landholdings because they could offer protection to the local landowners from the

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provincial governors, who had the authority to levy taxes. As a result, local landholders made the same kind of arrangement with the court nobles as they did with the monasteries. They would donate or offer the land in commendation to a powerful court noble and then be given it back as a benefice and pay a nominal rent. Thus, they gained freedom from taxation and from the legal control of the government and its agent, the provincial governor. The imperial court also granted thousands of acres of tax-free land to members of the imperial family and court favorites. Consequently, the number and size of tax-free estates began to grow. These estates, under civil proprietorship, were called shōen.27

The government granted two privileges to the shōen owners: freedom from taxation and the right to deny government officials or agents entrance to their estates. These privileges had to be granted officially by the government in each particular instance, and initially they were limited to monastic and shrine lands. Later, in some cases, the provincial governors took it upon themselves to grant these immunities. Eventually, many owners of estates came to claim these privileges without any official sanction. For example, those landholders who had ties with powerful officials, court nobles in the capital, or monasteries could claim these privileges without official permission because their patrons could gain for them de facto exemptions from taxation and freedom from the authority of the magistrates. Free from official supervision, shōen owners came to exercise complete police and judicial authority over their own estates. The government repeatedly issued decrees prohibiting the establishment of shōen without official approval. In 902, for example, a comprehensive ban on illegal possession of land, woods, and streams was decreed. Such prohibitions were futile, however, because the violators included members of the imperial court itself as well as high government officials and nobles upon whom the government had to rely for the enforcement of its decrees. The imperial family and the Fujiwara family, the two authorities that showed some interest in curbing the growth of the shōen, ended up as major proprietors of tax-free estates themselves. By the beginning of the tenth century, shōen existed throughout the country.

Local shōen holders might be free of all outside control or influence, or they might be under the nominal jurisdiction of powerful monasteries and court nobles in Kyoto, who would be their legal guardians. Some shōen were under the direct management of the monasteries and court aristocrats. These tended to be larger than the shōen held by local magnates, but some local chieftains also became owners of large shōen by extending their protection and control over lesser shōen owners.

Usually, a certain portion of shōen land was reserved for the owner to cultivate, and the rest was occupied and cultivated by tenant farmers who paid rent and provided labor services in return. In some instances, small and medium-sized independent farmers owned land in the shōen, but they were subjected to the political jurisdiction of the shōen owner. These independent farmers were known

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as myōshu, that is, owners of myōden (name fields) that had originally been acquired by reclaiming wasteland. The fields were named after the reclaimers of the land to protect their property rights. Some tillers of the soil also acquired proprietary rights over the fields they worked and gained possession of them as myōden. In the twelfth century the myōden was made the basic unit of organization in the shōen. An effort was made to equalize the size of the myōden to about one acre in the provinces near the capital, but they varied greatly in size in the outlying regions.

The shōen owners employed agents or managers to handle the affairs of the estates. Those managers whose employers lived in Kyoto, far removed from the shōen, tended to acquire considerable authority. Some gained hereditary rights to their position as well as the right to collect a fixed amount of income from the shōen. In fact, everybody connected with the shōen—the tillers of the soil, the manager, the proprietor, and the patron—had specific rights there. This system of rights, which also included the right of officials such as county heads to maintain hereditary possession of their positions, was known as shiki. Shiki were inheritable, partible, and could be exchanged for other shiki. Indeed, many “owners” sought to consolidate shiki and shōen to create contiguous estates.

With the increase in the number and size of the shōen, the area under the jurisdiction of the provincial governors decreased proportionately. Several attempts made in the eleventh century to ferret out shōen owners who had gained possession of their estates illegally failed to reduce the number of tax-free manors. By the twelfth century it was estimated that only about one-tenth of the land remained in the public domain under the authority of the provincial governors. As tempting as it is to characterize this as true decentralization of power and authority, one must remember that most of the guarantors of far-flung shōen resided in Kyoto. The court nobles, abbots, and imperial princes maintained regional power and influence, even though the taxes no longer came to the court. Obviously, these members of the elite zealously watched over their distant interests and were most concerned with keeping the peace. Governors and local officials were extensions of the capital elite and therefore interested in fostering tranquility, law, and order.

THE EMERGENCE OF THE WARRIOR CLASS (SAMURAI)

The rise of the shōen did, however, mean a steady decline in the military authority of the central government. Taxes collected by the government decreased, and police and military power in the provinces fell increasingly into the hands of the local magnates. After the military conscription instituted under the Taihō Code was abandoned in 792, local governors were required to maintain the necessary military forces. To fulfill their military tasks, the governors relied on local chieftains for

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assistance. As the authority of the central government declined, the shōen proprietors and managers had to commit their own resources to protect their property and preserve peace and order in the shōen. Thus, they found it necessary to maintain their own private militias, initially a part of shōen workers’ corvée. These semiprofessional warriors were called samurai, which means something like “those who serve.”28 The influence and power of the local chieftains increased as the inhabitants began to submit to their leadership in order to receive protection.

The size of the local armies grew as unemployed or displaced farmers, reduced to being vagrants or brigands, joined their ranks. The deterioration of the peasantry resulted in part from the fact that, as tax-free estates proliferated, the tax burden grew heavier on those who worked the little-remaining taxable land. The exploitation of the peasantry by the local governors became more intense as well. Many of the farmers fell into debt to the government or to moneylenders. Unable to pay their debts and unable to bear the burden of heavy taxes, they left the land and joined the ranks of the vagrants. The land they abandoned was taken over by the rising local landowning magnates.

As the local chieftains grew more powerful, they began to establish lord-and- vassal relationships with their followers. Shōen owners, managers of shōen whose owners resided in Kyoto, county heads, and, in some cases, provincial governors who had established their roots in the countryside all sought to consolidate and protect their private interests. The hard core of their following consisted of vassals who had some sort of blood ties with them. This was, in a way, the clan or uji system of old—a tightly knit unit based on kinship ties. In addition, among the followers of a local chieftain were those who had entered into a master-vassal relationship with him because of the circumstances discussed above. This relationship was formalized with the presentation of a name plate from the vassal to the lord. In return for the vassal’s loyal services, the lord was expected to provide him with a piece of land or the right to collect taxes or rents from the land.

These personal contractual relationships have previously been characterized in earlier histories as “feudal.” This misconception has its foundations in two historical interpretations. First, when the Portuguese Jesuits came to Japan in the sixteenth century (see below), these learned men thought that the Japanese system closely resembled the feudal systems of medieval Europe. Their letters and reports back to Europe mark the beginning of this misinterpretation. Other Europeans who followed them, particularly the Dutch after 1640, continued to characterize the Japanese system as feudal. Second, most Japanese historians who sprang to the fore after World War II were Marxists (those historians who had supported the militarist government were purged and discredited). For them, the Japanese medieval system fit nicely into their ideas of Marxist economic determinism.

Unlike European feudalism, however, the peasants on the shōen were generally

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not serfs but either free tenants or independent, landowning farmers. The local lords and their followers constituted the ascending samurai class, which was to play a dominant role in Japanese political history from this time until the middle of the nineteenth century. There was a hierarchy of lord-vassal relationships, because the lord himself might be a vassal of a more powerful chieftain, while the vassal might have followers of his own. No system of subinfeudation (breaking up the land into even smaller “feudal” units in return for service), however, emerged in medieval Japan as it had in medieval Europe.

Gradually larger and larger nuclei of power began to develop. The more powerful local military chieftains—those who were descendants of the imperial family or those who were related to powerful court aristocrats—tended to attract a larger following and succeeded in extending their control over an increasingly wider area. Thus, while the central government was neglecting to maintain its military strength, local lords were building formidable private armies to fight for economically productive and strategically important areas.

As the powers of the local military men (very few women served as warriors) grew, they began to defy openly the authority of the central government. Having allowed its military strength to decline, the central government was forced to call upon other local leaders to help curb the more recalcitrant military chieftains. In this way, it inadvertently strengthened the position of certain local leaders over others and at the same time provided these military men with an excuse to interfere in its affairs.

As early as the tenth century, the government was confronted with two major uprisings that could not be suppressed without the aid of loyal local chieftains. One rebellion was led by Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo (?–941), who had been assigned by the government the task of subduing the pirates in the Inland Sea. After bringing the pirates under control, he in turn defied the central government and plundered the western region between 936 and 941. Sumitomo was subdued, however, with the aid of a local military chieftain bearing the name Minamoto, a name that would have to be reckoned with later.

The other rebellion occurred in the east, in the Kantō region. In 939 Tairano- Masakado (?–940), who had been extending his power in that area, declared himself the emperor of Kantō and established his own government, modeling it after the Heian government. His rebellion was crushed in 940 when another member of the Taira clan turned on him. In quashing both of these uprisings, the central government had to rely on the support of other provincial magnates, and it had to continue relying on the help of the emerging military chieftains to maintain its authority in the countryside. This tended to strengthen those military families that cooperated with the imperial government, and power came to be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer families.29

By the twelfth century the Taira and Minamoto families, two major military

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houses claiming direct descent from emperors of the Heian period, came to dominate the outlying regions. They both came to power first in the Kantō region where, because of the long history of conflict with the Ezo in the north, the military tradition was the strongest. The Minamoto distinguished themselves by subduing rebellious military chieftains in the Kantō region and in the north. They had also established close ties in Kyoto by catering to the interests of the Fujiwara family. Their power and prestige grew under Minamoto Yoshiie (1041–1108), who attracted a large following not only because of his military exploits but also because of his generosity. When the imperial government refused to reward the troops under him for subduing the northern rebels, Yoshiie compensated them out of his own property. His popularity caused a large number of farmers and warriors to commend their lands to him. This alarmed the imperial government, and it felt compelled to prohibit further donations to him.

The Taira first emerged in the Kantō region also but lost their base of power there as a result of Masakado’s rebellion. A western branch of this clan located in Ise emerged as the nucleus of Taira power. The Ise Taira first gained prominence by helping the imperial government subdue rebels and pirates in the western regions. They strengthened their economic position by engaging in trade with Sung China and also by cultivating close ties with the cloister government. The retired emperor Shirakawa called on both Taira and Minamoto houses to protect his cloister government. He thought he could play each house against the other to maintain his power. But, as did most who would ride the tiger, he would be mauled.

In addition to these two major families, there was another power to the north, the Fujiwara—unrelated to the Fujiwara in Kyoto—who posed a potential threat to the other military families until the end of the twelfth century.

The struggle for power and land in the provinces resulted in the emergence of powerful military forces that eventually were in a position to dominate the central government. Mary Elizabeth Berry suggests that these “cadet” houses, that is, those that emerged from the imperial house centuries before and were “linked to patrons in the capital, these families and their retainers served as a kind of national guard— recruited to suppress piracy or local rebellion. Yet they acted as frequently in their own interests and were the source of turmoil as well as its remedy.”30

THE TRIUMPH OF THE SAMURAI

We saw in the previous chapter how the authority of the central government steadily declined as the shōen, dominated by local military chieftains, grew in size and number throughout the land. It not only virtually lost control over the outlying areas, but its authority was undermined in Kyoto itself, where there was a continuous power struggle among various imperial factions. In addition, the imperial

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government was challenged by the powerful monasteries in and around the capital, which had recruited inmates who were monks in name but warriors in reality.

Most of these warrior-monks were farmers who wished to escape the heavy tax burdens or unemployed vagrants who sought a place of refuge. They were used by the monasteries to protect their shōen and to coerce the government to grant special privileges and ecclesiastical posts to their members. In time, the number of warrior-monks increased—some monasteries retained as many as several thousand men—and from time to time they poured into the streets of Kyoto to intimidate the government authorities. They contributed further to the political disorder by engaging in disputes among themselves. Particularly troublesome were the Kōfukuji of Nara, which was patronized by the Fujiwara family, and the Enryaku-ji of Mt. Hiei, a temple founded by Saichō.31

THE RIVALRY OF THE TAIRA AND MINAMOTO CLANS

As noted earlier, two major military families rose to power in the countryside, the Taira (called Heike in warrior tales) and the Minamoto (called Genji). In 1156 a dispute at court provided the Taira family with an opportunity to emerge as a significant force in Kyoto. A power struggle between the reigning emperor and the retired emperor broke out, and both factions appealed to the provincial military leaders for support. The Taira family, led by the able and ambitious Kiyomori (1118–1181), came to the aid of the reigning emperor and defeated the rival faction, which was supported by Minamoto-no-Tameyoshi (1096–1156), the grandson of Yoshiie. This was not an outright confrontation between the Taira and the Minamoto, however, because some members of the Taira clan fought on the side of the retired emperor, while some in the Minamoto clan supported the reigning emperor. The most prominent of the latter was Tameyoshi’s own son, Yoshitomo (1123–1160), who, after victory, was ordered by the emperor to execute his own father. This power struggle is known as the Hōgen Insurrection, Hōgen being the era name for the years 1156–1158.

After the Hōgen Insurrection both Kiyomori and Yoshitomo became influential at the court, but in 1159 Kiyomori managed to eliminate Yoshitomo. Jealous of Kiyomori’s growing popularity and power, Yoshitomo supported dissident elements at the court and attempted to stage a coup, known as the Heiji Insurrection. Having failed, he was executed, together with those of his sons who had participated in the uprising. One son, Yoritomo (1147–1199), who was only twelve years old at that time, was saved from execution by the intercession of Kiyomori’s stepmother. He was exiled to an island off Izu Peninsula instead. Yoshitomo’s three younger sons by a concubine were also spared on the condition that their mother become Kiyomori’s mistress. One of these boys, Yoshitsune (1159–1189), later

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emerged as the leading general of the Minamoto forces. It now appeared that the Minamoto had been eliminated from the national scene

and the paramountcy of the Taira family established. Kiyomori became virtually a dictator. He rose rapidly in court rank and in 1167 became dajō daijin (chancellor). His family members became high-ranking court officials. He married his daughter to the emperor, and his grandson thus became heir to the throne. His possessions were immense; in addition to controlling the governorships of thirty provinces, the Taira family owned more than five hundred shōen. They gained such power and prestige that people came to say, “If one is not a Taira, one is not a human being.”

Like all dictatorships, the Taira tolerated no criticism. The Tale of the Heike, a historical romance written in the early Kamakura period, relates, “If there was anyone who spoke evil against the Taira and one of these [youths employed by the Taira to patrol the streets of Kyoto] chanced to hear it, straightway summoning to him his fellows, they would violently enter that man’s house, seize his treasures and household goods and bring him bound to Rokuhara [the Taira residence]. So that none were found to open their mouth about things they saw or knew.”32 But they could not control the secret feelings of the people. The people hated the Heike rule but submitted to its authority.33

Besides focusing on the consolidation of his political position, Kiyomori endeavored to develop commerce with Sung China. He built the port of Hyōgo and excavated the Straits of Ondo near the city of Kure to facilitate this trade. He is generally credited with re-establishing unofficial diplomatic relations with China after centuries of relative estrangement. Informal and extralegal trade missions had continued, and Buddhist monks had still made private arrangements to study in China, but a combination of real and imagined international problems had kept the two countries at odds.34

Kiyomori did not seek to establish his own government. Instead he chose to rule through the imperial court in cooperation with the cloistered emperor. As the balance of power shifted in favor of the Taira, however, the imperial faction began to engage in intrigues to undercut the clan. But the several conspiracies directed against the Taira failed.

In 1180, however, anti-Taira uprisings broke out in the Kantō region and spread to the provinces near the capital. The leadership for this anti-Taira movement was provided, ironically enough, by Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, who, while in exile, managed to build his military strength by joining forces with the Hōjō family, a local power in the Izu area. Yoritomo had, in fact, married a member of the Hōjō family, Masako. Heeding the imperial call to overthrow the Taira, Yoritomo led his forces against them, and the two rival families confronted each other again. The struggle continued for five years. Tales of heroism and treachery, valor and cowardice, chivalry and cruelty, fill the chronicles of this conflict.

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The closing years of Taira supremacy were plagued by disastrous natural calamities, causing severe famines. A contemporary account describing the terrible famine of 1181–1182 describes conditions in Kyoto: “Beggars swarmed by the roadsides, and our ears were filled with the sound of their lamentations. . . . Everybody was dying of hunger.” The account claims that more than 42,000 people perished from the famine in the fourth and fifth months alone.35

These conditions no doubt helped to undermine the position of the Taira. They had also incurred the opposition of the powerful monasteries and many local leaders. Eventually, the Minamoto faction emerged victorious, as Yoritomo consolidated his position in the east and broadened his base of support by welcoming all comers into the Minamoto faction, regardless of family or historical ties. Although the Taira were superior in number, the Minamoto had the advantage of superior leaders, among them Yoritomo’s younger brother, Yoshitsune, whose daring tactics led to many victories, and his cousin Yoshinaka (1154–1184), who drove the Taira out of the capital. Before the Taira were completely crushed, however, Yoritomo and Yoshinaka found their ambitions to be incompatible. Yoshinaka was defeated and killed by Yoritomo’s men.

In the early stage of the conflict, Kiyomori fell ill and died in the spring of 1181, and the fortune of the Taira, deprived of their able leader, steadily declined. They were forced to retreat to the west and were finally annihilated in 1185 by the Minamoto forces under the brilliant generalship of Yoshitsune, who was at that time only twenty-four years old. At the decisive battle of Dan-no-ura on March 24, 1185, the young emperor Antoku drowned, and it was rumored that the sword that was part of the imperial regalia was lost.36

Determined not to repeat the mistake that the Taira had made, Yoritomo had all the important members of the main Taira family executed. Even little children were not spared; all were drowned or buried alive. Yoritomo now set about consolidating his power. If Yoshitsune was the military genius who made the Minamoto triumph possible, Yoritomo was the political genius. It was said that the Taira had failed to maintain their position because they had imitated the effete ways of the court, neglecting to maintain a firm grip on the real source of their power, their provincial strongholds. Yoritomo was determined not to make the same mistake. Throughout the conflict with the Taira, Minamoto military headquarters were at Kamakura. Even after his victory, Yoritomo chose to remain in Kamakura, refusing to move to Kyoto. Thus the rival seat of government was transferred to Kamakura, although the imperial government in Kyoto was still regarded as the legal government and was treated as such by Yoritomo.

With the establishment of Minamoto hegemony in 1185, we enter the period in Japanese history in which the military class dominated much of the country, a situation that prevailed for almost seven centuries. From 1200 on, the imperial

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court and the emperor were increasingly relegated to the background, and they played no role of real significance in the political life of the nation until the middle of the nineteenth century. Not only were the political, social, and economic patterns of the land set by the military, but the cultural, moral, and intellectual tone was also molded largely by the military outlook. Military domination would have a decisive and lasting effect in forming the Japanese mind, character, and temperament; in this sense, the political triumph of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo was of paramount significance in Japanese history.

NOTES 1. The incident is covered succinctly in Joan R. Piggott, “The Last Classical Female

Sovereign: Kōken-Shōtoku Tennō,” in Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, ed. Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 47–74.

2. See Michael Como, Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009), 6–7 and 12–14. See also Cornelius J. Kiley, “State and Dynasty in Archaic Yamato,” Journal of Asian Studies 33, no. 1 (November 1973): 34.

3. Although he never actually served as either sesshō or kampaku. 4. G. Cameron Hurst, Insei: Abdicated Sovereigns in the Politics of Late Heian

Japan, 1086–1185 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976). 5. See Como, Weaving and Binding, 6–7 and 11–14. 6. Indeed, some scholars contend that the Soga themselves were descended from

Korean immigrants who had intermarried with important uji, including the Yamato. See ibid., 6–7; and Kiley, “State and Dynasty,” 35–36.

7. According to the historian Abe Takeshi, cited in Joan Piggott, “Court and Provinces Under Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira,” in Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, ed. Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007), 42.

8. For a history of the Insei, see Hurst, Insei. 9. Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, trans. Edward C. Seidensticker (New York:

Alfred A. Knopf, 1976), 363. 10. Langdon Warner, The Enduring Art of Japan (New York: Grove, 1952), 32. 11. Ivan Morris, ed. and trans., The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon, 2 vols. (New York:

Columbia University Press, 1967), 1:258. 12. Ibid., 1:28. 13. Murasaki, Tale of Genji, 345. 14. Ibid., 402. 15. For a list of the taboos and auspicious dates, see Basil Hall Chamberlain, Things

Japanese, 6th ed. (Tokyo: Kegan Paul Japan Library, 1939). 16. Quoted in Inoue Mitsusada, ed., Kodai Shakai [Ancient society], vol. 2 of Shin

Nihonshi Taikei [A new outline history of Japan], 6 vols. (Tokyo: Asakura Shoten, 1952– 1954), 294.

17. Quoted in Earl Miner, An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1968), 18.

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18. Murasaki, Tale of Genji, 437. 19. Ibid., 530, 581. 20. Ibid., 529, 620. 21. Sherman E. Lee, A History of Far Eastern Art (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-

Hall; New York: Abrams, 1964), 307. 22. See Kato Mieko, “Women’s Association and Religious Expression in the Medieval

Japanese Village,” in Women and Class in Japanese Culture, ed. Hitomi Tonomura, Anne Walthall, and Wakita Haruko (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999), 119–133.

23. Ibid., 130. 24. Hirakawa Akira, “The History of Buddhist Nuns in Japan,” trans. Karma Lekshe

Tsomo and Junko Miura, Buddhist-Christian Studies 12 (1992): 147–158. 25. Hosokawa Ryōichi, “Medieval Nuns and Nunneries: The Case of Hokkeji,” in

Tonomura, Walthall, and Wakita Haruko, Women and Class in Japanese Culture, 67–79. See also Miyazaki Fumiko, “Female Pilgrims and Mt. Fuji: Changing Perspectives on the Exclusion of Women,” Monumenta Nipponica 60, no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 339–391.

26. See Hosokawa Ryōichi, “Medieval Nuns and Nunneries,” in Tonomura, Walthall, and Wakita Haruko, Women and Class in Japanese Culture, 67–79.

27. Shō means village and en means farmland. Still the most comprehensive short reading on the shōen is Nagahara Keiji’s “Land Ownership Under the Shōen-Kokugaryō System,” Journal of Japanese Studies 1, no. 2 (Spring 1975): 269–296. For a shorter, concise article, see Ethan Segal’s “The Shōen System,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 167–177.

28. The proper name for soldier was bushi. After a while the terms samurai and bushi began to be used almost interchangeably. Probably the best concise treatment is Karl F. Friday, Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan (New York: Routledge, 2004). A somewhat more controversial anthropological treatise is Ikegami Eiko, The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995).

29. For an excellent account of Masakado’s rebellion, see Karl F. Friday, The First Samurai: The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado (New York: Wiley & Sons, 2007).

30. Mary E. Berry, The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), xxiii.

31. For a history of the warrior-monks, see Mikael Adolphson, The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha: Monastic Warriors and Sōhei in Japanese History (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press), 2007.

32. The Heike Monogatari, trans. A. L. Sadler, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 46, no. 2 (1918): 10.

33. Ibid., 48. 34. The Chinese had balked at Japan’s insistence that the two countries should interact

as equals since the time when Shōtoku Taishi had sent a message “from the leader of the land where the sun rises, to the leader of the land where the sun sets.”

35. W. G. Aston, A History of Japanese Literature (New York: Appleton, 1899), 149– 151.

36. No authenticated sighting of the sword has been recorded, though the imperial family claims that it was recovered and is housed at the Atsuta Shrine. See Steve Turnbull’s account in his Samurai: The World of the Warrior (London: Osprey, 2006), 34–38.

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4

The Kamakura Period

THE KAMAKURA SHOGUNATE (1185–1333)

After the defeat of the Taira in what came to be called the Gempei Wars (including the Hōgen Insurrection of 1156 and Heiji Incident of 1160), Yoritomo, a jealous and ruthless man, set out to remove all potential rivals, including his brother Yoshitsune, who had gained renown with his military exploits. Yoritomo suspected his brother of harboring political ambitions and sought to repress him. In anger Yoshitsune rebelled against his brother but failed to gain sufficient support. Yoritomo had him hunted down relentlessly and executed. When Yoshitsune’s wife gave birth to a baby boy, Yoritomo had the child killed. Earlier he had had his son- in-law killed because he suspected him of disloyalty. He also did away with his half-brother Noriyori. Using the excuse that they had provided help to Yoshitsune, Yoritomo seized the opportunity to destroy the northern Fujiwara clan. By 1189 he had removed all potential military threats to his position.

Although there no longer remained anyone who might challenge his supremacy, Yoritomo did not attempt to bring the entire country under his direct control. He deferred to the imperial court as the legal government and obtained imperial sanctions for all his policies and decrees. At the same time, he went about strengthening his political position. In 1185 he assumed the position of supreme shugo and supreme jitō of all sixty-six provinces.1 The former office gave him military and police power over the entire country, and the latter the right to collect taxes from all public domains and the shōen. He also acquired the right to appoint provincial shugo (constables) and jitō (land stewards) at all levels—in provinces, counties, and townships. The right of Yoritomo and his successors to appoint and control these officials eventually eliminated the immunity from taxation and from official intervention that the shōen had heretofore enjoyed.

Yoritomo was also given proprietary rights over the lands he formerly held in the Kantō region, amounting to nine provinces, and he appointed their governors from among his followers. Yoritomo also acquired the lands formerly held by the Taira. This meant an additional five hundred shōen scattered throughout the country. Over these areas Yoritomo exercised direct control, just as the imperial court, the court nobles, the monasteries, and some of Yoritomo’s own followers exercised proprietary rights over their shōen. To supervise his estates, he appointed vassals

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whom he wished to reward as jitō and managers of his holdings. Yoritomo also imposed authority in the public domains and in the shōen owned

by the court aristocrats and the monasteries, because the shugo and jitō he appointed exercised authority over the lower officials in both sectors. His control over Kyushu and western Honshu was weaker than in eastern Honshu, where his direct holdings were located. He did not insist upon appointing jitō to those areas where his influence was weak.

In effect a dual authority prevailed during the early Kamakura period. On the one hand, Yoritomo exercised direct control over the Kantō provinces and his own shōen scattered throughout the land. The governors of the eastern provinces were his appointees. He also held supreme military and police power over the entire country. On the other hand, the imperial faction still controlled a large number of shōen, and the provincial governors in the areas outside of eastern Japan were appointed from Kyoto. Nonetheless, these governors had to share their authority with the shugo and jitō appointed from Kamakura.

Although Yoritomo had to share the administration of the country with the imperial court, he was supreme in the military realm. In 1192 he was appointed seiitaishōgun,2 which made him officially the military commander in chief of the land. To exercise his military authority and manage the lands under his proprietorship, he established an administrative system in Kamakura known as the Bakufu (tent government). This was not intended to replace the imperial government in Kyoto but was designed to manage his “family” affairs. The system was relatively simple. There were three offices: the Office of the Samurai, the Administrative Office, and the Court of Appeals. The first organ dealt with promotions and demotions of the samurai and generally supervised their conduct. The second managed administrative, legislative, and legal affairs. The third functioned as a judicial board to settle civil disputes, particularly those involving land, among those samurai under Yoritomo’s jurisdiction. To staff these offices, Yoritomo employed members of the Kyoto aristocracy who, unlike many of his vassals, were well educated. The three offices were under his close supervision, and he made all the important decisions.

In local administration, as we have noted, Yoritomo appointed provincial shugo and jitō from among his followers. The shugo had military and police authority. It was their duty to apprehend criminals, suppress rebellions, and, when summoned by the shōgun, to come to his aid with their warriors. They also served as the local liaisons and administrative officers for the shōgun.

The jitō were at first authorized to collect taxes from all the estates in the provinces to which they were assigned, whether public or private. This policy was opposed by the shōen owners in Kyoto, however, so the jitō’s tax-collecting power was limited to the public domains. The extent to which jitō exercised their influence in the provinces varied from place to place, but they usually held

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considerable power. At the lower levels, they exercised police power. Their authority was extended greatly after ex-emperor Gotoba sought to overthrow the Kamakura forces in 1221. This attempt was crushed, and the estates of the nobles and monasteries who had supported the move were confiscated and placed under the jurisdiction of the jitō. Throughout the Kamakura period the jitō steadily increased their authority over the shōen not owned by the Bakufu. One of their duties was to collect the rent for the shōen owners, but in time they tended to ignore their responsibilities to the proprietors, concentrating instead on increasing their own incomes and control over the peasants on the land. By the end of the Kamakura period, jitō had acquired proprietary rights over the shōen and emerged as a new landholding class.

In discussing Kamakura society we should note, as we did in Chapter 3, that although many sources continue to characterize the era as “feudal,” it was not. For the reasons previously cited, it did not bear the marks of a European-style medieval feudal system because the vassal was usually appointed to some office such as that of jitō or shōen manager and was not given a piece of land to control as his own fief. With the office went the right to extract some income from the land, but the actual proprietary rights were retained by the Bakufu or the shōen owner. Moreover, the political elements centering on Yoritomo were still not the dominant forces in the political and social systems. Although the real power was in the hands of the shōgun, the administration operating out of Kyoto still controlled large parts of the country. Thus, we have something like a dual administration, with the Bakufu, or shogunate, operating—at least on the surface—under the jurisdiction of the imperial government. Because most students are unfamiliar with the European feudal system anyway, what purpose is served by referring to the Japanese medieval sociopolitical and economic amalgam by that name?

During the Kamakura period, the earlier practice of submitting a name plate at the ceremony of investiture was abolished, and the vassal merely presented himself to his lord at the ceremony. As noted above, the benefice granted by the lord to the vassal was usually some office. In return the vassal performed military duties in time of both war and peace and helped defray the cost of his lord’s expenses. For example, he had to present gifts to the lord’s household on such important occasions as births, coming of age ceremonies, and weddings.

Although the tillers of the soil varied greatly in status, no peasants in Kamakura society could be characterized as serfs. The most well off were the myōshu, who held title to land under the jurisdiction of the shōen proprietors. The myōshu in outlying regions tended to have larger holdings and often used semislave workers to till the soil. Although the practice was illegal, impoverished peasants were often driven to selling their wives and children as slaves to be used as household or farm workers. In addition there were a variety of tenant farmers and hired workers.

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THE HŌJŌ REGENCY

Yoritomo died in 1199 and was succeeded by his son Yoriie (1182–1204), but the real power of the Bakufu passed into the hands of Hōjō Tokimasa (1138–1215), the father of Yoritomo’s wife, Masako. When Yoriie became ill in 1203, Tokimasa forced him to resign and made Yoriie’s younger brother, Sanetomo, the shōgun. He later had Yoriie and his eldest son assassinated. Because Sanetomo was a minor, Tokimasa made himself regent and exercised power as the actual head of the Kamakura government. We now have a situation in which the nominal government in Kyoto was run by a regent, while the de facto government in Kamakura, which was governing on behalf of the imperial court, was also controlled by a regent.

In 1205 Tokimasa sought to eliminate Sanetomo as well. Instead, he was ousted by his daughter Masako, Yoritomo’s widow, and his son (Masako’s brother) Hōjō Yoshitoki, who exiled him. Thereupon Yoshitoki became regent. In 1219 the figurehead shōgun, Sanetomo, was assassinated by Yoriie’s other son. This ended the brief era of the Minamoto shogunate. Following Sanetomo’s death, the position of the shōgun was filled by court nobles from Kyoto. The shōgun remained a mere figurehead, and the Hōjō controlled the Kamakura government as regents until its downfall in 1333. Thus, the Minamoto rule was almost as brief as the Taira.

Ex-emperor Gotoba decided to take advantage of the end of the end of the Minamoto shogunate with the death of Sanetomo and moved against the Kamakura Bakufu. In May 1221, he issued a call for all loyal military leaders to come to the support of the imperial family and overthrow the shogunate. The imperial court had gained the friendship of the military chieftains and shugo in the Kyoto vicinity, and more than ten thousand troops responded to Gotoba’s call. Faced with this threat and with the possibility that other military magnates might defect to the imperial faction, Masako rallied the Bakufu forces, reminding the vassals of the many favors that Yoritomo had bestowed upon them. She managed to marshal a huge force under the Kamakura flag and overwhelmed the imperial forces with ease.

This incident, known as the Jōkyū Insurrection, produced two significant results: (1) the supremacy of the Bakufu over the imperial court was clearly established, and (2) the Hōjō family gained absolute control of the Bakufu. The Kamakura government confiscated all the shōen of those who had taken part in the uprising—more than three thousand estates—and established regional headquarters in Kyoto to maintain a check on the activities of the imperial court and to administer the western provinces.

Throughout the thirteenth century the Hōjō regents governed the land effectively without any major disturbances. The Bakufu’s domains were scattered throughout the entire country, although there were some provinces in which it held no land. It held virtually all the land in the Kantō region, and in most of the other provinces its holdings were more extensive than estates owned by proprietors free from

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immediate Hōjō control. One noteworthy innovation occurred in 1226, when the third regent, Yasutoki

(1183–1242), established a council of state. The council consisted of eleven important military chieftains. They deliberated on important questions and advised the regent, who was obliged to accept their decisions. Yasutoki also codified the customary practices that governed the relationships among the military elements.

In 1232 Yasutoki issued the Jōei Code, which was not strictly speaking a code of laws but rather a set of guidelines for jurists. Yasutoki explained that the object of the code was “to establish standards so that fair trials without regard to the disputants’ social status can be held, and eliminate the unjust practice in which the disputants’ power determines the outcome.”3 Consisting of fifty-one articles, the code was based on customary law and dealt with property rights, land tenure, inheritance, duties and functions of officials, criminal punishments, and so on. It established a basis for the medieval laws and practices of subsequent periods. The Jōei Code classified people into three categories: samurai, commoners, and slaves. Unlike the Taihō Code, it did not give the upper classes privileged treatment. On the contrary, in some instances they were punished more severely than the common people for the same offense.

In the trials of this period, documentary evidence and testimony by witnesses were weighed carefully by the magistrate in arriving at a verdict, but when such evidence or witnesses did not exist, the disputants were required to swear to the kami that their claims were true. The outcome was then determined by whether some ill omen or event befell a disputant in the following seven days. Among such signs were nosebleeds, sickness, choking while eating, misfortune among relatives, and being urinated on by a crow or a kite. Vestiges of the ancient trial by ordeal were still present.

Another noteworthy provision was the right of women to inherit property and serve as vassals. This was not an innovation, however, but merely a codification of the practice in existence during the Kamakura period. But, because the code required that that the household (ie) be registered in the name of the head male, women were effectively barred from inheriting either the ie property or the headship.4

In other respects, too, women were accorded fairer treatment in this period than is generally acknowledged. Women who committed adultery were not punished very much more severely than adulterous men. As we shall see, in the Tokugawa period such women were executed, although no stigma was attached to wanton behavior by men. During the Kamakura period women played a much more active role than in subsequent eras. Some even led warriors into the field of battle; others proved their worth as able administrators. One of the ablest women of this era was Masako, who acted as one of the powers behind the shōgun after her husband

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Yoritomo’s death and is sometimes referred to as the ama-shōgun (nun- generalissimo). When faced with several threats against the Bakufu, she rallied Bakufu troops and even engineered a coalition that brought an imperial Fujiwara prince to serve as a figurehead shōgun.5

The Fujiwara women around the imperial court continued to wield considerable influence and continued the habit of writing about courtly affairs. One woman known posthumously as Lady Nijō wrote an evocative diary reminiscent of Tale of Genji called Confessions of Lady Nijō. It is still widely read in Japan, offering another window into the world of courtly women. Lady Nijō became a favorite mistress of an emperor and the willing sexual partner of several important men in the late thirteenth century. Like Murasaki, she demonstrated considerable knowledge of Chinese and Japanese poetry.6

FOREIGN RELATIONS: THE ASIAN CONTINENT

Relations with China and Korea, so important in the early days of Japan, revived during the medieval era. Often, decades passed without official embassies being exchanged, but commercial and cultural relations kept the Japanese abreast of continental affairs. The Sung period in Chinese history was fraught with intermittent civil wars until the dynasty was ultimately conquered by the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Officially, the Mongols took over China in 1271, but there had been almost constant war for two decades before that.

Japanese merchants and some temples also mounted commercial trading trips to China and Korea, but Japanese ship-building technology was not yet advanced enough to risk the voyage. During the Sung era Japanese temples sent unofficial embassies to China, relying on Chinese and Korean merchant ships plying their trade in Japanese waters to get there. Japanese still employed dugout canoes (mounted with outrigger stabilizers). It was not until later that Koreans helped Japan produce the deeper keels and sternpost rudders that allowed for larger sails and more cargo area.7 In addition to the obvious barter trade that was common during the era, a substantial portion of the trade was in precious metals. The Japanese had been importing Chinese copper coins (cash) for several centuries, paying bulk silver in exchange.8

Koreans continued to come to Japan, many as merchants, but a substantial number came as immigrants as well. Political instability in Korea (and in China as well) occasionally forced Koreans to flee for their lives. Estimates of Korean immigration to Japan vary widely,9 but we may be sure that they would number in the thousands. In the earlier period many were indentured into the service (be) communities that were ultimately allied with the imperial house. During the Heian

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era, many of these Korean émigrés continuing to flee their homeland were highly educated. Naturally, the superior technologies they brought with them helped them find easy employment in Japan.

Trade between Korea and Japan was often interrupted by what were called “Japanese pirates” (wakō), who ravaged the waters between Japan and Asia for centuries. Many of these seafaring miscreants were Japanese, but foreigners joined their depredations as well. Seemingly every seafaring Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, and even Southeast Asian islander wastrel flocked to these pirate bands that made their homes in the hundreds of coves, inlets, and small islands on the Japanese western coast. Neither the Chinese nor the Korean dynasties could corral them, and many Japanese warlords profited by their raids and therefore gave them shelter. In the tenth century the Japanese government had commissioned Fujiwara-no- Sumitomo with the task of subduing the pirates in the Inland Sea. After bringing them under control, he in turn defied the central government and plundered the western region between 936 and 941.

In the early part of the thirteenth century, a new wave of pirate activity sprang up in response to a series of famines in northern Kyushu. The Sung dynasty asked for help from the Kamakura Bakufu. The Bakufu hoped to restore better trading relations with China and Korea, so it sent a mission led by Mutō Sukeyori, who captured and beheaded more than a hundred wakō in 1227. Two decades later another burst of pirate activity stirred up the Korean and Japanese governments. The desperate pirates captured a number of Korean tax grain ships and even attacked a few coastal Korean villages, capturing and holding villagers for ransom.

In 1265 the Bakufu sent another punitive expedition, but the pirates merely moved their lairs elsewhere. Further wakō developments fell by the wayside when the Mongols conquered China, then Korea, and turned their covetous eyes on Japan.10

THE MONGOL INVASIONS AND THE DECLINE OF THE KAMAKURA BAKUFU

As noted above, during the early years of the Kamakura period, the friendly relations with Sung China that had been established during the late Heian period were maintained. Sung influence was manifested in the Japanese economic realm in the form of imported copper coins and, more significantly, in the cultural sphere in the form of Zen Buddhism and Sung-style painting and literature.

The most momentous political event in Sino-Japanese relations during the Kamakura period was the attempt of Kublai Khan (1216–1294) to bring Japan into the fold of the vast Mongol empire. The first Mongol invasion occurred in 1274 against northern Kyushu, but, before the Mongols could successfully launch their

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attack, something happened that forced them to break off the battle and return to China. Later warrior tales claim that a typhoon struck and destroyed a large portion of their fleet. Most scholars now believe that no typhoon struck in the early invasion. Expecting a second foray, the Japanese fortified northern Kyushu, and in 1281, when the Mongols did initiate a second attack with a force of about 140,000 soldiers, they were turned back after seven weeks of fighting by Japanese warriors and by an actual typhoon. This typhoon was interpreted as an intervention by the deities and was later referred to as kamikaze (divine wind).11

This grave threat to their independence aroused a greater sense of unity among the Japanese than the nation had ever before experienced, and a concerted effort to defend the country was made under the able leadership of Hōjō Tokimune (1251– 1284), who had become regent at the age of eighteen and was only twenty-three when the Mongols launched their first attack.

Although the Mongol invasions were successfully repelled, the defensive efforts sapped the strength of the Kamakura Bakufu, especially its financial resources. Those who had taken part in the campaign expected to be rewarded for their services, but the Bakufu did not have any fruits of victory to distribute among the warriors. Unfortunately, the Bakufu did make some awards, but to the wrong people. It rewarded the priests whose prayers had elicited the kamikaze, and it did pay some expenses to its Kantō allies, but not to the Kyushu warriors who had borne the brunt of the fighting. The Bakufu took the attitude that the Kyushu stalwarts were only defending their own lands and relatives and therefore did not merit any rewards. Those samurai, disappointed and frustrated, began to grow increasingly disaffected from the Bakufu that they believed had broken the contract between warriors.

Changes in the economy were also undermining the Kamakura society. The military class was beginning to feel the pressures of the rising money economy. The samurai had fallen under the influence of the more elegant life of the court aristocracy and were no longer satisfied with leading simple and frugal lives. While their expenses mounted, their income remained stationary because the amount of land they held remained more or less fixed or even decreased when divided among their children, a practice that prevailed during most of the Kamakura period.

Many of the landholding samurai were forced to sell or mortgage their estates to meet rising expenses. They also fell into debt to the emergent moneylenders. To cope with this situation, the Bakufu issued in 1297 an Edict of Tokusei (Act of Grace) canceling all debts and calling for the return to the samurai of all lands they had lost or sold. But this action only created quarrels and legal disputes and did little to alleviate the situation.12 At the same time, land and power were being concentrated in the hands of the more powerful military leaders, especially the

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provincial shugo, who were beginning to overwhelm the jitō and the lesser samurai.

Thus, political disorder began to increase in the provinces as the struggle for land and power continued among the Bakufu’s vassals, shugo, jitō, and shōen owners. This also created disturbances and unrest among the peasantry, who were not only being oppressed more severely by the local authorities but were also beginning to be plagued by the growing number of brigands and thieves who raided and pillaged the countryside.

By the end of the Kamakura period, many provincial military leaders were powerful enough to challenge the Bakufu. The sense of loyalty that prevailed during the early years of the Bakufu had weakened with the passing of several generations. The original benefactors of the Kamakura samurai, the Minamoto, had long since passed from the scene. Meanwhile, the imperial court was constantly on the alert, waiting for an opportunity to recapture political power.

THE ETHOS OF THE SAMURAI

The cultural and intellectual outlook of the Kamakura period is identified closely with the military outlook and way of life. Although the term Bushidō (Way of the Warrior) was not yet used during this period, the ideals of the bushi, or warriors, that emerged with the rise of the military eventually developed into the concept of Bushidō in the Tokugawa period. In the Kamakura period the samurai spoke of yumiya no narai, or “the Way of the Bow and Arrow.”

Popular warrior tales, written decades and even centuries after the fact, invented stories that romanticized the samurai exploits. The entertainers who popularized these tales claimed that the samurai conducted their lives by the principles of duty, loyalty, integrity, honor, justice, and courage. Tales abound wherein warriors act nobly, chivalrously, and selflessly. But we have substantial evidence they were not always motivated by noble ideals. Underneath the high- sounding principles lay an equally if not more powerful motivation: self-interest. The world of the samurai, particularly in times of disorder when no strong controlling force existed, was a society in which the law of the jungle prevailed. As historian Karl Friday notes, “The exploits that so enthralled later generations were indeed, larger than life, for they occurred not on any battlefield of the Heian period, but in the imaginations of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteen century litterateurs and jongleurs who recounted them.”13

Expediency and opportunism guided the actions of many warriors who were ready to shift with the changing tide of fortune. “The past is the past, the present is the present,” was the attitude that prevailed in the years when the fortunes of the Taira and Minamoto were shifting rapidly. There are numerous examples of local

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chieftains switching sides when the prevailing political winds shifted. During periods of disorder and strife, the inconstancy of the warriors became particularly remarkable. The latter part of the sixteenth century is also noted for the absence of loyalty among warriors; then, too, they transferred their allegiance freely depending upon the rewards that were forthcoming.

For the sake of expediency, family loyalty and sentiments were sometimes sacrificed. Basically, however, family interests played an important part in the samurai’s system of values. The family was the essential unit upon which the contractual relationship was constructed. The samurai built his power structure by extending his family ties to all his blood relations, enlarging them further by martial connections, and encompassing followers. Such a follower was virtually regarded as a family member and called “a man of the house” (gokenin) or “a child of the house” (ie-no-ko). The lord-vassal relationship was viewed as a father-son relationship. The individual warrior usually served his lord in the hope of extending the interests of his family. In general, individual interest and family interest coincided. When they clashed, however, personal interests often superseded family interests. Stories of a warrior spilling his brother’s blood in a dispute over land and inheritance occurred with distressing frequency.

Once a master-vassal relationship was entered into, ideally the vassal was expected to dedicate his entire life to the service of his master. In return for his loyalty and services, the master was expected to reward him. The entire samurai system was founded on reciprocal relationships of service and rewards. The reward usually took the form of land or an office that entailed a certain income. The protection and security offered the vassal was also part of the benefit that he derived from his contract with his lord. These benefits placed the vassal under the master’s obligation (on). Even a display of good will and benevolence by the master would place the vassal under his on.

A close emotional and psychological bond could lead the vassal to serve his master selflessly without any anticipation of immediate rewards, but more often than not tangible rewards were expected. After serving in battle, vassals openly asked for compensation. When no rewards were forthcoming after the Mongol invasion, some warriors implied that, unless they were properly remunerated, the Bakufu could not expect them to remain loyal. As we shall see, one of the reasons the Kemmu Restoration in the fourteenth century (see below) failed was because the imperial faction could not properly compensate its supporters.

However, when a strong sense of on did develop, the followers of the lord sometimes would join him in death. When the Hōjō faced their downfall, thousands of loyal samurai committed suicide to share the fate of their masters but also to avoid the ignominy of surrender and torture. A samurai who enjoyed the special favor of his master was expected to accompany him to the next world, a tradition that continued into modern times. Even during the peaceful rule of the Tokugawa

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shōgun, the samurai were expected to join their dead lords by committing suicide. The Bakufu found it necessary to ban this practice in 1663.

The practice of committing suicide by disemboweling oneself with the sword (known as seppuku or hara-kiri) emerged around the end of the twelfth century and became a highly ritualized affair, particularly in the Tokugawa period. Warriors might be ordered to commit seppuku for violation of the samurai code of conduct, or they might voluntarily commit seppuku if they felt disgraced in any way. Warriors also committed suicide to expiate mistakes or transgressions, to protest against unjust actions, and to persuade superiors to refrain from following a certain course of action. Gruesome as this practice might seem, it brings into focus one positive aspect of the code of the warrior, namely, their willingness to play the game strictly by the rules and assume total responsibility, paying the full price for whatever action they take. Alternatively, it graphically indicates the madness created when men chose to base their social ethos on warrior expectations. Such natural emotions as parental, filial, fraternal, or sexual love were branded as effete, but unnatural loyalties engendered in battle became paramount and “normal.”

To be properly rewarded for heroic exploits in battle, witnesses were necessary. So it was said that “to cut into the enemy all alone, and die unseen by any witnesses is a futile action. This is called ‘a dog’s death.’ Only when a warrior charges into the enemy and sacrifices his life while his friends are nearby would he gain fame, and his descendants be properly rewarded.”14 So, honor and reputation were valued not only for idealistic reasons but for the tangible results that would accrue. The descendants who benefited from the heroic achievements of their ancestors were expected to be aware of the on owed and to honor and revere them.

To gain fame and honor for themselves and their families, the samurai, of course, had to excel in military exploits and be fortified with the Spartan virtues of courage, strength, discipline, and endurance. They were not to waste their time in aesthetic or cultural pursuits. “A person born into a military family,” one warrior is purported to have said, “must pursue the way of the military. Of what use is it to allow the mind to concentrate on the moon and flowers, compose poems, and learn how to play musical instruments? What good would it do to play the koto [a Japanese harp] and flute in the battlefield? Members of my household, including women, must learn to ride wild horses, and shoot powerful bows and arrows.”15

Above all, the warrior had to be indifferent to considerations of life and death. Regardless of how one may romanticize the exploits of the samurai, their chief function was to kill their foes. Life had to be held cheaply, and a callousness necessarily characterized the samurai outlook. Thus, not only were the warriors ruthless and cold blooded about killing their enemies on the battlefield, they were also frequently as heartless in their treatment of the aged, women, and children, although the code of the warrior required the samurai to protect and aid the weak,

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the injured, and the defeated. For example, when Yoritomo was in exile in Izu, he had a love affair with the daughter of the official who was assigned the task of keeping him under surveillance. A baby girl was born of this relationship. When the official, who had been away in Kyoto for several years, returned and found out about this affair, fearing the reaction of the Taira, he threw the innocent little girl down a well.

The Spartan virtues of the samurai were also demanded of women. Young girls were trained to repress their feelings, to harden their nerves, and even to use weapons. The samurai’s treatment of women in the Kamakura period was quite different from the relationships of aristocratic couples during the Heian era. The samurai’s wife was expected to reside with her husband. She was to aid him in advancing his family interests and to manage the affairs of the household. Upon his death she inherited his property and was expected to take charge of the family and perform the duties of a vassal. As the practice of equal inheritance was abandoned in favor of single inheritance, however, women’s property rights declined, and they were increasingly relegated to an inferior position.

The method of warfare during this period deserves some comment. The chief weapons used were the bow and arrow and the long sword. It is said that some Minamoto warriors used such powerful bows that it required three to five people to stretch the bow and shoot the arrow. The arrows for such bows were almost four feet long. Contending warriors usually faced each other on horseback. They wore suits of armor that did not provide full protection from the flying missiles, which might have a range of 45–110 yards. Each knight was armed with twenty to thirty arrows, which he usually shot while mounted. Once the arrows were depleted, the warriors turned to single combat. Each warrior called out his name to identify himself and seek out a worthy opponent. As the two combatants approached each other on horseback, each warrior tried to cut down his opponent with his long sword. This was rather difficult to accomplish, however, because the knights usually charged swiftly past each other. Hence each sought to knock his opponent off his horse, wrestle him to the ground, get on top of him, and use his short sword (wakizashi) to slit his throat. The victor usually cut off his opponent’s head to prove that he had finished him off or, if the victim happened to be an important foe, to be properly rewarded for it.

A certain code of combat was followed before the Minamoto-Taira conflict. For instance, both sides would agree on the site of combat and avoid using treacherous means to take unfair advantage of the enemy. But the Minamoto and Taira were not playing a game; they were involved in a bitter struggle to the end. As a result, sneak attacks were frequently resorted to and came to be an accepted mode of combat. Also, although at the beginning of the Kamakura era it was considered unfair to shoot the horse from under one’s adversary, later in the period warriors deliberately aimed at the underbelly of the opponents’ horses. Warfare

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was becoming a much more ruthless and sanguinary affair. Karl Friday suggests that the warriors “made few distinctions between honorable and dishonorable tactics. Their concern was overwhelmingly with the accomplishment of their objectives by the most efficient means available, with scant regard for the lives and property of women, children, and other non-combatants, or any notion of fair play.”16

Indeed, because battle rewards often were easier to earn if one presented the head of one’s enemy as proof of one’s exploits, wounded samurai seldom survived scavengers’ sweep of the battlefields in search of prizes. It was not uncommon for the heads of women, the aged, and even children to be presented in hopes of rewards. Buddhist priests tidied up afterward, returning heads to the corpses in the area.

WOMEN AND INHERITANCE

By far the greatest effect of the Mongol invasions was on the role and status of women in Japan. As noted previously, women enjoyed high status during the prehistoric, Yamato, Nara, and Heian eras. Even with the descent of society into the savage madness of institutionalized warfare, women continued to maintain considerable influence on the basis of their customary social roles as nurturers. Their shamanic powers gave them charisma as spirit mediums, healers, oracles, and transmitters of culture. But most of all, their continued status was determined in part by their ability to own, inherit, and transmit property to their heirs.

Matrilocality continued to exist in the countryside, and of course the Fujiwara highly influenced the imperial house in what we have characterized as “uterine politics.” Scholars have noted that every emperor was as much a member of the Fujiwara uji as he was Yamato. Scions were raised in the Fujiwara household where their maternal relationships were often more powerful and enduring than their relations with their fathers. As long as women continued to have considerable influence over the ownership and alienation of land, their social roles seemed to be safe because, as Jeffrey Mass notes, “Women were daughters and sisters before they were wives, mothers, and widows.”17

Movement toward the shōen had taken a good deal of land out of the control of women, but even the increasing power of the warrior class had not precluded women from public roles. Obviously men began to predominate in warfare, but women often inherited political positions from their fathers, husbands, and even sons when they died. Some women actually served as warriors, but more often they hired or designated subordinates to serve in their stead without loss of status or land rights.

With the national emergency represented by the Mongol invasions, however, the Kamakura Bakufu instituted inheritance practices that severely undercut the rights

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of women. The Bakufu ruled that its gokenin could no longer partition their estates, which previously they had been free to divide as they saw fit. Now it was decreed in the interest of concentrated military power that these estates were to be inherited and the household (ie) ruled by a single male heir who owned loyalty and service to his warrior lord. All other sons, and of course daughters, were to become his vassals. Women could still inherit property, mostly from their mothers, and they could will that property to their daughters. But they had no rights to what became an indivisible patrimony.18

Obviously many charismatic women continued to wield considerable power and influence within their families, but they could not hand down that charisma to their daughters. Peasant women continued to contribute their agricultural labor to the household, and many also contributed guile, artistry, and craft to what have been called the “cottage industries” (weaving, pottery, straw handicrafts, etc.). Artisan women similarly played important roles in the production of goods, and merchant women remained essential to their family’s economic concerns. But samurai women had no similar roles. Their loss of land rights was as devastating to women as when the Taika-Taihō Chinese-style reforms had deprived them of political positions back in the eighth century.

As we shall see shortly below, the advent of Chinese-influenced Buddhism contributed to women’s denigration. Historian Barbara Ruch notes that “Buddhism, like Christianity, has had a dismal history of discrimination against women. Theologically women were viewed as inherently flawed, as both defiled and defiling; they were forbidden to enter even the grounds of the major Buddhist centers of learning and worship, such as Mount Hiei and Mount Kōya, and they were also barred by doctrine from attaining Buddhahood.”19

KAMAKURA BUDDHISM

During the Heian period, Buddhism was a religion restricted primarily to the upper segment of the society, but in the Kamakura era it spread rapidly among the common people. There are several reasons the Kamakura period became an era of religious ferment. For one thing, it followed an age of disorder and chaos—the time of troubles at the end of the Heian and beginning of the Kamakura eras. Civil strife was widespread and continuous; great powers rose and fell. Moreover, human- made disasters were aggravated by natural calamities—earthquakes, floods, and droughts. Famines and epidemics followed. The Buddhist concept of the decline of the law and the end of the world (mappō) seemed to be becoming a reality.

Some Buddhists preached that the third age of the Buddha20 was that of the End of Law when even the Buddha’s holy law could not triumph over evil; people were left to their own devices. By some reckoning, the third age began in 1052, which

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was the beginning of the series of civil wars in Japan. People turned to religion for consolation and security, but the older religious sects failed to satisfy their spiritual needs. The monks, who lived in worldly splendor and stressed the mechanical and ritualistic aspects of the religion, had removed themselves from the common people. Thus, to meet the spiritual needs of the people, several new sects came into existence.

The movement that won widespread adherence was Amida Buddhism, which had been introduced to Japan during the middle of the Heian period. It belonged to the Mahayana branch of Buddhism that—unlike Theravada Buddhism, which equated salvation primarily with the attainment of enlightenment through self-effort and the extinction of the erroneous sense of the self we possess—envisioned a rebirth into another world, a Buddhist paradise, a land of bliss.

This was to be achieved through the aid of merciful Buddhas and bodhisattvas who, after having attained enlightenment themselves, delayed their entrance into paradise to help those remaining behind gain salvation too. The Buddhist paradise is not the ultimate goal but rather a place where individuals incapable of attaining enlightenment by their own merit will be aided in doing so and will thus be able to achieve the ultimate goal of nirvana, extinction of the self.

For the common people, however, entrance into the Buddhist paradise became a goal in itself. Theravada Buddhism did not envision the existence of Buddhist deities, whereas Mahayana Buddhism conceived of a multitude of divine Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The tendency to idolize and even worship the Buddha had developed early in history, however. By the first century CE, he was represented in images that were venerated by believers. Then bodhisattvas—enlightened beings— came to be revered by some members of the Buddhist community. Next, the doctrine of the three Buddhas came into existence. The Buddha, it was taught, has three bodies—the Body of Essence, the Body of Bliss, and the Created Body. The Body of Essence is the primordial Buddha, permeating the universe. The historical Buddha is the Created Body. The Body of Bliss takes the form of many Buddhas, but for the development of Mahayana Buddhism in Japan the most significant of these was Amida Buddha, or Amitabha (Immeasurable Glory), who dwells in the western paradise where all the faithful can enter.

In the Heian period a monk called Genshin (942–1017) sought to propagate Amida Buddhism in Japan. He wrote the Essentials of Salvation and prepared the ground for the emergence of the Pure Land Sect during the Kamakura period. Genshin was concerned with making salvation, that is, entry into the western paradise, possible for everyone, regardless of class status or gender. In his day, the path to salvation involved the understanding of difficult scriptures, metaphysical training, participation in complex rituals, adherence to rigorous spiritual discipline and purity of conduct, and doing good works, such as the dedication of images and temples to Buddha. These things were not possible for everyone. How then could

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common people gain salvation? This could be achieved through devotion to Amida Buddha and the recitation of his name, said Genshin.

Other monks preached this doctrine also, and the movement gained some following among the aristocracy. But the powerful monasteries were still concerned primarily with furthering their economic and political interests, even maintaining their own armies, as noted earlier. Initially, Amidism had little effect on the traditional religious practices of the major sects. It was still believed that the invocation of Amida’s name had to involve an understanding of its profound meaning and a mental visualization of the land of bliss to be truly effective. The blessings to be derived from the recitation of Amida Buddha’s name by itself are slight. The troubles and disorder of the late Heian period, however, turned the people toward a religion that offered them a place in the land of bliss and an escape from the miseries of this world.

The monk who popularized Amidism and founded an independent sect was Hōnen (1133–1212), offering those who could not save themselves by their own efforts an easy path to salvation. He taught that faith in the compassionate mercy of Amida Buddha and the sincere repetition of his name are sufficient for salvation and entrance into the land of bliss. Metaphysical training, spiritual discipline, and personal effort are not essential for salvation, which could be achieved by total reliance on the saving power of Amida Buddha. The Pure Land Buddhists emphasized the significance of Amida Buddha over all other Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The founder of Buddhism, Gautama, or Shakyamuni, was looked upon as only a teacher and transmitter of the faith, not a divinity to be worshipped.

To become independent of the older sects that emphasized traditional practices, Hōnen founded his own sect known as the Jōdo (Pure Land) Sect. His unorthodox views disturbed the existing sects; he was subjected to constant persecution and finally exiled from Kyoto late in his life. His sect flourished, however, and he won a wide following among the aristocracy as well as the common people. Yoritomo’s wife, Hōjō Masako, was one of his devoted followers. As part of his advocacy for women in Buddhism, Hōnen taught that women could eventually achieve enlightenment. He noted that Amida could transform women into men and thereby allow them to be reborn into the pure land.21

Hōnen’s disciple Shinran (1173–1262) simplified his master’s teachings even further and made Pure Land Buddhism truly a religion of the masses. Hōnen and his other disciples believed that the more one recited the Amida Buddha’s name, the better one’s chances of salvation. It was even asserted that Amida Buddha’s name should be invoked 70,000 times a day. Shinran, however, taught that one sincere invocation of Amida’s name is sufficient for a believer to gain salvation and entry into the western paradise. Believers might, if they so desired, continue to repeat Amida’s name in order to honor him, but it is not necessary for salvation. If repeated invocations of the name were necessary, Shinran reasoned, it would mean

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that salvation was still dependent upon individual effort. Believers would not be throwing themselves completely upon the mercy and compassion of Amida Buddha, indicating a lack of faith in his saving power. Shinran even discontinued chanting the sutras, which until then was believed to contribute to the salvation of others. This too, Shinran held, would be contrary to the belief that only the invocation of Amida’s name was necessary for salvation.

Shinran went further than his master in another aspect. He concluded that all external conduct was irrelevant to salvation. Entry into the land of bliss was not dependent on whether one was moral or immoral. Amida was not a stern judge but rather a compassionate savior. All people, good or bad, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, clerical or secular, would be saved by the merciful Amida. In fact, Shinran taught that the wicked might have a better chance of being saved because they have to rely wholly on the mercy of Amida Buddha while good people might be inclined to feel that they can rely on their own good conduct to gain salvation. What is necessary is complete reliance on “the other power.” The Tannishō, a collection of his sayings, records that Shinran declared, “If the good can gain salvation, there is all the more reason to believe that the wicked can win salvation.”22

Because external conduct was irrelevant to salvation, Shinran concluded that traditional injunctions against eating meat, drinking alcoholic beverages, and so on were unimportant. He also rejected all forms of ritualism and ascetic practices. Furthermore, he repudiated monasticism and clerical celibacy; there was no need for the clergy to maintain a different mode of life than the laity. He himself married and had a number of children. This does not mean, of course, that Shinran and his followers were unconcerned about moral conduct. Shinran believed that by giving oneself over completely to Amida Buddha one automatically became moral. As Shinran developed his own interpretation of Amida Buddhism, he and his disciples came to consider themselves the “true” adherents of the Pure Land Sect.

Amida Buddhist sects were truly egalitarian in that they made salvation possible for the most humble and ignorant person. Shinran consciously sought to spread his teachings to the common people, and he gained a wide following, particularly among the peasants. It soon became the most popular of the Buddhist sects and even today has one of the largest body of followers.23

The second important Buddhist sect that arose during the Kamakura period was the Nichiren (Lotus) Sect. Born into a lowly fisherman’s family, Nichiren (1222– 1282) founded a powerful Buddhist sect and became prominent enough to defy the Bakufu. Some students of Buddhism question whether Nichiren can be classified as a Buddhist because of his narrow ethnocentric sentiments. According to one authority on Buddhism, it is more appropriate to consider this sect an offshoot of nationalistic Shintōism: “Nichiren suffered from self-assertiveness and bad temper,

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and he manifested a degree of personal and tribal egotism which disqualify him as a Buddhist teacher.”24

Yet the source of Nichiren’s religious faith was Buddhism. He preached that salvation is to be achieved by the repeated invocation of the Lotus Sutra, which contains the true teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Lotus Sutra emphasizes the importance of the three bodies of Buddha, that is, the universal Buddha (Dainichi Nyorai, or the Body of Essence), Amida Buddha (the Body of Bliss), and the historical Buddha (the Created Body). Nichiren taught that all three should be regarded as a unity and equal in importance, unlike other sects that stressed only one of the three. Insofar as Nichiren taught that salvation can be gained by the simple recitation of the name of the Lotus Sutra, he paralleled the teachings of the Pure Land sects.

Unlike the other Buddhist masters, Nichiren was extremely dogmatic, intolerant, and aggressive. He violently condemned all other sects for what he considered to be their erroneous beliefs, and he looked upon himself as a reincarnation of the bodhisattva of action mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. He embarked upon the task of eliminating the false teachings of the other sects and replacing them with his own “true” interpretation of the Buddhist scriptures. Unlike the other Buddhist sects, the Lotus Sect was militant, activist, and zealous, reflecting the personality of its founder.

In criticizing the other sects, Nichiren argued that the natural calamities, famines, and epidemics of his day were caused by the prevalence of false religions. He was particularly critical of Hōnen and the Pure Land Sect, but he did not spare the other sects either. In his criticisms of other religious leaders, he resorted to bitter invectives. He attacked all those who did not submit to his views and even turned his wrath upon Ninshō, a monk renowned for his charitable activities.

Nichiren emerges as one of Japan’s earliest superpatriots. He did not limit himself to the task of saving the souls of individuals; he considered himself the savior of Japan. “I will be,” he proclaimed, “the Pillar of Japan. I will be the Eyes of Japan. I will be the Great Vessel of Japan.”25 He predicted the invasion of Japan by the Mongols and insisted that the only way the country could be saved from this calamity was to adopt his religion. His aim was to make his the official state religion.

Nichiren emphasized the concept of requiting one’s obligation (on) to the sovereign. This was to be achieved through faith and devotion to the Nichiren Sect. Service to the Lotus Sect was to be identified with service to the country. Conversely, he taught that Buddhism could not prevail without the country. Thus, national security had to be the primary concern of all true Buddhists, and the way to strengthen the country was through the propagation of the true faith. His teachings, he said, “are not designed to further my own interests, but the interests of the gods

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[kami], the ruler, the country, and all the people.”26 He came to concern himself more with the salvation of the country than the individual. Japan to him was the land of the gods, destined to become the center of the universal religion, that is, the Nichiren Sect.

Nichiren, like a good Shintōist, considered Japan a unique land. He compared India, where Buddhism was born, to the moon and Japan to the sun. The moon moves west to east relative to the stars or over the course of the month, thus Buddhism moved from India to Japan. The sun moves from east to west, so, according to Nichiren’s line of thinking, Japanese Buddhism would spread westward, back to India. He was happy, he said, to be born in a land that was protected by the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu.

His uncompromising, aggressive attacks on the other sects and his scathing criticisms of the Bakufu for supporting them repeatedly led Nichiren into difficulties, but he won a wide following among the samurai, who were attracted to his positive, dynamic point of view as well as to his emphasis on fulfilling one’s obligations to the country through service.

The Nichiren Sect continued its growth and became one of the major Buddhist sects. It retained the unique character stamped upon it by its founder and continued to represent an unusual combination of Buddhism and militant ethnocentrism. In the modern era it contributed to the rise of ultranationalism and was used to support the imperialistic policies of the militarists.

Zen Buddhism was the third significant Buddhist movement to emerge in the Kamakura period. Each contributed something unique and significant to Japanese history and culture. Zen Buddhism had its greatest impact in the cultural sphere, in molding the aesthetic taste of the Japanese.

Zen (Ch’an in China) Buddhism was, it was said, introduced to China by an Indian monk, Bodhidharma, about 520 CE, although it is now believed that the doctrine of meditation had entered China much earlier. Some aspects of Ch’an Buddhism had entered Japan prior to the Kamakura period and were adopted by the older sects, but it was not until this time that it emerged as an influential, independent movement.

Zen Buddhism differs from the Pure Land and Nichiren Sects in that it emphasizes self-reliance, while they emphasize reliance on external powers. The ultimate goal of the Zen Buddhists is not entrance into the Buddhist paradise but the attainment of enlightenment (satori), which involves the acquisition of insight into one’s true or original nature and the comprehension of the nature of reality. Buddhists believe that beneath the surface manifestations that lead us to distinguish between the subject and the object, between this and that, there is an underlying unity or reality that, when the surface illusions are removed, can be perceived as a “great void,” a reality that is infinite. The object of the Zen Buddhists is to enter this reality itself, not simply to come into contact with it the way a Christian seeks

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to come into contact with God. When individuals attain satori, they become immersed in reality just as naturally as a fish finds itself in water.

Satori, according to the Zen Buddhists, is to be achieved through an intuitive grasp of the nature of reality by means of meditation and concentration, not by relying on the intellect or reasoned knowledge. Just as the hand that grasps cannot grasp itself, the reason that seeks to comprehend cannot comprehend itself. Satori occurs as a sudden and direct perception of reality.

Study of the scriptures, metaphysical speculation, and performance of rituals are useless in this quest for enlightenment. All the embellishments and trimmings of the religion must be eliminated if believers are to probe directly into their soul to grasp their Buddha-nature. When they attain enlightenment and comprehend reality, they cannot transmit it to others by use of words because it is a completely subjective process. The message that Bodhidharma brought to China was that satori is a special transmission outside the scriptures; it has no dependence upon words and letters; it is a direct pointing at the soul of man; it involves seeing into one’s nature and the attainment of Buddhahood.27

Zen Buddhism emerged in Kamakura Japan as a major force largely through the efforts of two monks, Eisai (1141–1215) and Dōgen (1200–1253). Both had traveled to China and studied under Ch’an masters. Returning to Japan, they embarked upon the propagation of Zen Buddhism. Eisai founded the Rinzai Sect, and Dōgen the Sōtō Sect. No fundamental differences divided the two sects. The former, however, tended to emphasize the importance of kōan, enigmatic, paradoxical themes for the acolyte to concentrate on.

The kōan was designed to break the mind’s customary habit of thinking in rational, logical terms and to force it to attain sudden, intuitive insights into reality. They simply serve as means of derailing the mind from the path of ratiocination. One of the kōan given to an initiate to contemplate is “Listen to the sound of the Single Hand!” Another is “Thinking neither of good nor of evil, at this very moment what was the original aspect before your father and mother were born?”28

The kōan results in the liberation of the unconscious. Evoked by the enormous psychological strain of trying to force a solution of the insoluble kōan problem, enlightenment is experienced as the dawn of a new reality, in which the boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious disappear, and conscious and unconscious alike are openly revealed. The Zen disciple realizes the totality of human nature in its primal unity, prior to all discrimination and division.29

Although the Sōtō Sect did not reject the kōan, it emphasized zazen, or sitting in meditation, above all. While one is sitting in meditation the kōan is not employed, because the object of zazen is to free the mind of all mundane things. Sōtō adherents consider the kōan, insofar as it is motivated by the desire to gain sudden insight into reality, a manifestation of the self.

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Zazen entails a prescribed posture, regulation of the breath, and special concentration to still the mind in order to control the emotions and strengthen the will. Then one looks into the “heart-mind” to discover the true nature of existence. The end of zazen was not only satori-awakening but also the spiritual and moral development of its practitioners, who, hopefully, will emerge as people of virtue and of all-embracing compassion and wisdom. In the process of sitting in meditation, Dōgen asserted, one’s Buddha-nature is being realized.

Although the practice of kōan might induce sudden enlightenment, zazen ordinarily does not result in an abrupt expansion of consciousness or the onset of a sudden sense of buoyancy and exhilaration. Even though a profound inner transformation takes place when satori is achieved, individuals themselves, it is contended, may not even be aware of it initially. In some instances, however, a sense of elation and buoyancy evidently do occur. A Zen monk of the Meiji era (1868–1912) said he achieved satori “in a flash” and that in the instance “I forgot that my hands were moving in the air and that my feet were dancing.”30

Because the Zen masters did not preach the easy way to salvation as did the masters of the Pure Land Sects, Zen did not become a mass movement. Instead, it tended to be a religion of the elite, those who had the strength of character and willpower to work out their own salvation. It gained a strong following among the samurai and the ruling class. It was said that “the Tendai is for the royal family, the Shingon for the nobility, the Zen for the warrior classes, and the Jōdo for the masses.”31 Zen’s emphasis on discipline, single-minded concentration, simplicity, and a direct and decisive approach to life and reality appealed to the samurai, who had to face the moment of truth constantly in the field of battle and act with singleness of purpose and firmness of will. Suzuki Daisetsu points out that Zen appealed to the samurai “because it teaches us not to look backward once the course is decided upon . . . because it treats life and death indifferently.”32

Thus Zen became the moral and philosophical mainstay of many in the Japanese military from the Kamakura period to the modern age. Even in prewar Japan many military officers entered Zen monasteries to discipline themselves to face the enemy on the battlefield. The Zen point of view played an important role in the formation of the Way of the Warriors, which required the samurai to conduct themselves with honor, courage, and dignity in face of ever-present death. To live up to these ideals the samurai had to come to terms with the problem of death and conquer their fear of it. A seventeenth-century samurai wrote, “The idea most vital and essential to the samurai is that of death, which he ought to have before his mind day and night.”33 Zen helped the samurai to cope with this problem. Takeda Shingen (1521–1573), a warlord of the sixteenth century, an occasional Tendai monk, and a student of Zen, advised his warriors, “Devote yourselves to the study of Zen. Zen has no secrets other than seriously thinking about birth and death.”34

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Zen certainly played a positive role in disciplining the samurai and training them to deal with the problem of death. But rising above considerations of one’s own life and death could also entail a general indifference to the life and death of other people. In the words of an authority on Japanese thought, “to get accustomed to the idea of death is to treat death lightly.”35 Suzuki asserts that the Zen master does not use the sword to kill but that the sword itself performs its function automatically to eliminate the enemy who appears to injure the Zen swordfighter. This explanation does not resolve the unpleasant paradox. To prepare the swordfighter to kill efficiently is a far cry from the profound mercy and compassion that led Gautama Buddha to embark on his search for a way to relieve the suffering of his fellow people. Not all samurai were adherents of Zen, however; many chose other sects including the Pure Land and Nichiren.

This aspect of Zen Buddhism is, of course, only one phase of its varied contributions to Japanese life and culture. It contributed to the development and refinement of the tea ceremony, the art of gardening and flower arrangement, sword making, Nō drama, painting, ceramics, and haiku, as we shall see in later chapters.

Moreover, the Zen masters were certainly not indifferent to human suffering. Buddhist monks in Japan have a long tradition of charitable activities. There is a story that Eisai gave to the poor a piece of copper that had been intended to make a halo for an image of Buddha. When he was criticized for this, he replied, “You are right, but just consider the will of the Buddha. He sacrificed his very flesh and limbs for the sake of all mankind. If some men are about to die of starvation, would he not want us to give the whole Buddha figure to save them?”36 Dōgen, too, sought to instill the spirit of charity among his disciples. A monk of the Tokugawa period, Ryōkan (1758–1831), who was known for his simple and humble way of life as well as for his love of all living things, was a member of the Sōtō Sect. He extended his selfless love to his fellow people, aiding the poor, and even showing compassion to thieves.

The two monks most renowned for their charitable social work during the Kamakura period, however, belonged to the Ritsu Sect, which emerged in the Nara period and enjoyed a revival during the Kamakura era. Eison (1201–1290) devoted his life to helping thousands of outcasts, beggars, the homeless, the sick, and lepers. His disciple Ninshō (1217–1303) followed in his master’s footsteps and built hospitals and homes for orphans, beggars, and outcasts and cared for the lepers. Every other day for several years he carried a young leper back and forth on his back five miles to the outskirts of Nara to enable him to beg in the streets.

During this period the practice of monks traveling throughout the countryside to extend the blessings of Amida Buddha became widespread. The most popular of these wandering saints was Ippen (1239–1289), whose followers eventually merged with the True Pure Land Sect. Ippen danced about while chanting the name

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of Amida Buddha and is credited by some with having originated the Bon dances performed to console the souls of the departed.

CULTURE

The pragmatic, realistic outlook of the samurai is reflected in the art of the Kamakura period. Portraits of actual personalities rather than idealistic images of Buddhist deities are a prominent feature of Kamakura art. The most famous such painting is one of Ashikaga Tadayoshi (1306–1352, Takauji’s older brother, see below). The artist presumably portrays him as he actually appeared, with relatively close-set eyes, a large curving nose, and a face wider at the bottom than at the top. The art of painting narrative scrolls (emakimono) also continued to flourish. These picture scrolls were long, often more than forty feet in length, and were unrolled from right to left. They depicted scenes from renowned battles or episodes from the lives of religious personalities such as Ippen. A scroll depicting the Heiji Insurrection is the most representative of the narrative picture scrolls. The paintings in this scroll are characterized by forcefulness, animation, and realistic details. The landscapes depicted in the scroll paintings of this era also became more realistic, serving not simply as decorative settings but as representations of local scenes.

Another noteworthy feature of the scroll paintings of this period was the introduction of a satirical element into the medium. Comic strip–like drawings of animals satirizing the human world—attributed formerly to a Buddhist monk, Toba Sōjō (1053–1140), but now believed to be works of the thirteenth century—are especially unique. Animals such as frogs, monkeys, and hares are used to make fun of the rituals of the Buddhist priests and the devotions of the pilgrims.

In sculpture, too, the spirit of the samurai is discernible. We have the vigorous, powerful, and somewhat grotesque—because of the exaggerated muscles and tendons—works of Unkei and Kaikei. They carved the twenty-six-foot-high Deva kings that guard the gateway of the Tōdaiji Temple in Nara, which was rebuilt at the end of the twelfth century after being destroyed by fire during the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto families. These huge statues successfully convey a sense of tactile value, movement, and force.

In architecture the major effort was still expended in the construction of Buddhist temples. Reflecting the Zen influence, clarity of line and simplicity of decor were increasingly stressed. In domestic dwellings, the stress was also on simplicity. In the middle of the thirteenth century the forty-two-foot-tall Great Buddha of Kamakura was built. Representing the serene majesty of the Amida Buddha, the figure is in the yogi position, with legs crossed and hands in the gesture of meditation.

During the age of the samurai, the art of sword making reached new heights of

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excellence, and many great master sword smiths emerged, the greatest being Masamune (1264–1344), whose creations are valued today as rare treasures. It is said that no sword of any age or country can surpass the Kamakura swords. The samurai sword had to have a “blade keen enough to hack through armor but resilient enough not to snap on impact.”37 To produce such a sword, the sword smith forged a compound blade with carbon steel or white cast iron on the cutting edge, a mild metal in the center, and a fairly soft but unbrittle iron on the back. When steel alone was used, the process of welding and folding was repeated until a blade consisting of more than 4 million layers of steel was forged. Armor making also became a fine art. The grand armor of this era was especially rich in decoration: gilt bronze, patterned leather, and figured textile.

The art of ceramics came into its own also, thanks to the influence of Sung China. The town of Seto, near Nagoya, became the center for pottery manufacture and has remained the leading ceramics center to the present. The term Setoware became a generic term for pottery. This art acquired greater significance in the next era (the Ashikaga period), when the tea ceremony became popular among the ruling class.

In literature the great romantic war stories, such as The Tale of the Heike, The Rise and Fall of the Genji and Heike, The Tale of Hogen, and The Tale of Heiji, were written during this period. They were not composed by the samurai themselves but by nobles and priests, so the sentiments described in them do not directly represent those of the samurai. They do reflect the general outlook of the age, however, as well as the alleged ethos of the samurai: martial valor, courage, loyalty, and integrity. The Buddhist outlook on life, with its emphasis on the ephemeral and transitory nature of all things and its belief in the inevitable fall of those who have risen, sets the tone of these works.38 Thus, a sense of melancholy and sorrow pervades many of the tales, notably the Tale of the Heike, which depicts the heroic exploits of the samurai in the course of the rise and fall of the Taira clan. The tale starts with the lines “In the sound of the bell of the Gion Temple echoes the impermanence of all things . . . the mighty ones too will perish in the end, like dust before the wind.”39

This sense of the ephemeral nature of all things runs through the entire tale and is stated over and over. “‘Those who are born must die; those that meet must part,’ is the way of the world. ‘The last dew or the first drop,’ one must go before the other, and whether one dies first or last, all must leave this world at last.”40 The only consolation in this life was to be found in a Buddhist renunciation of the mundane world and the hope of being reborn into the western paradise.

The Hōjōki, a collection of personal observations by Kamo-no-Chōmei (1151– 1213) written in 1212, embodies the same sense of the ethereal nature of life. It compares humans to the foam that floats on the river: “whether they are born or

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whether they die, we know not whence they come nor whither they go.”41 During this period the composing of waka, a poem of thirty-one syllables—a

pastime that flourished at the Heian court—continued to be pursued by the courtiers. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, an anthology of waka was compiled under the auspices of a retired emperor. This was the Shinkokinshū (New Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems), which, with the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū, constitutes one of the three most prominent collections of early Japanese poems.

Several histories or chronicles were also written in this era. Of particular interest is the Gukanshō (Jottings of a fool), written by a monk named Jien (1155– 1225). Its significance lies in the fact that the author viewed the course of Japanese history as a process governed by a general principle. It was the first attempt at a philosophical interpretation of history in Japan. Jien characterized Japanese history in terms of the Buddhist theory of the periodic decline of the Law of Buddha. He was noted as saying that his era was a time when the law had already deteriorated. This view, as we noted earlier, was common at the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries.

Jien divided Japanese history into seven stages and identified the decline of the Law of Buddha with the decline in the authority of the imperial family. Governed by this principle of decline and degeneration, history moved forward inexorably in accordance with the law. The rise of the military, which had deprived the imperial house of all political power, could not be challenged because it was brought about by the general principle of history and was therefore inevitable. One had to accept the existing situation and await the return of the law after the period of its absence had spent itself.

NOTES 1. The position of the shugo was “an 1190s Yoritomo invention essentially to aid the

bakufu in keeping the latter’s own vassals in check,” and the jitō were “war-period outlaws with whom Yoritomo, as emergency police chief, became unavoidably identified.” Jeffrey Mass, Warrior Government in Early Medieval Japan (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1974), 10.

2. As mentioned in Chapter 2, literally, “barbarian-subduing generalissimo.” The office in the Heian era had been devoted to suppressing the emishi-ezo in the far northern parts of Honshu and Hokkaido.

3. Wakita Haruko and Suzanne Gay, “Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan from the Perspective of Women’s History,” Journal of Japanese Studies 10, no. 1 (Winter 1984), 79–80.

4. See ibid. 5. See Martin Collcutt’s “Nun Shogun: Politics and Religion in the Life of Hōjō Masako

(1157–1225),” in Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan, ed. Barbara Ruch (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002), 165–177.

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6. See Karen Brazell’s translation, The Confessions of Lady Nijo (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1973). See also her shorter article “Towazugatari: Autobiography of a Kamakura Court Lady,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 31 (1971): 220–233.

7. For a short treatment of Japan’s ship-building techniques, see William Wayne Farris, Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009), 48 and 148.

8. See Ethan I. Segal, Coins, Trade and the State: Economic Growth in Early Medieval Japan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011). For the trade during the Nara era, see William Wayne Farris, “Trade, Money, and Merchants in Nara Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica 53, no. 3 (Autumn 1998), 303–334.

9. C. Melvin Aikens estimates as many as a million. See his chapter “Origins of the Japanese People,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 55–65.

10. See the following three interesting articles: Benjamin H. Hazard, “The Formative Years of the Wako, 1223–1263,” Monumenta Nipponica 22, nos. 3/4 (1967): 260–277; Jurgis Elisonas, “The Inseparable Trinity: Japan’s Relations with China and Korea,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. John Whitney Hall and James L. McClain, vol. 4, Early Modern Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991); and Zuikei Shuho and Charlotte von Verschuer, “Japan’s Foreign Relations 1200–1392 A.D.: A Translation from “Zenrin Kokuhōki,” Monumenta Nipponica 57, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 413–445.

11. Considerable controversy has arisen about whether two typhoons struck seven years apart. Recent archeological discoveries in the waters of Hakata Bay shed some light, but most Japanese-language sources continue to claim two typhoons. See Thomas Conlan, In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga’s Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002).

12. For an interesting discussion on the topic, see Segal, Coins, Trade and the State, 108–109.

13. Karl F. Friday, “Valorous Butchers: The Art of War during the Golden Age of the Samurai,” Japan Forum 5, no. 1 (April 1993): 1.

14. Quoted in Ienaga Saburō, Nihon Dōtokushisōshi [History of Japanese moral thought] (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1951), 78.

15. Quoted in Okada Akio et al., Nihon no Rekishi [A history of Japan], 12 vols. (Tokyo: Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1959–1960), 4:186.

16. Friday, Butchers, 8. See also his “Bushidó or Bull? A Medieval Historian’s Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition,” History Teacher 27, no. 3 (1994): 339–349.

17. Jeffrey Mass, “Patterns of Provincial Inheritance in Late Heian Japan,” Journal of Japanese Studies 9, no. 1 (Winter 1983): 77.

18. For related inheritance practices, see Janet R. Goodwin, “Shadows of Transgression: Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution,” Monumenta Nipponica 55, no. 3 (Autumn 2000): 358.

19. Barbara Ruch, “The Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. Kozo Yamamura, vol. 3, Medieval Japan (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 505.

20. The first was the Age of the Right Dharma, to last five hundred to a thousand years after the Buddha, the next five hundred to a thousand years was Age of Semblance

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Dharma. See William R. LaFleur, The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 1–9.

21. Kasahara Kenju, ed., A History of Japanese Religion (Tokyo: Kosei, 2002), 293. 22. Ibid., 288. 23. Statistics about religion are notoriously imprecise. Newspaper polls suggest that the

total number of followers of the Pure Land and True Pure Land sects was 26.4 million in 2008 (almost 20 percent of the population). Of these, about 19 million belonged to the various branches of the True Pure Land Sect.

24. Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and Development (New York: Harper, 1959), 206.

25. Quoted in Masaharu Anesaki, History of Japanese Religion (Tokyo: Tuttle, 1963), 198.

26. Ibid., 201. 27. William Barrett, ed., Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings of D. T. Suzuki (Garden

City, NY: Doubleday, 1956), 61. 28. I. Miura and R. F. Sasaki, The Zen Koan (New York: Harcourt, 1965), 44. 29. Heinrich Dumoulin, A History of Zen Buddhism (New York: Random House,

1963), 132. 30. Ibid., 273. 31. Daisetsu T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture (New York: Pantheon, 1959), 63. 32. Ibid., 61. 33. Quoted in ibid., 72. 34. Ibid., 78. 35. Tsuda Sōkichi, Bungaku ni Arawaretaru Kokuminshisō no Kenkyū [A study of

Japanese thought as manifested in literature], 4 vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1951–1955), 1:617. 36. Ryusaku Tsunoda, W. T. de Bary, and Donald Keene, eds., Sources of Japanese

Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 248. 37. G. Cameron Hurst, Armed Martial Arts of Japan: Swordsmanship and Archery

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 211. 38. See Elizabeth A. Oyler, Swords, Oaths, and Prophetic Visions: Authoring Warrior

Rule in Medieval Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006). 39. Donald Keene, ed., Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers

(New York: Grove, 1955), 78. 40. A. L. Sadler, trans. “Heiki Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike),” in Transactions of

the Asiatic Society of Japan, 1st series, 46, part 2 (1918), and 49, part 1 (1921): part 1, 207.

41. W. G. Aston, A History of Japanese Literature (New York: Appleton, 1899), 146.

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5

The Ashikaga Period and the Emergence of the Daimyō

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

The end of the Kamakura Bakufu came much as it had started a century and a half before: over an imperial succession crisis. The Gempei Wars of the late twelfth century revolved around the struggles between rival branches of the imperial house; the end of the Kamakura Bakufu in the early fourteenth century also involved factions within the imperial house.

An imperial uprising against the Bakufu was attempted in 1324 but failed. Another insurrection was attempted in 1331; this one proved more successful. The military chieftains and shugo around Kyoto and western Japan rallied to the support of the imperial court under the leadership of Emperor GoDaigo (1288–1339). The most able and determined of these military chiefs was Kusunoki Masashige (1294– 1336), who carried on a struggle akin to guerrilla warfare against the Hōjō forces. For a while it appeared as if this insurrection would fail, too, but the imperial faction was ultimately rescued by two powerful leaders, Nitta Yoshisada (1301– 1338) and Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358). Takauji was one of the generals whom the Hōjō family had counted on to crush the insurgents. With his defection the Hōjō family could no longer stem the tide and fell in 1333. This terminated the Kamakura era and ushered in a brief return to imperial rule, a period known as the Kemmu Restoration (1333–1336).1

When the imperial faction, aided by the discontented military chieftains and warriors, succeeded in overthrowing the Hōjō family, Emperor GoDaigo took personal charge of the government, hoping to set a precedent for direct rule by the emperor and to centralize power in the court. The emperor was not powerful enough, however, to keep the military under control.

What actually ensued was a government composed of both imperial and military elements, retaining some features of the Bakufu. Samurai were appointed as high officials in the central government and as provincial governors and shugo at the local level. Although the office of shugo was a holdover from the Bakufu, the imperial government was unable to abolish it and empower the governors with full authority in local affairs. In many instances powerful military chiefs held both the offices of governor and shugo.

For various reasons the new government failed to win the support and

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confidence of the samurai. Emperor GoDaigo was an unusual sovereign. First, unlike most of his predecessors, he was an adult when he assumed the throne. Since the time of the Fujiwara regents in the seventh and eighth centuries, most emperors were young boys controlled by their Fujiwara maternal grandfathers. Upon reaching adolescence, the boy emperors would in turn retire in favor of their infant sons, and the process would begin again. For instance, from the time that Emperor Seiwa (856–876) ascended the throne at age eight until the time that Emperor Ichijō (1016–1036) ascended at age thirteen, nine emperors were seventeen years old or younger, and of them seven were younger than twelve.

Secondly, most emperors attained their reign name after they died or retired. GoDaigo, however, chose his own reign name and actually changed the era name (nengō) eight times to indicate a distinct break with the past. He was determined to march to his own tune and to write his own history.2

Third, he broke with precedent and sought to permanently institute his own branch of the imperial line at the expense of political compromise and tradition. In the mid-thirteenth century a political compromise was reached when GoSaga, the eighty-eighth emperor, retired. It was decided that his son GoFukakusa would succeed in 1246, and then in turn retire (in 1260) in favor of his half brother Kameyama. In that way the two maternal houses would alternate to avoid conflicts between rival factions at court. But when GoDaigo ascended after his cousin Hanazono in 1318, GoDaigo was an adult of thirty-one years and fully intended to pass on the throne to his own son, grandson, and so on. He intended to “restore” power to the throne, to seize power from the Bakufu and become the first emperor to actually rule as well as reign in nearly three centuries. GoSanjo, the seventy-first emperor, resigned in the mid-eleventh century to establish the so-called cloistered government (GoSanjo was Shirakawa’s father and first used the Insei, but not effectively. Shirakawa is generally considered the first Insei emperor.), but within a few decades the samurai houses had risen to power during the Heike Wars. It was GoToba, the eighty-second emperor, who appointed Minamoto Yoritomo as shōgun in 1185. Since that time, the Hōjō regents of the Bakufu called the tunes, and the emperors danced on the puppet strings.

GoDaigo raised the flag of rebellion first in 1324 and called the disenchanted military houses to his cause. He characterized his cause as a restoration of the true government of Japan, branding the Hōjō regents and their supporters “usurpers.” A few discontented Kyushu samurai, still chafing from the time of the Mongol invasions, joined his cause, but the “restoration” was stillborn a few months later. GoDaigo was captured and exiled to the Oki islands. He was forced to abdicate in favor of his nephew Kōgon in 1332. A year later, however, GoDaigo escaped from his exile with the help of his champion, Nitta Yoshisada, and declared the Kemmu Restoration. Ashikaga Takauji, a relative of the Hōjō, was dispatched to suppress the “rebellion,” but after some delay Ashikaga chose to join the restoration. After a

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year of brutal warfare, the Hōjō were defeated, a sizeable number of them committing suicide in Kamakura rather than be taken prisoner.

GoDaigo then sprang into action. He first concentrated on securing the holdings of the imperial court, the court nobles, and the monasteries. He also claimed most of the Hōjō holdings for the imperial court. The samurai who had aided the imperial cause expected to be rewarded generously and flocked to the capital to present their claims, but the imperial government failed to satisfy their demands. Ironically, these same basic actions by the Kamakura Bakufu had led the samurai to side with GoDaigo in the first place. Furthermore, as the new government was being established, disputes over boundaries and proprietary rights broke out frequently. The imperial government had to arbitrate these quarrels, but the settlements it made naturally failed to please all the disputants and added fuel to the fires of discontent with the emperor. In addition, as soon as it gained power, the imperial court began to renovate the imperial palace and taxed the samurai heavily for this project. From the outset, then, there was considerable dissatisfaction with the new government. The imperial family itself was weakened internally by a cleavage between the emperor and his son, Prince Morinaga, who had led the imperial forces against the Hōjō. Morinaga, unsatisfied with the title of shōgun conferred by his father, was accused of plotting to capture the throne and was assassinated while in custody of the Ashikaga family. At the same time, local uprisings by forces antagonistic to the new government continued to break out in various areas.

Realizing that the new regime was on a weak footing, Takauji, who had played a decisive role in the victory of the imperial forces over the Hōjō family, decided to seize control of the government himself. The Ashikaga family was descended from Minamoto Yoshiie and had held constabulary posts in two provinces, controlling a considerable amount of land in the Kantō region. When the Kamakura Bakufu fell, Takauji occupied Kamakura and became the leader of the Kantō warriors. Of course, Takauji was not completely trusted by the imperial faction because he had betrayed his Hōjō relatives to join GoDaigo in the first place. Naturally, his new allies viewed his behavior with a jaundiced eye, and he was not allowed to play any major role in the new government.

In 1335 Takauji led a military expedition to the Kantō region to crush a rebellion led by the remnants of the Hōjō clan. He then refused to return to Kyoto and remained in Kamakura. Thereupon, the imperial government dispatched Nitta Yoshisada to subdue Takauji. Yoshisada was a lifelong enemy of Takauji and relished the thought of punishing him for his “disloyalty” to the throne. Takauji, however, defeated Yoshisada instead and moved on to Kyoto and occupied it temporarily. The imperial forces rallied to drive him out of the capital, however, and he was ultimately forced to flee westward. He then rebuilt his forces with the support of the Kyushu warriors and other military men who were discontented with

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the decline in their fortunes since the restoration of imperial rule. Takauji then marched back to the capital and defeated the imperial forces led by Kusunoki Masashige, who died in the course of the conflict.

Emperor GoDaigo surrendered to Takauji and recognized the sovereignty of the new emperor whom Takauji chose from a collateral line of the imperial family and enthroned. However, when his supporters rallied the proimperial forces, Emperor GoDaigo fled south to Yoshino in the Kii Peninsula and established a rival government there in 1336. Until 1392 there were two imperial courts, both claiming to be the legitimate dynasty. The imperial court in Yoshino was known as the southern court, and the one in Kyoto the northern court.

Takauji became shōgun in 1338, but he was preoccupied with the task of subduing his foes and therefore delegated his political functions to his younger brother, Tadayoshi. Even after Nitta Yoshisada, GoDaigo’s military chief, died in battle in 1338, the supporters of the southern court continued to resist the Ashikaga government. They were especially strong in the north and in Kyushu. In addition, the Ashikaga forces were weakened by armed conflict between Takauji and Tadayoshi, who had fallen out with each other. After the latter’s death, his adopted son continued the struggle against Takauji. Thus, in effect, the country was engaged in a triangular power struggle.

By the time of the third Ashikaga shōgun, Yoshimitsu (1358–1408), however, his clan had managed to extend its control over a large portion of the country. As a result, the southern court was persuaded in 1392 to return to Kyoto and to merge with the northern court, with the understanding that the imperial throne would be occupied alternately by the descendants of the two courts. This promise, however, was not kept by the northern court, and since that time only its descendants have occupied the throne.

ASHIKAGA RULE

Although Takauji did not make Kamakura his headquarters, he retained the governmental machinery of the Kamakura Bakufu when he established the shogunate in Kyoto.3 He selected loyal vassals to serve as shugo in provinces under his control. In 1367 the post of deputy to the shōgun was created, and the heads of three leading military families served alternately in this capacity. A governor-general was also appointed to oversee the administration of the Kantō region. The holder of this office resided in Kamakura and functioned as a semi-independent ruler of Kantō. The shōgun’s agents were also appointed to oversee the northern provinces and Kyushu, but the Ashikaga government’s control over these areas remained fairly precarious.

Because the Ashikaga rulers were challenged by rival forces throughout most of

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the fourteenth century, they were compelled to work closely with the leading military houses. Three major families (the Shiba, Hosokawa, and Hatakeyama) alternately served as the shōgun’s deputy. Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shōgun, selected his department heads as well from leading military families. By gaining the cooperation of the major military houses, Yoshimitsu stabilized and strengthened his government. The foundations of the Ashikaga Bakufu were strengthened even further after rebellions by two major houses—the Yamana family, which held constabulary posts in eleven provinces, and the Ōuchi clan—were crushed in 1391 and 1399, respectively. It was under Yoshimitsu’s shogunate that the southern court finally agreed to end its struggle and merge with the northern court, the Ashikaga Bakufu thus reaching its apex of power and prestige. In 1394 Yoshimitsu transferred the title of shōgun to his son and became dajō daijin (chancellor), the first samurai to hold that position since Taira Kiyomori. He soon resigned this post as well and became a monk, but he remained the real wielder of power.

Yoshimitsu not only enjoyed supremacy of power but indulged himself by expending huge sums of money on lavish architectural projects. The most famous of his undertakings was the construction of the Golden Pavilion, whose interior and exterior were covered with gold leaf, a dazzling symbol of the power and glory of the shōgun. Many scholars claim that Yoshimitsu even contemplated usurping the emperor’s position and combining the Bakufu with the imperial house under Ashikaga rule. He was dissuaded by a combination of bad luck and indications that the other warlords might rise up against him.4

The Ashikaga Bakufu controlled much less land than that held by the Kamakura Bakufu. Also, the Ashikaga had far less power over the shugo, particularly those far from the capital. It could not adequately finance its expenditures with income and taxes from the land and was consequently forced to rely heavily upon taxes imposed on the merchants in Kyoto, particularly the sake brewers and the moneylenders.5 Emergency taxes on houses and rice fields were also frequently imposed.

After Yoshimitsu’s death in 1408, the authority of the Bakufu began to decline, and the Ashikaga government experienced increasing difficulty controlling the major constabulary houses. The power of the shugo in general had been growing steadily during the period of conflict between the southern and northern courts.

THE DECLINE OF THE SHŌEN

At the beginning of the Ashikaga period, the land throughout the country was held by a variety of proprietors. There were, of course, the direct holdings of the Bakufu. Then there were the shōen held by the imperial household, court nobles,

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major monasteries, and shrines. Important military houses, many holding constabulary posts, possessed shōen in their home provinces as well as in other provinces. Local military leaders, many of whom were jitō, and local warriors who had ties of vassalage with the Bakufu or with a military chieftain also owned property. In addition there were independent farmers, the myōshu, who in some instances held a considerable amount of land and were influential leaders in their communities.

Because the central government was involved in a power struggle with rival elements during most of the fourteenth century, it was unable to extend its authority effectively to the outlying provinces. The power vacuum in those provinces was filled immediately by the leading military chieftains, particularly those in constabulary posts. These provincial shugo steadily extended their control over the shōen held by absentee proprietors and even over the estates held by the local military men. Initially the Ashikaga rulers transferred the shugo from province to province, but this practice was soon discontinued and they became entrenched in the provinces to which they were assigned. By the middle of the fifteenth century a majority of the shugo had acquired hereditary possession of their posts. Some constabulary houses held jurisdiction over more than a single province.

To enable them to defray the cost of maintaining military forces, Takauji granted the shugo the right to collect one-half of the rents (hansei) collected in the shōen. This was intended to be merely an emergency measure, but the practice persisted. Moreover, many shugo began to claim half the land of the shōen rather than simply to collect half the rent. In some instances they persuaded the shōen owners to grant them the authority to collect the rents on the owners’ behalf as well, thus gaining de facto control over the shōen. The shugo also had the authority to impose corvée on the people in the shōen and to extract various dues and gifts as well.

In addition to these economic encroachments, the shugo extended their political influence over the shōen by converting many officials and myōshu into their own “housemen” or vassals. In the fifteenth century many shugo began to expropriate the shōen outright. For instance, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, one court family reported that it had been divested of fourteen of its twenty-three shōen by the shugo and their vassals. One monastery complained that four of its shōen had been seized by the shugo. By the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the shōen owners had for all practical purposes lost control of their lands.

The local military men, such as the jitō and the samurai, sought to remain independent of the constabulary families by maintaining direct ties with the Ashikaga family by becoming its retainers. As the power of the provincial constabulary houses grew, however, many of them found it necessary or more advantageous to become vassals of the shugo. The shugo appointed powerful military leaders as a deputy shugo and secured their support in return. By the fifteenth century a considerable number of constabulary magnates controlled much

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of the country.

THE ONSET OF THE TIME OF TROUBLES

After Yoshimitsu died, the Ashikaga shogunate’s authority began to decline. The constabulary chieftains began to increasingly assert their independence from the Bakufu. In 1416 a rebellion against the governor-general in Kantō broke out. Although this uprising was subdued, other political disturbances led by Kantō military chieftains followed. In addition, uprisings of local samurai began to occur with increasing frequency. In 1441 the sixth Ashikaga shōgun was assassinated by one of the leading shugo.6 A young child was installed as the successor, but the real power came to be exercised by four major constabulary houses. Rivalry among these major families, as well as frequent power struggles within them, however, undermined the stability of the central government. The feuding culminated in a conflict, the Ōnin War, that split the entire nation into two contending military factions, one led by the Yamana family and the other by the Hosokawa.

The struggle was touched off by disputes over succession—both to the shogunate and to the family leadership of several major constabulary houses. The two issues were intertwined because the Ashikaga shōgun had a voice in the selection of successors to the major constabulary families, while the major constabulary houses participated in choosing the successor to the shogunate whenever there was no obvious heir to the post. The trouble started when a son was born to the eighth shōgun, Yoshimasa, after he had already named his brother as his heir. Yoshimasa’s wife, supported by the Yamana family, sought to have her newly born son designated the successor. The shōgun’s brother, however, advanced his claim to the shogunate with the support of the Hosokawa family.

The quarrel over the succession to the shogunate, however, was not the root cause of the outbreak of the conflict. It was merely a symptom of the power struggle among the leading constabulary houses. In the course of the civil war, the rival claimants lost sight of the dispute over the shogunate and even switched sides: Yoshimasa’s brother turned to the Yamana faction for help, and the Hosokawa family transferred its support to the shōgun’s son.

The Ōnin War raged from 1467 to 1477. It ushered in the time of troubles known as the Age of the Warring States (sengoku jidai),7 which lasted for about a century. Initially some 250,000 troops joined in the fighting in and around Kyoto. As the conflict became protracted, the struggle spread to other areas, and the entire country was devastated and desolated. Palaces were plundered, and many valuable treasures were destroyed; the people were subjected to atrocities, and the residents of the capital were compelled to flee to the countryside. During the war the authority of the Bakufu deteriorated rapidly. Even though the leaders of the rival

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factions in the Ōnin War finally settled their differences in 1477, the truce had little bearing on the general political situation. By then the authority of the Bakufu was virtually nonexistent, and the struggle for land and power continued unabated not only in Kyoto, where contending factions sought to control the shogunate by supporting rival claimants to the post, but throughout the countryside as well.

Warfare had raged in Kyoto, destroying perhaps one-third of the city as rival forces set fire to whole city blocks in pursuit of their opponents. A Nichiren army briefly occupied the city but was ousted by the residents who cobbled together various military elements in defense of their homes. Many court noble families rushed in to rescue valuable religious manuscripts from the conflagrations. Thousands of religious relics were saved for posterity by their brave actions. The city was nearly ruined; it took decades to recover, but never to its former glory. Many areas lay fallow until a century later when Hideyoshi (see below) refurbished the city that he chose to make his capital after 1586.8

THE RISE OF THE DAIMYŌ AND THE WARRING STATES

The Ōnin War changed the entire political complexion of the country. With the Ashikaga Bakufu wholly incapable of asserting its authority over the land, a period of decentralized rule resulted. Many of the shugo houses that had dominated outlying provinces lost control over their home bases as they expended their energy and attention on the Ōnin War, which was fought mainly around Kyoto. New local leaders began to emerge. Many shugo families were overthrown by subordinates, adventurers, or local military chieftains. These new regional military leaders began establishing independent principalities in different sections of the country, using force and guile to enlarge their territories at the expense of their former masters and neighbors. This was an era when control of regional territory changed rapidly. Rank and position counted for nothing. Lowly warriors challenged the authority of the mighty warlords, and peasants defied shōen officials and proprietors. Consequently, this period came to be known as the era of ge-koku-jō, “those below subjugating those above.” The only thing that counted was power. The people of this period recognized that the old order was being overturned and that a new era free from the fetters of tradition was coming into existence. Yamana Sōzen (1404– 1473), the leader of one of the contending forces in the Ōnin War, admonished a court noble, “I disapprove of the constant references you make to ‘precedents.’ In the future you must replace the word ‘precedent’ with the word ‘the times.’”9

The new military leaders who emerged during these changing times are known as daimyō. The constabulary chieftains are also referred to as daimyō or shugo (constabulary) daimyō, but they were not quite like the freewheeling warlords who emerged after the Ōnin War. The daimyō of the period of the Warring States were in

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effect fully independent regional rulers. Although their backgrounds were diverse, they can be roughly classified into three types.

One group consisted of the shugo families that survived the political upheavals and emerged even more powerful than before. An example would be the Shimazu family of Satsuma, which remained a formidable regional power until the late nineteenth century. Another was the Takeda family of Kai; under Shingen, who drove out his father to take power, the Takeda became a major force in central Japan. Of the 142 major daimyō in existence in 1563, however, only 32 families could claim to have been constabulary houses.

The second type of daimyō was the local military leader who prior to the Ōnin War had played a subordinate role as a deputy or vassal of a constabulary family. A notable example would be Asakura Toshikage, who replaced his master as shugo of Echizen by taking advantage of the troubled times of the Ōnin War. His effectiveness in wielding power had been recognized by the Hosokawa faction, which persuaded him to defect from the Yamana forces by offering him the position of shugo in Echizen. He was heartily detested by the court nobles for his ruthless expropriation of their shōen. Takeda Shingen’s rival, Uesugi Kenshin, also came from a family that had served as deputy shugo. Kenshin’s father killed the shugo to gain control of Echigo. Other examples of daimyō who rose to power from subordinate posts are the Mōri clan of western Honshu, the Oda family of Owari, and the Tokugawa family.

The third category of daimyō consisted of lowly samurai, frequently warrior- farmers, who had managed to rise rapidly to the top by taking advantage of the civil disorder and breakdown of authority. A striking example of this type of daimyō is Hōjō Sōun (1432–1519).10

Sōun was a lower-ranking warrior from Ise, but his younger sister was the concubine of Imagawa Yoshitada, a powerful shugo in the region around present- day Shizuoka, so Sōun stayed with the Imagawa family as a guest. While he was there the samurai in the service of the Imagawa family rebelled and assassinated Yoshitada. With the Imagawa family confronted by an insurrection, other local chieftains, hoping to fish in troubled waters, intervened. At this point Sōun stepped in and succeeded in negotiating a settlement, placing the son of his sister and Yoshitada at the head of the Imagawa family. As a reward he was given a domain and was made the chief of a castle. With this as his base, Sōun used cunning and treachery to extend his power and territory. He made a surprise attack on the province of Izu while its leaders were engaged in a power struggle. After conquering the province of Izu, Sōun intervened in a family quarrel of the Uesugi family, a major power in the Kantō region, and gained control of the provinces of Musashi and Sagami. To extend his control over the entire Kantō region, he made another surprise attack on the fortress at Odawara, a strategic stronghold whose occupant controlled the main road that led into the Kantō region. Then, by

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concluding alliances and by engaging in intrigues and acts of treachery, he managed to enlarge his base of power sufficiently for his descendants to control the entire Kantō region. Some historians view Sōun’s campaign to conquer the Kantō region as the beginning of the Age of the Warring States. The new Hōjō empire remained intact until 1590, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent 200,000 men to capture the stronghold at Odawara.

Despite the ruthlessness of his drive for power, Sōun was a benevolent ruler and concerned himself with bettering the lot of the common people. In fact, his successful rise to power was based partly on his policy of benevolent rule, which won him the support of the common people, the peasants, and the artisans. He told his retainers, “For the lord of the domain, the people are his children. For the people, the lord of the domain is their father.”11 Whenever his warriors conquered new territory, he forbade them to touch a single item belonging to the people. He provided aid when necessary and reduced taxes from 50 percent of the crop to 40 percent.

Sōun’s spectacular rise to power was not unique. The same story was repeated throughout the land. Lowly but ambitious and shrewd warriors connived and clawed their way to the top, replacing the established shugo houses, perhaps to be overthrown by others even more resourceful and ruthlessly ambitious. The rapid turnover in regional political leadership is reflected in the fact that of the 142 major daimyō in existence in 1563, only 45 were still around thirty years later when Toyotomi Hideyoshi established his hegemony over the entire country. In the era of the Warring States, then, the concept of loyalty that was supposed to govern the conduct of the samurai was hardly discernible. Self-interest and tough-minded realism seemed rather to guide the conduct of the ambitious warriors.

Unlike the shugo, who had been responsible to the shōgun, the new military chieftains were responsible to no one. They were in effect independent warlords who had complete control over the land and the people on it. Their power depended upon the number of loyal vassals they retained. There were several categories of vassals: those who were blood relations of the daimyō, those whose family had served in the house for several generations or had become vassals early in the political ascendancy of the daimyō, and those who had been subjugated by force but still retained a degree of independence. The last category of vassals were regarded as potential foes and were treated as outsiders (tozama), in contrast to the others, who were regarded as hereditary (fudai) vassals. In addition to those vassals who were given lands to manage as their own, the daimyō maintained immediate retainers to serve as attendants, personal guards, and managers of their domain.

During the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods, the vassal’s authority over his land had accrued from the post to which he was appointed, such as the office of land jitō or shōen manager. With the office went certain rights and privileges (shiki, see

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Chapter 4), including the right to an income from the land, but the lord retained the right to collect rent from the peasants. The office rather than the land was central to the benefice. During the era of daimyō rule, in contrast, vassals were given full control over the land granted to them as their own domain.

To prevent the domains from being subdivided into small, submarginal plots, the principle of primogeniture came to be enforced. This weakened the position of women, depriving them of the right of inheritance that they had heretofore traditionally held. In an age in which only naked power counted, women could no longer retain the rights they formerly possessed. They became mere pawns for military alliances and were forced to marry whomever their fathers or brothers believed would serve useful political ends.

In return for their domains, the vassals not only owed personal military service to their lord but also had to provide him with a fixed number of samurai on horseback and foot soldiers, depending on the size of the domain. In the middle of the sixteenth century, Uesugi Kenshin had 5,514 men at his disposal. They included 566 samurai on horseback, 321 musketeers, and 3,609 peasant foot soldiers (ashigaru) armed with pikes.

Muskets were introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in 1543. Japanese smiths quickly learned how to make them, and within a decade they were widely used by the contending daimyō.12 As the size of the warring armies grew and the use of firearms became more widespread, an increasingly larger number of peasants was mobilized to fight for the warlords. In Uesugi Kenshin’s army the ratio of peasants to samurai was three to one.

The daimyō usually maintained one castle that served as a home base and several auxiliary castles or fortresses in strategic spots. The auxiliary castles were guarded by trusted vassals. The site of the main castle usually became a fairly lively and populous town, because merchants and artisans as well as the daimyō’s retainers congregated there. Daimyō encouraged merchants and skilled artisans to settle in their town to assist in the production and distribution of weapons, food, and other necessities. To strengthen the economic foundations of their domains, many daimyō initiated public works projects, particularly in water control and irrigation.

The commoners who flocked to supply these castles began to build homes in the immediate vicinity. After a time, virtually every castle had engendered a castle town (jōka-machi) to serve its needs. The merchants and artisans who filled up these urban areas became known as chōnin, which means something like “townsfolk.” Chōnin involved in similar trades formed guilds (za) for mutual protection and a rough kind of self-government. As long as they remained peaceful and kept supplies readily available and affordable, the daimyō left them to their own devices.

To more easily conduct trade, many of the daimyō began to issue their own

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money, first in Chinese copper coins and later even in paper currency. Many chōnin established branch families or intermarried with chōnin from other jōka-machi. Of course, Buddhist temples and many small shrines sprang up with the towns to serve the populace.

By the Sengoku era there were more than two hundred jōka-machi, most with modest populations (5,000–10,000), but several had blossomed into large cities. Many scholars believe that the rise of jōka-machi made Japan the most urban country in the world, with as much as 10 percent of the population estimated to be living in cities.13

For the purpose of governing their territories and guiding their retainers, most daimyō issued “house laws.” These laws were in effect moral injunctions and rules of conduct. The house laws of Sōun contained such articles as the following:

1. Rise early in the morning. If you rise late, the servants too will become lethargic and cease to be industrious, and private and public tasks will be neglected.

2. Do not seek to acquire swords and apparel as splendid as those owned by others. As long as they are not shoddy, do not fall into debt to obtain better ones.

3. Keep a book with you constantly and use every spare moment to read it when unseen by others.14

The daimyō kept a close check on vassals, trusting few. They employed spies to make certain that their followers, particularly the latecomers to their camp, were not plotting against them. They also had a voice in determining their vassals’ place of residence, choice of wife, and succession to the family headship.

To determine taxes and to maintain close surveillance over their domain, lords took censuses and checked land titles, acreage, and yield. They exercised judicial control over all the people on their land, usually punishing both parties in a dispute. When a person committed a serious crime, the entire household—including servants and retainers—or community was also held responsible. Punishments were extremely cruel and inhuman. Impaling, crucifying, tearing apart, boiling, burning, and sawing the offender to death were common means of execution. The peasants had little protection against the samurai, who were permitted to cut them down with impunity. Obviously, because peasants represented agricultural production, few samurai actually cut them down indiscriminately. But the possibility that they might do so kept everyone in line.

THE PEASANTRY

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During the period of civil strife following the establishment of the Ashikaga Bakufu, control over the peasants slackened, and they were able to assert themselves, acquiring more freedom by taking advantage of the rival claims of the shugo and the proprietors of the shōen. The element among the peasantry that provided the leadership in their ascendancy were the independent farmers, the myōshu. Those peasants who were not myōshu either owned a small plot of land or worked for the myōshu or the proprietors of the domain. There were also warrior- farmers who stood socially between the myōshu and ordinary peasantry. They, unlike the peasants, were entitled to use surnames.

During the Ashikaga period the villagers were able to exercise a certain degree of autonomy in managing the irrigation system, utilizing the woodlands and meadows, and maintaining peace and order within the community. When the local authorities failed to offer them protection from plunderers, they banded together to form their own defense forces. The residents of a shōen belonging to the Tōdaiji in Nara, in requesting that rental payments be suspended, complained about the difficulties inflicted upon them by the contending forces of the northern and southern courts, both of which demanded supplies and recruits. “If we refuse,” the peasants complained, “they threaten to arrest us as supporters of their enemies and to burn our houses down.”15

Taxes during the Ashikaga period grew steadily more burdensome, until about 70 percent of the peasants’ produce was being collected by tax and rent collectors. Under normal circumstances the lot of the peasants was difficult, but in times of famine they were reduced to starvation. Daughters were sold to brothels, and sons were sold to priests who indulged in pederasty. Many peasants left the villages to become beggars and vagrants. A particularly serious famine occurred in the middle of the fifteenth century. Between 1459 and 1461 the country was plagued by a series of meteorological catastrophes, including droughts, floods, and typhoons. In addition, a plague of locusts destroyed the rice crop. These successive calamities resulted in serious food shortages, and a great number of people began to starve. The consequences were disastrous for large cities like Kyoto. In two months during the winter of 1460–1461 it was estimated that 82,000 persons starved to death in the capital. Yet there is no evidence that the Bakufu under Yoshimasa—the eighth Ashikaga shōgun, who was interested primarily in the construction of attractive villas and gardens and in amusing himself with Nō plays and flower viewing—took any measures to alleviate the suffering of the people except to have prayers intoned on behalf of the dead.

With the growing burden of taxation, mounting debts, periodic crop failures, and the ruling class’s general indifference to their well-being, it is not surprising that the peasants began to riot in protest with increasing frequency. In 1428, when the entire nation suffered from crop failure and famine and mass starvation occurred, a major uprising broke out in the Kyoto region. The peasants in the

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province of Omi staged an insurrection demanding tokusei (acts of grace), that is, the cancellation of all debts. They were soon joined by peasants from adjoining regions as well as by the townspeople of Kyoto. They attacked temples and monasteries, sake merchants, pawnbrokers, moneylenders—destroying, looting, and tearing up certificates of loan. Similar uprisings followed in other areas, especially in the central and western provinces, and they continued to break out until the following year. They were directed not only against the Bakufu and shōen owners but against a new force in the countryside, the urban moneylenders who had become more active in the rural areas as commerce and a money economy grew in importance. The peasants in the Kantō region were kept under firmer control by the local authorities and were unable to register their complaints effectively, but isolated instances of peasant uprisings did occur there also.

In 1441, while the Bakufu was in a state of uncertainty following the assassination of the sixth shōgun, the peasants in the provinces around Kyoto staged an uprising, again demanding the cancellation of all debts. During the thirty-year rule of the eighth shōgun, Yoshimasa, eighteen peasant uprisings occurred. Yoshimasa issued thirteen decrees cancelling debts. That he issued these decrees so readily may have been related in part to the fact that the debtors were required to pay 10 percent of their debts to the Bakufu in return for having the other 90 percent cancelled.

These peasant uprisings contributed to the emergence of the local samurai as an important political force. The leaders of these uprisings were frequently shōen officials, lower-class samurai, or myōshu who utilized peasant discontent to weaken the authority of the constabulary families and further their own political fortunes, a trend that was particularly strong following the Ōnin War. This meant that in the long run the interests of the samurai rather than those of the peasants were advanced. Eventually the lower-level samurai became retainers of some of the rising military chieftains and then, as members of the new ruling class, helped to keep the peasants under control. As the daimyō came to dominate the country, they suppressed the autonomous tendencies that had been developing among the peasantry. They held the peasants collectively responsible for rents, taxes, and crimes. Generally speaking, the samurai were more ruthless than the shugo in collecting rents and taxes and in exacting corvée and military service from the peasantry.

Although the peasants’ lot worsened as the daimyō became powerful, until a strong central authority was re-established in the late sixteenth century, there was always an opportunity for a peasant to take advantage of the unsettled conditions to climb the social hierarchy. As we noted, they were brought into the daimyō’s armies as foot soldiers in increasing numbers in the Age of the Warring States. If they served with distinction, they were able to join the ranks of the samurai because no rigid caste system existed in this period. The most dramatic example of an

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individual’s rise up the social and political ladder is the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose from the peasantry to become the military leader of the entire country. Only rarely were groups of peasants able to acquire political power, however. The most notable exception was the peasants of Yamashiro Province, near Kyoto, who gained control of the province in 1485 and held it for eight years.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

During the Ashikaga period a significant change in the economic life of the country took place. Agricultural production increased, and commerce and industry began to expand. The reason for this change cannot be ascribed to any dramatic shift or innovation. Agricultural production had increased through the years as a result of gradual changes in the methods of farming, which stimulated commerce and then industry. There were also technical improvements in the industrial sphere—in salt making, mining, textile production, metalwork, pottery, sake brewing, and paper making. Furthermore, economic growth was stimulated by the peace and order that prevailed after the country was unified under the Kamakura Bakufu. Even when the central government was weakened during the latter part of Ashikaga rule, the damage done by military conflicts was evidently minor. Indeed, there is some reason to believe that the constant movement of warriors and the emergence of many population centers in the form of castle towns tended to quicken the pace of economic activities. At the same time, the renewal and intensification of contact with China, Korea, and the Ryukyu islands greatly stimulated economic growth.

In the densely populated area around Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, known as the Kinki region, agricultural production was conducted on a small scale, but arable land was utilized intensively by terracing the hillsides. With the rise of the military families, new land was opened for farming in the Kantō and Kyushu regions because most military families sought to increase their revenues. At the same time better tools and improved methods of farming came to be employed. Metal plows and hoes, which were not readily available for use by the common peasants before the Kamakura era, were now used. Draft animals also came to be utilized by a larger number of peasants. Better methods of irrigation came with the extensive use of waterwheels. A new strain of rice better suited to the climate was introduced. In addition, two crops, rice and another grain or a vegetable, came to be grown in many areas during the latter part of the Kamakura period. With the increased use of draft animals, manure was used as fertilizer, as was human waste. The practice of burning trees and grass to enrich the soil had been followed since the end of the Heian period. In addition to rice and other grains, the production of fruits and vegetables for the newly established towns as well as the production of tea and silk grew during this period.

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This increase in agricultural production inevitably stimulated commerce. As early as the Nara period, markets had been set up periodically under the auspices of local authorities, monasteries, and shrines. By the end of the Kamakura period, they came to have fixed locations, although they were still open only several times a month. Not until the middle of the fifteenth century were they held as often as six times a month. Toward the end of the Kamakura era, these developed into market towns near, not surprisingly, monasteries, shrines, and seats of local political power and at crossroads and forks of rivers.

To sell product at such markets, merchants had to pay a fee to the local lord, monastery, or shrine that offered them protection. Initially, the people who operated these markets were local peasants who came to sell their farm produce and handicrafts. Eventually, however, regular merchants came to dominate the marketplaces. As noted above, the establishment of towns (jōka-machi) around the castles engendered permanent markets. As these markets grew in importance, merchant and craft guilds (za), designed to acquire and preserve monopolistic rights for the members, came into existence.

These guilds originated in the early twelfth century as associations designed to serve the needs of the court and the monasteries. With the rise in commerce, the number of guilds increased, and during the Ashikaga period they existed throughout the country. Some guilds managed to acquire monopolistic rights that extended over the entire country. Most guilds, however, held a commercial monopoly in a single town or other limited area, with each guild specializing in a single commodity. The Kinki region had the greatest number of strong guilds.

There were guilds for practically every commodity in use at that time. For example, there were za for vegetable oil, rice, sake, salt, paper, straw mats, sliding doors, sedge hats, braziers, metal goods, candy, rice cakes, noodles, fish, textiles, lumber, charcoal, and medicine. The za varied in size from as few as two members to more than fifty; the average size, however, was about ten.

Although the primary object of the guilds was to establish and maintain a commercial monopoly, they also sought to acquire for their members such privileges as exemption from taxation and protection from outside competitors and lawless elements. In return a guild paid the protecting authority, either the local lord or monastery, a fixed fee. There were also artisans’ and workers’ guilds for blacksmiths, silversmiths, sword smiths, carpenters, dyers, carriers, and so on.

Another consequence of the rise in commerce was the emergence of a money economy. Although money existed during the Nara and early Heian periods, it was not widely used, and coins were not minted after the early part of the tenth century. In the eleventh century rice and silk were used as the chief mediums of exchange. In the twelfth century coins reappeared as a result of the revival of trade with China. By the fourteenth century Chinese copper coins were in wide use. The rise of a money economy made the control of copper, silver, and gold mines important, and

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they became the object of contention among the warring daimyō. In addition to coins, bills of exchange (kawase) came to be employed by merchants engaged in long-distance commerce. They were also used to pay taxes. The earliest record of the use of bills of exchange comes from 1279. Historian Ethan Segal makes the point that transactions without the exchange of goods or coins required a trade system whereby exchanges were routine and later actual payment could be expected. In other words, the kawase had no intrinsic value; they were only worth anything if both parties trusted each other implicitly.16

The increased use and need of money resulted in the rise of moneylenders. Wealthy landowners, pawnbrokers, merchants—particularly sake merchants—and even monasteries and shrines engaged in money lending. The borrowers, usually peasants, were charged high interest rates, starting at about 50 percent. The peasants, however, were not the only customers; the proprietors of the shōen also relied on the moneylenders. The Bakufu, too, borrowed money from the sake merchants and pawnbrokers. Many moneylenders later became government officials in charge of financial affairs and rose in the social hierarchy.

The expansion of commercial activities also resulted in the emergence of wholesale merchants and in the growth of port cities. The ports around the Kinki region and the Inland Sea were the first to be built up, but cities were soon established on harbors in other parts of the country too. The city of Sakai near modern-day Osaka emerged as a flourishing port with considerable political power.

As an increasingly large volume of goods came to be transported on both land and sea, a large number of checkpoints and toll stations were established by local authorities to collect duty on goods in transit. In 1462, it has been estimated that there were 380 such toll stations between Kyoto and the mouth of the Yodo River in Osaka. Not only did the traveling merchants have to contend with these barriers to commerce, but they were frequently attacked by bandits and pirates.

A by-product of the increase in trade was the revival of the system of horse stations for official transportation and communication. This “pony express” system had been introduced as one of the Taika Reforms but was allowed to deteriorate. It was restored in many areas in the Kamakura period by the rising daimyō.

The merchants grew not only in number but also in importance in the market towns, ports, castle towns, and the towns that grew around monasteries and shrines. The dominant members among them were the wholesale merchants and the moneylenders. In some towns they collected taxes for the local lords and policed their communities.

Sakai was an autonomous city run by thirty-six elders, primarily wealthy wholesale merchants. It had its own defense force and usually managed to defy the warlords in its vicinity. In 1568 it even refused to pay the levy demanded of it by Oda Nobunaga, although it was forced to submit the following year. Among other

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cities that retained a similar autonomy were Hakata in Kyushu and Ominato and Uji Yamada, both in Ise. All this added up to a possibility that the towns of Japan would emerge as a significant political force, following the pattern of the medieval towns of Europe. But with the establishment in Japan of a strong central government in the late sixteenth century, the nascent urban forces were brought under control. In many instances the merchants cooperated with the daimyō who were working for the unification of the country, motivated no doubt by the desire to restore peace and stability so that commerce could flourish.

A significant aspect of the expansion of commerce was the revival of trade with China. Following the decline of the Tang dynasty, the close relationship between China and Japan that had been maintained during the Nara and Heian periods abated, but with the unification of China under the Sung dynasty contact was re- established. When the Sung court moved to the south (1127), Chinese commerce increased. Soon, however, as the Sung government became concerned with the excessive outflow of gold, silver, and copper, it began to restrict overseas trade. In 1245 it asked the Japanese authorities to limit the number of Japanese merchants sailing to China. Later, after the Mongol dynasty was established in China (1271), commercial contact between the two countries was again formally revived. Although the first official commercial exchange took place in 1325, informal trade had started earlier.

As noted in the previous chapter, pirates known as wakō, operating out of the islands of Iki and Tsushima off Kyushu, began to intensify their activities against the coastal cities of Korea. They also began to raid the coastal towns and villages of China. When the Ming government came into power in 1368, it sent an envoy asking the Japanese government to curb the pirates, but because the demand was presented in such a manner as to indicate that China considered Japan its subject state, it was rejected. The third Ashikaga shōgun, Yoshimitsu, was interested in expanding commercial relations with China, however, so he curtailed wakō activity to some extent by forcing local daimyō to police the coastal areas. Nevertheless, the pirates continued to make their attacks against Korea and China during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, frequently with the support of local lords in western Japan. The object of these raids was to steal food, such as rice and beans, and to kidnap villagers who could then be sold as slaves or held for ransom.

Legitimate trade between Ming China and Japan began to flourish under Yoshimitsu, who sought to ease the financial difficulties of his regime by such commerce. In 1404 a formal commercial treaty was concluded between the two governments, and the Bakufu periodically sent merchants to China. Formal commercial relations were ended under Yoshimitsu’s successor but were revived by the fifth shōgun. To curb illegitimate trade with neighboring countries, the Ming government adopted a system of certification for those ships authorized to conduct commerce with China.

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Trade with Korea was also re-established around the same period and was conducted on an even larger scale than the commerce with China. Commercial relations with China and Korea enriched the daimyō and merchants of western Japan. The city of Hakata near Dazaifu in Kyushu was the center of commerce with Korea, while official trade with China was carried on through the port of Hyōgo. After the Ōnin War, the Ōuchi and Hosokawa families tended to dominate trade with China. Commerce was also conducted with the Ryukyu Islands, and Ryukyu merchants frequently served as brokers between Japan, Southeast Asia, and China. The Sō daimyo of the island of Tsushima took advantage of its position to conduct trade with Korea under the guise of semiofficial diplomatic exchanges between the countries and dominated the silver trade between Japan and the continent.

Japan exported to China such goods as swords, armor, copper, sulfur, lumber, fans, lacquerware, and pearls and, in return, imported raw silk, cotton thread, fine fabrics, dye, ironware, porcelain, paintings, books, medicine, and copper coins. From Korea Japan imported cotton goods in exchange for copper, sulfur, and swords. Prior to this period Japanese garments had been made largely of silk and hemp. With the increased production of cotton in Korea in the fifteenth century, the Japanese began increasingly to utilize cotton fabrics for clothing. In the sixteenth century Japan began growing its own cotton.

Contact between China and Japan during the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods not only had economic significance but also resulted in the resumption of Chinese influence in the cultural realm. A large number of Japanese monks visited China, Chinese books were imported to Japan, and the advanced Chinese printing technique was introduced. Chinese painting, calligraphy, and ceramics influenced Japanese art, and Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi in the old Wade-Giles Chinese transliteration) neo-Confucian philosophy (see Chapter 6) came to be known to Japanese scholars. The latest Chinese medical knowledge and drugs, as well as new food and culinary practices, entered the country.

During the Ashikaga period, commercial intercourse with Southeast Asia was established for the first time. Emissaries from Southeast Asian countries appeared in Japan occasionally during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but trade was conducted largely through Ryukyu brokers.

THE INFLUENCE OF ZEN BUDDHISM ON CULTURE

The influence of Zen on art reached its apex in the Ashikaga period. It molded the aesthetic taste of the Japanese and established standards of excellence for later generations to emulate. It fostered an appreciation of the simple and the austere, and a preference for imbalance and asymmetry.

The upsurge of creativity in the arts was given a significant boost by the eighth

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shōgun, Yoshimasa, who concerned himself more with cultural activities than with the art of government. Even during the Ōnin War, he paid more attention to culture than to the power struggle that was fragmenting his land. He constructed the Silver Pavilion in Higashiyama in the northeastern section of Kyoto, creating a style referred to as Higashiyama Culture. He not only initiated the construction of a complex of buildings in his villa but also personally patronized the masters of landscape gardening, Nō, flower arrangement, the tea ceremony, and painting. Yoshimasa’s taste in all these areas reflected the growing influence of Zen. Even before Zen came to Japan, however, the Japanese had developed a refined sense of beauty and appreciation of nature. The stark, simple, and unadorned designs of the early shrines attest to a love of simple, uncluttered beauty. A Japanese writer remarks, “I find it difficult to accept . . . [the] view that the aesthetic sensibility of the samurai civilization should be attributed entirely to Zen, since I believe this civilization had its roots still deeper, in the traditional Japanese sensibility as expressed in the classical civilization.”17 Zen, however, extended the aesthetic sensitivity of the Japanese into many new areas of life and art from such militaristic pastimes as swordsmanship and archery to the artistic activities of the poet, the calligrapher, and the painter. It also molded the arts of gardening, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony.

Suzuki Daisetsu observes, “What is common to Zen and the art of tea is the constant attempt both make at simplification. The elimination of the unnecessary is achieved by Zen in its intuitive grasp of final reality; by the art of tea, in the way of living typified by serving tea in the tearoom.”18 Tea was imported to Japan from China before the Kamakura period, but the monk Eisai is credited with making it a popular beverage. The ritual of the tea ceremony was also introduced from China by Zen monks in the late thirteenth century, and the art was adapted to Japanese tastes. Formally, the ceremony is conducted in a small, simple room in a thatched hut in the quietude of nature. Its object is to foster the spirit of harmony, reverence, purity, and tranquility.

The aesthetic tastes fostered in the tea ceremony are wabi and sabi. Sabi is an objective quality manifested in things and the environment. It is associated with “age, desiccation, numbness, chilliness, obscurity—all of which are negative feelings opposed to warmth, the spring, expansiveness, transparency, etc.”19 It is a quality of mellowness and depth that is acquired through use and aging. Wabi is a subjective feeling fostered by simple, almost rustic, and serene surroundings. It embodies the sense of solitude and melancholy but also of tranquility that one experiences as one’s Buddha-nature comes to the surface in the simplicity and serenity of the teahouse and tea ceremony. An aesthetic taste related to these qualities is the preference for what is called shibui, that which is austere, sober, and subdued. It is a quality that is in keeping with the Japanese taste for restraint

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and understatement. The tea ceremony, then, is not merely a pleasant pastime. In its pristine form it

has had profound aesthetic and spiritual significance, and the spirit it fosters has deeply influenced Japanese art and life. In Suzuki’s opinion such aesthetic and spiritual experiences take the place of spiritual constructs: “the Japanese are great in changing philosophy into art, abstract reasoning into life, transcendentalism into empirical immanentism.”20

Furthermore, Mary Elizabeth Berry argues that, in this time of political instability, the tea ceremony created an alternative social milieu wherein court nobles, rich merchants, and warrior chieftains could interact. She notes, “Tea lacked rules and the codification of form and practice. More to the point, it lacked texts and an esoteric tradition. . . . [T]ea was particularly accessible to the uninitiated, even to the uneducated.”21

The art of the tea ceremony also contributed to the development of ceramics, since the appreciation of the tea bowls used in the ceremony was an essential part of the art. In the latter part of the Ashikaga era, the influence of Korean pottery, which is characterized by crude simplicity in contrast to the highly finished style of Chinese pottery, came to be reflected in Japanese ceramics. The most significant developments in Japanese pottery, however, occurred in the latter half of the sixteenth century when Korean potters were abducted by Hideyoshi’s army and forced to relocate to the Kyoto region.

The tea ceremony also fostered the art of flower arrangement because the alcove in the tea room was decorated by a tray of flowers and twigs. Here, as in other areas of Japanese art, placement is crucial. A flower arrangement is, in effect, a three-dimensional design, with forms and colors arranged in an aesthetically satisfying manner.

The influence of Zen during this period can also be seen in the art of gardening. Gardens were laid out artistically earlier too, but during the Ashikaga period, under the influence of Zen, a new style developed. The master in this field was Musō Soseki (1275–1351), a Zen monk. Musō was not interested in imitating nature but sought rather to reduce things to the bare essentials. His work became highly symbolic. One of the most famous of his creations is the Moss Garden at Saihōji in Kyoto, a symbolic representation of the ideal “land of Zen.” This style of landscape gardening culminated in the rock garden of Ryōanji, another temple in Kyoto. The rock garden was created at the end of the fifteenth century either by Sōami (?– 1525), who was a master in all fields of artistic endeavor, or by his disciples. It consists of nothing but white sand and fifteen natural stones arranged in five groups surrounded by a meager growth of moss. The sand symbolizes the sea and the rocks signify islands. Here, natural forms are presented in their simplest terms, not unlike an abstract painting. Parenthetically, one cannot see all fifteen stones in the garden

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at one time. No matter where one stands on the garden periphery, two or three stones are hidden by others.22 This is supposed to demonstrate that humans cannot perceive reality.

In the residential buildings of this era, a style known as shoin-zukuri came into existence, incorporating the simplicity and austerity manifested in Zen teahouses into domestic architecture. The materials used were plain and simple. In the interiors straight lines created neat geometric patterns in the corridors, ceilings, floor mats, and sliding doors. The shoin was a room where Zen monks lived and studied, and its features were incorporated in private dwellings; for example, the recessed altar of the Zen monk’s room became the alcove (tokonoma) where artworks were displayed. These features have been retained to the present in Japanese houses.

Shōgun Yoshimitsu’s Golden Pavilion, a three-story structure, was built in the shoin style. The building and its setting of trees, rocks, and a lake were carefully arranged to constitute a harmonious whole.23 Yoshimasa’s Silver Pavilion was modeled after the Golden Pavilion but has only two stories. It, too, is surrounded by a beautiful garden, believed to have been designed by Sōami. Nearby is a building that contains a small tearoom that became the model for tearooms constructed subsequently.

Some authorities consider the influence of Zen to have been reflected most significantly in painting. About the middle of the thirteenth century, the paintings of a Chinese Zen monk, Muqi Fachang, were brought to Japan, where they made a lasting impact upon Japanese sumie (ink drawing). Zen injected into painting and calligraphy an air of virility. Bold, forceful strokes characterize the works of the master sumie painters and calligraphers of this period. In sumie painting, once the brush touches the paper, the brushstroke cannot be changed, so the mental control of a person disciplined in Zen becomes essential. The artist moves the brush delicately at first, then boldly across white paper, finally letting the imprint of the brush either fade out or end abruptly. The sumie painters of this period were not interested in a realistic imitation of nature but depicted the essence of things as they saw it. All unessential details are therefore left out of their paintings. The rhythm and movement of the brushwork, as well as its texture and overall design, are important in endowing these paintings with dynamism and vigor.

Josetsu (fl. 1400) is thought to have been the founder of the sumie school of painting in Japan, but only one of his works is extant. It depicts a man trying to catch a catfish with a gourd, a typical Zen proposition. It is generally agreed that the greatest artist to emerge out of this tradition was Sesshū (1420–1506): “His strokes are sudden, strong, vehement, he seems careless of modulating them; and yet how magically all falls into place. It is this extraordinary mastery of forcible brush- stroke which gives Sesshū his supremacy with the Japanese: this, and the intensity

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and directness which he combines with unsurpassed greatness of spirit.”24 Ernest F. Fenollosa, a pioneer among Western students of Japanese art, asserts that Sesshū is the greatest master of the straight line and the angle in the history of world art. Sesshū used two styles: one utilizing sharp, angular, and relatively complex brushwork, and a soft, diffused, rather explosive yet highly simplified style. Although he was primarily a landscape painter, his paintings of the founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, are known for their vigor and dramatic force. In the next era, another sumie artist, Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645), who was also one of the greatest swordfighters of Japan, combined Zen aesthetics with the spirit of the samurai.

The influence of Zen can also be seen in the calligraphy of this period. In contrast to the gentle, cursive style that was popular during the Heian period, Ashikaga calligraphy was vigorous and masculine. As in sumie painting, the overall composition, the relationship between the brushmarks and the blank areas, and the movement and rhythm of the brushstrokes are important. But, in addition, the proper balancing of the component parts of each character, the relationship of adjacent characters, and the variations in the size and density of the brushstrokes are of equal importance.

It was also during this era that the Nō drama reached new heights of artistic refinement. Nō grew out of the popular folk dances and plays that were performed at Shintō festivals to pray to the gods for abundance and to give thanks after the harvest. They also served as entertainment for the common people. These dances were refined through the ages, and in the Ashikaga period emerged as a serious dramatic form. Nō was patronized increasingly by the upper classes and eventually came to be regarded as an aesthetic experience appreciated primarily by the culturally elite.

The Zen preference for simplicity and restraint is seen in the external aspects of the Nō plays. The stage, open on three sides, is simple and plain, having neither a curtain nor background scenery except for an old pine tree painted on the rear wall. The few stage properties that are used are symbolic and abstract. The movements and gestures of the all-male cast are highly stylized, formal, and carefully measured. Usually, the principal actor wears a mask, but even without a mask the actor’s face is frozen as if he were. Mime constitutes an important part of Nō dramas; feelings are expressed by symbolic gestures and movements. Weeping, for example, is signified by raising the hand to the eyes. The fan is manipulated to symbolize a variety of things, such as falling leaves, rippling waves, and an ascending moon. The Nō performance is accompanied by a chorus that chants the story in a sing-song. The actors are dressed in brilliant costumes, luxuriously embroidered and brocaded.

The art of Nō was perfected by two men: Kan’ami Kiyotsugu (1333–1384) and his son, Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1443), who enjoyed the patronage of the third

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shōgun, Yoshimitsu. Zeami’s works are regarded as masterpieces and are still performed today. He was profoundly influenced by Zen and sought to convey in his works the sense of yūgen, or mystery, “what lies beneath the surface; the subtle as opposed to the statement.”

OTHER CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS

In the Ashikaga period learning began to spread downward into society rather than being restricted to the elite, the court aristocrats and the priests. The warriors began to show an interest in education, and the local lords began to encourage learning among their followers. We have already caught a glimpse of this in the “house laws” of Hōjō Sōun. The process of cultural diffusion was facilitated during and after the Ōnin War when a large number of aristocrats and monks fled the turbulent capital, finding employment with the daimyō as educators and lecturers.

One manifestation of this growing interest in learning is the Kanazawa Library, which was established in Kanazawa (near present-day Yokohama) in the middle of the Kamakura period. Even though it was allowed to deteriorate after the fall of the Kamakura Bakufu, 20,000 volumes were recovered from this library. The Ashikaga Academy was also founded during this period by the Ashikaga family in the Kantō region, and students from all over the country attended. Although it was operated by Buddhist priests, Confucianism came to form the core of the curriculum, and students educated here returned to their home provinces to engage in educational work.

Another significant institution that emerged during this period was the temple school (terakoya). It became the practice of the samurai and wealthier peasants to send their children to Buddhist temples to learn how to read and write. Although this practice did not become widespread until the Tokugawa period, the origin of the temple schools can be traced back to the Ashikaga era.

The art of woodblock printing, which came to Japan from China during the Kamakura period, flourished in the Ashikaga years as many Chinese printers sought asylum in Japan during the period of turmoil at the end of the Mongol and the beginning of the Ming rule. The Zen temples of Kyoto and Kamakura (known as the Temples of the Five Mountains) sponsored the printing of Buddhist texts. The woodblock printing method is quicker, more accurate, and therefore much less expensive than even the traditional hand-copying by lowly scribes. Originally, carved wooden blocks were dipped in ink to “stamp” an image, pattern, or orthography on a piece of cloth or paper to replicate the image over and over again. The technology was simple enough if the image was to be done in one color of ink, and was ideal for duplicating pages of written text like sutras or textbooks. Later, artists began to overlay other images using one or more additional colors. If one

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carefully aligned each overlay, a more complex picture could be made by adding several aspects of the picture with a different-colored ink.

In the medieval period, most wood-block prints were simple illustrations such as line drawings of Buddhas to accompany religious writings. Later, particularly in the Tokugawa era, artists developed an intricate and complex art using many overlays. Most common were playbills for the theater or advertisements for restaurants, brothels, and other places of entertainment. We shall see in subsequent chapters that this artistic technique became sophisticated and elaborate.25

An important historical work—actually a historical romance—of this era was the Taiheiki (Chronicle of Grand Pacification). It is believed to have been the work of several writers and was completed around 1370. It describes the events from 1318, the beginning of the reign of Emperor GoDaigo, to 1367, focusing on the Kemmu Restoration and the conflict between the imperial and Ashikaga factions that began this chapter. It is sympathetic to the imperial cause and depicts the heroic exploits of such men as Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada. It has remained the chief source of information for the early Ashikaga period. The saga was also in its day a source of popular entertainment; storytellers went about retelling its tales of military exploits, heroism, and virtue.

The people were entertained by other romantic and melodramatic tales of heroic warriors as well. One of the most popular subjects of the storytellers was Yoshitsune, Yoritomo’s younger brother, who was idealized as a young man of valor, courage, and military genius. Fairy tales were popular in this era, too.

Another form of recreation enjoyed by the people at large was the Buddhist Bon dance that came to be performed in the early years of the Ashikaga period. The people also found emotional release in the annual festivals of the shrines and were occasionally entertained by farcical plays known as Kyōgen, which often satirized the members of the upper classes. The Kyōgen was eventually incorporated into the Nō theater.

Several significant works of history were produced during this era. One such history was written by a loyal supporter of the southern court, Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293–1354), the Jinnō Shōtōki (The records of the legitimate succession of the divine sovereigns), written in 1339. It records the history of Japan from its founding by the kami to the reign of Emperor GoDaigo. Kitabatake emphasizes that Japan is a unique land of the gods and that descendants of the Sun Goddess are destined to reign to eternity. Every subject of the emperor, he insists, must serve him with utmost loyalty.

The Jinnō Shōtōki is significant as an important native document. The indigenous cults were keeping their flame alive even during this era when Buddhism was winning widespread support. The tradition of seeking to reconcile the two, which had emerged during the Heian period as Dual Shintō, prevailed during this age, too, but there was also a move to subordinate Buddhism to the

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indigenous cults. The proponents of this movement contended that the Japanese kami constituted the original divine substance, and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas were manifestations of this, a reversal of the position taken by the earlier Dual Shintōists, who regarded the Japanese kami as manifestations of the universal Buddha.

In the religious life of the people, the custom came into existence of paying homage to stone images of various bodhisattvas who, it was believed, bestowed diverse benefits upon the worshippers. The practice of going on pilgrimages to a number of widely scattered Buddhist temples also became popular among devout believers.

As for the Buddhist sects that emerged in the Kamakura period, both Nichiren and True Pure Land Buddhism were endowed with dynamic leadership that effected a kind of renaissance in the sects. The beliefs of the Nichiren Sect were propagated vigorously by its leaders, among whom was Nisshin (1407–1488), who, it was said, disciplined himself by such means of self-torture as pulling out his fingernails and piercing his open sores with a needle. When he aroused the wrath of the (later assassinated) sixth shōgun, the shōgun had a red-hot iron pot placed on his head. Undaunted, Nisshin continued his work to gain converts. The zealous efforts of such preachers won the Nichiren Sect a large number of converts, particularly among the townspeople. It became especially popular in Kyoto and became something of a political force in the sixteenth century in that strife-ridden city.

Because Shinran, the founder of the True Pure Land Sect, did not believe in institutionalizing his movement, it was loosely structured. This situation was changed by Rennyo (1415–1499), who welded the movement into a well-structured religious sect and a political power as well. The sect became especially popular among the peasantry in the north central and western regions of Honshu. In the age of political disorder, converts organized themselves into military bands and fought against hostile military chieftains. The True Pure Land Sect came to be known as the Ikkō (One Direction) Sect, and the military campaigns they launched against the warlords were called Ikkō Uprisings. In the last quarter of the fifteenth century, the Ikkō adherents staged six uprisings and eventually gained control of the province of Kaga. By the sixteenth century the Ikkō forces had become a major power in the Kyoto-Osaka area as well as in the north central and central provinces, constituting a formidable obstacle to the ambitious daimyō.

NOTES 1. Named after the Kemmu era (1333–1336). 2. For a concise discussion, see William H. McCullough, “The Heian Court, 794–

1070,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough, vol. 2, Heian Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 20–96, esp. 51.

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3. The Ashikaga era is also known as the Muromachi period, after the Muromachi section of Kyoto, where all but the first three Ashikaga shōgun resided.

4. See Imatani Akira and Kozo Yamamura, “Not for Lack of Will or Wile: Yoshimitsu’s Failure to Supplant the Imperial Lineage,” Journal of Japanese Studies 18, no. 1 (Winter 1992): 45–78.

5. In 1425 there were 342 sake brewers in Kyoto, many of whom also engaged in moneylending. See Mary Elizabeth Berry, The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).

6. Ashikaga Yoshinori (1394–1441) was lured to a Nō theater presentation by the Akamatsu family and there assassinated. He had been notoriously harsh to his shugo subordinates who then were able to force the Bakufu to appoint his eight-year-old son Yoshikatsu as shōgun.

7. The term, borrowed from the Chinese, meant the inevitable civil war that ushered out one dynasty and brought on another.

8. For a comprehensive study of the period, especially the cultural implications, see Berry, Culture of Civil War.

9. Quoted in Nagahara Keiji, Gekokujō no Jidai [The triumph of the lowly over the mighty] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha, 1965), 2.

10. Sōun was not related to the Hōjō family of the Kamakura Bakufu. The Hōjō family name was adopted by Sōun’s son. This family is also known as Go-Hōjō (Later Hōjō) to distinguish it from the earlier one.

11. Quoted in Tsuji Zennosuke, Nihon Bunkashi [Japanese cultural history], 7 vols. (Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1955), 4:176.

12. Firearms had been introduced from China in the fifteenth century and may have been used by some eastern daimyō before the Western muskets arrived. Because their use did not spread, the Chinese firearms were evidently not very effective.

13. The two best accounts of the jōka-machi are John Whitney Hall, “The Castle Town and Japan’s Modern Urbanization,” Far Eastern Quarterly 15, no. 1 (November 1955): 37–55; and James McClain, Kanazawa 17th Century Japanese Castle Town (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982).

14. Quoted in Tsuji Zennosuke, Nihon Bunkashi, 4:177–179. 15. Ibid. 16. See Ethan I. Segal, Coins, Trade and the State: Economic Growth in Early

Medieval Japan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011), esp. 182–184. 17. Nyozekan Hasegawa, The Japanese Character: A Cultural Profile, trans. John

Bester (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1965), 48. 18. Daisetsu T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture (New York: Pantheon, 1959), 271. 19. Ibid., 285. 20. Ibid., 307. 21. Berry, Culture of Civil War, 273. 22. One droll monk recently perched on the high surrounding garden wall to the delight

of a group of foreign tourists to demonstrate that it is possible to see all fifteen at once! 23. The building was burned by a mad monk in 1950 and became the subject of

Mishima Yukio’s 1956 novel The Temple of the Golden Pavillion and the basis of Ichikawa Kon’s 1958 film Enjo [Conflagration].

24. Lawrence Binyon, Painting in the Far East (New York: Dover, 1959), 180. 25. See Ricard Lane, Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print (Oxford:

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Oxford University Press, 1978).

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6

The Restoration of Order

During the Age of the Warring States, the Ashikaga shogunate not only lost its capacity to govern the outlying regions but found itself unable to maintain control over the provinces near Kyoto. Ultimately, those provinces came under the control of the new military leaders who emerged in that area. After the demise of the major shugo houses, such as the Hosokawa family, the government fell under the domination of the Miyoshi family. It was then dominated by Matsunaga Hisahide, a vassal of the Miyoshi who rebelled against them and assassinated the thirteenth shōgun Yoshiteru. Yoshiteru had been a charismatic leader and had tried to revitalize the Bakufu, but his enemies had him killed in order to control a more malleable successor. The assassins, however, disagreed about a new shōgun, and it took nearly three years to name his cousin Yoshihide as the fourteenth and penultimate shōgun.

In the provinces a multitude of warring lords were contending for land and power. Their object was not to succeed merely as regional powers but to extend their authority over the entire country. The most critical power struggle occurred in the region between Kantō and Kyoto, where powerful warlords contended for supremacy. In the middle of the sixteenth century, there were four major powers entrenched in this region: the Uesugi of Echigo, the Takeda of Kai, the Imagawa of Suruga, and the Hōjō of Kantō. Among the lesser forces were the Oda family and the Matsudaira (Tokugawa) clan.

The clan that emerged triumphant was the Oda family, led by Nobunaga (1534– 1582),1 who started the country on its path to reunification and order, a task completed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542– 1616). These three men laid the foundation for the establishment of two and a half centuries of stable military rule—the Tokugawa Bakufu. Their lives were closely interwoven. They were all born within one decade. Hideyoshi was Nobunaga’s most able and trusted general. Ieyasu was at one time held captive by the Oda clan and later became Nobunaga’s ally. Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga as the military chieftain of the entire land and in turn was succeeded by Ieyasu.

ODA NOBUNAGA

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The Oda family had served as deputy shugo of Owari and gained control of that province under the leadership of Nobunaga’s father. Owari was located in a strategically critical spot, on the route from Kamakura to Kyoto. It was also a rich rice-producing and commercially active area with many market towns.

Nobunaga managed to extend his power by bold military tactics and politically beneficial alliances. For instance, he married his sister to a military leader of Ōmi, his adopted daughter to Takeda Shingen’s son, and his daughter to Ieyasu’s son. He was quick to take advantage of new tactics and weapons. He ended the traditional reliance on mounted samurai by making effective use of foot soldiers (ashigaru) armed with long pikes. When firearms became available he was among the first to arm his men with muskets. In a battle with the Takeda clan in 1575 at Nagashino, he deployed more than three thousand musketeers against the five hundred used by his foes and won a decisive victory. He was also a daring tactician. In 1560 when the odds seemed to be overwhelmingly against him in his confrontation with the Imagawa clan, he launched a surprise attack against his rival’s forces, which numbered ten times his army, and dealt them a crushing blow. This victory proved to be an important milestone in Nobunaga’s rise to power. He proceeded to consolidate his position in central Japan and in 1568 moved into Kyoto where, after a struggle, Matsunaga Hisahide submitted to his superior force.

After he gained control of Kyoto, Nobunaga did not immediately claim suzerainty over the entire country but instead supported Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the shōgun of the land. He then turned to the conquest of the military chieftains controlling Ōmi and Echizen. In the process he encountered the opposition of the Ikkō (True Pure Land)2 forces and the monks of Mt. Hiei just outside of Kyoto. He turned his wrath against the latter, destroying the monasteries and seizing and executing not only the monks but the villagers, including women and children. About 1,600 people were killed in this bloodbath.

Shōgun Yoshiaki became uneasy about Nobunaga’s growing power and began conspiring with his foes. This finally induced Nobunaga to put an end to the Ashikaga shogunate. In 1573 Yoshiaki fled to the west and sought the aid of the Mōri family, the dominant power in western Honshu. In the east, the major clans of Hōjō, Takeda, and Uesugi were engaged in a power struggle. These rivalries among the daimyō played conveniently into Nobunaga’s hands. By 1581 the Takeda forces were completely destroyed. The Uesugi clan remained a formidable power while it was led by Kenshin, who was an outstanding general and administrator, but its fortunes also began to decline after his death in 1578. As it became evident that Nobunaga’s power was ascendant, his foes’ vassals began to defect to his side with increasing frequency.

The other political bloc that gave Nobunaga considerable trouble was the Ikkō forces, with their headquarters in Ishiyama Temple in Osaka. They were particularly powerful in the province of Echizen, and Kaga was under their

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complete control. In 1575 Nobunaga sent his men against the Ikkō forces in Echizen, capturing and massacring thirty thousand to forty thousand Ikkō adherents. In 1580 he drove the Ikkō forces out of Kaga. A peace settlement was finally effected between the Ikkō leaders and Nobunaga through the mediation of the imperial court.

Nobunaga then turned to the subjugation of the Mōri clan, which had been allied with the Ikkō forces. The general Nobunaga placed in charge of this campaign was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who effectively used the siege, one of the favorite tactics of the contending warlords of this era, against his enemies. Hideyoshi turned two castles into veritable hells as he starved the defenders to death. He had placed still another Mōri fortress under siege when he received word of Akechi Mitsuhide’s rebellion against Nobunaga.

Mitsuhide had joined Nobunaga’s camp relatively late, after the latter captured Kyoto. Evidently he harbored a deep-seated resentment against the high-handed and sometimes abusive treatment Nobunaga accorded him. In one battle Mitsuhide had sent his mother to the enemy as a hostage to persuade them to come out of their fortress to negotiate with Nobunaga. When they did so, Nobunaga, ignoring Mitsuhide’s compact with them, apprehended and crucified them. Naturally, the enemy forces executed Mitsuhide’s mother.

When in June 1582 Mitsuhide was ordered by Nobunaga to lead his men west to assist Hideyoshi against the Mōri forces, he decided to lead his army against Nobunaga instead. Caught wholly by surprise, Nobunaga was trapped in a Kyoto temple and committed suicide along with his eldest son, his dream of establishing his hegemony over the entire land perishing. When he died he had possession of thirty-two of the sixty-six provinces.

Nobunaga was not only a masterful military leader, he was also an able administrator. He encouraged merchants to open markets in the areas under his control, offering them protection and immunity from taxation. He also curbed the monopoly of the guilds, opening the markets to all merchants. To facilitate the flow of goods, he abolished toll stations and encouraged the building of ships and the construction of roads. He abolished corvée, sought to establish a uniform system of coinage, and initiated a cadastral (including land ownership, productivity, corvee, and numbers of peasants, samurai, and ashigaru) survey. By Nobunaga’s time, contact with the West had already been established. He favored broadening ties with the outside world by encouraging foreign trade and welcoming the Christian missionaries.

However, Nobunaga was essentially a ruthless tyrant who was extremely self- willed. For example, he had a young serving maid executed because she had not cleaned the room thoroughly—she had left the stem of a fruit on the floor. He was also vindictive. A man once took a shot at him and was captured many years later. Nobunaga had the man buried in the ground with only his head exposed and had it

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sawed off. He was particularly merciless in his treatment of Buddhist monks. In addition to the massacre of the monks of Mt. Hiei, he at one time had 150 monks who were attached to the Takeda clan’s family temple burned to death merely because they had performed funeral services for the departed chief of the clan.

TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI

The man who succeeded Nobunaga as the foremost general of the land was born the son of a peasant in Owari.3 He left his stepfather’s home when he was fifteen and became a servant of one of Imagawa’s vassals. A few years later he entered Nobunaga’s service as his sandal holder. He gained his master’s recognition and eventually rose in rank, becoming one of Nobunaga’s most successful generals. When he received word of Mitsuhide’s mutiny, he quickly made peace with the Mōri forces, returned to Kyoto, and avenged his master’s death. He then eliminated in battle those generals who were likely to challenge his claim to leadership as Nobunaga’s successor, including the latter’s son.

He also managed to subdue the regional forces capable of threatening his aspirations to national leadership. He failed, however, to remove the man who was potentially his most dangerous foe, Tokugawa Ieyasu. With Ieyasu, Hideyoshi was compelled to conclude a negotiated peace. He succeeded in gaining the allegiance or subduing all the other major daimyō—the Hōjō clan in the Kantō region, the Date family in the north, the Shimazu forces in Kyushu, the Chōsogabe family in Shikoku, and the Mōri clan in western Honshu.

By 1590 Hideyoshi had accomplished what Nobunaga had failed to achieve: he completed the task of national unification. All of his former rivals recognized his supreme authority as overlord and became his vassals. They were no longer independent warlords beholden to no one. True, Ieyasu had not capitulated completely, but the two leaders had agreed to a truce. Hideyoshi sought to bind Ieyasu closely to him by adopting his son and by having Ieyasu marry his sister. Ieyasu supported Hideyoshi in the latter’s campaign against the Hōjō clan and was given their Kantō holdings as a reward. In return, however, he was asked to relinquish his former holdings in the central region. This was no great sacrifice, because Ieyasu’s new holdings—eight provinces—were immense. His domain constituted a little empire in itself, valued at 2.5 million koku.4 Ieyasu built his castle in Edo (Tokyo after 1868) and consolidated his position in the Kantō region. His status was not that of a subservient vassal of Hideyoshi but virtually that of an ally.

Hideyoshi was made regent (kampaku) in 1585 and was appointed chancellor (dajō daijin) the following year. He also coveted the position of shōgun, but it had become customary to appoint only the descendants of the Minamoto family to that

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position. Hideyoshi contemplated having Ashikaga Yoshiaki adopt him as his son to qualify him for the post, but when he was appointed regent he pursued the shogunate no further.

Hideyoshi triumphed in the scramble for national supremacy by his superior generalship and his ability to make bold decisions and take resolute action. He could be ruthless but also magnanimous and is regarded as having been less cruel than Nobunaga. He was not as relentless in punishing his foes, permitting them to survive if they submitted. His vassals lived in fear of him nevertheless. A Jesuit missionary,5 Luis Frois, observed, “He is so feared and obeyed that with no less ease than a father of a family disposes of the persons of his household he rules the principal kings and lords of Japan.”6 Like all warlords of his era, though, he also had a vicious streak in him. He had adopted his nephew as his heir, but when his own son was born, he eliminated his adopted son by accusing him of disloyalty and forcing him to commit suicide. He then had the latter’s wife, three young children, mistresses, and servants all put to the sword. Their bodies were thrown into a pit as if they were animals—hence their grave came to be known as “animal mound.” When some unknown persons scribbled abusive remarks on his gate, Hideyoshi had eight townspeople of Kyoto arrested. On the first day he had their noses sliced off, the second day their ears, and on the third day they were strung upside down and impaled.

Hideyoshi was inordinately ambitious and, not satisfied with his conquests in Japan, harbored grandiose visions of building a great East Asian empire. After subduing all of Japan, he turned his attention abroad to Korea and China and launched an invasion of the continent.

Evidently, Hideyoshi had only a vague notion about Korea and China and undertook the invasion without weighing its implications carefully. He seemed to have regarded Korea as an extension of Japan, a land that he could conquer in the same manner in which he had subdued the daimyō. Perhaps there was some economic motivation involved, such as the desire to control the trade with Korea. The merchants of Sakai were known to have favored expanding commercial contact with Korea and China. Hideyoshi may have also wished to acquire more land for distribution among his followers and at the same time to use the expedition as a means of channeling the energies of the samurai—many of whom were unemployed —now that there was no outlet in Japan.

A general imperialistic spirit also appeared to be rising in Japan. This desire to expand abroad is reflected in the fact that a number of people immigrated to Southeast Asia during this period. Japan seemed to be on the verge of rising as a major trading power, propelled by the people’s desire to seek new havens and embark on new adventures.

It may also be that Hideyoshi’s desire for personal glory, a megalomaniacal

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urge to leave his mark on history, was behind the Korean venture. In May 1586, before he had subdued all his foes in Japan, he expressed to a Jesuit priest his wish to conquer Korea and China. He remarked that “his sole ambition was to leave a great name behind him after his death, for which reason he had resolved . . . to cross the sea at the head of a vast expeditionary force with the object of conquering Korea and China.”7 He asked the Jesuits to charter for him two large Portuguese galleons for this purpose. In return he offered to build churches throughout China and to force the populace to embrace Christianity en masse.

In 1593 Hideyoshi boasted to the Franciscan ambassador from the Philippines, “When I was born, a sunbeam fell on my chest and when the diviners were asked about this, they told me that I was to be the ruler of all that lies between east and west.” The ambassador related that “he said that the people of Luzon should obey him; if they did not, he would send his men against them because they had nothing to do as there were no wars at the time in Japan.”8 He did send several messages to the Spanish governor of the Philippines demanding his submission. Although these remained idle threats, he did take action against Korea.

In the spring of 1592, Hideyoshi sent an expeditionary force of more than 150,000 troops into the peninsula.9 His armies—led by Konishi Yukinaga (1555– 1600), a Christian general who came from a merchant family in Sakai, and by Katō Kiyomasa (1561–1611), who rose from the lower ranks with Hideyoshi—were able to move rapidly north and capture Seoul in less than a month. Elated, Hideyoshi wrote his nephew, “I now intend to command the country of the Great Ming. And I shall appoint you Kwampaku [viceroy] of Han [China].”10 He also planned to send the Japanese emperor to rule over China and even began thinking of the possibility of conquering India.

But, as the Japanese forces moved further north, they began to encounter greater difficulties. Japanese naval forces were not powerful enough to control the seas, and Korean warships equipped with guns and incendiary missiles were able to prevent Hideyoshi from sending his troops sufficient supplies and reinforcements. Moreover, as the Japanese approached the Chinese border, the Ming government became alarmed and sent its troops into Korea to stop Hideyoshi’s armies. After several major but indecisive battles, an armistice was agreed upon.

Negotiations on the final settlement of the war were entered into, but the talks dragged on for two years without any conclusive agreement. Hideyoshi failed even to obtain the terms that the Ming officials had originally accepted. The Ming emperor was misled by his officials into believing that Hideyoshi was prepared to become his vassal and sent an envoy to formalize the relationship. Hideyoshi, however, had been led to believe by his subordinates that the Chinese were ready to accept him as their emperor. When he realized that the Ming government was not about to submit to his wishes, he exploded in anger and launched another invasion

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of Korea in 1597. A force of about 140,000 troops was sent overseas again. The invading armies were once more initially successful, but, before a decisive victory was won, Hideyoshi died in August 1598 and the expeditionary forces were withdrawn. The fact that Hideyoshi’s death resulted in the immediate termination of the plan to conquer Korea and China would seem to indicate that the scheme was primarily Hideyoshi’s own creation and did not represent any underlying factors that engendered an inexorable drive for expansion into the continent.

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For Korea these military attacks wrought devastation and desolation of the land and starvation and death for the populace. When the Chinese commander recaptured Seoul during the first invasion, he found that “the country all about was lying fallow, and a great famine stared the Koreans in the face. . . . Famishing men fought and killed each other, the victors eating the vanquished, sucking the marrow from the bones, and then dying themselves of surfeit. . . . This state of things naturally brought on an epidemic of the native fever . . . and the dead bodies of its victims lay all along the road.”11

Not all Japanese were elated with Hideyoshi’s Korean campaign. Hearing of the impending invasion of Korea, a monk in Nara wrote in his diary, “As I think of the suffering and vicissitudes that will befall all segments of that society, I feel nothing but sorrow for their plight. . . . It is indeed difficult to understand the reason for this unprecedented undertaking.”12

HIDEYOSHI’S DOMESTIC POLICIES

Once Hideyoshi had subdued all of his foes and consolidated his position at home, he proceeded to stabilize the social order. During the period of strife, the peasants, suffering from the predatory actions of the warring factions, often banded together to protect themselves. As we saw earlier, peasant uprisings against moneylenders occurred frequently. Many peasants also left the soil to seek refuge in the provinces of the more powerful or more benevolent lords. Thus, there was considerable mobility and disorder in the countryside.

To restore order and stability, and in effect freeze the social order, Hideyoshi issued a decree in 1586 forbidding the peasants to move from the land. This sort of ban had been imposed by many daimyō at the local level prior to this, but under Hideyoshi it became national policy. In 1591 he reiterated the ban against movement from the soil and decreed severe penalties not only against the peasants who left the land but also against those who aided or abetted a peasant’s flight. At the same time, he prohibited the lower-class samurai from becoming farmers, merchants, or artisans and forbade all vassals from leaving the service of a lord without his consent.

In 1588 Hideyoshi issued a decree ordering the peasant foot soldiers (ashigaru) to turn in all their weapons—swords and firearms—to the ruling authorities.13 During the period of disorder, many peasants fought as warriors; Hideyoshi himself had risen from the ranks of the peasantry. Many samurai, conversely, had tilled their own farms. This decree, which started the so-called sword hunt, was designed to make the class distinctions between the samurai and the peasants rigid and at the same time prevent the peasants from causing trouble in the countryside. Hideyoshi’s object was to bind the peasants to the soil and turn them into a class of serfs. The

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decree argued that the possession of weapons by peasants threatened the peace and made the administration of government, as well as the collection of taxes, difficult. “Therefore the heads of provinces, official agents, and deputies are ordered to collect all the weapons . . . and turn them over to the government.”14

Another measure taken by Hideyoshi to extend his control over the countryside was the nationwide cadastral survey that was conducted during 1582–1598. This survey enabled him to assess the value of the lands and check the legality of landholdings. The findings determined the amount of tax the peasants had to pay on each piece of land. Taxation rates differed according to locality, but generally the peasants were expected to turn over to the lord 50 percent of the crop. Because the practice was not uniform, some lords demanded as much as 70 percent while others asked for less than 30 percent. In time of crop failure, however, instead of gaining relief, they were expected to pay up to two-thirds of the harvest.

Hideyoshi called for a ruthless implementation of the land survey. He instructed one of the daimyō in charge of the survey to kill anyone who objected to it. Whole villages were to be put to the sword to make examples of them. Hideyoshi said, “Even if the entire area or province is turned into a wasteland, it would not matter.”15 His order was followed faithfully by his officials.

In other respects, too, Hideyoshi employed harsh measures against the peasants. He decreed that any peasant asking for tax exemptions (and any official who indulged the peasants in this matter as well) be punished. Peasants who neglected to work the land were also chastised. Thomas Smith suggests that in general the samurai class as a whole and the daimyō in particular thought of the peasants as a subhuman class of rice producers. For the warrior class, the peasants “had to be bound to the land; social distinction had to be thrown up around them like so many physical barriers; and, to remove all temptation to indolence and luxury, they had to be left only enough of whatever they produced to let them continue producing.”16

When the cadastral survey was conducted, it was decided to use the koku as the standard of measurement for rice rather than the kan (8.27 lbs), which had been used prior to this. The daimyō and warriors’ land allotments were calculated in terms of the amount of rice they were entitled to receive as stipends. Samurai with a stipend of 100 koku of rice were given a domain that supposedly produced that amount. For their actual income they then levied rice rents on the peasants in their domain. If they imposed a 50 percent levy, their income amounted to 50 koku.

To minimize the threat from the daimyō, Hideyoshi sought to prevent them from joining forces against him. Daimyō families were prohibited from establishing marital ties without his permission and were forbidden to make military alliances or political agreements. Hideyoshi could and did move the daimyō around to different provinces to prevent them from becoming entrenched in one region. He stationed those whom he trusted in strategic areas and placed mutually hostile lords

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next to each other so they might check one another. He held about 2 million koku as his own domain, scattered throughout the country. To strengthen his financial position, he controlled the gold and silver mines and exploited them intensively. He also maintained close control over the merchants of Kyoto and Sakai to exploit their financial resources. His successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu, used many of these same methods to control competing centers of power after 1600.

THE NINJA

Although never really important in Japanese culture during the period, the secret “invisible assassins” (ninja) have captured the imagination of those interested in the warrior ethic. The Sino-Japanese characters used to write the term can also be read shinobi which means something like “to steal away,” suggesting “secret” and “surreptitious.” Reputed to have been trained in the arcane methods of assassination, the ninja were hired to sneak into private lairs to kill warrior enemies. Legendary tales tell of orphan or slave boys (and some women called kunoichi) being trained in secret martial arts by yamabushi (mountain hermits) or by the so-called warrior-monks (sōhei) employed by some of the large Buddhist temples to protect their enclaves. Stories are told that Shōtoku Taishi, the seventh- century imperial regent, used ninja to assassinate his Soga enemies. Other tales abound about ninja being employed against the emishi (Ainu) in the north.

The legends aside, there is substantial evidence that several ninja troupes did exist during the Sengoku era. At least two samurai families in the area surrounding Kyoto trained acolytes in stealthy techniques. These assassins were trained in unarmed combat such as karate (literally “open hand”) and jiujitsu (yielding technique) and employed ordinary agricultural implements such as thresher-flails (nun-chuck) and hand sickles (kama) as killing weapons. The ninja dressed in black matte clothes that rendered them virtually invisible at night. They developed ingenious rappelling ropes and grappling hooks to scale high castle walls to carry out their stealthy assassinations. Of course, some ninja could have been invited into the innermost castle chambers; the female kunoichi often posed as prostitutes, managing to assassinate their target while he was otherwise engaged.

Reportedly several daimyō employed ninja, particularly during long castle sieges. Some claim that Tokugawa Ieyasu hired ninja during his long siege of Osaka castle to kill his archenemy Toyotomi Hideyori in 1614. Whether any of these legends are based on truth, secret assassins have been used in virtually every war. Post–World War II cinema, television, manga (pulp comic books), and anime have popularized ninja far beyond any rational discourse.17

AZUCHI-MOMOYAMA CULTURE

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The era covering roughly the years in which Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu dominated the land is referred to as the Azuchi-Momoyama period in art history. The term Azuchi comes from the area where Nobunaga built his main castle; Momoyama comes from the site near Kyoto where Hideyoshi built his Fushimi Castle.

The art of this period conveys a sense of vigor and vitality. The symbolic representation of the temper of the age is found in the castles built by military leaders. These were massive fortresses designed for defense against armies equipped with firearms. They were usually patterned after Western fortifications, surrounded by a series of walls and moats. The castle itself consisted of a central tower flanked by a number of smaller ones. The main tower was usually six or seven stories high and was used as a final holdout. At the base of the superstructure were huge stone blocks. The entire edifice, with its white plastered walls and handsome tile roofs, usually dominated the surrounding landscape. Himeji Castle, west of Osaka, is the best-preserved fortress of this period.

Nobunaga built a huge castle in Azuchi, near Kyoto, but it was destroyed in the conflict that was touched off by Mitsuhide’s rebellion. Its main tower was seven stories high and the rooms were elaborately decorated, containing paintings by Kanō Eitoku (1543–1590). Hideyoshi constructed two massive fortresses, one in Osaka and the other in Fushimi. The former had forty-eight large towers; the main tower stood on a stone base 75 feet high above which it rose 102 feet. Both of Hideyoshi’s castles were destroyed in battle, but the Osaka castle was later rebuilt and is now equipped with an elevator. Many of the components of the Fushimi castle were removed to the Nishi-Honganji, headquarters of the True Pure Land Sect in Kyoto, and have been preserved to the present.

The construction of these castles and palaces fostered the other arts because the interiors of these edifices were elaborately decorated with painted walls, sliding doors, folding screens, and wood carvings. In tune with the military spirit of the age, the predominant style of painting was vigorous and colorful. It was also grander in scale than that of the previous era, when elegance and gracefulness had been emphasized. Ink monochrome flourished in the preceding age, but now opaque, bright color was used. The sliding doors and screens were painted in strong colors against backgrounds of gold leaf. The most renowned painter of this period was Kanō Eitoku, who painted for both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Unfortunately, only a few of his innumerable works have survived, but those that remain are thought to typify his style: flat space, bold and simple designs, and bright colors.

Some art historians consider Hasegawa Tōhaku (1539–1610) a greater artist than Eitoku. Tōhaku painted both in monochrome and color. He patterned his black- and-white paintings after the Chinese master Muqi Fachang, using the soft-ink style in which everything is suggested rather than explicitly stated. In the use of color,

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also, he was a master, producing the finest works of this age. The paintings on sliding doors attributed to him display the brilliance of color and boldness of design manifested by Eitoku but also show a delicacy of detail and a greater concern for perspective.

The warriors of this period displayed a great interest in the tea ceremony, constructing a large number of teahouses and fostering of the craft of pottery. Hideyoshi was one of its most enthusiastic practitioners, sponsoring elaborate tea parties. He enlisted the master of the tea ceremony, Sen-no-Rikyū (1522–1591), who also served Nobunaga, as one of his advisers. Rikyū, a Zen Buddhist, helped to popularize the art and gave it the simplicity, restraint, and austerity traditionally associated with it. He not only prescribed the form of the ceremony but the kind of utensils to be used, the design of the tearoom, and the setting in which the teahouse should be located. Unfortunately for Rikyū, he got embroiled in political intrigues, lost Hideyoshi’s favor, and was compelled to commit hara-kiri.

Stimulated by the demand for tea bowls, pottery making flourished, ushering in what is regarded as the golden age of ceramics. Glazed wares reflecting Korean influence as well as plain unglazed pottery were produced. The Shino wares, with their heavy translucent white glaze applied thickly and unevenly and then embellished with simple abstract designs; the Oribe wares, which took a great variety of shapes and ornaments; the Raku wares, usually black, with strong, simple shapes; and the Karatsu wares, with a brownish gray crackled glaze and free- flowing abstract designs, were some of the noteworthy products of this era.

Hideyoshi commanded his samurai to bring the best Korean potters back to Japan from his invasion in the 1590s. Many of their artisans settled in the hills around Kyoto where they produced fine pottery for Hideyoshi. They continue there today.

GENDER AND SEXUALITY

As suggested in Chapter 1, Japanese mores regarding gender and sexuality were (and are) decidedly different from those of the Judeo-Christian West. If gender roles and sexual expressions are social constructs, Japanese gender relations can be said to be products of their culture. As noted previously, premarital sexual experimentation was considered quite common and even encouraged to attain compatibility after marriage.

Adolescent male-male (wakashudō, the “way of adolescent boys”) sex did not relegate experimenters to any permanent social stigma. The lack of Buddhist (or the indigenous cults’) religious sanctions against such practices made them seem “normal” and “natural,” if we may use such subjective social terms. Indeed, there are references to such practices among the male kami in early (pre-Confucian)

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writings.18 Early Buddhism required that monks and nuns remain celibate (before some

Pure Land Sects abolished the practice), but virtually everyone winked at adult male-male (nanshoku—literally “male colors”) sexuality, provided that sexual penetration was not practiced; even then, few condemned it. The Tale of Genji makes several references to such sexual practices, including by Genji, who “for his part, or so one is informed, found the boy more attractive than his chilly sister,” who had spurned his advances.19

Frequent mention is made in Japanese literature about wakashu sexual relations, particularly in Buddhist monasteries. The older monk nenja (admirer) took younger partners called chigo (beloved boy), who were usually acolytes. These relations might continue with the chigo becoming nenja after a time, taking on his own chigo. Just as often, however, we are told that the younger chigo “outgrew” the practice of male-male sex.20

Such relations developed within warrior culture (shudō), where the older samurai entered a relationship with a consenting younger wakashu samuraiin- training. These relations were often contractual, with each swearing sexual loyalty to the other. Some scholars suggest that the contractual sexual exclusivity did not extend to sex with women, which of course was considered the honorable Confucian obligation to provide progeny. Indeed, male-male sex did not preclude either partner marrying a woman. Many references suggest that what we might call bisexuality was just as common. Others suggest that the shudō among the samurai was a kind of misogynist social commentary, implying that emotional attachment to women was somehow dangerous, that women were not to be trusted.

There were many young male prostitutes, who like their female counterparts had been sold into a sexual slavery by their destitute parents. When they became older, and presumably lost their boyish looks, some extended their careers by refusing to shave their forelocks, as was the samurai hairstyle, thereby appearing younger than their years. The practice was so common that scarcely any native writers deemed it necessary to comment on, except when the European Jesuit priests arrived. One, Alejandro Valignano, in his ecclesiastical reports referred to it as “the sin that does not bear mentioning.”21 Another priest, Francesco Carletti, said, “This country is more plentifully supplied than any other with those sort of means of gratifying the passion for sexual indulgence, just as it abounds in every other sort of vice, in which it surpasses every other place in the world.”22 A Dutch eighteenth-century physician recalls (in his quaint English) entering a joka-machi on his way to Edo, where he saw young boy prostitutes placed on display with painted faces and feminine clothes, “kept by their lew’d and cruel masters for the secret pleasures and entertainment of rich travelers, the Japanese being very much addicted to this vice.”23

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Many of the male actors who played female roles (onnagata) in Kabuki theater were practicing prostitutes. Some consider this a kind of transvestism because many of the onnagata continued to wear women’s clothing even when not on stage. The woodblock prints (ukiyo-e, see Chapter 7) that blossomed as decorative playbills often portrayed these actors in provocative poses. A genre of pornography called shunga (spring pictures) often depicted male-male and female-female sex.

By the Tokugawa era the profusion of cheap salacious writing featured many stories about male-male love. The most prolific of those authors, Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693), wrote several novels, the most famous of which are The Life of an Amorous Man and The Great Mirror of Male Love. But he also wrote novels about male and female lovers who were bound by marriage to people they did not love.

We can find no explicit historical injunctions, or even explicit mention, of female-female sex in the early Japanese literature, though many scholars claim that there are abundant veiled references in poetry. Because the traditional roles for women are not particularly threatened by female-female sex, if it posed no threat to society, why mention it? After all, what we call lesbian relations would not produce any male babies who might become rivals in inheritance to boys produced by “legitimate” wives. In the Tokugawa era some of the same literature about male- male sex mention the female-female variety, even to the point when women choose to commit suicide together rather than return to their husbands. The lesbian community, as well as the transgendered and bisexual communities, in modern Japan are only now beginning to try to piece together a scholarly historical treatment.

CONTACT WITH THE WEST

In 1543 some Portuguese sailors whose vessel was blown off course landed on the island of Tanegashima off the shore of southern Kyushu. They were followed by Portuguese traders who arrived to establish commercial relations with Japan. The Portuguese were in turn followed by the Spanish, who first arrived in 1584. The city of Nagasaki became the main port of entry for traders, in part because the local daimyō ceded the city to the Jesuit fathers. He reasoned, quite correctly, that if the padres felt comfortable in their own “Christian” city, they would encourage the Portuguese traders to come there instead of other ports.

The Western merchants brought to Japan silk fabrics, gold, sugar, perfume, medicinal herbs, and apparel from China, India, and other Asian countries. With the introduction of firearms in Japan, the demand for imported lead and nitrate also increased. In return, Japan exported silver, copper, lacquerware, and pottery. Silver was one of Japan’s main attractions for Western traders. Some historians estimate that at that time Japan was probably producing one-third of the world’s silver.

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The Dutch and the British soon followed the Portuguese and Spanish to Japan. The first Dutch ship arrived in 1600; the British came in 1613. Eventually the Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the chief Western traders in Japan.

The advent of the Western merchants stimulated Japanese interest in overseas trade, and they, too, began to send merchants to the south. Around the middle of the sixteenth century, Japanese vessels sailed to Taiwan, Luzon, Indochina, and Siam (Thailand). Both Hideyoshi and Ieyasu issued official certificates stamped with red seals to Japanese ships (thus known as goshuinsen, or “red-seal ships”) permitted to engage in overseas commerce. The Japanese merchant ships of this period averaged two to three hundred tons in size.

As commercial contact with Southeast Asia increased, a number of Japanese— mostly merchants, masterless samurai, and Christians—began emigrating to such places as the Philippines, Annam, Cambodia, Java, and Siam, establishing Japanese settlements. In 1621, an estimated 3,000 Japanese lived near Manila. The Japanese population in Siam was about 14,000 or 15,000. The leader of the Siamese settlement, Yamada Nagamasa, became a prominent general at the court of Siam. When the Tokugawa Bakufu adopted a policy of national seclusion in the 1630s, these emigrants were isolated from their homeland and were eventually assimilated into the societies where they had settled.

CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN

In 1542, St. Francis Xavier, who had helped to found the Jesuit Order, arrived in Goa in India to spread Christianity in Asia. He went to Kagoshima in 1549 and received permission from the daimyō of Satsuma to spread his religion there. From Satsuma he traveled to Hirado, near Nagasaki, and then to Yamaguchi and eventually to Kyoto for a brief stay. At the end of 1551 he left Japan to return to Goa, leaving behind about a thousand Christian converts. Other dedicated missionaries such as Luis Frois and Alexander Valignano arrived to take St. Francis’s place.

The missionaries were generally favorably received by the Kyushu daimyō, who were motivated in part by the desire to engage in trade with the Western countries. By 1569 there were 15,000 converts in the Nagasaki area. The missionaries’ task was facilitated by the fact that several daimyō became Christians and then compelled their followers to accept the religion. As a result, the Jesuits won many converts among the samurai class. Among the early daimyō converts were Ōtomo Sōrin of Bungo and Ōmura Sumitada of Hizen. In 1582 they sent four youths to Rome to see the pope. Date Masamune, a daimyō of northern Japan, although not a Christian, sent an embassy of more than sixty persons to Rome in 1613, primarily to facilitate trade with Spain. The embassy went to Rome by way

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of the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain, and returned in 1620 by the same route, after a two-year stopover in the Philippines.

The Christian missionaries were aided greatly by Nobunaga’s enthusiastic support, intended to weaken and undermine his political foes, the Buddhists. A Jesuit missionary, Coelho, observed, “This man seems to have been chosen by God to open and prepare the way for our holy faith. . . . In proportion to the intensity of his enmity to the bonzes [Buddhist monks] and their sects, is his good will towards our Fathers who preach the law of God.”24

In 1560 the Jesuits had received permission to preach their religion in Kyoto, but in 1565, because of the complaints of the Nichiren Sect, the emperor prohibited the propagation of Christianity and compelled the missionaries to leave the capital. In 1568, when Nobunaga gained control of Kyoto, he lifted this ban. He also assisted in the construction of chapels in Kyoto and Azuchi. By 1576 there were more than 20,000 converts in the Kyoto-Osaka area alone. In 1582 it was estimated that there were about 150,000 Christians and two hundred chapels throughout the country.25

Although initially the missionaries were welcomed by the ruling class, who believed they could facilitate trade with the West and also inculcate such virtues as obedience and humility among the people, some came to recognize the potential danger Christianity posed. A devout Christian might make an obedient vassal, but ultimately he was expected to serve and obey a higher authority, God. If ever a Christian’s duty to his master and his duty to God came into conflict, he was expected to choose God. When some samurai abandoned their masters for God and some children left their parents for their new faith, a sense of uneasiness began to beset some members of the ruling class. Nonetheless, the future of Christianity in Japan appeared to be bright even after Nobunaga was eliminated by Mitsuhide. Then in 1587 Hideyoshi suddenly turned against the Christian missionaries, ordering them to leave the country within twenty days. He had recently consolidated the country under his control and no longer needed either the guns or the support of the Christian daimyō. He did not require the Japanese converts to renounce their faith, but he forbade Christian daimyō and samurai from forcing their religion upon the inhabitants in their lands. Upper-class samurai were prohibited from adopting Christianity without official permission.

Hideyoshi’s motives for this action have remained elusive. When he succeeded Nobunaga as the overlord of Japan, he did not change his predecessor’s policy toward Christianity. In fact, he seemed to be sympathetic to the missionaries and granted them the same favors that Nobunaga had accorded them. He was certainly not sympathetic to the Buddhists whose power he sought to undermine. In the battle with the Shimazu forces of southern Kyushu, he had the support of the Christian daimyō of northern Kyushu. Although there was some reason to believe that the

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spread of Christianity might disturb the political order, Hideyoshi seemed unconcerned about the presence of the Christian daimyō. If any problems arose, he was in a position to deal with them decisively. For instance, when the lord of the Nagasaki, Ōmura, turned the city over to the Christian Church and forbade the residence there of non-Christians, Hideyoshi appointed a deputy to govern the city and removed it from the church’s control.

Apparently, Hideyoshi’s physician was anti-Christian and filled his ears with its dangers and evils. When Hideyoshi ordered one of his Christian vassals to renounce his religion and was disobeyed, he suddenly issued his decree. Just prior to issuing the ban, Hideyoshi asked Coelho these questions: (1) Why do the missionaries seek to persuade his vassals to become Christians? (2) Why do they persecute Buddhist monks and destroy their temples? (3) Why do they eat beef when cattle are useful to mankind? (4) Why do the Portuguese buy the people of Japan and export them as slaves? These may have been some of the issues brought to his attention by his doctor and other anti-Christian advisers. It was true that the Portuguese traders did purchase a number of Japanese, particularly young boys and girls, to be sold abroad as slaves, not only in other Asian countries but some in places as distant as Mexico and Argentina. The Jesuits were, of course, opposed to this practice and had the Portuguese king issue a decree against the slave trade in 1571, but there was no way to enforce the ban. Hideyoshi was concerned about this problem. He was also critical of the Westerner’s custom of eating meat. When he issued the edict restricting Christian missionary activities, he also issued decrees against slavery and meat eating.

Differences in other customs and moral standards caused some friction between the missionaries and the Japanese. One issue the missionaries were critical of was the loose sexual standards of Japanese men, who in effect practiced polygamy. Upper-class men, in particular, had many concubines as well as male lovers. Hideyoshi remarked, perhaps in jest, that if it were not for the Christian insistence on monogamy, he, too, might become a convert. The Jesuits were also critical of the practice of pederasty, which was common among the upper classes.

Initially, Hideyoshi did not rigorously enforce his decree against the Christians. The missionaries were not made to leave the country, as called for by the edict. As a result they looked upon Hideyoshi’s anti-Christian outburst as an act of caprice. The Jesuits continued their missionary work, being circumspect in their behavior so that Hideyoshi’s wrath would not be again aroused. But new difficulties arose when another group of missionaries, the Franciscans, arrived from the Philippines in 1593. They were received cordially by Hideyoshi, probably because he hoped to use them as a counterbalance to the Portuguese Jesuits. Being unfamiliar with the situation that prevailed in Japan, they were less discreet and more zealous in their work.

Soon a rivalry between the Jesuits and the Franciscans developed. The Jesuits

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had hoped to retain a monopoly in spreading Christianity in Japan and had sought to keep the Franciscans out. The way in which the two orders went about their work was different: the Jesuits concentrated on converting the upper classes, while the Franciscans won more converts among the poorer classes. The Jesuits did not think highly of the “poxy lepers” and seedy ragamuffins who frequented the Franciscan hospices. While the “blind, halt, burned, deaf, dumb, lame—nearly all lepers” went to the Franciscan centers, the stately samurai attended the tea ceremonies held at the Jesuit establishments. The rivalry was evidently stimulated in part by the antagonism between Portugal and Spain—the Jesuits came from the former, the Franciscans from the latter.

For about ten years after the anti-Christian edict was issued, the missionaries were permitted to carry on their work, but in 1597 they began to encounter more serious difficulties. In the fall of 1596 the San Felipe, a Spanish galleon, was shipwrecked off the coast of Shikoku. This offered Hideyoshi a chance to confiscate its rich cargo. While he was deciding what to do with the vessel, the Spanish pilot-major, perhaps hoping to intimidate the Japanese officials, boasted that it was usual procedure for Christian missionaries to be followed by Spanish conquerors. This seemed to confirm what Hideyoshi’s anti-Christian advisers had been telling him, so he decided to apprehend and execute the Franciscan missionaries who were working in the Osaka-Kyoto area. In late 1596 six Franciscan missionaries, fifteen Japanese Franciscan neophytes, and three Japanese Jesuit lay brothers, who were included by mistake, were arrested, paraded through the streets of Kyoto, Osaka, and Sakai, and then marched on to Nagasaki. In February 1597 the twenty-four victims, plus two more neophytes who were apprehended along the way, were crucified, becoming the first Christian martyrs in Japan. Before he could start any large-scale persecution, however, Hideyoshi died, and the Christians enjoyed a short breathing spell under Ieyasu, who succeeded him as the overlord of Japan.

Ieyasu was also interested in expanding foreign commerce and opened all the ports to trade without any restrictions. As part of this policy, he tolerated the Christian missionaries, although he did not retract the ban imposed against them by Hideyoshi even though it was never really enforced. Consequently, the missionary work continued. Before long, however, Ieyasu also concluded that Christianity was a potential political menace. There is some reason to believe that fear of the Catholic powers was instilled in the minds of the Japanese authorities by their Protestant rivals, the Dutch.

For instance, in 1610 the stadtholder of the Netherlands sent a message to Ieyasu asserting that the object of the Catholics was to foment political dissension and civil strife. Moreover, unsavory behavior by some Japanese Christian officials undermined Ieyasu’s complacency about the prevalence of Christian converts in Japan. With the way of distrust thus paved, the commissioner of Nagasaki had little

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trouble persuading Ieyasu to adopt an anti-Christian policy. Finally, on January 27, 1614, Ieyasu issued an edict banning the religion.

Regarding the Christian threat to the country, a nineteenth-century Dutch merchant noted that the Tokugawa certainly knew about the Spanish depredations in Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines, and about Portuguese behavior in Goa and Macao. He said of the Japanese, “They were too well informed of world history not to know that the Christian cross of love has eradicated whole people and now signified to all Asians and Polynesians races little better than a blood-drenched symbol of proselytization.”26

Everyone was required to become a member of one of the major Buddhist sects, and records were kept on the people’s religious affiliations. It is believed that there were about 300,000—some estimates run as high as 700,000—Christians in Japan when the edict was issued. Most of them were concentrated in northern Kyushu, with Nagasaki as the center, but some Christians could be found even in the northernmost areas of Honshu.

Persecution of Christians now began in earnest. The missionaries were ordered to leave the country. Many stayed behind, however, and went into hiding, but this time there were no powerful Christian daimyō to protect them and the converts. Daimyō who were suspected of harboring pro-Christian sentiments were compelled to prove their loyalty to the shogunate by purging their lands of Christians. Those who refused to renounce Christianity were burned to death. After Ieyasu’s death in 1616, the attempt to root out Christians was carried out with even greater vigor. Hidetada, Ieyasu’s successor, reiterated the decree ordering the missionaries to leave the country. Anyone helping them to hide was punished. To demonstrate its determination to root out Christianity, in September 1622, the Bakufu publicly burned or decapitated fifty-five Christians in Nagasaki, including women and children.

The third Tokukawa shōgun, Iemitsu (1604–1651), who came to power in 1623, was an even more cold-blooded persecutor of the Christians than his father had been and often attended the torture sessions himself. A growing number of Christians were forced to become apostates through force and torture. The most common methods of torture were by water, fire, mutilation, and hanging into a sewer pit headfirst. Ironically enough, the samurai tended to apostatize more readily than the common people—“the lame and the halt”—who had been converted by the Franciscans.

Those who refused to renounce their faith were executed. Before the execution some were thrown into prisons so overcrowded that there was barely enough room to move. They were forced to endure terrible hunger, thirst, filth, stench, and disease. Often they were left there to rot. Frequently, when a prisoner died, the corpse was left there for days. During the period from 1614 to 1640, between 5,000 and 6,000 Christians were executed.

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The climax of the anti-Christian campaign came with the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637–1638, involving Christians from Shimabara Peninsula and the nearby island of Amakusa, where Christianity had been firmly implanted. There were about 10,000 Christians in Amakusa Island, and when, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the daimyō sought to eradicate the religion he failed because of popular resistance. When persecution became more severe, most of the Christians renounced their religion outwardly but remained Christians at heart. In 1633 a new daimyō was appointed who mercilessly taxed the impoverished peasants. The people of Shimabara, too, were suffering at the hands of a brutal and rapacious daimyō who tortured and abused those who were unable to pay their taxes. The peasants of Shimabara finally staged a general uprising against the daimyō in 1637.

Although the rebellion may have started out as a protest against the taxation policies of the lord, it soon took on a religious hue. The rebels openly proclaimed their adherence to Christianity and shouted the names of Jesus, Maria, and Santiago during their attacks. From Shimabara the rebellion spread to Amakusa, where the rebels chose a sixteen-year-old youth, Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), as their leader. They also had the military leadership of several resourceful masterless warriors. After the Amakusa rebels were defeated on the island, they fled to Shimabara and joined the insurgents there. About 37,000 people, including women and children, entrenched themselves in a strategically located castle and defied the Bakufu siege. They were finally reduced to near starvation, and the stronghold was taken. Virtually all of the insurgents in the castle were massacred. The siege had lasted for three months, and the Bakufu had employed more than 100,000 warriors against them, suffering a loss of 13,000. When requested by the Bakufu, the Dutch contributed cannon fire from one of their ships to help defeat the Shimabara rebels. After all, the rebels were Roman Catholics and the Dutch were Protestants, long accustomed to killing Spanish and Portuguese enemies in European wars.

The Shimabara Rebellion led to severe restrictions on contact with the outside world, although the process of curbing Japanese relations with the external world had started earlier. In 1616 all foreign merchants, except those from China, were prohibited from entering ports other than Nagasaki and Hirado. Foreigners were permitted to reside only in Edo, Kyoto, and Sakai. In 1624 the Spanish were denied the right to trade with Japan, and the British voluntarily abandoned their attempts to develop commerce there. In 1633 Japanese ships without official authorization were prohibited from leaving the country. In 1636 all Japanese ships without exception were forbidden to leave Japan. Not only could the Japanese no longer go abroad, but those who had gone abroad were prevented from returning. In 1639, after the Shimabara Rebellion, the final edict, calling for a strict policy of seclusion, was issued. No foreign ships were allowed to enter Japanese ports except for the Koreans, who were allowed to trade with Japan at Iki Island off Honshu, and the Dutch and the Chinese, who were allowed to trade at the small

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island of Deshima in Nagasaki Bay under restricted circumstances. The Dutch traders were rewarded for the Dutch help at Shimabara but were allowed to reside only on the island and could not travel elsewhere without special permission.

Initially there were no restrictions on trade with China. In 1685, however, the outflow of silver to China was limited to 6,000 kan (about 49,620 lbs) and that to Holland to 3,000 kan. After 1715 only thirty Chinese ships were allowed to come to Japan each year, while Holland was permitted to send two vessels only. Export of copper was also restricted at this time. In 1813 the number of Chinese merchants allowed to call annually was reduced to ten.

All books from the West were banned to prevent Christian ideas from entering the country. From time to time Christians were uncovered and were either punished or executed. Between 1664 and 1667 2,000 Christians were arrested. The government remained vigilant, and it appeared as if Christianity had been successfully rooted out.

Once every year most Japanese in Kyushu, where the Christians had been active, were required to go with their entire families to the Buddhist temple where family registers were kept by the monks. There, each member of the family had to perform a ritual “treading on pictures” (fumi-e) of Christian symbols to show their contempt for the religion. But many hidden Christians survived, primarily on small islands off Kyushu, and, when religious freedom was restored in the nineteenth century, a number of Christian families came out of hiding in the area around Nagasaki.27

Japan was to remain relatively isolated from most of the world until Commodore Perry’s arrival in 1853. This decision to restrict external contacts was a momentous one for it meant that Japan was to be virtually cut off from the great scientific, technological, and industrial developments that unfolded in the West in the following two and a half centuries. As we shall see in Chapter 10, the seclusion had some mitigating factors.

THE INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN THINGS

As we noted earlier, the Portuguese introduction of muskets to Japan changed the mode of warfare. The construction of castles was also affected by the Western mode of building fortresses. Western navigation and ship-building techniques were adopted, as were Western mining techniques. Movable type was introduced to Japan by Valignano, and initially the Japanese used it to print a number of books. Woodblock printing was found to be easier to produce, however, so metal movable type ceased to be used. Western-style oil painting was also introduced at this time, and for a period the naturalistic style of the West was employed by some Japanese artists. Aside from Christian texts, the only literary work that was brought to Japan

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by the missionaries was Aesop’s Fables. The kind of commodities introduced from the outside was indicated by the new

words, derived from Portuguese or Spanish, that came into use. These included birōdo (velludo, velvet), rasha (raxa, woolen cloth), sarasa (sarsa, printed cotton), jiban (gibao, underwear), kappa (capa, waterproof coat), shabon (jabon, soap), karuta (carta, cards), and tabako (tobacco). Among the new words for foods were jagaimo (jacatra, potatoes), kabocha (camboja, pumpkins), pan (pan, bread), and kasutera (castella, sponge cake). In addition, such articles as clocks, telescope lenses, and eyeglasses were introduced.

NOTES 1. His biography is Jeroen P. Lamers, Japonius Tyrannus: The Japanese Warlord

Reconsidered (Leiden: Hotei, 2000). 2. See Carol Richmond Tsang, War and Faith: Ikkō Ikki in Late Muromachi Japan

(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007). 3. His biography is Mary Elizabeth Berry, Hideyoshi (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press, 1982). 4. The value of the domain was assessed in terms of the amount of rice it produced. In

1598 the official estimate of the rice yield of the entire land came to about 18.5 million koku. A koku equals 4.96 bushels.

5. See section on Christianity below. 6. Quoted in James Murdoch, A History of Japan, 3 vols. (New York: Ungar, 1964),

2:209. 7. Charles R. Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan, 1549–1650 (Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1951), 140–141. 8. Michael S. J. Cooper, ed., They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports

on Japan, 1543–1640 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1965), 111. 9. For an account of the war see Samuel Hawley, The Imjin War: Japan’s Sixteenth-

Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).

10. Ibid., 114. 11. Quoted in Murdoch, History of Japan, 2:346. 12. Hayashiya Tatsusaburō, Tenka Tōitsu [Unification of the land] (Tokyo: Chūō

Kōronsha, 1966), 476. Japanese troops committed horrendous atrocities in Korea, foreshadowing their actions there between1910 and 1945. In the sixteenth-century war, noses, ears and a number of Korean body parts were hacked off, pickled, and then brought to Japan as war trophies, the last of which were repatriated to Korea in 1992 and there cremated. A similar tomb still exists today in Kyoto called the Mimizuka, literally “Ear Mound.”

13. He promised that the swords, halberds, and other iron weapons would be melted down and used to construct a giant metal Buddha, to thereby help mitigate the bad karma of the ashigaru. See Lee Butler, “The Sixteenth-Century Reunification,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 315.

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14. Ryusaku Tsunoda, W. T. de Bary, and Donald Keene, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 329. Reprinted by permission of Columbia University Press.

15. Okada Akio et al., Nihon no Rekishi [A history of Japan], 12 vols. (Tokyo: Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1959–1960), 7:114.

16. Thomas C. Smith, “The Japanese Village in the Seventeenth Century,” Journal of Economic History 12, no. 1 (Winter 1952): 1.

17. See Stephen Turnbull, Ninja, AD 1460–1650 (Oxford: Osprey, 2003). 18. Recently, a number of scholarly works on the topic have appeared. The best are

Paul Gordon Schalow, A Poetics of Courtly Male Friendship in Heian Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006); Gregory M. Pflugfelder, Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600–1950 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997); and Gary Leupp, Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).

19. Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, trans. Edward G. Seidensticker (New York: Knopf, 1978), 48.

20. Margaret Childs, “Chigo Monogatari: Love Stories or Buddhist Sermons?” Monumenta Nipponica 35 (1980): 127–151.

21. Quoted in Cooper, They Came to Japan, 47. 22. Ibid., 65. 23. Engelbert Kaempfer, History of Japan, 3 vols., trans. J. G. S. Schenchzer

(Glasgow: MacLehose, 1906), 3:53. 24. Quoted in Murdoch, History of Japan, 2:167. 25. See Charles R. Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan, 1549–1650 (Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1951). 26. C. T. Assendelft De Coningh, A Pioneer in Yokohama: A Dutchman’s Adventure in

the New Treaty Port, ed. and trans. Martha Chaiklin (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2012), 34. 27. There are two good sources on the topic: Ann M. Harrington, Japan’s Hidden

Christians (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1993); and Stephen R. Turnbull, The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan: A Study of Their Development, Beliefs and Rituals to the Present Day (Richmond, UK: Japan Library Curzon Books, 1998).

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7

The Early Tokugawa Period

With the death of Hideyoshi, we enter a unique period in Japanese history: two and a half centuries of military rule that maintained political peace and social stability. The Tokugawa rulers set about deliberately to freeze the political and social order and achieved their objectives remarkably well. Here, relatively isolated from the rest of the world, was a small “world state.” Arnold Toynbee characterizes the nature of the Tokugawa: “they have tried to freeze not only their frontiers against the outer barbarians and not only the structure of public administration inside those frontiers; they have tried to freeze the private lives of their citizens as well.”1

In this closed society the institutions, practices, values, attitudes, behavior, and mode of thinking of the Japanese were molded for two and a half centuries. The modern Japanese way of life and pattern of thinking cannot be clearly understood unless the nature of Tokugawa society is understood, for out of this setting the Japan and the Japanese of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries emerged.

THE TRIUMPH OF TOKUGAWA IEYASU

Of the three “unifiers” of sixteenth-century Japan, the man who finally triumphed and achieved the objective of establishing a new military dynasty was Ieyasu. He was the most patient, the shrewdest, and the luckiest of the three. He began as a hostage. He survived countless battles and at least seven assassination attempts. Moreover, he fathered eleven sons from which to choose his successor. He had a broad vision—a historical perspective and political acumen—that the other two may have lacked. He was also willing to listen to criticism about himself and said, “It is difficult for anybody to recognize his own weaknesses because their subordinates and friends flatter them. Thus, I appreciate all sorts of criticisms, even those dealing with minor faults.”2

To survive in the ruthless world of the contending warlords, Ieyasu was willing to be just as pitiless as the next man. When Ieyasu and Nobunaga were allies, Nobunaga demanded that Ieyasu kill his wife and his son, who was married to Nobunaga’s daughter, because he suspected them of plotting an intrigue against him. To avoid a conflict with the more powerful Nobunaga, Ieyasu complied by executing his wife and compelling his son to commit suicide. When Ieyasu set out to

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destroy the Toyotomi family, he was merciless, sparing only two small children. Thousands of Toyotomi supporters were hunted down relentlessly, executed, and had their heads put on public display.

The experiences of his childhood taught Ieyasu to be patient and to endure hardships. His family, the Matsudaira clan, was a local power in Mikawa but was threatened by two powerful neighbors, the Oda and Imagawa clans. To avoid being crushed by them, Ieyasu’s father allied himself with the more powerful Imagawa family and turned Ieyasu, who was then six, over to them as a hostage. Ieyasu was abducted by the Oda family, however, and remained their captive for two and a half years. He was recaptured by the Imagawa forces and remained their hostage until the age of eighteen when, in 1560, Nobunaga defeated the Imagawa clan. After his liberation Ieyasu began building his family fortune in the Mikawa-Suruga region. As noted earlier, when Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga, Ieyasu had become such a formidable power that he could not be forcefully subjugated.

When Hideyoshi died, his son and successor, Hideyori, was only five years old. Before his death Hideyoshi had established a council of five daimyō to assist Hideyori. The dominant figure in the group was Ieyasu, who soon made it clear that he had no intentions of being bound by the pledge to support Hideyori. A cleavage among Hideyoshi’s generals between the “administrators” and the “combat officers” played into Ieyasu’s hand. The former were led by Ishida Mitsunari (1560–1600); the latter included Katō Kiyomasa. The generals who made their reputation on the battlefields held in contempt those who had risen with the writing brush.

When it began to appear that Ieyasu was seeking to concentrate power in his own hands, Mitsunari called upon the Toyotomi family’s loyal supporters to join forces with him to defeat Ieyasu. This led to a great confrontation at Sekigahara in central Honshu in October 1600. The two factions could be divided roughly into

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geographical regions: the western clans supported Mitsunari, while the eastern clans sided with Ieyasu. Hideyoshi’s “combat officers,” disliking Mitsunari, all joined Ieyasu’s camp. A pitched battle was fought on the 21st of October, but Ieyasu managed to persuade one of Mitsunari’s generals, a member of the Mōri clan, to defect and thus won the day. Mitsunari’s faction suffered a crushing defeat, and Mitsunari himself was captured, paraded around Kyoto, Osaka, and Sakai, and executed. Ieyasu finally emerged as the consensus successor to Hideyoshi.

Ieyasu proceeded to immediately confiscate the holdings of the daimyō who had supported Mitsunari. Some lost all their holdings; others had their lands reduced drastically. Toyotomi Hideyori was allowed to retain three provinces with 650,000 koku. His presence still posed a threat to the Tokugawa family because strong pro- Toyotomi sentiments prevailed in the land. Many generals loyal to the Toyotomi family had supported Ieyasu at Sekigahara merely because of their distrust and hatred of Mitsunari. Consequently Ieyasu was forced to exercise caution in dealing with the Toyotomi family.

He succeeded in dividing the pro-Toyotomi faction by sowing seeds of mutual distrust among them. He also bound many of Hideyoshi’s former generals to him by rewarding them generously. Thus, when he decided to move against the Toyotomi family, few generals came to their defense. A large number of ronin (literally “wave men,” or masterless) samurai, perhaps as many as 100,000, who were on the losing side in the Battle of Sekigahara did, however, come to their support.

In 1603 Ieyasu was named shōgun. Unlike Hideyoshi, he managed, by making appropriate changes in his family tree, to trace his ancestry back to the Minamoto clan. He retained Edo as his headquarters, and it became the de facto capital. In 1605 he resigned the post of shōgun in favor of his son, Hidetada (1579–1632) but until his death was the real wielder of power. He concentrated on organizing the political and social systems in such a way as to ensure the continuity of Tokugawa rule even after his death. To appreciate this continuity, however, one must first have an idea of the political events of the first half of the Tokugawa era.

In the winter of 1614, Ieyasu sent his forces against the citadel of Osaka, but it proved to be impregnable. Thereupon, Ieyasu offered to conclude an armistice if the Toyotomi faction would allow him to destroy some of the fortifications of Osaka Castle. The Toyotomi faction was under the impression that the agreement called for the destruction of the outer ramparts and the outer moat alone and agreed to the armistice. When the fighting ceased Ieyasu had his men fill in not only the outer moat but the two inner moats as well. This caused the Toyotomi faction to recommence fighting. This time, though, the Tokugawa forces were able to overrun the fortress and eliminate the Toyotomi family. Hideyori is said to have committed suicide.

In 1623 Hidetada was succeeded by Iemitsu, the able but ruthless shōgun who uprooted Christianity and closed the country. Iemitsu also tightened the Bakufu’s

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control over the daimyō and instituted the system of sankin kōtai (alternate attendance, see below), requiring the daimyō to spend every other year in Edo. In fact, the political system of the Tokugawa government acquired its basic form during Iemitsu’s regime. In 1651 he was succeeded by Ietsuna (1641–1680). There was a minor disturbance during the latter’s reign when some unemployed samurai, led by Yui Shōsetsu, plotted to overthrow the Bakufu, but the conspiracy was quashed before an uprising was ever staged. Ietsuna failed to play an active role in running the government and left the management of the affairs of state initially largely in the hands of his uncle, who acted as regent, and later to the councilors, who ruled the land as a committee.

Because the personal leadership of the shōgun ceased to be important during Ietsuna’s shogunate, when he died some of his councilors favored following the practice of the Kamakura Bakufu and proposed installing a member of the imperial family as the shōgun. The suggestion was rejected, however, and Ietsuna’s younger brother, Tsunayoshi (1646–1709), was installed as shōgun in 1680.

During the first part of his regime, Tsunayoshi was assisted by an able councilor, and he exercised strong leadership. During the latter half, however, his personal attendants and chamberlains gained considerable power, which they somewhat abused. Tsunayoshi became a protector of animals, particularly dogs, because he was born in the year of the dog and was advised by a charlatan that he would have a male heir if he treated dogs kindly. Ultimately, he became fanatical about this and severely punished anyone who harmed a dog. Finally, the shōgun forbade the killing of any living thing. One samurai was executed for killing a swallow. In Edo no fish, clams, or fowl could be sold. No one was to swat even a mosquito. Although Tsunayoshi’s desire to protect living creatures was based partly on his Buddhist beliefs, he did not extend the principle of nonkilling to human beings.3 On the positive side, Tsunayoshi became interested in learning. He encouraged the study of Confucianism and established a neo-Confucian academy. He also sponsored the compilation of histories.

Initially, the Bakufu’s finances were in good condition. But in succeeding generations the expenses mounted, while the revenues failed to keep pace. Ieyasu, an infamous miser, had left the Tokugawa coffers replete with confiscated wealth. But his successors squandered it within a few decades. Many expensive projects were undertaken, such as the construction of the Tōshōgū Shrine in Nikkō honoring Ieyasu. The city of Edo experienced many devastating fires, and the silver and gold mines began producing less. Tsunayoshi not only led an extravagant life but also initiated a program of renovating many temples and shrines. Consequently the Bakufu’s deficits continued to increase. To deal with the growing financial crisis, Tsunayoshi debased the coinage in 1695 and created an economic inflation. Although the government’s revenues were increased substantially by this means, deficits had again increased by the end of his reign. In 1708, in the last year of

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Tsunayoshi’s rule, the Bakufu’s revenues came to about 760,000 to 770,000 ryō, with expenditures of 1.4 million ryō.4

It was during Tsunayoshi’s rule, however, that the culture of the townspeople flourished. This was the era of the Genroku culture that will be discussed in the next chapter. A famous incident involving forty-seven samurai who avenged the death of their lord also took place during Tsunayoshi’s shogunate. It came to be cited as a shining example of faithful warriors who fulfilled their obligations to their lord.

The sixth shogun, Ienobu (1663–1713), employed one of the most able of the Tokugawa scholars, Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725)5 to correct the abuses of the previous regime. One of the new shōgun’s first acts was to withdraw the edict protecting all living creatures and release those who had been imprisoned for violating it. Hakuseki sought to revitalize society by re-emphasizing the neo- Confucian code of conduct that called for proper decorum and etiquette. In an attempt to cope with the economic problems, Hakuseki issued new coins to replace the debased ones and sought to curtail the outflow of gold and silver by further restricting foreign trade at Nagasaki. It is estimated that in the hundred years or so following the establishment of the Tokugawa Bakufu one-fourth of the gold and three-fourths of the silver mined in Japan had left the country.

Hakuseki was a scholar with broad interests. He informed himself about the outside world through an Italian Christian missionary, Giovanni B. Sidotti, who had smuggled himself into Japan in 1708. Sidotti was captured and imprisoned until his death five years later. Hakuseki wrote a book about the West on the basis of what he had learned from Sidotti. He came to the conclusion that Western science and technology should be allowed to enter the country but Christianity should continue to be banned. Concerning his discussions with Sidotti, Hakuseki observed that he first thought Sidotti to be wise and well reasoned, but, “when he came to speak about his religion, it appeared to be not in the slightest respect like the true way. Wisdom and folly became suddenly interchanged in him.”6

After he left his official post, Hakuseki turned to the study of history. He adopted a rational, positivistic approach in his examination of ancient Japan, thus removing the veil of mysticism that had traditionally surrounded the “age of the gods.”

The seventh shōgun, Ietsugu (1709–1716), under whom Hakuseki also served, was in office only for a short period as an infant. Yoshimune (1684–1751), who became the eighth shōgun in 1716, was one of the ablest of the Tokugawa shōgun. He reasserted the authority of the office, which had been left largely in the hands of the high officials since Iemitsu’s rule. Like his predecessors, however, he failed to get at the root of the economic problems confronting the Bakufu and sought to cope with them by forcing the people to be frugal through moral exhortations and

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sumptuary laws. The government’s difficulties could be traced, he was convinced, to the easy living and sagging moral life of the people. He thus emphasized the military arts over literary efforts and encouraged the samurai to engage in hawking and hunting.

Yoshimune also put into effect certain stopgap measures, known as the Kyōhō Reforms (named for the Kyōhō period, 1716–1736), to increase government revenues. For example, he reduced the daimyō’s stay in Edo (sankin kōtai) to a half a year in return for rice contributions, a practice that was discontinued after a decade, however. To increase agricultural production, he encouraged the reclamation of new land and the production of crops other than rice, such as sweet potatoes. To prevent the peasants from leaving the villages, he attempted, with little success, to enforce the ban on the buying and selling of land. He also regularized tax collection by maintaining a fixed rate of collection over a number of years rather than relying on an annual assessment of the agricultural yield. He sought to disseminate practical knowledge. As part of this policy, in 1720 he eased the ban on the importation of foreign books, allowing them to enter the country as long as they did not contain Christian concepts.

The eighth shōgun also introduced legal reforms and in 1742 had the Code of One Hundred Articles—a compendium of the legal procedures and penal laws that were in effect up to his time—drawn up. He encouraged the populace to express their opinions through the use of suggestion boxes. In addition, he sought to utilize men of talent and was interested in aiding the sick and the poor.

Yoshimune was puritanical in his outlook and endeavored to uphold morality by censoring novels and other works of literature, insisting upon the expurgation of all lewd expressions. To discourage double suicides by lovers, he prohibited any mention of this practice. He also proscribed any discussion of the Tokugawa family in print. An effort was made to curb unlicensed prostitution and gambling.

Although Yoshimune succeeded in injecting a measure of energy into the Bakufu, the reforms that he instituted merely dealt with the external symptoms. The difficulties confronting the Bakufu arose from the basic nature of the society, and these attempts at reform were palliatives that merely delayed its deterioration.

THE POWER STRUCTURE

With the Battle of Sekigahara, the supremacy of the Tokugawa family over the rest of the daimyō was established. Ieyasu did not seek to rule over the entire land directly, but the daimyō were no longer allowed to be the fully autonomous regional barons that they had been in the Age of the Warring States. They were in effect vassals of the shōgun and owed him loyalty and prescribed obligations. In the administration and control of the land, a division of power between the Bakufu and

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the daimyō, who retained authority in their han (domains), was effected. Thus the Tokugawa system of rule is referred to as the baku-han system.

The Tokugawa family retained a large portion of the country’s land as its domain. At the end of Tokugawa rule, the agricultural yield of the entire nation was estimated at about 30 million koku. The Tokugawa family retained about 7 million koku. Of this amount, between 2.6 million and 2.7 million koku was held by the personal vassals or direct retainers of the Tokugawa family. The Bakufu’s holdings were located not only in the Kantō region but in the central provinces and the Kinki area (the provinces around Kyoto) as well. The remaining 22 to 23 million koku were divided among the daimyō. The number of daimyō varied somewhat during the Tokugawa period but averaged about 270. Each daimyō held at least 10,000 koku, but the size of the daimyō’s domain varied greatly. A large majority held less than 100,000 koku, and many held only the minimum 10,000 koku. Only sixteen han were officially valued as being worth more than 300,000 koku. The largest was held by the Maeda family of Kaga, whose holdings were assessed at 1.02 million koku. Frequently, the actual productive capacity was higher than the official estimate. Initially, the imperial court was granted an income of about 20,000 koku, but this was later increased to 30,000. The court aristocrats were restricted to meager stipends and led an existence of near privation.

There were three categories of daimyō: relatives of the Tokugawa family (shimpan), hereditary daimyō (fudai), and outside lords (tozama). There were only a few shimpan, the most important of which were the three main collateral houses established by leyasu’s sons, the Owari, Kii, and Mito Han. They, together with three houses established by the sons of the eighth and ninth shōgun, provided a successor to the shōgun if he did not have an heir. Other major shimpan included the Echizen and Aizu houses.

The fudai lords were by and large those daimyō who had been vassals of the Tokugawa family before the Battle of Sekigahara. They not only functioned as rulers of their own han but served as high officials in the Bakufu. The tozama lords, of whom there were about a hundred, were those who had joined the Tokugawa faction later. Many had fought against it at Sekigahara, but some had remained neutral, and others had even fought on its side.

The last group were regarded as friendly tozama lords, who were rewarded after Ieyasu gained mastery over the land. Those who had fought against him at Sekigahara, with a few exceptions, found their holdings reduced substantially. The tozama holdings, however, tended to be larger than the fudai holdings. Of the sixteen largest han, eleven were held by tozama lords, four belonged to the shimpan, and only one was held by a fudai daimyō. The fact that the tozama continued to exist at all is an indication that the land system was very much a confederation rather than a unified state.

Together, the tozama could have presented a serious threat to the Bakufu. But

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Ieyasu wisely did not attempt to completely eradicate them militarily; that would have taken much too long, and he could never be too certain of the future loyalties of his own supporters. So he tolerated the tozama, and, in exchange for their placement at the extreme periphery of the country, he allotted them large but not overly productive domains. Also, their lands were mountainous and therefore difficult to farm. Otherwise, they were placed in between two reliable houses.

The Bakufu kept strategic areas under its direct control or else allotted them to the shimpan or fudai daimyō. For a few decades the Bakufu pursued a policy of eliminating those lords it considered untrustworthy, even those who had supported it at Sekigahara. It also confiscated the holdings of those daimyō houses that experienced internal conflict over succession. In addition, it exercised the right of confiscation when a daimyō died without leaving an heir. Deathbed designations were not recognized. During the first half of the seventeenth century, 120 daimyō families lost their lands for diverse reasons, but the Bakufu discontinued exercising its right of confiscation at about the middle of the seventeenth century. When he found it necessary to punish a tozama daimyō by confiscation, Ieyasu was careful to reapportion the confiscated lands among the tozama rather than among his own allies. After the mid-seventeenth century, instead of total confiscation, the Bakufu chose to unseat the current daimyō but allow his heir to succeed him rather than punish the whole family.

The Bakufu took great care to prevent the daimyō, particularly the tozama daimyō, from endangering its supremacy. Daimyō families were prohibited from concluding marital ties without the Bakufu’s approval. Castles could not be repaired without permission from the shogunate. An elaborate system of spies was developed to ferret out any budding conspiracies.

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The Bakufu instituted the sankin kōtai (alternate attendance) system to maintain a close watch on the daimyō. This compelled them to spend huge sums of money moving their households back and forth to the capital and maintaining expensive residences there. In addition, they were obligated to bring a representative number of samurai to Edo as attendants. The resulting drain on their resources prevented them from accumulating funds that could be used against the Bakufu. In addition, the daimyō were required to leave their wives and children in Edo as hostages.

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Barriers or checkpoints were established at strategic points to control their movements. The sankin kōtai system allowed daimyō who lived within a couple of weeks’ walk of Edo to alternate by half years instead of annually.7

The daimyō were also required to sign an oath of allegiance to the shōgun. As each new shōgun came to office, the daimyō had to renew their pledges and to acknowledge the Buke Shohatto (Laws Governing the Military Households), which prescribed the mode of conduct for the samurai and daimyō. The major obligation of the daimyō to the shōgun was to come to his aid in time of trouble with a fixed number of warriors, horses, and weapons. The number of warriors daimyō were obliged to provide was determined by the amount of land they held, which came to about two warriors per 100 koku. The daimyō was also required to provide material assistance and laborers for corvée when the Bakufu required them for special projects.

The daimyō was allowed a fairly free hand in the administration of their own han, but certain matters were placed outside their jurisdiction. The Bakufu retained the right to manage the country’s foreign relations, and it also controlled such internal matters as coinage, weights and measures, and interhan transportation.

The personal vassals of the shōgun were classified into two groups: the bannermen (hatamoto) and housemen (gokenin). They were considered members of the “palace guard.” The bannermen had the privilege of approaching the shōgun directly, whereas the housemen did not. The latter also held smaller domains or stipends. These immediate subordinates of the shōgun were at first given either domains or stipends, but the Bakufu eventually adopted the policy of removing these vassals from the land and having them reside in Edo; thus, by 1722 most of them were receiving stipends rather than holding lands. In the early eighteenth century, there were more than 5,000 bannermen and 17,000 housemen. The daimyō also adopted the practice of paying their retainers stipends rather than allotting them domains. By 1690, 83 percent of the daimyō had their vassals on stipends.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

The administrative structure of the shogunate took its more or less final form during the third Tokugawa shōgun’s regime. The shōgun, as the chief administrator, was assisted by several councilors. The highest ranking post was that of the tairō (great councilor). This position, however, was filled only under such special circumstances as the minority of a shōgun or in such extraordinary situations such as the crisis caused by the arrival of Commodore Perry. During the early years of the Tokugawa Bakufu, three tairō were appointed to function as a group, but eventually the number was reduced to one. They were chosen from among those fudai daimyō who were especially close to the Tokugawa family. The standing

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councilor positions were those of the rōjū (senior councilors). Usually there were four or five rōjū who took turns each month managing the administrative affairs of the Bakufu. They were chosen from among the fudai daimyō with holdings of more than 25,000 koku. Under their supervision were a number of important officials, such as the ō-metsuke (inspector general), whose function was to oversee the shogunate’s relationship with the daimyō and keep a check on them. Various commissioners (bugyō) in charge of the major cities, financial affairs, and monasteries and shrines were under the direction of the rōjū. The city commissioners managed the administrative and judicial affairs of Edo and the other major cities (Kyoto, Nagasaki, and Osaka) under the Bakufu’s jurisdiction.

There was also a group of three to five junior officials, the wakadoshiyori (junior councilors), who were also chosen from among the fudai daimyō. Their task was to supervise the bannermen and housemen and to oversee the affairs within Edo Castle. Under their authority were the metsuke (inspectors), who also kept an eye on the bannermen and housemen. To manage its domain the Bakufu appointed intendants, of which there were four known as gundai and forty to fifty referred to as daikan. The former were in charge of Tokugawa domains with incomes of more than 10,000 koku and the latter controlled areas with incomes between 5,000 and 10,000 koku. To maintain a close check on the imperial court, the Bakufu assigned a deputy in Kyoto. All of the court’s activities were closely supervised, even its nominal ceremonial functions. The administrative machineries of the daimyō resembled those of the Bakufu, although there were local variations.

The manner in which the administrative system was established indicates that one of the chief concerns of the Bakufu was to maintain stringent controls over all elements in society to ensure that its position would not be threatened from any direction. Its other major preoccupation was financial. It had to manage its affairs with income derived largely from its own han. It could not tax its vassals or the daimyō, although it could ask for contributions. Its primary source of income was the taxes levied on the peasants in its own domain. It usually collected 40 percent of the harvest. In addition, it imposed special levies to pay for public works, the horse stations, and extraordinary projects.

The Bakufu also derived some income from the mines, having kept the major ones under its direct control. It obtained loans, which were in effect forced donations, from the merchants. It retained the right to mint coins for the entire land, and it debased the currency from time to time when its financial situation became acute. The daimyō were permitted to mint their own coins and issue paper currency for use in their own han. These, however, had little value in other parts of the country.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

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The legal system that prevailed in Tokugawa Japan was not based upon the concept of the rule of law as it evolved in the West. Rule of law upholds the supremacy of regular law over the exercise of arbitrary power; it means equality before the law with no immunity for the ruling or official class. In contrast, justice in Tokugawa Japan was administered according to “rule by status” (taigi mibun), in which discretionary powers were held by superiors within a multistatus social structure. The entire society was ruled by a concept of hierarchic relationships; distinctions between superior and inferior persons were constantly made. Not only governing officials but the samurai class as a whole could exercise arbitrary power over the common people. There was little recourse for the commoner against the samurai, because bringing suits against superiors was proscribed and punishable.

Law to the common people meant submission to the will of those above. The ruling class justified its authority in terms of a moral order that stemmed from natural law, the basic principle of which was that people were unequal. Hence, the decrees issued by the shōgun and the daimyō took the coloring of moral precepts and admonitions.8 Laws, primarily sumptuary and proscriptive in nature, were issued in various forms from the beginning of the Tokugawa period, but little effort was made to systematize them. Some laws were applicable throughout the land, while others applied only to the Bakufu’s domains. Some laws were intended for the common people, some for the samurai, and some for the monasteries and shrines. Penalties for violating the laws were not clearly spelled out, although a common practice of a sort eventually emerged as magistrates followed precedents.

Under Shōgun Yoshimune an attempt was made to regularize the administration of justice with the compilation in 1742 of the Code of One Hundred Articles. Further additions and amendments were made, but by 1754 it had more or less assumed the form that was to prevail during the rest of the Tokugawa era. Altogether there were one hundred and three sections in the code.

A large number of crimes were punishable by death, including the failure to try to save one’s parents trapped in a burning house. The code liberalized somewhat the penal practices that had prevailed prior to this, however. For instance, formerly a wide range of crimes resulted in the punishment not only of culprits but also of their parents, brothers, wives, children, and in some cases even nephews and nieces. In 1691, for example, in the Bakufu’s domain in the north, a servant fell in love with his master’s daughter, and they committed double suicide. Because he had evidently killed her first and then killed himself, he was judged guilty of murdering his master’s daughter. Not only did the authorities crucify the corpse of the servant as an example, they also executed the servant’s father and his older brother. The Code of One Hundred Articles limited the imposition of capital punishment for crimes committed by family members to the children of persons guilty of murdering their masters and parents. Capital punishment in such instances, however, was not inflicted upon samurai children. Instead, they were banished to

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outlying regions. Because of this practice of holding family members jointly responsible, the custom of legally disowning family members came into existence to protect them from the misconduct of, say, a profligate son.

The Tokugawa integrated their neo-Confucian ideas of rule by status (taigi mibun) into their system of social control. Samurai were held to different standards than peasants and chōnin (townspeople). They even went so far as to institute prisons, unheard of in Japan until that time, for purposes of coming to some semblance of justice. Ieyasu himself had established a detention enclosure (roya) outside Edo where suspects could be detained while awaiting investigation of their alleged crimes. The roya was run by hinin outcastes who tended the cells, helped with the torture of suspects, executed convicted criminals, and disposed of their bodies. After about 1687 a section of the roya began to be used to house homeless, sick, and destitute people who had migrated to Edo. During the late eighteenth century, the Bakufu established rehabilitation centers (yōikusho) where the homeless could work in public projects in hopes of learning a trade. Historian Dani Botsman notes, “Punishments were not applied indiscriminately. Particular types of crimes warranted types of punishment. These were chosen from a large and colorful array, including combinations of punishments to fit different crimes.”9

The hierarchical social structure and the concept of rule by status allowed samurai to take the law into their own hands against the common people. The code permitted even the lowest of the samurai to execute on the spot petty townspeople or peasants if they addressed him in “coarse and improper language” or behaved insolently toward him. The code stipulated that “when one slays a rude fellow, it is to be deemed a [justifiable] cutting down, owing to the difference of high and low.”10 As noted previously, few such indiscriminate killings took place; after all, peasants represented tax productivity.

As for the modes of execution, depending on the nature of the crime, the condemned were crucified, beheaded with a sword, burned at the stake, or decapitated with a bamboo saw. In the last instance, the victim was pilloried for two days, and any passerby was permitted to saw away at his head with a bamboo saw that was placed beside him. The condemned were frequently led through the streets, decapitated, and gibbeted (publically displaying the corpse). Other modes of punishment included banishment, house arrest, flogging, face tattooing, handcuffing, and imposition of fines.

Under Tokugawa criminal procedures no one could be punished without a confession, so torture was used against those who, despite strong evidence of guilt, refused to confess to crimes involving murder, arson, robbery, breach of government barriers, or treasonable conspiracy. The modes of torture included flogging, weighing down with stones, trussing up by binding the arms, legs, and body into a tight little bundle, and suspension on a beam with the arms pinioned and

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hands tied behind the back. As Botsman notes, “Punishment in Tokugawa Japan was a form of popular drama. In many ways, the creation of a horrifying spectacle was more important than the infliction of pain on an individual wrong-doer.”11

All the Bakufu officials, including the senior councilors, junior councilors, commissioners, and inspectors general, performed judicial duties by hearing disputes brought to the Bakufu by the daimyō, bannermen, housemen, townspeople, and peasants. Cases involving daimyō were heard by the higher officials. In special cases the high officials deliberated as a group and acted as the Bakufu’s supreme judicial body. The peasants were denied the right to make direct appeals to the Bakufu, so they remained at the mercy of their lords and local officials. Those who made direct appeals did so with the full awareness that they would be executed regardless of the merit of their case.

The villagers had their own system of justice. There was a village code that dealt with such basic concerns as taxation, agriculture, and community activities. Those who violated the code of conduct, written or unwritten, that regulated village affairs and the relationships among villagers were punished by the community. The punishments included, in ascending order of severity, apologies, fines, ostracism, and banishment. Ordinary disputes between villagers were mediated by the village headman or elders, and differences were usually resolved through compromise.

Similarly, the chōnin administered their own forms of justice. Economic penalties levied against members of the za (guilds) could be very effective, but social ostracism could be devastating to a neighborhood as well. The chōnin desperately wished to keep the samurai and daimyō out of their affairs, so communal pressures were effective in maintaining or restoring the peace.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Prior to the Age of the Warring States, it was common for the samurai to farm in time of peace and go off to the battlefield in time of war, but during the era of the Warring States, the samurai began to congregate in the castle towns. Thus, a division of labor between the samurai and the farmers began to develop. Hideyoshi’s sword hunt and freezing of occupation resulted in a four-class division of samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The Tokugawa Bakufu adopted a policy of perpetuating this situation and maintained a rigid division of these four main classes. Birth determined every individual’s social status. A samurai’s child belonged to the samurai class, and the peasant’s child remained a peasant. The establishment of this hierarchic social structure fixed the character of Tokugawa society and, to a large extent, of modern Japan. Class status and group relationship governed all social relations, and individualism was thoroughly repressed.

The ruling class justified this class structure in terms of neo-Confucian

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concepts. Knowing one’s proper place in society was one of the points emphasized by the Confucian scholars, particularly the Zhu Xi12 school, which eventually became the official philosophy of the regime. An early Tokugawa Zhu Xi philosopher, Hayashi Razan (1583–1657), wrote, “Heaven is august, Earth is ignoble. Heaven is high, Earth is low. Just as there is a distinction of high and low between Heaven and Earth, in the society of men, a prince is noble while the subject is common.”13 The Bakufu’s laws governing the military household stated that lord and vassal should observe what was proper to their stations in life. People were expected to be totally submissive and obedient to their superiors and would never dare, of course, to criticize them.

The object of the Bakufu was to fix the social order and preserve the status quo. All innovations were rejected. An official decree stated, “Generally speaking in all things the ancient laws must be followed. New practices must be prohibited.” An eighteenth-century neo-Confucian scholar wrote, “It seems that in state affairs, if the laws and practices of those who founded the state are followed exactly and are not changed, the state will endure forever. If the descendants turn against the laws of their ancestors and devise new ones the state will fall into chaos and will surely perish.”14

THE SAMURAI

In the hierarchic Tokugawa society, the privileged class was the samurai, the governing class. It constituted about one-fifteenth to one-tenth of the total population. At the end of the Tokugawa era, there were fewer than 2 million members of the samurai class and about 27 million commoners. Although the samurai was basically a military man, Ieyasu sought to identify him with the neo- Confucian scholar-officials of China. Thus, he insisted that the samurai must not only be skilled in the military arts but must be well educated, particularly in the neo-Confucian classics (thus creating the most frightful thing known to man: the armed bureaucrat).

Within the samurai class itself, there was a hierarchy of rank and status, marked by a broad division between the upper- and lower-class samurai. A nineteenth- century intellectual leader, Fukuzawa Yukichi, who came from a small han in northern Kyushu, reported more than one hundred different degrees of rank in his han where there were only fifteen hundred samurai. Proper distinctions of status were maintained at all levels.

At the end of the Tokugawa regime there were 1,282,000 upper-class and 492,000 lower-class samurai and their family members. Between these two groups rigid social barriers existed. Ordinarily the lower-class samurai could not rise into the upper class regardless of how well they performed their duties or how faithfully

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they served their lords. There were considerable differences in the privileges enjoyed by the two classes. Upper-class samurai could ride horses and go hunting and fishing, but the lower-class samurai were denied these pleasures. Foot soldiers had to kneel on the ground when they encountered upper-class samurai.

Intermarriage between the two classes was prohibited. There were, of course, great differences in the stipends they received. Toward the end of the Tokugawa era, many lower-class samurai were unable to live on their stipends and were forced to engage in handicraft work at home to supplement their income—a true humiliation. One had to abide by complex rules and regulations in one’s relations with other members of the samurai society, including intricate rules concerning the proper style of language befitting the conversing parties’ social status and differences in apparel and the kind of fabrics that could be used.

At the beginning of the Tokugawa period, there was a considerable number of unattached samurai because a fairly large number of daimyō lost their domains in the early years of Tokugawa rule. The masterless warriors (rōnin) usually retained their samurai status and became teachers of swordsmanship or neo-Confucianism. Some, however, were assimilated into the townspeople, while others became warrior-farmers known as gōshi, sometimes written gono.15

Among the gōshi were peasants who were given the privileges of samurai as a reward for some meritorious conduct or special service performed. Many had been “demoted” to that status during the late Sengoku era after having served as ashigaru (foot soldiers). No longer necessary in times of peace, these former warriors were allowed to use surnames and to wear the short samurai sword (wakizashi) as a symbol of authority. Thomas C. Smith notes that the gōshi formed a social layer that was “an adjunct of the ruling class, sharing the economic benefits of the regime and in the administration of the country. . . . They sided with the samurai to keep the poor under control.”16

It was during the Tokugawa period that the code of the samurai (Bushidō)17 came to be discussed in idealistic terms, largely by neo-Confucian scholars such as Yamaga Sokō (1622–1685). In times of strife the principle that guided the conduct of most of the samurai was self-interest, and the means to success was brute force and guile. The Tokugawa era, however, was a peaceful age. Hence, the samurai were expected to be more than just skilled swordfighters; they were expected to be well versed in the neo-Confucian classics and to conduct themselves in a manner befitting a gentleman-scholar. Whereas formerly loyalty to their master was dependent upon the benefits the master could bestow, now they were expected to remain loyal to their lord regardless of the latter’s behavior. A common saying was “Even if the prince does not behave like a prince, the subject must behave like a subject.”

In the early eighteenth century, a Saga Han warrior’s thoughts concerning the

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ideal mode of samurai behavior were recorded by his disciple. The collection of his remarks, Hagakure (Hidden Among Leaves), although not well known until a century later, came to be regarded as an embodiment of the essence of the samurai spirit. In emphasizing the importance of selfless service to one’s master, the Saga warrior asserts, “As long as a person values his master, his parents will be happy and the Buddha and the gods will respond to his prayers. I have no other thought but to serve my master.” Another point he emphasizes was the need to come to terms with death: “I have discovered that bushidō means to die.”18 By thinking continuously of death, he contends, one will become free and be able to perform one’s duties more perfectly.

But the era of peace compelled the Bakufu to discourage the samurai from dying needlessly. In the early years of the Tokugawa period, the practice of devoted vassals committing hara-kiri upon the death of their lords became widespread. When Shōgun Iemitsu died, thirteen people, including three high officials, committed hara-kiri. The fourth shōgun proscribed this practice in 1663. The Bakufu also sought to discourage vendettas, although it did not ban them. Those samurai who planned to avenge the death of their parents or masters were required, however, to obtain the permission of the Bakufu. From 1615 to the end of the century, more than a hundred vendettas were carried out. The most celebrated case was that of the forty-seven warriors who in 1702 avenged the wrong done to their daimyō. Although their action was regarded as a noble deed, they were ordered to commit hara-kiri by the Bakufu for having disturbed the public peace.19

Continuation of the samurai ie was of paramount importance because office, stipend, and status were all tied together. Samurai could only hope that their chosen heir would inherit their title, position, and of course their livelihood. For that purpose, samurai often resorted to adoption to assure themselves a suitable heir. A bright nephew was the most obvious candidate, but only if the young man was not slated to inherit his natal family’s patrimony. Estimates of samurai adoption in the Tokugawa era run as high as 30 percent. It was an almost surefire way of ensuring that the family was in good healthy hands for perpetuity and not in danger of the vagaries of an incompetent, sickly (but beloved) son inheriting the mantle.

Of course, virtually no one thought of adoption as a rather efficient way to provide for upward mobility for second and third sons who would not otherwise inherit in their own natal households. But, as Ray Moore argues, for such a young man, “assuming that he had a certain amount of personal ability, adoption as the head of a family was often the first step toward applying it to win a higher social position for himself.” It could also be said that adoption was a means of “channeling fresh blood and talent into the system without violating the principle of hereditary status in the samurai class.”20

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THE PEASANTS

The peasantry, constituting more than 80 percent of the population, theoretically ranked next to the samurai in the social hierarchy, but in reality their status was lower than that of the townspeople. Like the townspeople, peasants could not wear swords or use family names. They were bound to the soil and could not change their occupation.

To prevent peasant landholdings from being reduced in size and to avert a rise in tenancy, in 1643 the Bakufu prohibited land from being bought and sold. In 1673 it proscribed the division of land among family members if it resulted in reducing the family holdings to below 10 koku or 1 chō (2.45 acres). This was designed to prevent family holdings from becoming so small as to make the payment of taxes difficult, but it meant that younger sons could no longer become independent farmers. They had to remain in their parents’ households as dependent members or become hired workers or indentured servants. The daimyō usually followed the Bakufu’s policies in managing peasant affairs, but some did not adopt these proscriptive measures.

The peasant’s life was regulated in minute detail by the ruling class. In the samurai’s way of thinking, the peasant’s raison d’être was to serve the ruling class’s economic needs; everything was therefore directed to this end. George Sansom famously said, “The Tokugawa cared much about agriculture, but not much about the agriculturalists.”21 Peasant were told to limit their crops to the five cereals (rice, wheat, beans, barley, and millet) and to produce only rice in the wet fields. No arable land was to be left idle. In some han the officials determined when the peasants should get up and when they should start and stop their day’s work. They were told not to waste their evening hours but to make straw ropes and sandals. Women were instructed to spin and weave.

In addition to advocating the virtue of industry, the ruling class sought to instill the concept of frugality among the peasants. They were instructed to consume as little food as possible. Millet rather than rice was to be their staple. Smoking, tea drinking, and, above all, consumption of sake—for rice was used to produce it— were discouraged. They were also told to utilize barnyard grass and vegetable leaves as food. They were instructed to use only cotton for clothing and to bind their hair with straw instead of ribbons. Their dwellings were to be simple hovels. All forms of recreation and games were forbidden except on special occasions. Peasants found amusing themselves any other time were punished. Wives who idled their time away by such pastimes as flower viewing and tea drinking were to be divorced. Many of these admonitions were embodied in the Bakufu’s edict issued in 1642. As the influence of the towns began to be felt in the villages, the officials began to concern themselves with ways to prevent the peasants from being contaminated by the extravagant ways of the townspeople.

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Taxes usually amounted to about 40 to 50 percent of the crop, but the percentage tended to increase as the ruling class began to experience growing financial difficulties. The general policy, it would appear, was to squeeze as much as possible out of the peasants, leaving them just enough to stay alive. “Sesame seed and peasants are much alike,” an eighteenth-century senior councilor said. “The more you squeeze them, the more you can extract from them.”22 A political guidebook written by Honda Masanobu, an influential adviser to Ieyasu, states that all the rice except the amount needed by the peasants to stay alive during the year should be collected. In practice, however, not all daimyō and officials followed these maxims.

The amount of rice and other products each village was expected to pay was determined by land surveys. If the officials estimated that a particular village was capable of producing 500 koku of rice and rice equivalents in other crops, the village was classified as a 500-koku village. If the tax rate was 50 percent, under normal circumstances the officials counted on reaping 250 koku in rice and rice equivalents. The village as a whole was held responsible for the payment of the assessed tax. Each household’s share of the tax burden was determined by the villagers themselves.

Because the actual yield in a given village differed from year to year, each year the officials came to examine the quality of the harvest and fix the exact amount to be paid. As noted earlier, in the Kyōhō era, Shōgun Yoshimune abandoned the annual crop survey and allowed a fixed rate to prevail for three to five years. The last previous nationwide cadastral survey had been made during the Kambun and Empō eras (1661–1681). This meant that in many instances newly reclaimed plots were not included in the tax assessment, although some han did make surveys of just the newly reclaimed areas.

In addition to the land tax, as the years passed, a large number of miscellaneous taxes came to be levied on the peasantry. By the late eighteenth century there were, according to a high Bakufu official, “a tax on the field, a tax on doors, a tax on windows, a tax on female children according to age, a tax on cloth, a tax on sake, a tax on hazel trees, a tax on beans, a tax on hemp . . . if the peasant added a room to his hut a tax was levied on it.”23

Furthermore, the peasants were called upon to provide labor to maintain roads and other public facilities. Villages along the main highways, such as those connecting Edo and other major cities, were required to provide labor and horses to maintain the horse stations that were located at fixed intervals. For example, on the Tōkaidō connecting Edo and Kyoto, there were fifty-three such stations. Each station had a hundred people and a hundred horses ready for the use of travelers, especially the daimyō, on their way to and from Edo. Hamlets located within ten to twenty miles of the main road had to provide three or four people and five or six

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horses for every 100 koku of rice produced. In some han the officials were directed to confiscate the peasants’ possessions,

even their wives and children, if they failed to pay their taxes. Slavery was prohibited but temporary bondage was permitted. Thus, to pay their taxes and debts, peasants frequently sold their family members into servitude. In reality this resulted in permanent enslavement, because the contract could not be dissolved until the debt was repaid, and this the impoverished peasants could seldom do. The brothels of the big cities were filled with daughters (and sons) of indigent peasants. In the villages themselves a considerable number of hereditary and indentured servants were employed by the wealthier farmers. Contemporary observers frequently remarked that the peasants’ lot was a hard one. An eighteenth-century Bakufu official claimed that peasants were treated like beasts of burden.

Broadly speaking, there were two classes of peasantry: those who possessed their own land and those who were tenants. The former came to be called hombyakushō (full-fledged farmers). They were recorded in the land registries and had to pay taxes. However, they had a voice in village affairs, belonged to the five- person group (gonin-gumi, see below), and had priority in the use of the woods, meadows, and irrigation water. The size of the landholding of the full-fledged farmers differed from place to place, but one chō (2.45 acres) was probably the average size, because they were forbidden to reduce their holdings below this figure.

The other generic division within the village was called the “water-drinkers” (mizunomi), who did not own land and were therefore not allowed to marry. They were commonly the noninheriting sons of the hombyakushō and were consigned to a very precarious existence in the village. They were employed by the wealthier peasants but also took part in all of the labor-intensive communal tasks such as plowing, transplanting, reaping, winnowing, dredging irrigation canals, collecting nightsoil, and collecting forest detritus (iriai) to be mixed with nightsoil and other village trash to make fertilizer. For these labors they were fed and housed, commonly in what was called “young men’s groups” (wakamono-gumi) barracks. They could participate in village festivals (matsuri) and otherwise behave as though they were hombyakushō. Indeed, the more fortunate among them might be allowed to marry a woman and thereby be adopted (mukō) by a related family without a male heir. Then they became full-fledged members of the village. Others might be apprenticed to nearby chōnin. The most able sometimes were set up by their merchant or artisan master in branches of the family business after years of loyal service.

In some of the larger villages there were female equivalents of the wakamono- gumi called musume-gumi (girls’ association), where they might be employed in village businesses such as silk, cotton, or linen “factories.” More commonly, they were apprenticed as servants to chōnin or even samurai. There, it was hoped, they

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could learn a marketable trade or even attract the eye of an unmarried chōnin, become the concubine of a rich man, or become a surrogate mother to orphaned children. The less fortunate might be sold to procurers to become prostitutes or geisha. Although records of peasant incomes and expenditures are rare, the few that do exist show that the average peasant led a hand-to-mouth existence. A handbook written around the 1680s for officials of an unidentified region estimated that peasants with a half a chō of rice field and a half a chō of upland could, by double cropping, produce 22.5 koku of rice and rice equivalents. Their farming, living, and household costs came to 18 koku, leaving them 4.5 koku to pay their land taxes.

The farmlands were usually graded into three categories: superior, medium, and inferior. Although the expected yield differed somewhat depending on the location, one chō of superior rice field was expected to yield about 15 koku, medium-grade field 13 koku, and poor field 11 koku. The expected yields for uplands were lower.

In the case of the above peasants, the handbook states that if their fields were rated medium, their taxable yield would be 12 koku. If they were rated superior, it would be 14 koku. The normal tax rate being 40 percent, they would have to pay 4.8 koku in the former instance and 5.6 koku in the latter. Thus they would have to go into debt to pay their tax. This tendency prevailed throughout the country, and the situation grew worse with the passing years.

Normally, the peasants had their own plots of land to farm on a more or less permanent basis, but in some areas land was held in common by the entire village and periodic land distribution took place. This practice prevailed to some extent in twenty of the sixty-six provinces, and in some villages it survived until the end of the Tokugawa era.

In most villages a few fairly wealthy farmers owned considerably more land than the average villager. They also retained a number of servants to work the land. Some of these workers were hereditary servants who were in effect slaves. Others were indentured servants whose terms of service might run from ten years to a lifetime, depending upon the amount of money they or their families had borrowed. It is estimated that these servants accounted for as much as 10 percent of the population in the seventeenth century. In the latter years of the Tokugawa era, their number decreased as their masters found it more beneficial to allow them to work the land as tenants than as indentured workers because it was almost axiomatic that people work harder if they could realize more benefits. Servants have no accountability, tenants do.

At the beginning of the Tokugawa rule, in certain regions a segment of the rural population were in effect serfs of rural landlords. These workers were called nago (children of the landowners) and were attached hereditarily to their masters’ households. Holding none of the rights and privileges of the independent peasants, the nago were completely dependent on their masters for the means of farming and were usually among the most impoverished members of the village. By the end of

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the Tokugawa era, the nago were practically nonexistent as well; they, too, had become independent or tenant farmers.

The basic administrative unit in the Tokugawa era was the village (mura), which emerged after the shōen system collapsed. The shōgun and the daimyō’s agents supervised village affairs and the collection of taxes, but each village enjoyed a degree of autonomy in the management of its affairs and in effect constituted a corporate body. It owned, bought, and sold property; borrowed and loaned money; and entered into agreements with other villages. Although all independent farmers had a voice in village affairs, an elite group of wealthy and prominent villagers (gōshi) dominated the community. Members of the elite families functioned as headmen and elders, serving as agents of the lord of the domain.

Headman were responsible for keeping records, allocating each family’s share of the land tax, collecting the taxes, adjudicating local disputes, maintaining public works, reporting infractions of the law, and so on. They were assisted in their work by the elders and other leading members of the village. When an important matter arose, a meeting of the hombyakushō was held to deal with it.

There was also a five-person group or neighborhood association consisting of five to ten householders (gonin-gumi). Members of this group were held jointly responsible for the payment of taxes and criminal acts committed by any of its members. In other words, the authorities used it as a self-policing body to maintain a close check on peasant life and enforce its many rules and regulations. The association also served as a mutual aid society, with members helping each other in times of need and sickness. This system first came into existence under Hideyoshi and was probably patterned after a similar institution (bao jia) that existed in China.

It was the Bakufu’s policy to keep the peasants intimidated. When Ieyasu heard that the peasants were disturbed at the high-handed behavior of falconers, he is said to have remarked, “Let the falconers be as high handed as they please. This will make the peasants think ‘if mere falconers act in such a manner how much more overbearing would high officials be?’ and they will be afraid to harbor any disloyal thoughts. Willful farmers are the cause of peasant disturbances.”24

The peasants’ mental horizon was limited because each village tended to be isolated from the surrounding areas. Moreover, the ruling authorities deliberately kept the villages insulated from the towns. Their object was to keep the villagers ignorant. “A good peasant is one who does not know the price of grain” was a common saying among the ruling class. It was said that peasants and townspeople should be forbidden from studying. They were to be indoctrinated with the ideals and values convenient to the ruling class, that is, with such virtues as humility, obedience, and loyalty. By and large, the peasants endured their hardships with great patience, but toward the end of the Tokugawa era, as economic difficulties

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increased, peasant uprisings began to break out with growing frequency.

THE TOWNSPEOPLE

The third and fourth classes in the social hierarchy were the artisans and the merchants collectively called chōnin (city people). They were placed at a lower level than the peasantry because the economy was supported by the tillers of the land and, in theory, the samurai class respected and valued the peasants. In the official social hierarchy the merchants found themselves at the bottom of the order because the orthodox philosophy, Confucianism, held moneymaking in disdain. Confucius stated, “The superior man thinks of virtue; the inferior man thinks of possessions. . . . The superior man understands righteousness, the inferior man understands profit.”25

A neo-Confucian moralist of Tokugawa Japan, Kaibara Ekken (1630–1714), wrote that “the enlightened kings of the ancient period valued agriculture and curtailed industry and commerce. They respected the five grains and held money in disdain.” Another neo-Confucian remarked, “Merchants gain wealth without laboring, encourage luxurious living and undermine the people’s minds. Farmers not only must be aided but they must also be respected while merchants must be suppressed and held in contempt.”26

It was considered to be in bad taste for samurai to concern themselves with money, and ignorance about financial matters was seen as a sign of good breeding. This attitude prevailed to the end of the period and even into the Meiji era. Fukuzawa Yukichi reports that his father was outraged to hear that his children were being taught how to work with numbers. But the merchant class accepted its lot and function as dealers in money and made it its philosophy to accumulate as much money as possible. Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1725), a Tokugawa playwright, had a merchant remark in one of his plays, “A samurai seeks a fair name in disregard of profit, but a merchant, with no thought to his reputation, gathers profit and amasses a fortune. This is the way of life proper for each.”27 A writer who depicted the life of the chōnin townspeople, Ihara Saikaku, wrote, “Money is the townsman’s pedigree, whatever his birth and lineage. No matter how splendid a man’s ancestors, if he lacks money he is worse off than a monkey- showman.”28

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An early member of the famous business house of Mitsui, Mitsui Takafusa (1684–1748), compiled in the 1720s a history of merchant houses, focusing in particular upon houses that fell because of extravagance, neglect of business, and the practice of loaning money to the daimyō. The purpose of the work being didactic, Takafusa warned repeatedly against these pitfalls. Merchants were admonished to never forget that their primary object was to make money. “For the townspeople,” he wrote, “though there are many businesses, there is nothing that they can rely upon but the profits that accrue from gold and silver.” Merchants must be frugal, prudent, and stick to their business: “Never waste your attention on matters which have nothing to do with your work. Merchants who ape samurai or think that Shintō, Confucianism or Buddhism will preserve their inner heart will find that they will only ruin their houses if they become too deeply engrossed in them. How much more true is this of other arts and entertainments? Remember that it is the family business that must not be neglected for a moment.”29

A significant spokesperson for the merchant’s point of view was Ishida Baigan (1685–1744), a philosopher who is regarded as the founder of the school of thought referred to as Shingaku (Teachings of the Heart).30 Baigan was born a farmer’s son and found employment in a Kyoto merchant’s shop at the age of twenty-three. He read everything he could get his hands on and later asserted that learning consists of reading books. He remarked, however, that “if one reads the books and does not know the heart of the books, it is not called learning. The books of the sages contain

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their own heart. Knowing their heart is called learning.”31 Hence the name for his school of thought.

Baigan upheld the opinion that the business of a merchant was to make money, and he sought to make the pursuit of profits a part of the Principle of Heaven. Merchants perform a useful function in society and in return received their “stipend” in the form of profits, just as samurai receive their stipend. He wrote, “If one calls receiving a stipend from one’s lord ‘greedy’ and ‘immoral,’ then from Confucius and Mencius on down there is not a man who is moral. What sort of thing is it to say, leaving samurai, farmers and artisans aside, the merchants’ receiving a stipend is ‘greed’ and that they cannot know the Way?”32

Baigan also emphasized the point that the common people, just as much as the samurai, were doing their duty as the shōgun’s subjects. He rejected the distinction that the samurai made between themselves as subjects and the rest of the populace as common people. Peasants, merchants, and artisans were also subjects of the ruler; the only difference was in the work they performed. As proof of this common quality of the four classes, he cited a common principle that governed them all: the principle of frugality. It was essential, he argued, not only for the merchants but also for the peasants and artisans as a principle that would cause them to “fear those above and realize their lowly status.” It was also the basis of government. “The principle of loving the people,” he asserted, “can be put into effect if in managing financial affairs frugality is practiced. Even if one wishes to love the people, it would not be possible if financial resources are lacking. Thus, it is clear that frugality is the basis for governing the land.”33 Frugality, then, was made the basis of the neo-Confucian concept of benevolence (ren). It fitted in well with the ruling class’s continuous interest in fostering frugality as a means to solve its economic difficulties.

Baigan and his followers gave public lectures to the townspeople to propagate their views. Their ideas even filtered into the countryside, as rural leaders invited them to speak in their villages. It would appear, then, that the virtues of frugality, diligence, and devotion to moneymaking were firmly embraced by a substantial segment of Tokugawa society. This fact no doubt contributed in part to the rapid rise of Japan as a commercial and industrial power after the Meiji Restoration.

Although the samurai held the merchants in contempt, in reality the townspeople’s lot in general was much better than that of the peasants. It continued to improve as the merchants accumulated more and more wealth and eventually gained financial power over the ruling class. And, as we shall see below, they dominated the cultural world of the Tokugawa era.

As we noted earlier, commerce and a money economy were on the ascendancy during the Ashikaga period. Even during the period of the Warring States, commerce was encouraged by the contending daimyō. Nobunaga sought to foster

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commerce as did Hideyoshi. With the advent of peace and stability under the Tokugawa Bakufu, conditions became even more favorable for commercial expansion, even though this growth was limited to the domestic market.

The area under cultivation increased considerably between 1600 and 1730, and it is estimated that the population grew from about 18 million in the latter part of the sixteenth century to about 26 million by the early eighteenth century. These developments stimulated commercial expansion and, therefore, increased the number and size of cities, particularly castle towns. About 130 cities emerged and flourished primarily as castle towns. Almost 40 of these had populations of more than 10,000.

As the Bakufu’s seat of government and the secondary home of the daimyō, Edo grew into a major city almost overnight. In 1600 it was the site of Ieyasu’s primary castle (and jōka-machi) with an approximate population of 30,000. Estimates of the size of its population in the early eighteenth century run from 800,000 to one million. As the chief port and commercial center of western Japan, Osaka had a population of about 400,000, and Kyoto, the traditional capital, remained the center of commerce and culture, with a population of about 350,000.

For purposes of transportation and travel, the Bakufu improved old roads and built new ones extending out of Edo to key areas. Because the daimyō had to travel back and forth under the sankin kōtai system, there was a great deal of activity along the main roads. The most heavily traveled route was the Tōkaidō connecting Edo and Kyoto. Towns along the route flourished, with inns and shops serving the daimyō and their retinues.

The major cities had to be supplied with rice and other consumer and luxury goods by the wholesale and retail merchants. To transport rice and other commodities to these cities, coastal shipping was used extensively because of the difficulties involved in overland transportation. The most important sea route was that connecting Osaka and Edo, but the entire island of Honshu was ringed with sea routes linking the main cities.

Those among the merchant class who prospered most as purveyors of consumer goods to the major cities were the wholesale merchants and brokers. The daimyō of western Japan maintained warehouses in Osaka, and those in eastern Japan kept similar ones in Edo. Rice was shipped from the home provinces to these cities and stored in warehouses for future dispersal. The daimyō employed merchants to manage these warehouses and brokers to convert their rice into money. These merchants enjoyed some of the privileges of the samurai and were paid retainers’ stipends. Some merchants served as financial agents for several daimyō and received huge remunerations.

Osaka was the commercial center for sake, soy sauce, rapeseed oil (now called canola), dried sardines, cotton cloth, paper, and iron, in addition to rice. Kyoto was the center of textile and other handicraft trades. Later in the Tokugawa era, as

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regional specialties were developed, a large number of wholesale merchants and shippers dealing in interhan trade grew in importance and wealth.

Among the townspeople there were two classes: homeowners and tenants. The former were treated as citizens and were recorded in the official registries. In addition, of course, there was a great distinction between the wealthier merchants and the ordinary townspeople. The moneychangers and wholesalers grew enormously wealthy, particularly those dealing in rice, lumber, and textiles.

Some merchant houses lost their fortunes by incurring the wrath of the ruling authorities, but many wealthy merchant houses flourished and survived throughout the Tokugawa era. A few emerged in the Meiji period as major business and financial firms. Among them were the house of Mitsui, which started out in the moneylending and drapery businesses and flourished as brokers; the Kōnoike family, which got its start in sake brewing, moved on to shipping, and eventually became financial agents for many major han; and the Sumitomo family, which made its fortune mining copper.

The Bakufu appointed commissioners to administer the major cities. Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka each had two commissioners. The cities were generally allowed considerable autonomy, and mundane local affairs were managed by officials chosen from the townspeople. In Edo there were town elders and district headmen. The elders, who were chosen from three prominent families, acted as liaison officers between the townspeople and the city commissioners. The headmen coordinated the affairs of the local districts in the city. Like the villagers, the townspeople were also organized into five-person groups. Townspeople who owned real estate were required to pay taxes to defray the cost of maintaining public facilities. The taxes were paid in lieu of the corvée that they were originally required to perform.

The residents of Edo and the castle towns consisted primarily of the retainers of the Bakufu and the daimyō, and merchants, artisans, and workers. At the end of the Tokugawa era, 60 percent of the area of Edo was occupied by the samurai and 20 percent by temples and shrines. The townspeople, constituting about 50 percent of the populace, were crowded into the remaining 20 percent. They were usually located in fixed sections of the city on the basis of their trade. That is, the carpenters were located in one section, the masons in another, the smiths in still another, and so on. Likewise, the dealers in rice, fish, paper, dry goods, and so on, were apt to be located in fixed sections of the town.

The townspeople organized merchant and craft guilds to limit the number of merchants or artisans in a given trade. Among the artisans and craftspeople, a master-follower relationship developed, and personal ties similar to those that bound samurai and their masters came into existence. A similar relationship existed between merchants and their helpers, who were expected to serve the employer loyally in accordance with neo-Confucian ideals of filial piety. In return employers

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were expected to treat them as members of the family and eventually provide them with their own shop.

Because merchants needed an able heir to carry on the business, they often resorted to adopting their best apprentice clerk and relied on others to apprentice and perhaps adopt their own sons. Commonly, the adopted apprentice was bound to the family by marrying the eldest daughter. This system, called muko yoshi “adopting a son-in-law,” ensured that capable heirs carried on the family business and family line. Obviously, capable wives and daughters also contributed to this system.

One of the chief fears of the city dwellers was fire. In Edo alone there were eighty major fires34 during the Tokugawa period, adding seriously to the Bakufu’s financial burden. The conflagration of 1657 destroyed 60 percent of the city and killed 102,000 people. In the early decades of the eighteenth century, the Bakufu sought to compel the homeowners to use tile roofs in key sections of the city. The maintenance of effective firefighting units became a major concern of the officials and townspeople.

OTHER CLASSES

In addition to the four main classes, a fairly large segment of the society was treated as outcastes. The ruling class classified the common people into ryōmin (good people) and semmin (lowly people). The majority of the commoners belonged to the former category, but at the end of the Edo period about 380,000 people fell into the latter group. Of this category there were two major classifications, hinin (nonpeople) and eta.35 Before the Tokugawa era the two were not clearly differentiated, but in the Edo period the eta were classed as people who were outcastes by birth, while the hinin were outcastes by occupation and social status and could in rare instances rejoin the ranks of the ryōmin.

The origin of the eta class is disputed, but it is believed that engaging in occupations considered to be defiling (such as slaughtering animals, butchering, and tanning hides), racial distinctions made in antiquity, descent from slavery, physical abnormalities, and diseases may have accounted for the beginnings of this discriminatory treatment.

In the Tokugawa period the eta engaged in a variety of trades aside from tanning and butchering, such as the manufacturing of leather goods, baskets, straw sandals and mats, and tea whisks. Although they tended to be located in urban or semiurban settings, there were also eta communities in rural areas, where they engaged in farming.

The hinin were itinerant entertainers, beggars, scavengers, prostitutes, and cast- off commoners. Many blind people were forced into hinin organizations where they

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plied their trades as musician-storytellers, barbers, and masseuses.36 As an example of how this category of people came into existence we find Shōgun Yoshimune punishing those who attempted double suicide by dropping them into the ranks of the hinin. The Bakufu used the hinin to take care of prisoners and to execute and bury criminals.

Usually the outcasts were ignored in official surveys, and some maps left their settlements out. Roads passing through these communities were not included in the calculation of distance. Although the hinin were not considered defiling, the eta were, and they experienced severe discrimination. They were required to live in fixed areas and were not allowed to marry outside of their caste. They were not permitted to socialize with or enter the houses of the “good people.” They could not wear geta (wooden clogs) or anything but cotton clothing. In the late Tokugawa era, an Edo magistrate handed down a decision that held that the life of an eta was worth only one-seventh the life of a non-eta.

FAMILY HIERARCHY AND WOMEN

In addition to the social class structure, there was a hierarchical order within the family. The father was at the top of the family hierarchy and held absolute authority. Filial piety was a virtue prized equally with loyalty to the lord. It was a moral ideal upheld by all thinkers and embraced by all segments of the society. There was, in addition, a hierarchy of age and sex. The younger brother had to defer to the elder brother and women to men.

The treatment of women, in particular, illustrates the authoritarian nature of the family system, especially in the samurai family. A samurai’s wife was to be absolutely obedient to her husband and serve without any complaint, enduring all forms of hardship and abuse. A widely circulated a tract on the ideal conduct expected of women, Onna Daigaku (Greater learning for women)37 said, “A woman has no prince to serve. She must consider her husband her master, and serve him with respect and deference.”38

Although a samurai’s wife was expected to remain faithful to her husband and was punished by death for adultery, he was not restricted by similar moral strictures. She was taught that although a lower-class woman might display jealousy, it was unbecoming a samurai’s wife. Although a man was permitted to have many wives, a woman was allowed only one husband in her lifetime. It was said that “even if the marriage had been arranged when the parties concerned were three or five years of age, if her mate dies, the girl must remain loyal to him all her life. This is the proper behavior for a member of a samurai family.”39

A girl’s marriage was arranged by her parents; she was given no voice in the matter. However, she could readily be divorced by her husband if he or his parents

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so desired. The ties between husband and wife were not to be sealed by love and affection. Their relationship was to be that of a superior and an inferior person. Thus, proper decorum and etiquette had to be observed in their relationship. The son was required to place his parents’ interests above those of his wife and children. It was said that “it is the normal way of the filial son to neglect his wife and children to serve his parents’ interests.”40

In one of Chikamatsu’s plays, a mother tells her daughter that “the most important test of a woman’s training comes after she’s married. You must treat your parents-in-law with the same devotion you have shown to your own parents, and your husband’s brothers and sisters as if they were your own. When you are alone together with any other man you are not so much as to lift your head and look at him.”41

This kind of total subservience to the husband was not demanded of the women of the lower classes, though the samurai’s ideals did filter down somewhat. Writers representing the townspeople’s ethos defended the natural expression of love between husband and wife, unlike the stoic samurai ideal that required the warrior to keep under complete control all his inner emotions. One writer, expressing the attitude of the townsmen, observed, “For the husband to love his wife, and the wife to be affectionate towards the husband and maintain a gentle and friendly relationship is the proper Way. If the affection of the husband and wife appears syrupy sweet to outsiders, an authentic relationship between husband and wife prevails.”42

The notion that a woman should serve only one man was not adhered to rigidly by the townspeople. Ihara Saikaku wrote, “We cannot label as immoral the longing of a married woman for another man, or her desire to have another man after her husband’s death.” Another writer observed, “Among the townspeople, for a woman to remarry after parting from her husband is not an unsavory matter. She is free to do so, and her relatives will help arrange the affair for her.”

The ideal of filial piety, which superseded all other considerations—except, of course, loyalty to the lord—in the samurai family was not insisted upon quite so rigorously in the townsfolk’s family. Some considered love of wife and children more powerful than love of parents. “On being parted by death,” one writer asserted, “it is sadder in the case of one’s wife than one’s parents and it is much more grievous in the case of one’s child than one’s wife.” Some townspeople even made the relationship between husband and wife the basis of all ethical conduct. “The way of men originated with husband and wife. First there was man and woman, and then husband and wife. After that came the gods, Buddha and the sages. Thus, husband and wife constitute the source of all things.” The complete subservience that was demanded of the samurai’s wife to her mother-in-law was rejected by some townspeople, who advised mothers-in-law not to harass their

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sons’ wives. These attitudes, however, ran counter to the mainstream of Tokugawa thought, which was primarily neo-Confucian.

Peasant women, because their labor was essential to any farm, maintained a higher status than their samurai sisters. In addition to agricultural tasks, women often contributed to the family income by producing cottage industry craftwork such as woven straw baskets, straw sandals, sedge hats and raincoats, and the like. Fisherwomen usually maintained the business while their fathers, husbands, and sons were out on the water and sold and delivered fish while their menfolk mended boats and nets. Some women worked as pearl or abalone divers (ama), their lung- capacity trained to allow them to stay underwater for extended periods as they harvested mollusks. Many of these divers worked in women-only communities.

If peasants lived within walking distance of a castle town, young girls were often indentured to serve as housekeepers, maids, cooks, and the like for wealthy chōnin. Those even more fortunate might latch on to apprenticeships weaving silk, embroidering, brocading (embroidery with gold or silver thread), dressing hair, or acquiring other marketable skills. Obviously, some girls (as well as young boys) were sold into prostitution, but others were indentured as entertainers, especially as geisha.

Geisha were entertainers but not prostitutes per se. They plied their trade by learning to sing, dance, recite poetry, play musical instruments, and so on. They were hired to entertain men at private parties, restaurants, and bars. They were fairly self-sufficient, often plying their trade in troupes managed by older ex-geisha. Some might enter into sexual relationships with their customers, not as prostitutes but more like long-term professional mistresses. Most geisha never married but often raised their children born out of wedlock in quasi-matrilineal enclaves.43

Divorce could be devastating to samurai women. Men could break off a marriage, seemingly by caprice. But in practice it was rather rare. Socio-economic permutations made such action very disruptive to family, neighborhood, and society in general. The disposition of children after divorce was only the first problem. One would also have to consider whether the dowry had to be returned to the woman’s natal family. Chōnin marriages were most affected because women often carried not just personal property and wealth into a marriage but also economic ties. Samurai women brought virtually no wealth into the marriage, but the social and political aspects were just as important. A peasant divorce could disturb an entire village because agricultural tasks and tools were often shared as part of extended family relationships. But for both chōnin and peasant women, remarriage or new sexual liaisons were much simpler than for divorced samurai women. Chōnin and peasant women brought skills that made them productive in a new marriage; samurai women usually had no such skills.

During the medieval period, two Buddhist temples served samurai women in divorce. Tōkei-ji in Kamakura was founded in 1285 by the nun Kakusan-ni (1252–

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1305), widow of Hōjō Tokimune. It served initially as a nunnery but also began to assume a role as a haven for abused women. Eventually, it and another temple, Mantokuji, began to function as places where a woman could escape a bad marriage. If she could remain at one of the two temples for a period of three years (later shortened to twenty-five months), she could obtain a divorce. The monks and nuns would serve as mediators between the families until a suitable financial arrangement could be negotiated.44

Regarding the role and status of women, the long (268 years) Tokugawa era was very different in practice than it appeared to be if one considered only what the founders of the Bakufu intended. Ieyasu had “frozen” society to ensure that his family would continue to enjoy the power, wealth, and prestige that he had won through decades of hard work, careful planning, and simple good luck. The fact that his heirs did manage some semblance of control over the fractious, greedy, and treacherous daimyō for over two centuries is a real accomplishment.

Similarly, the early Tokugawa shōguns intended that women, peasants, chōnin, and the other people of lower status should be adjuncts, servants, and obsequious underlings to their social superiors, the samurai. But something had to give. Ieyasu sought to control every aspect of life through meticulous planning. But the reality quickly set in; he was, after all, dealing with human beings. The ruled pushed against all the constraints; the rulers had to compromise to keep everyone in line. The daimyō were to be deferential to the shōgun, ruthless to their peasants, and condescending to the chōnin. Furthermore, they had the right to treat their women and relatives with rigorous and harsh benevolence. In all cases, reality forced everyone to adjust in order to maintain some harmony and peace. As we have seen, women filled roles that samurai men never envisioned. Women as a subclass were a microcosm of social compromise and accommodation for the rest of Japan’s underclass (or to use the postmodern term, subaltern). In the following chapters, we will continue to compare the ideal with reality.

NOTES 1. Arnold Toynbee, “How to Change the World Without War,” Saturday Review, May

12, 1962, 17. 2. Watsuji Tetsurō, Nihon Rinri Shisōshi [A history of Japanese ethical thought], 2

vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1952), 2:372–373. 3. For a more even-handed appraisal of Tsunayoshi, see Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey,

The Dog Shogun: The Personality and Policies of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006).

4. Although the value of both gold and rice fluctuated, one ryō is estimated to have been worth about 1.5 koku of rice around 1700 and about 1 koku around 1800.

5. For an excellent political biography, see Kate Wildman Nakai, Shogunal Politics: Arai Hakuseki and the Premises of Tokugawa Rule (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

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Press, 1988). 6. “The Capture and Captivity of Pere Giovan Batista Sidotti in Japan from 1709 to

1715” [Arai Hakuseki’s Seiyō Kibun], trans. W. B. Wright, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 9 (1881): 166.

7. For in-depth treatments of the system, see Harold Bolitho, Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1974); and Conrad D. Totman, Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600–1843 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967). For an excellent treatment of the sankin kotai system, see Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, “To Edo and Back: Alternative Attendance and Japanese Culture in the Early Modern Period,” Journal of Japanese Studies 23, no. 1 (1997): 25–67.

8. Perhaps this tradition of moralistic decrees issued by the wielders of power accounts in part for the fact that even in the modern era the equation of morality with power prevailed. “We find a tendency . . . to estimate morality, not by the value of its content, but in terms of its power, that is, according to whether or not it had a power background.” Masao Maruyama, Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics (London: Oxford University Press, 1963), 10.

9. Dani V. Botsman, “Punishment and Power in the Tokugawa Period,” East Asian History 3 (June 1992): 4.

10. J. C. Hall, “The Tokugawa Legislation,” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 41 (1964): 776.

11. Botsman, “Punishment and Power,” 3. 12. A twelfth-century Chinese Confucian scholar who founded what is generally called

neo-Confucianism. 13. Ienaga Saburō, Nihon Dōtokushisōshi [A history of Japanese moral thought]

(Tokyo: Iwanami, 1951), 106. 14. Both quotations are from ibid., 110. 15. See Edward E. Pratt, Japan’s Protoindustrial Elite: The Economic Foundation of

the Gono (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999). 16. Thomas C. Smith, “The Japanese Village in the Seventeenth Century,” Journal of

Economic History 12, no. 1 (Winter 1952): 18. 17. Literally, the “way of the warrior.” The term did not come to be used until a

century later, but the ideas began to percolate earlier. For an interesting examination of the term, see Karl Friday, “Bushidō or Bull? A Medieval Historian’s Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition,” History Teacher 27, no. 3 (May 1994): 339–349.

18. Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure [Hidden Among Leaves], ed. Shiroshima Masayoshi, 2 vols. (Tokyo: Jimbutsu Ōraisha, 1968), 1:27, 41.

19. See John A. Tucker, “Rethinking the Akou Ronin Debate: The Religious Significance of Chuushin Gishi,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 26, nos. 1/2 (Spring 1999): 1–37.

20. Ray A. Moore, “Adoption and Samurai Mobility in Tokugawa Japan,” Journal of Asian Studies 29, no. 3 (May 1970): 620.

21. George B. Sansom. A History of Japan (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1963), 2:243.

22. Furushima Toshio, Nihon Hōken Nōgyōshi [Japanese agricultural history] (Tokyo: Shikai Shobō, 1931), 83.

23. Quoted in E. H. Norman, Japan’s Emergence as a Modern State (New York:

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Institute of Pacific Relations, 1940), 23. 24. Rekishi Chiri Gakkai, ed., Nihon Nōminshi [A history of Japanese peasants]

(Tokyo: Rekishi Chiri Gakkai, 1924), 110. 25. These Confucian statements are quoted from Wing-Tsit Chan, Source Book in

Chinese Philosophy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963), 27, 28. 26. Both quotations are from Ienaga Saburō, Nihon Dōtokushisōshi, 120. 27. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Major Plays of Chikamatsu, trans. Donald Keene

(New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), 332. 28. Howard Hibbett, The Floating World in Japanese Fiction (New York: Grove,

1960), 37. 29. Mitsui Takafusa, “Some Observations on Merchants,” trans. E. S. Crawcour,

Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 8 (1953): 103, 115. 30. See Tetsuo Najita, Vision of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan (Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 1987). 31. Robert N. Bellah, Tokugawa Religion: The Values of Pre-Industrial Japan

(Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1957), 149. 32. Ibid., 158. 33. Watsuji Tetsurō, Nihon Rinri Shisōshi, 2:612. 34. Fires were satirically called “the flowers of Edo.” 35. Today they are referred to as burakumin (people of the hamlet). See Nagahara

Keiji, “The Medieval Origins of the Eta-Hinin,” Journal of Japanese Studies 5, no. 2 (Summer 1979): 385–403.

36. See Gerald Groemer, “The Guild of the Blind in Tokugawa Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica 56, no. 3 (Autumn 2001): 349–380.

37. The tract was mistakenly attributed to Kaibara Eiken. Martha Tocco argues convincingly that Kaibara was far more liberal in his ideas about education for women. See her article “Norms and Texts for Women’s Education in Tokugawa Japan,” in Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, ed. Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 193– 218.

38. Ienaga Saburō, Nihon Dōtokushisōshi, 112. 39. Ibid., 113. 40. Ibid., 115. 41. Chikamatsu, Major Plays, 76. 42. This and the rest of the quotations in this chapter are from Ienaga Saburō, Nihon

Dōtokushisōshi, 143–146. 43. See Amy Stanley, Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in

Early Modern Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012). 44. Laurel L. Cornell, “Peasant Women and Divorce in Preindustrial Japan,” Signs 15,

no. 4 (Summer 1990): 710–732; and Harald Fuess, Divorce in Japan: Family, Gender, and the State, 1600–2000 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004).

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8

Intellectual and Cultural Developments in Tokugawa Japan

NEO-CONFUCIANISM

In the Tokugawa period, Confucianism,1 which had entered Japan with the introduction of Chinese civilization, finally emerged as the dominant mode of thought. Specifically it was the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism that was adopted as the official philosophy of the Bakufu. At the core of the doctrine were the teachings of Confucius and his chief disciple Mencius (372–289 BCE) along with interpretations made by later neo-Confucian scholars, including Zhu Xi.

Neo-Confucianism was a practical moral philosophy concerned primarily with government and society. The restoration of order and stability during the troubled days of the late Zhou period was Confucius’s goal; thus, he addressed himself mainly to the rulers—the princes and the officials. He looked back to the golden age of the Three Dynasties, that is, Xia, Shang, and Zhou. Confucius believed this was a time when wise, benevolent, and moral leaders governed over an orderly society. The rulers of the Zhou period were to follow the examples set by the ancient sage-kings, who governed in accordance with the Will of Heaven. According to Confucius, “The superior man stands in awe of three things. He stands in awe of the Mandate of Heaven; he stands in awe of great men; and he stands in awe of the words of the sages.”2 The ruler, having this reverent attitude toward heaven and the sages, was expected to acquire the virtues of benevolence (ren), righteousness (yi), propriety (li), faithfulness (xin), and wisdom (zhih). Benevolence and righteousness were given special emphasis by Confucius and Mencius.

Benevolence can be equated with love, humanity, or human-heartedness. Righteousness is justice, a categorical imperative demanding “what ought to be.” Propriety, also translated as “rituals,” “etiquette,” or “rites,” has to do with human relationships and a scrupulous respect for distinctions of status. In other words, proper conduct meant conforming to what was regarded as the natural order of things. Individuals must know the proper meaning of what they claim to be in order to behave properly. A prince cannot behave as a prince unless he knows the true meaning of the word “prince.” The same is true of the subject, the father, and the son. Therefore, wisdom and the rectification of names are important. Confucius said, “Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister be a minister, the father be a father, and

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the son be a son.” The concept of loyalty was also stressed by Confucius and Mencius. In The

Analects of Confucius, “Confucius taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and faithfulness.” Mencius affirmed, “Humanity, righteousness, loyalty, faithfulness, and the love of the good . . . constitute the nobility of Heaven.”

The ruler was to govern by moral example through the acquisition of these virtues: “Let the ruler be humane, and all his people will be humane. Let the ruler be righteous, and all his people will be righteous. Let the ruler be correct, and all his people will be correct. Once the ruler is rectified, the whole kingdom will be at peace.” Accordingly, the role assigned to the ruler in the Confucian political system was highly paternalistic. The ruler was “the parent of the people” and he was “to dispense a benevolent government.” If the ruler should fail to be virtuous, heaven would reveal its displeasure and revoke the mandate to rule by bringing about natural calamities and social disorder. The people would then be justified in overthrowing the ruler. This aspect of Confucianism, however, was not stressed by the Tokugawa rulers and their neo-Confucian supporters.

Confucius posited five cardinal relationships in social intercourse: lord- subject, father-son, husband-wife, elder brother–younger brother, friend-friend. In all of these relationships, individuals were to comport themselves in accordance with the moral ideals propounded by the ancient sages. The most important of these relationships for the Confucians was that of father and son, or parent and child. Mencius rejected the ideal of universal brotherhood, contending that it was natural to love one’s parents more than strangers.

Confucius also emphasized the importance of understanding and adhering to propriety (li) and music-dance (yüeh) compositions of antiquity as manifestations of the wisdom and virtue of the ancient sages. Rites in propriety were to regulate and refine human desires so that they would remain within proper bounds; music- dance compositions were to regulate human emotions so that they would be expressed in accordance with right principles.

In theory, Confucianism would seem to have the ingredients for creating an open society: the prince was admonished to employ people of talent, and the distinction between the superiority and inferiority was based on moral character, not birth or wealth. Basically, however, it is an elitist philosophy. According to Confucius, “The common people may be made to follow it [the Way] but may not be made to understand it.” Confucianism held the laborer in low esteem while emphasizing the superiority of the learned class.

Confucianism was not a philosophy that encouraged independent or original thinking, because one was to follow the example of the ancient sages. Complete reliance on the words of the sages—not just the ancient sage-kings but all the Confucian thinkers since Confucius—characterized the intellectual behavior of the later Confucians, including most of the Japanese neo-Confucian scholars. In

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Tokugawa Japan, the Zhu Xi version of this philosophy became the dominant neo- Confucian school. After the mid-seventeenth century, it virtually became the official philosophy. Traditionally, the founding Tokugawa shōgun, Ieyasu, has been credited with giving his official blessing to this school, but Ieyasu was not committed exclusively to Zhu Xi neo-Confucianism; he was also influenced by Buddhist and Shintō thought.

THE ZHU XI SCHOOL IN JAPAN

The ascendancy of neo-Confucianism in the Tokugawa period can be explained in part by objective circumstances. For one thing, the social and political features of Tokugawa society were comparable to those of imperial China at the time of the emergence of Confucianism. Secondly, when the Tokugawa Bakufu was founded, neo-Confucianism in Japan had changed in character compared to the earlier period.

Regarding the first point, the Tokugawa social structure resembled the feudal class structure of Zhou China with its hierarchy of emperor, feudal lords, ministers, high officials, officials, and common people. Thus neo-Confucianism, which was used to justify the social structure of Zhou China, could also be used to justify the Tokugawa class structure.

Prior to the Tokugawa era, Confucianism was studied primarily at the imperial court as a philological discipline. It was also pursued by Buddhist monks for their personal intellectual interest and enjoyment. By the time the Tokugawa government was established, it had been transformed into a moral philosophy of broad interest and significance. This transformation was induced by the importation of Sung or Zhu Xi neo-Confucianism. Sung philosophy was introduced into Japan during the Kamakura period by the Zen monks and was treated as an integral part of Buddhist learning. The scholars who liberated Sung neo-Confucianism from this dependence on Buddhism were Fujiwara Seika (1561–1619) and his disciple, Hayashi Razan.

Ieyasu and his successors sought to equate the samurai with the neo-Confucian scholar-officials of China. They were not merely to be skilled in the martial arts but were to be steeped in neo-Confucian learning as well. As historian I. J. McMullen notes, “Neo-Confucianism was tailor-made for the nascent Tokugawa regime because it offered an excellent means to legitimate, strengthen, and preserve this newly established order.” It also served to protect it “from possible threats to its political, social and economic supremacy.”3

Although various schools of neo-Confucianism based on Chinese and Korean interpretations were present in the early Tokugawa years, Razan and his descendants perpetrated the myth that a monolithic school of Zhu Xi neo- Confucianism was adopted by the Bakufu with Ieyasu’s patronage. Razan was

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depicted as the Bakufu’s house scholar and upholder of orthodoxy. But it was not until the latter half of the seventeenth century that Zhu Xi philosophy gained the Bakufu’s imprimatur.4

It can be argued that the reason Zhu Xi philosophy appealed to the Tokugawa authorities was simply that it was the school that was gaining currency at that time among neo-Confucian scholars. No doubt other neo-Confucian schools could have been utilized just as effectively to uphold the authority of the ruling family. In Zhu Xi thought, however, certain characteristics can be discerned that might have had special appeal to the Tokugawa rulers.

Scholars of the Zhu Xi school held that all things in nature are governed by a universal principle, li (propriety), derived from the Supreme Ultimate, which may be equated with heaven. The physical nature of all things is determined by qi (ether). All people are endowed with the same principle, but differences in their ether are responsible for physical and moral variations. Some have purer ether than others, but everyone can strive to allow the principle to emerge by clarifying the turbid ether that obscures it. This can be achieved by “the extension of knowledge through the investigation of things.”5 As one begins to understand the principle, one will be able to live in accordance with it and the Way of Heaven. The Japanese Zhu Xi scholars emphasized this linkage between principle and heaven: because all things are governed by principle, which is related to heaven, rulers, in performing their task, act in accordance with the Way of Heaven. They are in effect agents of heaven who act to enforce the principle of things. Accordingly, it becomes imperative for the people to obey their ruler.

The Japanese Zhu Xi scholars placed special emphasis on taigi mibun (doing one’s duty to the lord in accordance with one’s place in society). Taigi means supreme righteousness or supreme duty; mibun has to do with one’s name and place, that is, knowing one’s proper place. This concept was particularly convenient for the ruling authorities because the principle required all people to observe what was proper to them. Rulers, thus, have certain duties to perform according to their “name” and “place,” and in a similar manner, subjects have their duties to perform.

The Zhu Xi school, like earlier Confucians, emphasized the need to maintain proper human relationships in terms of the five basic relationships. This aspect of neo-Confucianism was useful to the Tokugawa rulers, who wished to establish a hierarchic society based on the relationship between the lord and subject, between superior and inferior persons.

The Zhu Xi school of Japan adopted the Chinese neo-Confucian scholars’ point of view that the teachings of the ancient sages were unquestionable truths to be followed with absolute fidelity. One neo-Confucian scholar remarked, “If I were to err because I had studied Zhu Xi, I would be erring in accordance with Zhu Xi’s

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teachings so I would have nothing to regret.”6 This kind of thinking resulted in a tendency on the part of the Tokugawa Zhu Xi scholars merely to repeat what their Chinese counterparts had written. A significant exception to this was Fujiwara Seika, the scholar who introduced Ieyasu to Zhu Xi philosophy. He was not as narrow in his outlook as later Zhu Xi scholars, and he did not reject outright the rival Wang Yang-ming school. He sought to interpret Shintō and Buddhist ideas with an eye toward reconciling them with neo-Confucianism.

Seika’s disciple, Hayashi Razan, was considerably more rigid, as evidenced by his highly critical attitude toward Buddhism and Christianity. However, he was interested in trying to reconcile neo-Confucianism with Shintō. “Some people,” he wrote, “ask what the difference between Shintō and Neo-Confucianism is. I would reply, the principles are the same. They only differ in needs. . . . The Way of the Kings transforms into the Way of the Gods, and Shintō transforms into the Way. The Way is the Neo-Confucian Way.”7

Razan also emphasized the importance of studying history because he believed it would reveal moral principles that were just. History could also be used to legitimize the ruling family’s claim to power. It is not surprising then that the Bakufu asked Razan to start compiling its family genealogy.

In his neo-Confucian teachings Razan did little more than repeat the Zhu Xi doctrines. He emphasized the importance of combating human desires or selfishness and permitting one’s “illustrious virtue” (the li endowed upon humans by Heaven) to manifest itself. He also stressed the five human relationships and the five virtues. Particular emphasis was given to benevolence because he believed it encompassed the other four virtues. Righteousness, he said, was the basis of giri, moral duty and obligation. The principle of propriety was used by Razan to justify the hierarchical relationship between the noble and the base, the high and the low. Wisdom, he explained, consisted in understanding the principles of benevolence, righteousness, and propriety. Finally, faithfulness was equated with makoto, or sincerity.

The scholar Yamazaki Ansai (1618–1682) was influential in making Zhu Xi philosophy the orthodoxy of Tokugawa Japan. He accepted Zhu Xi’s words as unquestionable truth and did not permit his students to read any book that did not contribute to what he considered to be the essence of Zhu Xi philosophy: the principle of “devotion within, righteousness without.” Like Seika and Razan, he sought to reconcile neo-Confucianism with Shintō. This led him to what is known as Suika Shintō, a combination of the ethical ideals of neo-Confucianism and the religious doctrines of Shintō. This was in tune with the growing tendency on the part of the neo-Confucian scholars to syncretize neo-Confucianism and Shintō. This trend persisted throughout the Tokugawa period.

Another Zhu Xi scholar worthy of attention is Kaibara Ekken, who played a

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significant role in molding the ethical ideals of Tokugawa society. He wrote moral tracts in a plain and straightforward style that was designed to disseminate neo- Confucian ethical values among the common people. His work was easily understood and widely read. In the later years of his life Ekken began to disagree with the theoretical aspects of Zhu Xi philosophy, but he did not go so far as to reject them. He turned his attention, instead, to scientific research. He was trained as a physician, and his interest in natural science led him to do some significant work in botany.

The unknown author of Onna Daigaku8 (Greater learning for women) operates from the premise that the sole purpose of a girl’s existence is to get married and serve her husband and his family faithfully, subserviently, and selflessly. A woman can accomplish this only by completely suppressing her individuality and natural emotions. Muro Kyūsō (1658–1734) was a scholar who remained an ardent defender of Zhu Xi philosophy, even as it came under increasing criticism from the adherents of the Wang Yang-ming school and the school of Ancient Learning. “The Way of Heaven and Earth,” he wrote, “is the Way of Yao and Shun. The Way of Yao and Shun is the Way of Confucius and Mencius. The Way of Confucius and Mencius is the Way of Cheng-Zhu [Sung philosophers Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi].”9 He even went so far as to suggest that the “useless” books of all other schools should be burned.

Kyūsō emphasized the neo-Confucian notion that the ruler must govern for the good of the people, and he apparently favored the concept of equality. He suggested that the prince and the people were “alike in being mere mortals.” But when the people asked the prince to serve them, they began to treat the prince with respect. The fact that he became prince and worked for the people is merely the fulfillment of the agreement.

Here Kyūsō’s political concepts resemble the theory of the social contract. The ruler, Kyūsō contended, derives his authority from the people. Writing about China, but by inference referring also to Japan, he wrote, “The domain is not given [to the feudal lord] by Heaven, nor is it given to him by the Prince. Needless to say he cannot seize it by force. It is given to him by the people.” Thus, it is the duty of the ruler to “work for the interest of the people.” This theory, though unorthodox, was not intended to arouse the people. It was essentially an exhortation to the ruling class to live up to the neo-Confucian ideal of benevolent rule.

THE WANG YANG-MING SCHOOL

One of the leading rivals of the Zhu Xi school in Japan was the philosophy of Wang Yang-ming of Ming China. Wang Yang-ming (1472–1528) began his philosophical career as a follower of Zhu Xi philosophy, but he departed from it and adopted the

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position that li (principle) is subjective or intuitive. “Mind is li. How can there be affairs and li outside the mind?” he asked. “The substance of the mind is the nature and the nature is li. Therefore, since there is the mind of filial love, hence there is the li of filial piety. . . . And since there is the mind of loyalty to the sovereign, hence there is the li of loyalty.”10

Wang Yang-ming emphasized the importance of acting upon the truth as a person individually perceives it. He spoke of the unity of knowledge and action: “There have never been people who know but do not act. Those who are supposed to know but do not act simply do not yet know.”11 This thesis that the truth can be apprehended subjectively and that the individual must act upon it held special appeal for the samurai. The Wang Yang-ming school thus had a particularly strong following at the end of the Edo period in those han, such as Satsuma and Chōshū, where militant activists would emerge to participate in the political movements leading to the downfall of the Bakufu.

The founder of the Wang Yang-ming school in Japan was Nakae Tōju (1608– 1648). He was attracted to the philosophy by the thesis that truth is to be grasped intuitively and that one had to act upon the truth so apprehended. In accordance with this tenet, Tōju believed that the way to clarify “the illustrious virtue” was to have “the mind read the mind.” He focused upon the neo-Confucian virtue of filial piety as an ideal of tremendous importance that constituted the very essence of humanity. This was the principle that distinguished people from the birds and the beasts. Tōju gave special emphasis to this quality because he was searching for a principle that would be common to all humanity and could thus serve as the basis for a moral outlook that would encompass all elements of society.

Tōju’s disciple, Kumazawa Banzan (1619–1691) denied that he belonged to any particular school of neo-Confucianism and asserted that his source of ideas was the ancient sages. He claimed that he was willing to adopt the best aspects of both the Zhu Xi and Wang Yang-ming schools. He departed radically, however, from the Zhu Xi philosophy by embracing the concept that the principle of all things was located in the human mind. “Everyone knows,” he contended, “That myriad principles and the mind are one. Myriad things in heaven and earth do not exist outside of the mind.”12

Banzan may have made a greater impact on society than did his master, but his influence was similarly limited primarily to the samurai class. As a good neo- Confucian he believed that the samurai had to follow the Way to qualify as the ruling class. It was for this reason that he focused on ethical conduct and maintained that the samurai should strive to become like the scholar-officials of ancient China.

Banzan was a staunch supporter of the welfare of the peasants, for he insisted that “the foundation of the nation is the people, and the foundation of the people is

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food.”13 His concern over the peasantry’s economic difficulties led him to favor a return to the era of the warrior-farmers, that is, to the time before the class system was devised to separate the samurai and peasants into distinct classes. According to Banzan, taxes were low before the class division occurred. Afterward, the tax burden on the peasants was increased to support the samurai and enable the warrior class to live in the castle towns. As an adviser to the lord of Bizen, he managed to have his plan tested but found that it was received unfavorably by both the samurai and the peasants.

Another reason for the difficulties of the peasantry, according to Banzan, was the rise of the merchant class and a money economy. To eliminate the consequent hardships imposed on the peasantry, he advocated a return to a rice economy. In this sense he may be labeled a reactionary. To relieve the lot of the people to some extent, he also urged a less stringent enforcement of “laws and etiquette.” He believed that the rules of proper conduct and the laws of his day failed to reform bad people but caused hardships to honest ones.

ANCIENT LEARNING

The other neo-Confucian circle that challenged the orthodox scholars was the school of Ancient Learning. Actually, it is an oversimplification to classify these neo-Confucians into a single school because they held divergent views and concerned themselves with different problems. The only justification for grouping them together is their shared belief that the essence of Confucianism was to be comprehended, not by studying what later scholars such as the Sung philosophers said, but by going directly to the texts of the ancient philosophers. The first of these philosophers of the school of Ancient Learning was Yamaga Sokō. He contended that the scholars of the Han, Tang, Sung, and Ming dynasties had misled and confused the world with their interpretations of the ancient classics. Sokō claimed that because what the sages taught as recorded in the classics was self-evident, there was no need for lengthy commentaries. His criticism of the official philosophy led him into serious difficulty with the authorities, and he was banished from Edo for a time.

Sokō considered it necessary to justify the existence of the samurai class, which in many ways had lost its function since peace prevailed under Tokugawa rule. Consequently, he set about defining the function of the samurai and the ideal way of life for them in his Shidō (The Way of the Warrior). In essence, he argued that the samurai were the custodians of the moral principles of the land, a role that warriors could claim only if they maintained their moral superiority. Sokō agreed with the Bakufu’s contention that the samurai had to be well educated in the neo-Confucian classics and history as well as skilled in the military arts. Above all, however, the

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samurai had to lead lives grounded in just principles. It was essential that they comport themselves properly in all familial and social relationships. As guardians of the Way, the samurai had the responsibility of summarily punishing any member of the common classes who transgressed against it.

Unlike many Confucians, particularly the neo-Confucians who insisted upon suppressing human desires, Sokō believed that the natural expression of human desires was good as long as it was done in conformity with the rules of proper conduct. If excesses were avoided, as they definitely must be, humanity and justice were sure to prevail.

Sokō was popular among the samurai as a teacher of military science. In his later years he became a royalist and a nationalist who looked upon the imperial family as the ultimate ruling authority. The shōgun was merely overseeing state affairs on behalf of the emperor, as a good neo-Confucian subject should. Sokō did not, however, seek to base imperial authority on Shintōist notions of divine origin. He interpreted early Japanese history primarily in terms of neo-Confucian concepts and explained that the emperor was to be served in the manner that a loyal neo- Confucian subject served his king. Sokō thus set the stage for the later neo- Confucian scholars who became supporters of the imperial court.

Sokō was also an early nationalist who sought to assert the superiority of Japan over China. He referred to Japan as the Middle Kingdom, the center of the world. He thought it was superior to China, because, as he argued, only in Japan had proper relationships between lord and subject, father and son been truly observed and the moral ideals of the sages fully manifested.

Itō Jinsai (1627–1705) is another scholar who is identified with the school of Ancient Learning, although there is no direct link between him and Sokō except for their common rejection of the Zhu Xi school and insistence on going directly to the works of the early Confucians. Jinsai gave special emphasis to the Confucian Analects because he held that it alone could serve as “the standard and guide for the teaching of the Way in all times.” Next to the Analects he stressed the importance of the Book of Mencius, which was the key to understanding Confucianism.

Unlike Sokō, Jinsai did not link neo-Confucianism primarily with the samurai class. He refused to accept any of the positions offered him by a number of daimyō and remained an independent scholar, living in poverty. Jinsai’s influence, nevertheless, extended to a large number of people; during his forty years of teaching, 3,000 students attended his academy. After his death, his sons and disciples carried on his work.

Jinsai rejected the neo-Confucian distinction between li and qi as well as the theory that li governs all things including human nature and moral principles. He restricted li to physical things and separated the Way of Man, which was his primary concern, from this. The Way of Man and the moral principles that constitute

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it are not, according to Jinsai, grounded in the natural world or human nature, which is part of the natural world. They are ideas and as such they exist independently.

Jinsai was not greatly interested in metaphysical theories; he was concerned primarily with practical morality. He placed special emphasis on benevolence, which he described as “a compassionate and loving heart reaching everywhere,” and he considered this to be the ultimate goal of learning in neo-Confucianism.14

Another neo-Confucian scholar who defied the orthodox school and charted an independent course was Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728). He too emphasized the importance of studying the ancient Chinese texts and was known as a great Sinologist. He believed that to understand the Way of the Sages one had to understand ancient terms. Philological studies were extremely important, according to Sorai, because the meanings of words change over time and thus the true meaning of ancient terms could not be understood by applying later meanings to them. He also emphasized the six classics,15 that is, works believed to have been produced during the era of the Three Dynasties. The fundamental principles of neo- Confucianism were, he contended, to be found in these classics rather than in later interpretations.

Sorai was employed by Shōgun Tsunayoshi’s personal adviser, and his opinion was often solicited by Shōgun Yoshimune’s high officials. He did thus exert some influence on the Bakufu. A number of brilliant scholars emerged from his academy, and his school of thought dominated the intellectual scene during the mid-eighteenth century.

In many ways Sorai was one of the most radical neo-Confucian thinkers of the Tokugawa era. Like Jinsai, he disagreed with the neo-Confucian theory that li governs the nature of all things, including human nature and moral principles. He believed that the Way was not based on any principle of the universe, nature, or heaven. It was in fact created by human personalities, the ancient sage kings of the Three Dynasties. All rules, regulations, and institutions were made by people, and so there could be no such things as a “natural” order of things or an order ordained by heaven. The Way, according to Sorai, had absolute validity even though it was created by human beings, who became sages because of this rather than because they were morally perfect. The fact that he held the order of things to be human construction opened the way for later thinkers to entertain the idea that the existing political order, which had been created by people, was subject to change. The emergence of this line of thinking coincided with the entrance, in the nineteenth century, of Western political thought, which also held institutions to be human- made.

In discussing the Way, Sorai rejected the concept that the cultivation of personal morality necessarily leads to good government. He separated private morality and public affairs and concluded that the Way, as formulated by the ancient sage kings,

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was primarily political in character. It was concerned with “how to govern the state and preserve peace in the land.”16 To achieve these ends, rulers may, Sorai argued, use any means they deem necessary. This somewhat Machiavellian conclusion was tempered by his belief that benevolence and wisdom were virtues required of a ruler. Sorai said that benevolence meant “giving peace and security to the people” and that wisdom had to do with “recognizing good men and raising them to positions of responsibility.”

Sorai claimed that the ruler had to emphasize “rites and music, and law enforcement and political administration” to govern effectively. He did not consider it worthwhile to argue, as the other neo-Confucian scholars did, about the metaphysical basis and abstract meaning of morality. It is pointless, he held, to debate the question of whether human nature is basically good, as Mencius believed, or basically evil, as Xunzi (ca. 300–237 BCE) maintained. Human nature is what it is and cannot be changed. People can, however, pattern their behavior after certain moral standards and in this way learn to behave virtuously. Sorai opposed the constant moralizing of the other neo-Confucian scholars and insisted that he was primarily interested in facts and substance, not idealistic concepts about morality. In this, he was unique among the neo-Confucians. His emphasis on philological studies and his belief that neo-Confucian concepts were human creations rather manifestations of universal or natural principles influenced the thinking of the scholars in the school of National Learning.

NATIONAL LEARNING

This truly unorthodox school of thought of the Tokugawa period did not grow directly out of neo-Confucianism but emerged as an independent intellectual movement. This school, referred to as National Learning (kokugaku), was influenced by neo-Confucianism, the indigenous cults, and even Buddhism. Essentially, however, it was an attempt to free Japanese learning from its excessive dependence on Chinese philosophy and literature. It failed to diminish significantly the influence of neo-Confucianism during the Tokugawa period, but it did succeed in slowly extending its influence over the Japanese intellectual world until finally, in the Meiji era, it emerged as the central force of the nationalistic intellectual movement.

There was, as we observed, a movement to establish Japanese literature as an independent entity as early as the Heian period, but this attempt was not wholly successful. When the Tokugawa government made neo-Confucianism the orthodox philosophy, Chinese learning enjoyed increasing domination over the Japanese intellectual scene. Partly as a reaction against this and partly as a response to the neo-Confucian emphasis on the past and historical studies, cultural nationalism

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emerged as an important force. Another contributing factor in the formation of National Learning was the interest in philological studies, which was stimulated by the scholars of Ancient Learning. Actually there were two schools of nationalistic learning: one developed in Mito Han and the other formed around Motoori Norinaga. It is the latter that is generally referred to as National Learning.

The Mito school grew out of the desire of Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1700), the lord of Mito and grandson of Ieyasu, to compile a definitive national history. The project, Dainihonshi (The great history of Japan), was started in 1657, but work on it was conducted sporadically, and it was not completed until early in the twentieth century. At the outset, Mitsukuni brought together more than one hundred scholars, including many Zhu Xi scholars, to work on the history. In compiling their work these scholars were guided by the concept of taigi mibun, the very principle that was stressed by Zhu Xi himself when he wrote his outline history of China. In Zhou China subjects owed supreme loyalty to the king; likewise, Mito scholars concluded that in Japan supreme loyalty was due the emperor. The shōgun, according to these scholars, was merely acting as the emperor’s loyal minister. By defining the relationship in this way, they saw no conflict between the two authorities. During the last stages of the Tokugawa era, the Mito scholars became more volatile in their expression of royalist sentiments, and eventually they came to favor direct imperial rule. Mito became one of the centers of opposition to the shogunate.

The origin of the National Learning school can be traced back to Keichū (1640– 1701), a Buddhist monk who was interested in examining the Man’yōshū from a literary viewpoint. He did not go beyond that to attempt to uncover the Way as it was embodied in ancient Japanese literature. A tenuous move was made in this direction by Kada Azumamaro (1669–1736), who was interested primarily in conducting philological studies of ancient Japanese works such as the Man’yōshū, Kojiki, and Nihongi. Kada Azumamaro was also interested in establishing an academy where “imperial learning” would be pursued, but it was actually his disciple, Kamo Mabuchi (1697–1769), who developed the concept of National Learning. Mabuchi wanted to study ancient Japanese literature with the hope of uncovering the Way of the sages by examining ancient words and making critical analyses of their meanings. In addition to studying ancient poetry and literature, Mabuchi included Shintō prayers among his objects of study. Using the same kanji character for the “Way,” Shintō means the “Way of the kami” (counterposed with Butsudō, the “Way of the Buddha”).

His interest in ancient Japan and the imperial Way made him critical of neo- Confucianism and Chinese influence. He rejected the neo-Confucian concept of li (principle) and claimed that although the theories based on this concept sounded reasonable, the fact that li was merely an abstract principle and not a practically applicable guide to experience was proven by the chaos and disorder that had

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characterized Chinese history. He advocated a rejection of this abstract philosophy and a return to the simple and pure ways of ancient Japan. He observed that the Way of the sages laid down all sorts of complex rules and regulations about proper conduct, which served to create a highly artificial society that prevented people from behaving naturally.

Mabuchi blamed all of Japan’s evils on the introduction of Confucianism and the artificial ways of China. He went so far as to claim that before Japan fell under Chinese influence, the nation was governed in accordance with the natural ways of the universe. “Confucianism made men crafty,” he explained, “and led them to worship the ruler to such an excessive degree that the whole country acquired a servant’s mentality. . . . The Confucian teachings had not only repeatedly thrown China into disorder, but they now had the same effect in Japan.” He went on to declare the necessity of returning to the natural and simple ways of old Japan. “In ancient times,” he wrote, “words and things were few. When things are few, the heart is sincere, and there is no need for difficult teachings. All will go satisfactorily even without teachings because men are honest.”17

This condemnation of the influence of neo-Confucianism and the emphasis on the simple, natural ways of ancient Japan were echoed and developed further by the most prominent figure among the scholars of National Learning, Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801). Norinaga, though born into a merchant family, was trained to become a doctor and studied medicine and neo-Confucianism in Kyoto. His interest in Japanese literature and philology brought him under Mabuchi’s influence. When the two first met, Norinaga expressed his desire to study the Kojiki, and Mabuchi advised him to begin instead with the Man’yōshū because he believed it offered the best foundation for understanding ancient words. He claimed that without this knowledge the “true intentions of the ancients” could not be understood, and it would be impossible “to make a complete break with the Chinese mind.”18 Under the guidance of Mabuchi, Norinaga commenced work on the Man’yōshū and then the Kojiki, which he ultimately devoted thirty years to studying. Norinaga was the scholar who finally deciphered the Sino-Japanese orthography (Man’yō-kana) used to write the Kojiki and translated it into contemporary Japanese.

Norinaga believed that the Kojiki embodied the Way of the gods which was a political philosophy, not a religion. It was the “way in which the emperor governs the land.” Norinaga rejected the attempts to synthesize neo-Confucianism and Shintō as well as the efforts to reconcile Shintō with Buddhism. These syncretic endeavors were intended to endow Shintō with theoretical doctrines, and he maintained that this was invalid because pristine Shintō did not really possess any abstract concepts at all. True Shintō, Norinaga claimed, was the Way of the gods that prevailed before the contaminating influence from the continent was felt. Consequently, he adopted a rigidly anti-Chinese, highly ethnocentric position,

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refusing to recognize the wisdom or superiority of the Chinese sages. He condemned them as imposters and asserted, “Sages surpass other people only in their cleverness.”

In rejecting Chinese thought and all interpretations of the past by later scholars, Norinaga was even inclined, by virtue of his absolute faith in the Way of the gods, to reject rationalist thought. “The acts of the gods,” he said, “cannot be fathomed by ordinary human reasoning.” He believed that human intellect was limited and thus incapable of comprehending all things. This left open the possibility for “mysterious things,” but, as he lamented, “disbelief in mysterious things has been brought about by the misguidance of the Chinese mode of thinking.”

His belief in the mysteries of the universe and life enabled Norinaga to accept the Kojiki as factual history. The Way of the gods was created by the ancestral gods of Japan, who were not abstract concepts like the neo-Confucian “heaven.” They were divine beings who actually existed and were in fact the ancestors of the emperors. Norinaga believed the Sun Goddess, who casts her light over the entire universe and is the founding Goddess of Japan, to be none other than the sun itself. Japan thus occupies a unique place in the world as the land favored by the gods.

An essential feature of the unique quality of Japan, according to Norinaga, was the imperial dynasty, which had survived unimpaired since it was established by the Sun Goddess. Consequently, the imperial family acquired special significance in his political thinking. The people did not belong to the shōgun or the daimyō but were subjects of the emperor. This belief did not, however, lead him to reject the Bakufu because an integral part of his philosophy was to let nature take its course. As a result, he was willing to accept the status quo. “Things of this world,” he held, “are beyond the scope of the human mind and designs. . . . Thus new laws must not be put into effect casually. If one were to rule in accordance with the trend of the times, and by following earlier precedents in all things, there may be slight defects but there will be no serious mistakes.” He justified the rule of the shogunate by claiming, “The rules and laws of the founder and succeeding shōgun are all rules and laws of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. . . . To obey the laws of the day is to follow the true Way of the gods.”

Like Mabuchi, Norinaga believed in following the natural path, and he rejected the artificial rules and regulations about decorum and propriety that were stressed by the neo-Confucians. “Man’s feelings,” he observed, “do not always follow the dictates of his mind. They arise in man in spite of himself and are difficult to control.”19 These spontaneous feelings, he insisted, should not be curbed unnaturally. As an example of this, he noted that although alien philosophies teach people to transcend the sorrow and fear of death, these teachings are essentially invalid because they are contrary to the ways of human nature. To weep at the death of someone dear is an expression of true human nature and feelings.

Norinaga believed in the superiority of Japanese over Chinese poetry and

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ascribed its excellence to the fact that the former expressed human sentiments in an unrestrained fashion, whereas the latter sought to keep human emotions under control. In this sense we might say that Norinaga was a romantic. He observed that before Chinese influence had acquired roots in Japan there were many poems dealing with love because the ancient poets gave free expression to natural human sentiments. Poetry, Norinaga insisted, should not be used for moral, didactic purposes. That is, poets should not choose the good and reject the bad; instead, they should express in a natural and unadorned fashion both the good and the bad. In this Norinaga clearly ran against the dominant current of didacticism so prevalent in Tokugawa society.

AGRARIAN EGALITARIANISM

A thinker who stands virtually alone in that he cannot be included in any particular school of thought was Andō Shōeki (active during the first half of the eighteenth century), who rejected all the existing philosophies and religions. Shōeki was a physician from northern Japan, where the impoverishment of the peasantry was most severe. He was a forgotten figure until the twentieth century when his multivolume work was discovered.

Angered by the unjust system that exploited the peasantry and motivated by his compassion for them, Shōeki became one of the harshest critics of the existing institutions and ideologies. He was not, however, an active revolutionary, and his views were known only to a small circle of friends. He traveled extensively and lived in Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagasaki, but he does not appear to have exerted a significant influence over the thinking of his age. He does, nevertheless, stand out as an example of one of the few independent-minded Tokugawa thinkers and as a formulator of a uniquely utilitarian, egalitarian philosophy.

Shōeki regarded the existing order as an unjust system established by the usurpers of the people’s land. “Rulers and sages,” he charged, “have taken the country which was given by Heaven to the multitudes as their property, and turned it into their own domain from one end of the land to the other.”20 He believed that the agrarian class constituted the backbone of the society, and he was highly critical of the other classes. The samurai were corrupt and flattered their superiors while oppressing their inferiors; the artisans concerned themselves only with profits; the merchants relied on their clever tongues to make money and lead lives of comfort and ease. Only the peasants were engaged in “honest living by direct cultivation.” Shōeki believed the country had fallen into a desperate plight, and the root of the problem, he said, could be found in the existing class system. Simply stated, the consumers of rice had increased while its producers had not, and this plunged the country into terrible difficulties. “All this arises from the errors of the ancient

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sages,” he wrote, “who created the four classes and discriminated between them, whereas originally all men were equal, one with the other.”

Shōeki was severe in his criticism of the teachings of the sages, and like the Taoists and Rousseau, he believed that before “learning and civilization” arose people were free, happy, equal, and moral. The invention of writing and the emergence of many religions and philosophies gave rise to illusions and superstitions that served to replace the simplicity and purity of the “original world of Nature.” He berated those who did nothing but talk while remaining idle and gluttonous, not producing “a single grain of rice.” What the so-called saints and sages had said, he asserted, was less useful than “horse-dung.”

Shōeki’s touchstone was utility, not abstract moral concepts or theories. Ideologically, his point of departure was the necessity of satisfying basic human material needs. “Does the theory contribute to the economic well-being of man?” is the question he asked of all schools of thought. “Direct cultivation and happy eating, direct weaving and happy clothing—there is no Way but this. Talking of thousands of ways is false.” Shōeki considered the ideal society to be one in which everybody performed economically productive work, following the course of nature and living in harmony. “In Nature there is neither order nor disorder. The people, all alike, cultivate as one man.” In such a society there would be no need for anyone to rule over others. People’s natural activity, according to Shōeki, was to till the soil. Thus, if everyone engaged in “direct cultivation,” complete freedom and equality would prevail because no one would have to take anything from or oppress their fellow citizens.

THE CULTURE OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE

In theory the townspeople (chōnin) were at the bottom of the social structure, but in fact they had acquired a great deal of economic power and had emerged as the most energetic and creative element in Tokugawa society. Tokugawa culture was, in reality, largely the creation of the townspeople. A high point in the economic well- being and cultural activities of the chōnin was reached in the Genroku period. This era name technically refers only to the years 1688–1703, but in practice this period actually encompasses a decade or more on both ends, thus covering at least the thirty years of Shōgun Tsunayoshi’s rule, 1680–1709. This is not meant to suggest that the creative work of the chōnin promptly ceased with the end of the Genroku era. It was sustained to some extent throughout the remaining years of the Tokugawa period. The townspeople made lasting impressions on Japanese culture through their contributions to woodblock prints, haiku, novels, and drama—in both Kabuki and puppet plays.

This outburst of creative energy can be explained in part by the fact that the

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chōnin lacked outlets for their considerable wealth and energy in the political realm. Consequently, they applied themselves to the pursuit of physical and material pleasures that in turn stimulated the rise of town culture. The Kabuki and puppet plays emerged as popular forms of entertainment for the townspeople. The brothels where the wealthy merchants went to seek their pleasures provided material for the storytellers, the dramatists, and the woodblock artists. The various arts and crafts were able to flourish to the considerable extent that they did because the chōnin had the money to spend on expensive clothing, lacquerware, screens, tea bowls, books, prints, and the like.

The Genroku era is known for the townspeople’s exuberant, colorful, extravagant, and often ostentatious way of life. The mores, values, attitudes, and behavior of the rich merchants of Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo had a unique aura that fixed the tone of Genroku culture. It was Osaka that originally set the pace, for here the wealthy merchants dominated society. Kyoto was still under the cultural dominance of the court aristocracy, and Edo was under the control of the ruling samurai class. Engelbert Kaempfer, a German doctor who visited Japan in the late seventeenth century, said of Osaka, “Even what tends to promote luxury, and to gratify all sensual pleasures, may be had at as easy a rate here as anywhere. For this reason the Japanese call Osacca the universal theatre of pleasures and diversions.”21

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In their pursuit of material happiness, the wealthy townspeople were relatively free from the rigid code of ethics that regulated the conduct of the samurai. The literature of this era yields a vivid picture of their way of life, and it would be quite accurate to describe it as a blatantly hedonistic mode of existence. They lived in what was referred to as the Ukiyo, the floating world where the pleasures and joys of life were pursued without a thought for the future. This entailed “living for the moment, gazing at the moon, snow, blossoms, and autumn leaves, enjoying wine,

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women, and song, and, in general, drifting with the current of life ‘like a gourd floating downstream.’”22

The wives of rich merchants vied with one another to gain recognition as the most elegantly attired lady of the land. Young men went about dressed as dandies, and male-male sexuality became widespread. Wealthy merchants replaced the samurai as patrons of the brothels, where the hedonism of the pleasure-seeking townsmen was paid for by the heartbreak and degradation of the girls and boys who had been sold into slavery.

PROSE FICTION

The hedonistic, erotic life enjoyed by the townspeople was reflected in their literature, that is, in the works described as ukiyo-zōshi (notes of the floating world). The originator and master of this form of prose fiction was Ihara Saikaku of Osaka. Saikaku, a former merchant, began his literary career as a haiku poet and wrote primarily about the love lives of the men and women of his world. At one time he composed 23,500 haiku in twenty-four hours, a feat that attests to his prolific imagination and zestful energy. He wrote his first humorous erotic novel, The Man Who Spent His Life in Love, in 1682 and produced more than two dozen volumes of this kind during the next decade. In his first book he described the love life of a rake whose amorous exploits begin at the precocious age of eight and continue into lecherous old age. The hero has 3,742 women before he turns philosophical at sixty. “I’ve been around every one of the pleasure quarters in this wide world, till I find I’m quite emaciated by love,” he says. “And now at last the floating world has lost all attraction for me.”23 His “emaciated” condition, however, does not stop him from sailing off in search of the fabulous Island of Women.

Saikaku did not moralize in his love stories; instead, he displayed an optimistic and sympathetic attitude toward human foibles by depicting the exploits of his characters in a realistic but good-humored fashion. His novels demonstrate his keen awareness of the serious conflict between love and duty that confronted the lovers of the floating world. This was a theme that was also of particular interest to the playwright Chikamatsu (see below).

In his later works Saikaku dealt with the economic life of the chōnin. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the system that enabled clever, resourceful, and diligent people to amass great wealth. This did not blind him, however, to the economic hardships besetting the townspeople of the lower class, who were constantly involved in a desperate struggle to make ends meet. Despite his awareness of the negative aspects of his society, he retained a fundamentally optimistic and positive outlook. The qualities needed for success in business, he held, were frugality,

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persistence, a pleasant manner, honesty, and imagination. The popularity of the works of humorous and satirical writers like Saikaku

attest to two significant facts: first, the printing of books had become common by the Genroku period; and, second, many Genroku townspeople, though not erudite, were at least literate. In numerous cities there existed something that was comparable to a lending library where books could be rented inexpensively.

Many didactic tales reflecting the moralism of the ruling class were written by Tokugawa writers. The master of this kind of prose fiction was Takizawa Bakin (1767–1848). He was born into the warrior class but married into a footwear merchant’s family to pursue his writing career. Bakin devoted twenty-eight years of his life to the completion of his major work, Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (Tale of Eight Dogs), which consists of ninety-eight parts. The novel is set in the period of the Warring States and has eight heroes, each having a noble dog for his ancestor. The dogs represent the neo-Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, loyalty, sincerity, filial piety, and obedience. Bakin made clear distinctions between good and evil, for his primary goal was “to encourage the good and chastise the bad.” This was a theme that had the approval of the ruling authorities.

Stories designed to entertain or morally uplift the chōnin continued to be written, and they were widely read during the remainder of the Edo period. The quality of the literature declined considerably as many writers sought merely to imitate the earlier masters.

THEATER

Another area that reflected the culture of the chōnin was the theater. The puppet theater (Jōruri or Bunraku) that originated in the Muromachi period as a ballad- drama and saw the addition of marionettes in the early seventeenth century was perfected during the Genroku era. Kabuki also gained a solid footing in this period.

Osaka was the center of the puppet plays. In these shows puppets perform actions that are described by a singer-narrator who is accompanied by samisen (a three-stringed instrument) players. The puppets are about two-thirds life-size, and each major character requires three operators (one for the head and one arm, another for the other hand, and a third for both feet). Minor characters can be manipulated by one person. Official restrictions that were placed on Kabuki for moral reasons led to the domination of the theatrical world by the Jōruri by the middle of the eighteenth century. To compete with this form of theater, Kabuki borrowed heavily from it both in the style and in the actual plays performed. By the end of the eighteenth century, Kabuki regained its popularity and has remained the leading dramatic form in Japan to the present. The nature of Kabuki is described by

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Faubion Bowers, a leading authority, as follows: “Kabuki fuses into a single form the arts of music, dance, acting, literature, as well as graphic and plastic arts.”24

Spectacle, providing the framework for all this, is specifically designed to please the eye, which is the primary objective of Kabuki. Color and motion are thus the two most important elements in this kind of drama, and they serve to make Kabuki a much more spectacular dramatic form than the Nō plays. Ingenious mechanical devices such as the revolving stage, trapdoors, and the passageway that runs directly through the audience (hanamichi) enabled the Kabuki producers to solve many technical problems and thereby heighten the dramatic effect of the plays.

Kabuki theater comprised one of the key elements of the Genroku world of pleasure. The colorful day-long performances attracted people from all ranks of society, the popular saying was “from shop-boys to samurai.” Kabuki actors became the focus of popular attention, gaining as much fame as today’s movie stars. Theatrical giants like Ichikawa Danjurō I and Onoe Kikugorō I founded acting dynasties that have survived to the present day and have sustained the essence of Kabuki theater.

The playwright who made the greatest contribution toward increasing the repertory of the puppet and Kabuki plays was Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote about 160 plays. He was born into a minor samurai family but joined the ranks of the townspeople as an unemployed samurai. Chikamatsu wrote his first play when he was thirty and devoted the rest of his life to writing historical dramas and domestic plays about the ordinary people of his time. When he wrote about love affairs, the plot usually involved a hero who was either a samurai or a townsman, and a heroine who was a courtesan from the brothels. The play generally focused upon the conflict between love and duty or ninjō (human feelings) and giri (social and moral obligations). Frequently, the only way out of this conflict for the lovers was suicide.

The harsh demands of giri often necessitated heartless treatment of loved ones. Fortunately, however, ninjō tempered such actions. In one of his plays, a woman is almost forced to disown her son because of the dictates of giri, but ninjō leads her instead to steal money to help him. Ninjō, then, humanizes giri, which “denies the individual’s right to be happy at the expense of society. In so doing it preserves society, as ninjō unchecked by giri must eventually destroy it.”25

As noted in a previous chapter, all kabuki roles were performed by men. This had come about because, in its early history, kabuki theater troupes often employed female prostitutes in minor roles (as did early Hollywood movies) to make money. The Bakufu sought to suppress prostitution, at least in the theater, and so declared that only men could play female roles. Within a few years, the feminine boys hired to play women’s roles (onnagata) were themselves prostituted.26 Many of the men

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who made a career as onnagata were what we might now characterize as transvestites or drag queens. Curiously, the onnagata in many ways parodied the actions of women and began to set the standards for women’s dress and hair styles. In essence, women were robbed of their own sexuality in a similar way that modern young girls emulate rock stars and television idols in their studied behavior, language, and even body image.

WOODBLOCK PRINTING AND PAINTING

Another art form that emerged from the world of the chōnin was woodblock printing, known as ukiyo-e (paintings of the floating world). The prints were made not only to be appreciated in themselves but also to illustrate the stories written by Saikaku and other novelists. Saikaku had done the illustrations for some of his works himself, but the artist who is usually given credit for making the woodblock print an important art form, Hishikawa Moronobu (1618–1694), also did some illustrations for him. Moronobu was followed by a galaxy of prominent woodblock artists: Harunobu, Utamaro, Sharaku, Hokusai, Hiroshige, to name a few. These artists created a sense of movement, form, and atmosphere by relying solely on line and color. They made no use at all of chiaroscuro or linear perspective because they did not want to give the prints a sense of the three dimensions; they were not to be realistic paintings. These artists did, nevertheless, succeed in conveying a feeling of gracefulness, sensuality, and warmth in their depiction of lovers, courtesans, and actors. In landscape paintings, artists such as Hokusai were able to capture the atmospheric tone of the scene and convey a sense of dynamic force and energy.

Among the more prominent of the woodblock artists was Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770), who, it is believed, was the first artist to produce a full polychrome print. He did not restrict himself to conventional colors to brighten his prints but experimented with rosy pink skies, kelly green earth, jet black skies, and so on. As was the style with other woodblock artists, his subjects lacked individuality and consequently looked rather similar. His primary interest was not in depicting individual personalities but in portraying the essence of femininity through the creation of doll-like creatures. Harunobu’s trademark is his delicate and coquettish feminine figures. Feminine frailty is conveyed through the depiction of abnormally small hands and feet on his subjects. To accentuate their sensuous, erotic characteristics, Harunobu never positions ladies standing erect but curves their heads and bodies gracefully. The lines emphasize the richness of the fabrics adorning the figures, and this adds considerably to their sensuousness.

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806) is also known for his sensuous feminine figures. His subjects, more voluptuous than Harunobu’s, are generally tall and

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willowy with elongated faces. Many of them are seminudes, and the lines are ingeniously used to convey a sense of smooth and soft flesh. Utamaro was inclined to concentrate on the head and the upper part of the body, usually dispensing with the setting.

In contrast to Harunobu and Utamaro, who focused upon delicate or sensuous women, Tōshūsai Sharaku (d. 1801) concentrated on Kabuki actors. Departing from his activities as an obscure Nō actor, he produced about 145 prints in ten months during 1794–1795. He realistically depicted the intense facial expressions and exaggerated poses employed by Kabuki actors at climactic moments. His prints lack the gentleness and charm of the other artists’ works, but, because the lines are stronger, they convey a powerful sense of vigor, vitality, and movement. His unconventional realism did not endear him to his contemporaries, who were accustomed to stylized portraits of handsome actors, and he disappeared from the public scene after his very brief career as a woodblock artist.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and Andō Hiroshige (1797–1858), known for their scenic color prints, are perhaps better known in the West than the other woodblock artists. Hokusai, who led a flamboyant and turbulent life, is regarded as a giant among the Tokugawa printmakers. He first called attention to himself by painting an enormous portrait of the Bodhidharma, which was sixty feet high. He then drew two sparrows that were so tiny they could be seen only with a magnifying glass. He perfected his art late in life and produced his masterpieces after he was sixty. Among the better known of his prints are the series on The Thirty-Six Views of Fuji, Waterfalls, Bridges, and Imagery of the Poets. The last series shows great poets placed in a variety of natural settings, such as Li Bo admiring a tremendous waterfall. He also produced thousands of sketches of human beings in every conceivable posture and situation. His prints project an aura of majesty, as manifested in some of his views of Mt. Fuji, and a tremendous sense of force and energy, as seen in his prints of waterfalls and towering waves.

Hokusai was also a master of dramatic composition, able to use color to capture the unique atmosphere of a particular moment. A striking example of this is the Red Fuji, one of his masterpieces. “Light effects as a device in art reached a high watermark in this picture, and it is no wonder that it served as a source of strong inspiration to painters of the impressionist school in France.” Like the other woodblock artists, Hokusai produced erotic prints. His “spring pictures” (shunga) are considered to be the most profound, constituting “one of the major accomplishments of ukiyo-e.”27

Hiroshige’s series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō is probably the best- known work of the Tokugawa woodblock artists. Hiroshige was interested in the relationship between light and natural phenomena and sought to capture the moods of nature and the atmospheric conditions—the mist, the moonlight, the raindrops, and the falling snow—of the different seasons. He was particularly successful with

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his snow scenes, as he made effective use of blank space while taking full advantage of the beauty of Japanese paper. His rain scenes were rendered in a unique and refreshing fashion by his use of bold parallel lines to indicate rain. “No one,” writes an art historian, “had revealed to us so freshly the beauty of the rain; rain showering like light javelins that shine in the returning sun, or mingling with the mist and with the wind that bends and tosses a long ridge of blotted pines, or descending in straight rods that hiss on ground or water, or trailing delicate threads that caress the trembling willows.”28

About 10 percent of all woodblock prints were pornographic, and these shunga were sold openly in the brothel areas. Many were collected and sold in something like “marriage manuals,” purportedly to instruct young married couples in the intricacies of sex. Sexual organs were graphically exaggerated to demonstrate virtually every sexual position. Some shunga were intended for other tastes as well, depicting male-male and female-female sexuality.29

Traditional decorative art—screen painting and painting on lacquer and pottery —also flourished during this era. One of the most prominent of the decorative-style painters, and certainly the greatest lacquer artist of the age, Ogata Kōrin (1658– 1716), emerged from among the townspeople. His works are known for their simplicity and elegance of form and color as well as the forcefulness of the brushstrokes. His most famous work is a pair of screens representing a row of irises with their dark- and light-blue blossoms and soft green leaves arranged in an overall design set against a gold background.

An artist who painted in a more naturalistic style than those who preceded him was Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795). A folding screen depicting pine trees in the snow reveals his preoccupation with modeling as a technique for evincing the roundness of forms. His paintings also possess more realistic details than the works of other decorative-style painters.

A school of painting that evidently emerged as a reaction against the naturalistic school of Ōkyo was the Nanga (Southern painting), which sought to follow the Southern school of China. Nanga painters relied on inspiration rather than a studied technique, and they regarded painting as an activity that educated men pursued for enjoyment. The best artist to emerge from this school, Ike-no-Taiga (1723–1776), showed an impressive mastery of calligraphic lines and subtle tone variations. His paintings are characterized by a brush-dotted texture and a rolling rhythm. A master haiku poet, Buson (1716–1783), was also a Nanga painter.

In pottery, porcelain ware came to be produced in the Edo period. Well renowned, even in the West, were such products as Imari wares, with their elaborate decorations and rich colors, and Kakiemon wares, with their elegant decorations on a pure white body of porcelain. The Kakiemon wares in particular were imitated by the porcelain makers of Holland, Germany, and England.

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HAIKU

Another significant cultural development of the Tokugawa era was the emergence of haiku—a seventeen-syllable poem—as a major literary form. It is usually identified with the culture of the townspeople even though the greatest haiku poet, Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), was born into a samurai family and traveled the countryside as a Buddhist priest to avoid the bustling towns. Haiku was popular among the townspeople, and it was favored greatly by people of every walk of life.

Haiku is linked intimately with Zen Buddhism. Suzuki Daisetsu points out that haiku “ought to be an expression of one’s inner feeling altogether devoid of the sense of ego. The haiku poet in this sense must also be a Zenman.” In explaining the brevity of the haiku poem, he remarks, “At the supreme moment of life and death we just utter a cry or take to action, we never argue, we never give ourselves up to a lengthy talk. Feelings refuse to be conceptually dealt with, and a haiku is not the product of intellection. Hence its brevity and significance.” Therefore, “a haiku does not express ideas but . . . it puts forward images reflecting intuition.”30

Its extreme brevity occasionally makes haiku sound flat, pointless, and even nonsensical when translated into another language. Donald Keene explains that the effectiveness of haiku depends on recognition of the poems’ two elements: a general condition and the momentary perception. “The nature of the two elements varies but there should be the two electric poles between which the spark will leap for the haiku to be effective; otherwise it is no more than a brief statement.”31

The keen sense of finesse possessed by the great haiku poets distinguishes them from an ordinary poet, as this story about Bashō will illustrate. When he was just starting out as a haiku teacher, he was out walking one day with a student who, upon seeing the darting dragonflies in the field, composed this haiku:

Red dragonflies! Take off their wings, And they are pepper pods!

Bashō is said to have exclaimed, “No! That is not haiku. If you wish to make a haiku on the subject, you must say:

Red pepper pods! Add wings to them and they are dragonflies! 32

Haiku has come to be composed by people from all segments of the society since Bashō’s days, and in this sense it can be said to have contributed to the growth of cultural democracy in Japan. In the Tokugawa era even the peasantry

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produced a great haiku poet, Issa (1763–1827). He wrote of insects, birds, and animals, manifesting a strong compassion for all living things.

EDUCATION

One further noteworthy aspect of Tokugawa culture is the fairly widespread diffusion of learning that took place. Education of the common people was carried on in the terakoya (temple schools) by Buddhist and Shintō priests in the rural areas and frequently by masterless warriors in the towns. Children were taught the rudiments of reading and writing and the use of the abacus. Girls also attended these schools and learned the skills and modes of behavior deemed at the time to be suitable to their sex.

A considerable number of children successfully learned how to read and write in the towns. In the villages, however, education was largely restricted to the children of prominent farmers. The number of terakoya increased greatly toward the latter part of the Tokugawa period, and although no accurate figures are available, 10,000–15,000 temple schools are estimated to have been in existence. Twenty or thirty pupils attended an average-sized terakoya.

The children of the samurai were especially well educated. They attended private schools or han academies where they were taught calligraphy, the Chinese classics, some arithmetic, etiquette, and the military arts. In the later years of the Edo period, the han academies began to admit some students from the common classes. It is believed that literacy among the samurai men was almost 100 percent, a rather astonishing achievement. Overall, slightly more than 40 percent of all boys and about 10 percent of all girls were receiving some kind of formal education outside of their homes by the end of the Tokugawa era.33 In 1870 the literacy rate in Japan was considerably higher than that of most underdeveloped nations today. It is likely that Japan compared favorably in this respect with some of the European countries of the nineteenth century. In light of this, it is not at all surprising that Japan was able to launch so successful a program of modernization and industrialization after it opened its doors to the outside world again.

THE STATE OF BUDDHISM

In addition to performing funeral services, Buddhist priests did contribute to the education of the common people, but they actually did little creative work in the way of furthering the spiritual well-being of the masses. They had captive clienteles because everyone was required to affiliate with a Buddhist temple to perform anti-Christian “picture treading” (fumi-e), and their work with the laypeople tended, as a result, to fall into a regular routine. Some scholars have

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suggested that the bureaucratic functions of temples in fumi-e rituals in many ways contributed to both the disinterest of the monks and the contempt of the peasantry because they had to pay the monks to perform the rites.

Buddhism as a religious and philosophical movement remained relatively stagnant during the Tokugawa period. The main intellectual activities of the various sects consisted in the formulation of doctrinal systems and orthodox dogmas. None of the sects challenged the orthodox philosophy, neo-Confucianism, and they all seemed content to cooperate willingly with the ruling authorities. The Bakufu had some difficulty with a small segment of the Nichiren Sect that refused to participate in officially sponsored ecumenical religious functions. This was the only group that caused any trouble, and eventually those who did not cooperate were suppressed. Some of the dissenters managed to survive by going underground, much like the Christians did.

A renaissance of a sort took place in the Zen Rinzai Sect under the leadership of Hakuin (1685–1768). He systematized the existing kōan and created a number of new ones, formulated a method of achieving satori, and trained a large number of disciples. The kōan system and method of training that Hakuin established have remained in effect to the present. He insisted upon continuous zazen (meditation) practices and kōan study. The discipline of a Zen disciple, Hakuin taught, did not cease with the attainment of satori, because the training that followed was of equal or greater importance. He emphasized the importance of moral behavior, without which satori was not possible, and the value of good health, which was necessary for the rigorous training. Hakuin was also a talented painter and calligrapher.

The age of creativity that characterized the Genroku period and the few decades that followed it also coincided with the period in which the Bakufu began to feel, with increasing intensity, the pressures of the growing economic crisis. We shall now turn to an investigation of this and other related problems that plagued the Bakufu for the last remaining century of its rule.

NOTES 1. To clarify, the term “Confucian” indicates the ancient, classic form of the philosophy.

“Neo-Confucian” will be used to indicate the reformist schools that arose in China in the twelfth century.

2. The quotations from Confucius and Mencius that appear in this chapter were selected primarily from Wing-Tsit Chan, Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963), 18ff.

3. I. J. McMullen, “Non-Agnatic Adoption: A Confucian Controversy in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Japan,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 33 (1975): 182.

4. Herman Ooms, Tokugawa Ideology, Early Constructs, 1570–1680 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985), 72ff.

5. On Zhu Xi’s (Chu Hsi’s) views see Wing-Tsit Chan, Source Book, 588ff., and Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, trans. Dirk Bodde, 2 vols. (Princeton, NJ:

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Princeton University Press, 1953), 2:533ff. 6. Watsuji Tetsurō, Nihon Rinri Shisōshi [A history of Japanese ethical thought], 2

vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1952), 2:416. 7. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū [Studies in the history of Japanese

political thought] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1954), 155. 8. As noted previously, the tract was mistakenly attributed to Kaibara. Kaibara was

probably far more liberal in his ideas about women. See Martha C. Tocco, “Norms and Texts for Women’s Education in Tokugawa Japan,” in Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, ed. Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).

9. The quotations from Muro Kyūsō are from Nagata Hiroshi, Nihon Tetsugakushisō- shi [A history of Japanese philosophical thought] (Tokyo: Mikasa Shobō, 1938), 112–116.

10. Fung Yu-lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: Macmillan, 1953), 309.

11. W. T. de Bary et al., eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), 579.

12. Nagata, Nihon Tetsugakushisō-shi, 81. 13. Naramoto Tatsuya, ed., Nihon no Shisōka [The thinkers of Japan] (Tokyo:

Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1954), 117. 14. Ryusaku Tsunoda, W. T. de Bary, and Donald Keene, eds., Sources of Japanese

Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 421. 15. The books of Odes, History, Music, Changes, the Rites of Chou, and the Spring

and Autumn Annals. 16. The quotations from Sorai and analyses of his thinking are based on Maruyama

Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū. 17. Tsunoda, de Bary, and Keene, Sources of Japanese Tradition, 517, 519. 18. This and the following quotations from Norinaga are from Motoori Norinaga

Zenshū [The complete works of Motoori Norinaga], 6 vols. (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Hanshichi, 1900–1903), 4:49, 607, 393, 387, 853, 565, 556, and 6:219.

19. This and the following quotations from Norinaga are from Tsunoda, de Bary, and Keene, Sources of Japanese Tradition, 534.

20. The quotations from Andō Shōeki are from E. H. Norman, “Andō Shōeki and the Anatomy of Japanese Feudalism,” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, series 3, 2 (1949): passim.

21. Engelbert Kaempfer, History of Japan, 3 vols., trans. J. G. S. Schenchzer (Glasgow: MacLehose, 1906), 3:6–7.

22. Howard Hibbett, The Floating World in Japanese Fiction (New York: Grove, 1960), 11.

23. Ibid., 42–43. 24. Faubion Bowers, Japanese Theatre (New York: Hill & Wang, 1959), 177–178. 25. Monzaemon Chikamatsu, The Major Plays of Chikamatsu, trans. Donald Keene

(New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), 35. 26. See Donald J. Shively, “Bakufu Versus Kabuki,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic

Studies 18, nos. 3/4 (December 1955): 236–256. 27. Tokuzo Sagara, Japanese Fine Arts (Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau, 1955), 198. 28. See Richard Illing, Japanese Erotic Art and the Life of the Courtesan (London:

Thames and Hudson, 1978).

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29. Daisetsu T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture (New York: Pantheon, 1959), 225– 227, 240.

30. Donald Keene, Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers (New York: Grove, 1955), 40–41.

31. Ibid., 39. Reprinted by permission of Donald Keene. 32. “Red Dragon Flies” and “Red Pepper Pods” from Introduction to Haiku by Harold

Gould Henderson, copyright © 1958 by Harold G. Henderson. Used by permission of Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

33. See Martha Tocco, “Norms and texts for women’s education in Tokugawa Japan.” In Ko, Haboush, and Piggott, Women and Confucian Cultures, 193–218.

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9

The Late Tokugawa Period

In our examination of the intellectual and cultural developments in the early Tokugawa era, we found that society evolved considerably from Ieyasu’s ideal. The neo-Confucian boundaries that were intended to keep society frozen for all time were frayed by reality. The ruled refused to be controlled with the philosophical rigor envisioned by the rulers. The stern and wizened warriors of the early seventeenth century were replaced by their soft-handed bureaucrat descendants who were not enthusiastic about using violence to ensure conformity.

Let us now return to an examination of the politics and economics of the era beginning in the mid-eighteenth century. This latter half of the era was one of constant problems, adjustments, attempted reforms, and accommodations. Reality was at serious odds with Ieyasu’s ideal.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

In 1745 Yoshimune turned over the shogunate to his son, Ieshige, but he remained the de facto ruler until his death in 1751. It is not surprising that Ieshige proved to be a rather ineffective shōgun—he was an invalid with a rather serious speech defect. During the reign of the next shōgun, Ieharu, chamberlain Tanuma Okitsugu and his son became influential figures wielding great power. In fact, during the last fourteen years of Ieharu’s reign, Okitsugu, acting as senior councilor, held near dictatorial power. As a result, Ieharu’s regime (1760–1786) is referred to as the Tanuma era.

Unlike Yoshimune, who sought to solve the Bakufu’s economic difficulties by reducing expenses, encouraging frugality, and increasing agricultural production, Okitsugu hoped to resolve these difficulties by debasing coinage, granting monopolistic rights to wholesale dealers in return for payment of fees, and taxing the merchant guilds. To reverse the unfavorable balance of trade and curb the outflow of bullion, he sought to increase exports. He also initiated various reclamation projects. There is little question that Okitsugu sought to serve the public good, but there is also no doubt that he was more than casually interested in advancing his own private interests in the hopes of accumulating a vast fortune. Consequently, standards of rectitude began to decline throughout the official

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hierarchy, while graft and bribery, though surely engaged in to some extent under previous administrations, became widespread practices. One observer noted, “Villagers rush about in agitation crying out that officials are coming to assess the tribute; for days on end shrines and temples are piled high with all kinds of rare presents for them.”1

In spite of Okitsugu’s efforts to solve the Bakufu’s financial difficulties, natural calamities aggravated the situation, and conditions failed to improve. A great famine broke out between 1783 and 1787, the prices of goods soared, and rice riots occurred frequently. Okitsugu was blamed for most of the difficulties, and, with the death of Ieharu, he was summarily removed from office.

Yoshimune’s grandson Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829) emerged as the chief Bakufu official under Shōgun Ienari (1773–1841). He (Sadanobu) had gained a reputation as an able and enlightened administrator while he was the head of a small han in northern Honshu. During the great famine of 1783, while hundreds of thousands of people starved in the neighboring han, he took measures to ensure that not a single person in his han would perish from lack of food. He later tried to institute many of these programs when he moved up into the Bakufu, but what he was able to accomplish in a relatively small han did not translate to the larger polity.

The treasury was nearly depleted when Sadanobu became the Bakufu’s chief councilor in 1787, a year of great floods, inflation, food shortages, and rioting. To cope with the crisis, Sadanobu adopted what has been called the Kansei Reforms (the Kansei period, for which the reforms are named, was 1789–1801), conservative policies patterned after those of his grandfather, Yoshimune. He concentrated, for instance, on reducing expenditures and encouraging frugality. He also imposed price controls, but they proved to be ineffective. To be prepared to cope with future famines, he increased the Bakufu’s rice reserves and required the daimyō to set aside 50 koku for every 10,000 koku of rice they collected. After reducing the expenditures of the city of Edo, he had 70 percent of the savings set aside as relief for the needy and as low-interest loans for the poor. He also established a vocational training program for the unemployed and the vagrants in Edo. In 1789, to relieve the Bakufu’s personal vassals who had fallen in debt to the rice brokers, he canceled all the debts that they had incurred before 1784 and reduced the interest rates on those incurred after 1784. Naturally, the merchants adjusted to these enforced losses. Before long anyone whose debt had been cancelled found it virtually impossible to borrow more money until the previously erased debts had been repaid. The debt cancellations also drove up prices and interest rates, thereby exacerbating previous financial difficulties.

In the hope of increasing agricultural production, Sadanobu encouraged the peasants in the cities to return to the countryside. He issued sumptuary laws prohibiting them from indulging in any wasteful or extravagant activities to foster

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frugality among the peasantry. He also attempted to impose standards of austerity on the townspeople; he even went so far as to attempt to tighten their moral values by curbing unlicensed prostitution, censoring books that he deemed prurient, and banning mixed bathing for persons over the age of six.

To cope with the rising tide of unorthodox philosophies, Sadanobu issued the Kansei ban on heterodoxy and prohibited the teaching of any philosophy other than the Zhu Xi version of Confucianism in the Bakufu’s schools. He also adopted a policy of denying employment in the Bakufu to anyone who had been trained in unorthodox philosophies.

It was during this period that Russia began probing Japan’s northern islands. Sadanobu was not at first concerned about this, and in fact he arrested an advocate of national defense, Hayashi Shihei (1738–1793), for criticizing the Bakufu for neglecting its defenses against external threats. Later, he did come to recognize the need to fortify the northern coastal regions.

In spite of his strenuous efforts, Sadanobu failed to solve the basic problems of the Bakufu. He remained in office for only six years, but his puritanical asceticism did manage to cramp the lifestyle of influential people in the shōgun’s entourage, including the ladies in the inner palace.

Sadanobu’s departure was followed by an era of laxity under the leadership of the hedonistic Ienari, who was shōgun for more than fifty years, from 1786 to 1837. Even after his resignation, Ienari dominated the Bakufu until his death in 1841. Moral standards declined, and graft and bribery became rampant once again. Government expenditures rose along with the considerable personal expenses of the self-indulgent shōgun (he had forty wives and concubines to support). The price of rice remained low, but the cost of other commodities rose sharply. The only steps taken by the Bakufu to deal with its financial difficulties were to repeatedly debase the coinage and make requests of wealthy merchants for financial “contributions.” Between 1806 and 1813 the Bakufu called upon the merchants and villagers to contribute money three times, collecting more than 1.4 million ryō. Seemingly everyone but the Bakufu understood that someone had to make up for these forced contributions. The merchants merely passed on the cost by raising prices, but the poor villagers had no one else besides themselves to pass on these increased costs to. The Bakufu’s difficulties, however, continued to multiply as famines broke out frequently and, as we will see later, peasant uprisings increased in size and number. In addition to the internal difficulties, pressures from the outside world were becoming more serious.

After Ienari’s death another attempt at reforms was made, this time by the chief councilor, Mizuno Tadakuni (1793–1851), in what is called the Tempō Reforms. Like Sadanobu, Tadakuni also endeavored to tighten moral standards, reduce expenses, and encourage frugality by issuing many sumptuary laws meant to curtail extravagance in food and clothing. In addition, he restricted what he considered to

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be frivolous and wasteful activities, such as festivals, Kabuki, Nō, and other forms of entertainment. He even sought to curtail the operation of pawnshops, public bathhouses, hairdressers, and the like.

Like Sadanobu, Tadakuni encouraged the initiation of reclamation projects and hoped to increase agricultural production by compelling the peasants who had migrated to the cities to return to the villages. In addition, he sought to curtail secondary work such as weaving because he believed that it reduced the time the peasants could spend tilling the soil.

Tadakuni also sought to curb inflation by fixing wages and prices. Convinced that a free flow of goods would reduce high prices, he ended the monopolistic privileges that had been granted to the wholesalers and merchant guilds by the Tanuma administration. This of course resulted in the loss of the fees they had been paying the Bakufu, and to offset this reduction in revenues Tadakuni found it necessary to compel the wealthy Osaka merchants to donate money. As another means of increasing the Bakufu’s income, he sought to bring under its direct control the land held by the bannermen and daimyō in the vicinity of Edo and Osaka. This measure, however, was so vigorously opposed by the parties concerned that he was forced to abandon it. As was the case with Sadanobu, Tadakuni’s austerity program displeased a great many people, including the shōgun’s consort. As a result, he was removed from office in 1843, only two years after he had initiated the Tempō Reforms. He made a brief comeback in 1844 but was dismissed again after a short term in office. Many of his reforms were rapidly undone soon after he fell from power.

All the while he was in office, Tadakuni encouraged the daimyō to follow his example by urging them to institute similar reforms in their han. Many failed to respond, but some han, such as Chōshū, did in fact initiate their own reform programs. None of these attempts were effective, but some han did manage to reduce their expenses and tighten official control over the marketing of cash crops. During his tenure in office, Tadakuni was also much aware of the trouble China was having with the British, and he sought to strengthen his nation’s military defenses by sending the Bakufu warriors to Nagasaki to train in Western gunnery under the eyes of Dutch military experts. Tadakuni tried unsuccessfully to acquire the technology of casting cannon from the Dutch. The Dutch wisely demurred, even to the extent of refitting their ships that came to Nagasaki with older, inferior cannon.

All the reforms initiated by the various Bakufu officials were ineffective because, though they were honestly intended to solve the Bakufu’s economic difficulties, they attempted to achieve this by actually preventing changes, that is, by curbing the rising merchant class and money economy. Essentially, the reform programs pointed to a return to the predominantly agrarian, natural economy of early Tokugawa. It was with the best of intentions that the reformers persisted in adopting reactionary measures. But sumptuary laws to enforce simple living and

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uplift the people’s moral standards could not solve the Bakufu’s financial problems, nor could these legal maneuvers prevent the disintegration of the closed society. The Bakufu thus approached the middle of the nineteenth century having failed to solve its basic economic difficulties. At this juncture it was confronted with a major external crisis that ultimately brought about its downfall—the arrival of Commodore Perry. Before we turn to this event, however, let us examine more closely the economic difficulties of Tokugawa society.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

The basic cause of Tokugawa society’s problems lay in the fact that the economy was supported by an agrarian base that, though expanded, was not sufficiently broad to meet either the increasing needs of the ruling class, whose size and standard of living did not remain static, or the rising expectations of the common people. From the end of the seventeenth century, in particular, commerce began to grow, thus creating an economy ever more incompatible with agrarianism.

Large urban centers emerged, and the demand not only for basic necessities but also for what the ruling authorities regarded as luxury goods steadily increased. To meet these urban needs, the production of nonessential agricultural and industrial goods had to increase, and, consequently, the number and size of local business entrepreneurs, wholesale dealers, and shippers grew.

There were, necessarily, growing expenditures, which the daimyō sought to meet by fostering the production of cash crops and industrial goods that could be marketed to other han. Now that a greater variety and better quality of fabrics, utensils, household goods, and art objects was available, the taste and standard of living of the samurai as well as the wealthier elements in the towns and villages rose substantially. Such improvements, however, also tended to raise the level of expectation of the other segments of the society. An increased imbalance between income and expenditures resulted. Despite the fact that over the years rice production grew at a rate greater than the increase in population, the people, instead of enjoying an augmented sense of ease and satisfaction, became increasingly restless about an economic and financial situation they found uncomfortable and dissatisfying.

We have already discussed some of the economic problems plaguing the Bakufu, and we shall now turn to an examination of those confronting the daimyō and the samurai. Ogyū Sorai observed in the 1720s that whereas thirty or forty years earlier lower-class samurai never wore formal ceremonial suits and were unable to furnish their houses with tatami (reed mats), they now not only had better household furnishings and fancy formal suits, but their hair smelled of perfume, and their sword guards were decorated with gold and silver inlays.

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To be sure, the daimyō were certainly enjoying much greater luxury if the samurai were living in better houses and wearing finer clothing. According to Sorai, “In the way in which they comport themselves throughout the day, they naturally tend to be extravagant in accordance with the trend of the times.”2

The samurai and the daimyō needed more money to maintain their more elaborate style of living, and their financial needs were made ever the more acute by the recurrent periods of inflation that beset the land. The monetary problems of the daimyō were further intensified by the need to defray the cost of traveling back and forth to Edo and maintaining two residences, one in the home province and one in Edo. The extent to which this cut into the daimyō’s budget is illustrated by the example of Saga Han. In the mid-seventeenth century, 20 percent of its expenditures were applied to travel costs for the sankin kōtai, and 28 percent was used for its residence in Edo. The sankin kōtai system also served to stimulate economic growth by increasing commercial and industrial activities along the routes that the daimyō traveled to and from Edo. As historian Constantine Vaporis notes, “Sankin kōtai generated, extensive economic growth, urbanization, and social change. In other words, while alternate attendance was devised as a control measure to deplete the war-making capabilities of the daimyō, the institution acted as an agent of economic change.”3

The Bakufu added to the financial burdens of the daimyō by requiring them, whenever it felt the need to do so, to participate in public works and other expensive tasks. Saga Han, for example, devoted 4 percent of its expenditures to guarding Nagasaki. In 1754 Satsuma, already in debt for 800,000 ryō, was asked to assist in the construction of a water-control project along the Kiso River in central Honshu. Participation in this project made it necessary for Satsuma to raise more than 200,000 ryō. To obtain the money, the already overtaxed peasants had to be taxed even further. After the completion of the project, the Satsuma official in charge committed hara-kiri to atone for the hardships inflicted upon the people.

In addition to these expenses, the daimyō’s financial difficulties were aggravated by such calamitous events as floods, droughts, famines, and fires. Consequently, many han were continuously plagued with budgetary deficits.

There were only a limited number of ways in which the daimyō could cope with the rising costs of their personal and public needs. One way was to borrow from the wealthy merchants, and there were, in fact, some merchant houses that specialized in loaning money to the daimyō and samurai. An interesting example of this was Yodoya Tatsugorō (d. 1707), whose wealth was legendary. So many daimyō had fallen deeply in debt to him that the Bakufu finally confiscated his fortune in 1705. The ostensible reason given was that he was living in an outrageously extravagant fashion, far beyond the limits suitable to a person of his social status.

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The Kōnoike family records showed that in 1706 its loans to the daimyō totaled more than 278,000 ryō, and by 1795 this amount had risen to more than 416,000 ryō. After the Tokugawa era, the descendants of one merchant family found three cases full of certificates of loans to daimyō amounting to 10 million ryō.

To extricate the daimyō and the samurai from their indebtedness, the Bakufu sought to compel the merchants to settle for less than full payment of outstanding loans. In some instances it called for the total cancellation of long-standing debts, inflicting great losses upon the merchants. For instance, when Senior Councilor Sadanobu canceled debts in 1789, ninety-six financial agents lost a total of about 1.2 million ryō. Some daimyō, in arranging the terms of a loan, demanded that they be given anywhere from 150 to 200 years to repay the debt. These measures naturally bankrupted many merchant houses and induced others to become extremely wary about loaning money to military men. This in turn forced the daimyō and the samurai to abandon their traditional attitude of superiority and appeal to the wealthy merchants for money with lowered heads. To cultivate the good will of the merchants, they gave them seasonal gifts, extended special commercial privileges, and accorded them the rights of the samurai, such as the rights to bear swords and receive stipends.

The subservience of the warrior class to the wealthy merchants led one contemporary observer to remark, “When the great merchants of Osaka get angry, the feudal barons of the land quake with fear.”4 Another commentator wrote, “Both large and small daimyo are constantly plagued by their creditors to pay their debts and have no peace of mind worrying about how to make excuses. They fear the sight of moneylenders as if they were demons. Forgetting that they are samurai, they bow and scrape to the townspeople.”5

Another way in which the daimyō sought to increase their revenues was by taxing the peasants more heavily. There was a limit, however, to this approach. Some han made occasional tax reassessments to take into account the increase in rice production, but there is some evidence that thoroughgoing surveys were too laborious for many han to undertake.

Some other measures the daimyō resorted to were the extraction of forced loans from the merchants and the issuance of currencies valid only in the han. Most merchants saw the enforced “loans” and “contributions” as merely part of the cost of doing business. After all, they paid no regular taxes, and they could always pass on the expense of such extortion to consumers. As to the internal han currencies, any merchant worth his daily rice knew how to inflate and discount this currency.

Regarding that rice, a curious irony is that those people who could afford to eat “white” polished rice suffered from beriberi. That is because the nutritive bran had been polished off the rice, thus depriving the consumer of thiamine (vitamin B1). Poor people did not eat white rice but the more nutritious “lesser grains” such as

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brown rice, barley, wheat, oats, and sorghum. So it was that the children of rich samurai and chōnin suffered from beriberi. Many called it the “daimyō’s disease.” This was a small comfort for the poor peasants.

The daimyō did adopt some measures that yielded very positive results. Many han attempted to increase their revenues by expanding agricultural production. They reclaimed wastelands, initiated water-control projects, built irrigation systems, and introduced improved methods of farming and better strains of seed. As noted below, the acreage under cultivation was substantially increased, and greater yield per unit of land was achieved. It appears, however, that even this increased agricultural yield failed to meet the growing expenditures of the Bakufu and the han.

Another positive measure that was adopted by the Bakufu and the han was to foster the production of crops and handicraft goods that could be marketed to other han. As a result, many han came to be known for special products. Some even concentrated on the production of high-quality rice with the intention of competing more effectively for the urban rice market.

Many han were known for their textiles, pottery, timber, and fish, while other han managed to produce commodities not readily available elsewhere, such as salt, sugar, indigo, wax, tea, and paper. Villages near major cities like Edo concentrated on producing vegetables for the urban consumer. Some han exploited the mineral resources that had not been claimed by the Bakufu. A few han in the south and the west managed to increase their revenues by engaging in trade with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands; for instance, Tsushima Han, which was officially valued at 20,000 koku, managed to raise its revenues to about 200,000 koku by trading with Korea.

In marketing commercial and industrial crops, many han either established monopolies or granted monopolistic rights to select entrepreneurs. To compete effectively with other han while increasing their own revenues, han authorities paid the producers of the cash crops minimum prices. Unfortunately, those peasants forced to grow mulberry, tea, cotton, and other such cash crops were unable to eat them when draughts and famines hit; and of course in those circumstances the temporary market in cash crops dwindled or collapsed. This frequently became a source of conflict between the peasants and the authorities.

The Bakufu and the daimyō were feeling the pressures of rising expenditures, but the samurai felt the imbalance between income and outlay even more acutely. As we noted earlier, the samurai had also become accustomed to a more elegant way of life. Their expenses were growing, and their economic woes were further intensified by the fact that they had a fixed income in rice even though the price of rice tended to drop in time of abundant harvest. The price of other commodities, however, not only did not drop but in some instances rose.

Another economic development that hurt the samurai was the policy adopted by the Bakufu and some daimyō to withhold a certain amount of rice stipends from time to time. In Chōshū as early as 1646, the retainers were asked to “loan” one-

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fifth of their stipends to the han. Later, the amount was raised to one-third and then to one-half. Many daimyō followed the example of the Bakufu reformers and periodically attempted to reduce their expenses by implementing austerity programs, but these measures repeatedly failed to solve their financial problems. Some daimyō sought to cope with their difficulties by reducing the samurai’s stipends, but naturally this only worsened the already serious plight of the samurai. Many daimyō copied the Tokugawa, who asked their samurai for a “donation” of their stipends. The daimyō assured their people that they were joining them in this temporary austerity measure. A rescission meant that a daimyō might have to suffer one evening meal per week without sake. For the samurai it might mean an evening without a meal.6 These rescissions were meant to be only temporary measures, but they often lasted for years. During the time between 1742 and 1762, for example, the Chōshū retainers were asked to take reductions annually, and for seven years in a row they were required to accept reductions of 50 percent.

This practice, which was also followed by other han, forced the samurai to fall deeper and deeper into debt, and it had the effect of weakening the samurai’s sense of loyalty to their lords, who, they believed, were failing in their duty to provide them with adequate living. A critic at the end of the eighteenth century observed, “Some daimyō have now ceased to pay their retainers their basic stipends. These men have had half their property confiscated by the daimyō as well, and hate them so much that they find it impossible to contain their ever-accumulating resentment.”7

Occasionally the samurai would be aided when the Bakufu and the daimyō ordered a cancellation of debts, but before long they were heavily in debt again because the basic situation remained unchanged. Consequently, the poorer samurai were reduced to selling their military equipment, and there are instances of a few who even sold their daughters. Some turned to banditry, but the most common solution open to the lower-class samurai was to engage in some sort of handicraft work such as repairing umbrellas, lanterns, wooden clogs, or household utensils. This kind of menial work was considered beneath their dignity, but they were compelled to do it in order to survive. It was not uncommon for some samurai to establish family ties with merchant houses to escape their financial problems. A samurai might adopt a young man from a merchant family or permit his son to marry a merchant’s daughter.

THE PLEASURE QUARTERS

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, virtually every daimyō complained that his samurai were no longer loyal trustworthy warriors; peacetime conditions had brought about a deterioration in the warriors’ moral standards. Many samurai began

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to frequent places of entertainment—the brothels and the theaters—which existed primarily for the pleasure of the townspeople. It was estimated that in the middle of the eighteenth century 70 percent of the patrons of Edo’s brothels were samurai. One observer, bemoaning their moral decay, surmised that seven or eight samurai out of ten were effete weaklings.8

Hideyoshi had established a licensed “pleasure quarter” (yūkaku) in Kyoto called Shimabara (not to be confused with the peninsula in Kyushu of the same name) in 1589. Some 250 prostitutes were licensed to ply their trade in brothels there. By 1600 more than 2,000 women were estimated to be in residence. Similar quarters were set aside in Shinmachi District of Osaka, with approximately 1,750 women residing there by about 1600. Hideyoshi reasoned that prostitution was at worst a necessary evil in society, so he attempted to quarantine the practice and to tax its profits as well.

Almost immediately after it came to power in the early seventeenth century, the Tokugawa Bakufu had tried to curtail prostitution and to suppress theater troupes and other forms of entertainment. When it found it impossible to stop these activities, it began to try to circumscribe them. Small enclaves of brothels were tightly ringed by high walls and deep moats. The Gay Quarters, as they were called (long before the term became ironic), were carefully policed to keep traffic to a minimum. Only chōnin were supposed to be allowed to frequent these pleasure quarters.9 But before long samurai disguised themselves by covering their distinctly shaved forelocks and leaving their swords in special tea shops just outside the quarters. In Edo, the licensed quarter was called the Yoshiwara. Guidebooks tell us that in 1700 there were 1,750 licensed prostitutes housed there. There were similar pleasure quarters established elsewhere; in Osaka there were 760 registered prostitutes and 308 in the imperial capital of Kyoto. By 1780 the number of official prostitutes had increased to 2,900 in Edo and to 4,972 in 1799. But those numbers do not include the hundreds of unlicensed semiprofessionals who plied their trade in tea shops, inns, massage parlors, restaurants, and the like. Nor did the official prostitute census the many part-time prostitutes such as “serving girls” at many inns, near mining town bachelor quarters, and at hot spring (Onsen) resorts, or common streetwalkers in virtually every city. Donald Shively reminds us that prostitution was so common in Japan that there came to be more than five hundred euphemisms for the word.10

There was no real social stigma leveled on prostitutes; they were seen as being forced into the profession by economic circumstances. Many in society considered that prostitutes were being filial to their families by serving in their profession. Many women were allowed to marry after they were no longer attractive to their clients. Prostitutes could be “redeemed” by wealthy patrons who could “buy out” their contracts. Some prostitutes were successful enough to buy themselves out with

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their earnings. Many became brothel keepers in later life, but many more married or became concubines of rich men. Engelbert Kaempfer notes that, because their parents had sold them into prostitution, “after having serv’d their time if they are married, the guilt of their past life [is] by no means laid to their charge.”11

Similarly, Kabuki and bunraku theaters were confined to special areas separate from the brothels, but male prostitutes congregated in those districts as well. Not surprisingly, entrepreneurs began to open up small restaurants, tea shops, and sake bars between these separate quarters, and before long it was virtually impossible to discern where one district ended and the other began. Many Bakufu administrators by day railed against these symptoms of lax moral standards and then joined the throngs at night themselves. Also, most bureaucrats winked at the laws, especially when the Bakufu began to tax the activities and to sell special licenses to brothel, theater, restaurant, and sake shop owners.12

To some extent, the economic distress and consequent changes in moral standards of the ruling class tended to blur the social distinctions between the samurai and the merchant classes. At the same time, the bonds between the lord and his followers were weakened. These changes, together with the penetration of commercial interests into the rural areas and the growing unrest of the peasantry, were beginning to strain the existing social and political order.

THE LOT OF THE PEASANTS

The peasantry was the segment of the society that supported the national economy and endured hardships and miseries in silence. The expanding money economy was affecting them most adversely, and, after the Genroku era, as the Bakufu and the daimyō faced growing financial difficulties, the plight of the peasants appeared to worsen as they were taxed even more heavily.

The infiltration of money and commercial economy into the villages also meant the penetration of Genroku culture. This was true despite the attempts of the Bakufu to keep the villages insulated from the more extravagant ways of the cities. As might be expected, the desire for better living conditions grew among the peasants, and they began to purchase items that the authorities regarded as luxury goods. They also needed money to buy fertilizer and agricultural implements. Their expenses were rising at the same time that the authorities in many han were increasing the rate of taxation to meet their growing expenses. This situation became even more serious when, in some instances, the peasants were compelled to pay taxes several years in advance. As we noted previously, there were also numerous additional taxes besides those levied on the rice crop. The peasants were also subject to corvée, the most burdensome being the obligation to provide people and horses for the courier or horse station system.

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There is some indication that the ruling class was not uniformly ruthless in its financial demands, but this is not to say that the taxation was not burdensome. Some daimyō, in fact, raised the tax rate to exceed 50 percent, and in a few extreme cases the peasants were forced to pay 70 percent of the harvest. It should be noted that although many daimyō revised the method of assessment to increase the tax yields, the han in the poorer sections of the north and in the mountainous areas were especially stringent in exacting taxes. However, the Bakufu retained its taxation rate of 40 percent. During the latter half of its rule, it usually managed to collect about 1.6 million koku from its assessed holdings of something over 4 million koku. In 1744, by revising the method of assessment, it managed to raise its intake to 1.8 million koku. After 1766, however, its tax revenues gradually declined. Abuses occurred in all the han when ambitious officials sought to impress their lords by increasing the tax yields. At the same time, however, there were officials who sought to further and protect the interests of the people and gained renown as practitioners of “benevolent rule.”

An important point to consider in assessing the tax burden on the peasants is the fact that, as noted previously, no nationwide land survey was made after the Kambun and Empō eras (1661–1681). The area under cultivation, however, had been steadily expanded through reclamation, and the productivity per acre of land was increased substantially through the years by better plant varieties, greater use of fertilizers, and improved methods of farming. The area under cultivation in 1598 was 1.5 million chō, whereas by the Kyōhō era (1716–1736) it had risen to 2.97 million chō. Agricultural production in 1598 was estimated at 18.5 million koku, whereas by the Genroku era (1688–1703) it had risen to 25.78 million, and by 1834 it had reached 30.43 million.

In light of these facts, it is possible that the amount of rice and other crops left in the hands of the villagers may not have decreased even though the tax rates rose. Moreover, to encourage the reclamation of wastelands, officials were usually willing to overlook the fact that taxes were not paid on reclaimed plots, or else they imposed only a nominal levy. One study of eleven widely scattered villages indicates that from around 1700 to 1850 the official assessment of productivity varied very little, that is, there was no substantial movement upward. The same was true of the tax rate; no significant changes had occurred in these villages. This of course was a period during which productivity was still increasing.

It would appear then that, in spite of the financial pressures facing them, the Bakufu and many daimyō did not tax the peasants as severely as they might have. The growing determination of the peasants to resist additional levies and arbitrary measures may have been partially responsible for this. Furthermore, the changing attitude of the villagers perhaps accounts for the increase in uprisings at a time when the standard of living of the peasants may have been higher than that of their ancestors who lived during the early stages of Tokugawa rule.

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There are also strong indications that the larger amount of rice and other products that remained in the villages after taxation did not benefit all the villagers equally but was in fact primarily directed to the advantage of its wealthier members. It was the wealthier farmers who were likely to increase the yield per acre and to enlarge their holdings through land reclamation because of the additional expenses and labor needed for such undertakings. These wealthy and thus prominent villagers were the ones to hold the key village posts, and this enabled them to determine each producer’s share of taxation. It appears that in many villages the increased yields and greater holdings were not taken into account in allocating each producer’s share of the tax burden.

The fact that the wealthier villagers were benefiting from the taxation system is reflected in the many complaints lodged by the poorer peasants of being taxed more heavily than the rich. This clash of interests can also be seen in the growing number of peasant disturbances that were directed against the headmen and other prominent villagers. This is in sharp contrast to the many earlier disturbances, which were led by the village leaders to protest the policies of the Bakufu or han officials.

The rising rate of tenancy also indicates that the gap between the rich and poor peasants was widening. It was illegal to buy or sell land, but this law was frequently circumvented, and even some merchants purchased land in the villages. Most of the land belonging to the poorer peasants, however, passed into the hands of the wealthy villagers, who held mortgages on the fields of impoverished farmers. The percentage of tenancy varied greatly from place to place, but it is estimated that, in areas where the commercial economy had penetrated deeply, that is, near the major cities and the main roads, it had risen to 50 percent by the nineteenth century.

Accompanying this increase in tenant farmers was an increase in the number of hired workers on the larger farms and in the village handicraft industries. A further indication of the growing disparity of wealth in the villages can be seen in the changing pattern of landholding: the number of large and very small holdings increased while medium-sized holdings decreased.

The wealthier villagers, in addition to enhancing their wealth through greater productivity per acre and acquisition of more land, began investing their money in the commercial and industrial enterprises that were developing in the rural areas. Many were already involved in traditional commercial activities such as lending money and selling daily necessities (e.g., sake, salt, soy sauce, oil) to the villagers. Now some began to participate in such “manufacturing” enterprises as spinning, weaving, pottery making, and other handicraft industries. Others ventured into the business of marketing the cash and industrial crops that were produced in their villages. At the same time, urban merchants migrated to rural communities to market these crops. The consequence of this was the development of a group of rural dwellers, known as gōnōshō (rich farmer/businessman), who came into

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existence in villages that were affected strongly by the commercial economy. An early nineteenth-century observer remarked about the growing disparity

between the rich and the poor villagers, “The wealthy farmers have forgotten their rank, have been given the right to have surnames, wear swords or even have yearly allowances.”13 Essentially, then, they were living like members of the samurai class. In sharp contrast to this, the poorer farmers, he noted, were falling deeper into debt and losing their land. In 1721 the population of the common classes was officially noted to be 26 million. It fluctuated between 25 and 27 million from that date until the end of the Tokugawa era.14 Figures prior to 1721 are not available, but if we accept an estimated figure of 18 million for the period 1573–1591, it is conceivable that the population increased by 10 million from the end of the sixteenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth.

The population during the latter half of the Tokugawa era was held down by periodic famines and epidemics. Mass starvation resulted whenever there were serious crop failures, which were caused by droughts, excessive rainfall, floods, typhoons, cold weather, or locusts. There were in all thirty-five famines in the Edo period. In 1732, for example, swarms of locusts descended upon western Japan, ruining practically the entire rice crop of that region. This is known as the Kyōhō famine, and contemporary estimates held that while it lasted 969,900 people died of starvation. No doubt this figure is highly exaggerated, but it does, nevertheless, indicate the strong impression that large-scale starvation made upon observers.

In 1755 cold weather destroyed the crops in the north, and as a result in one han alone it was reported that one out of five persons died of starvation. In 1773 droughts preceded a plague that claimed the lives of 200,000 people. This death toll rose as the plague spread through the northern provinces, with Sendai Han reporting the loss of 300,000 people. This was followed by the great Temmei famine that began in 1783 and lasted until 1787. It was caused by continuous bad weather: excessive rainfall, unseasonably cold weather, and drought. The year the famine started, Mt. Asama in central Japan erupted, causing much death and destruction. Volcanic ash covered many fields, smothering the plants. Furthermore, the ash was blasted high into the sky where it remained in the clouds, blocking out sunlight for days at a time, wilting the crops and seriously altering the weather patterns. The bad weather and persistent crop failures continued year after year, and the northern provinces, which were again affected most seriously, experienced such mass starvation that the people were finally reduced to cannibalism. No accurate figure is available on the number of people who starved to death in the Temmei famine, but one contemporary observer wrote, “During the three years of bad crops and famine which occurred since 1783, over two million people in Ou Province alone starved to death.”15 This is an overestimation, but it is believed that several hundred thousand persons did perish, and much of the northern region

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remained uninhabited and untilled for years. In the Tempō era another major famine occurred that lasted from 1833 to 1836.

Once again, the northern provinces were most severely affected. Tsugaru Han, which was said to have lost 80,000 persons in a single year during the Temmei famine, lost another 45,000.

The effects of these famines and catastrophes are reflected in the decreases in the population that followed each major outbreak. As a result of the Kyōhō famine of 1732–1733, the population of the common people dropped from 26.92 million in 1732 to 26.15 million in 1744, when the next census was taken. Just prior to the Temmei famine, the population was 26.01 million, but it declined to 25.08 million in 1786, and then dropped even further to 24.89 million in 1792.

POPULATION CONTROL

One of the astounding facts about era is that the population seemed to have remained at the same level throughout the Tokugawa era. Demographers long sought to explain why Japan’s population reached about 30 million at the middle of the seventeenth century after about five decades of dynamic increase but then seems to have hovered at that number for more than two centuries! Marxist historians argued that this nearly Malthusian check on population could be explained by the rising tides of malnutrition, famine, and disease caused by the penetration of capitalism. Of course, the argument was tempered somewhat because the other Malthusian natural “check” on population growth was not present. That is to say, warfare had ceased to kill thousands and had ceased to prevent couples from producing more babies.

The answer, of course, they argued, was that the Japanese had chosen to abort pregnancies and had practiced infanticide because they were starving and could not feed new babies. Both forms of artificial birth control were certainly practiced by the Japanese. But unlike their Chinese cousins, who practiced infanticide selectively by gender, the Japanese apparently did not. No tell-tale signs of gender imbalance appeared in Japan at late adolescence as in China. So apparently if the Japanese were killing their babies (and they were), they killed boys as well as girls. What was going on?

Scholars somehow discovered (demographers, like economists, practice a kind of voodoo in their calculations) that the Japanese had realized that too many babies led to economic distress. Too many mouths to feed and too many dowries to pay cancelled out any economic benefits of having produced an abundance of workers. So apparently the Japanese consciously began to practice social engineering by limiting the number of babies and by spacing them out in birth order to maximize labor and minimize cost. And of course this was done more than a century before

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any Western nation began to practice similar birth control for social benefit. Buddhism preaches that life is illusory and that all human emotional attachment

chains people to the painful wheel of life, so when and how people die is of no real religious consequence. It is, in some perverse way, a kind of acceleration of the immutable wheel of reincarnation. One euphemism for infanticide is “sending back.” That is, the newborn is returned to Buddha to be reborn in a different body and in different circumstances. Midwives attending a birth carry a bowl. Traditionally, in China, if the baby was a boy, he would be washed in that bowl; if it was a girl, she was drowned in it, “sent back” to Buddha, hopefully to be reborn as a boy to wealthy and powerful parents. If the girl will suffer privation anyway, why not end the inevitable suffering? Shintō, or rather the various indigenous cults, has no strictures against infanticide. It is not a sin, neither is abortion; they are merely practical adjustments to life. Traditional Buddhist theology preached that life is illusion locked into an endless cycle of painful reincarnations. In the late 1600s a new dogma (called Funerary Buddhism) became popular. Buddhist priests “promised that their ritual technology, when combined with the devotion and financial support of dutiful descendants, could transform a dead soul into a divine ancestral spirit serenely beyond the cycle of rebirth and suffering. A single economically sound line of descendants sufficed for this process.”16

The Japanese had long practiced many forms of birth control other than abortion and infanticide. Various herbal concoctions had been discovered that acted as topical spermicides or as medicines to induce early labor. Together with abortion and infanticide then, medieval Japanese had several methods to limit their population. And they did so selectively. As Thomas C. Smith notes, families were attempting to achieve “an equilibrium of some sort between family size and farm size; an advantageous distribution of the sexes of the children; possibly the spacing of children in a way convenient to the mother; and the avoidance of a particular sex in the next child.”17 Susan Hanley qualifies that argument somewhat when she notes that the “Japanese were limiting family size through a variety of measures, and that they were doing so to maintain and improve their standard of living, rather than as a means of coping with dire circumstances.”18

Peasants needed a male heir to carry on the patrimony. Peasant families who did not have male heirs soon died out. Infant mortality rates being rather high, social and economic security was better protected if a family had two males, in case one should die. But girls were necessary too. They could be put to work at the same tasks as boys until about their teenage years, then they could be hired out as maids, apprentices, and servants. They could also be married off to cement social relations with other local families, and, at last resort, they could be sold as geisha or prostitutes.

It is clear that during the Tokugawa era chōnin and even samurai practiced

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similar methods to keep natural population increase in check. Often, samurai were even more constrained by having too many children. Unlike the chōnin or peasants, the chances of having a second son being “farmed out” as an apprentice were not great. They had no creative or productive skills to offer, and social pressures were too great to allow a samurai to change classes. The best one could hope for is an heirless relative adopting the “extra” boy, and how many such relatives did anyone have?

PEASANT UPRISINGS

The peasants did not remain completely passive when confronted with the rigid control and exploitation of the ruling class, growing economic hardships, and periodic disasters. There was little they could do about natural calamities, but they could and did protest against abuses on the part of the officials and demand relief in times of famine and disaster.

Recent studies show that between 1590 and 1867 there were 2,809 peasant disturbances. During the early years of Tokugawa rule these disturbances tended to occur more frequently in the poorer regions. Later on, however, they began to break out increasingly in the more advanced areas, thus indicating that the penetration of commercial economy was causing difficulties in the villages. The number of peasant uprisings rose significantly in the latter half of the Edo period. This was also true of the Bakufu’s own domain: from 1590 to 1750 the Bakufu was faced with 146 peasant disturbances in its lands, while between 1751 and 1867 it was confronted with 401.

The protest movements took various forms. The peasants could, of course, submit petitions through regular channels, but such actions were not effective because they could so readily be blocked at the lower levels. Illegal actions took the form of mass flights into another lord’s domain, forceful demonstrations, violent uprisings, and the submission of petitions that bypassed the lower authorities and went directly to the daimyō or Bakufu. With the passage of time, the protest movements tended to grow increasingly violent, and from about 1710 forceful demonstrations and violent uprisings constituted between 40 and 50 percent of all protests. The houses and warehouses of the rich farmers, merchants, and moneylenders were frequently the objects of attack.

In a study of 2,755 peasant outbursts, it was determined that taxation, having been named in 628 of the incidents, was the most prevalent cause of violent action. The other incidents involved the following immediate causes: 355 were directed against some aspect of the administrative system, 214 involved demands for relief and assistance, 158 were rice riots, 146 were directed against abusive Bakufu or han officials, and 134 were protests against arbitrary measures taken by the

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authorities. In the later stages of the Edo period, there was an increase in protests against the village leaders and merchants who had monopolistic rights.19

During the latter half of the Tokugawa era, the number of participants and the areas covered by the disturbances tended to grow in scope. In 1738, 84,000 peasants in Iwaki Province in the north participated in a demonstration against excessive taxation. In 1754, 168,000 peasants were involved in an outburst against unfair taxation in Kurume Han in Kyushu. In 1764, 200,000 peasants in the Kantō region rioted to protest the burdens of corvée in the horse stations. Following the Temmei famine, violent uprisings involving thousands of peasants broke out with increasing frequency. One of the major riots in the nineteenth century was the 1831 uprising in Chōshū where 100,000 peasants rioted, demanding a reduction in taxes and protesting the han’s monopolistic policy in marketing industrial crops.

It is interesting to speculate as to why peasant unrest grew in the latter half of the Tokugawa period when, compared to the first half, more food and other commodities were available. The population remained more or less stable after the eighteenth century while rice production increased somewhat, so there must have been more food to go around.20 A partial answer is found in the fact that this was the time when the three major famines of the Edo period occurred: the Kyōhō famine of 1732–1733, the Temmei famine of 1783–1787, and the Tempō famine of 1833–1836. In the decade or so during and following these major famines, the number of peasant disturbances increased significantly.

This period of increasing unrest also coincided with the growing financial difficulties of the Bakufu and the han. The various measures they adopted to cope with the situation, such as the Kyōhō, Kansei, and Tempō Reforms, caused the people inconvenience and hardship. The growth of commercial economy and its consequent effects in the villages also gave rise to unrest by causing dislocations in the countryside. The economic difficulties caused by opening the country to the West touched off a large number of peasant disturbances in the 1860s. We have already made note of the growing conflict between the wealthier villagers and poorer peasants, which also contributed to the increase in agrarian troubles.

Another possible contributing factor that should not be overlooked is that the peasants were getting bolder in challenging the ruling class because the latter had lost some of its militaristic qualities. The samurai were no longer hardy warriors; they were more like gentleman-scholars who had been softened by urban living. Very few samurai lived in the villages where the peasants dwelled, and when these outsiders did appear it was only to collect taxes. Finally, the greater productivity and the improved standard of living enjoyed by the village leaders and the townspeople must have had the double effect of raising the expectations of the peasants while making them more militant.

In some instances the protestors did succeed in gaining concessions and in

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having their grievances redressed; but, in all cases of violent or illegal action, the leaders were arrested and punished because any sort of conspiracy or group action was strictly prohibited. To ferret out the instigators, the suspected leaders were tortured cruelly and forced to confess. They were then beheaded or crucified. Some were buried alive. Yet the names of uprising leaders were not forgotten. They cropped up in folk tales and in the songs of wandering balladeers. Some continue to this day in remote villages. Their fame might have contributed to some moralistic leaders taking up their cause. Such immortality is very seductive.

The peasant uprisings were not motivated by any desire to change the social or political order. They were simply protest actions calling for redress of specific grievances. The peasants remained politically unsophisticated, partly because of the Bakufu’s success in keeping them isolated and politically ignorant. The rulers followed the adage that “the peasants should not be informed but should be made to depend upon the ruling class.” Peasant riots did break out, particularly in the Kantō and northern regions, when the Bakufu was being overthrown by the imperial forces. These were called yonaoshi ikki (uprisings to reform the society), but they were isolated actions directed primarily against the wealthy villagers.

It was not only the peasants who were forced to resort to violence because of economic difficulties; the urban poor also began to stage violent demonstrations. Inflationary prices and food shortages were the primary causes for these urban riots, which were usually directed against the rice and sake merchants and the pawnbrokers. Prior to the Kyōhō era (1716–1736), only 8 urban disturbances had occurred, and only one of these involved any violence. After 1717, however, 332 instances of urban conflict were recorded, and most of them entailed rioting and violence. One of the most widespread urban rice riots occurred late in the spring of 1787 in the wake of the Temmei crop failures and famine when 50 separate violent incidents broke out in cities throughout the country.

The Tempō famine also touched off rice riots in the cities, where shortages and inflated prices caused rampant hunger and starvation. This series of disturbances culminated in a major uprising in 1837 in Osaka, which was led by a former police officer and Wang Yang-ming scholar, Ōshio Heihachirō (1792–1837). Ōshio was outraged at the indifference of the Osaka city commissioners and the rich merchants, such as Mitsui and Kōnoike, to whom he had unsuccessfully appealed for help. Instead of taking any positive action to alleviate the unfair conditions, one of the city commissioners accused Ōshio of violating the ban on making direct appeals to higher officials. Ōshio, as a result, decided that the only course left to him was to lead the people in an uprising against the rich and the established authorities even though he realized it was doomed to failure. He had only about three hundred followers, largely impoverished townspeople and peasants from nearby villages, but they managed to set fire to one-fifth of the city. The uprising was quickly crushed, and he was forced to take his own life. He had planned for

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such an eventuality; he had ordered that each member of his band of followers make suitable preparations for suicide.21 As apparently quixotic as his revolt had been, it did force the Bakufu to take notice. After all, this was the first serious uprising in which samurai played an important part in nearly two hundred years. Many samurai paid at least lip service to Ōshio’s arguments about the need for samurai to serve the people.

Urban disturbances continued to break out. The crisis facing the Bakufu and established authorities became acute after the advent of Perry, and the number of urban riots increased. Seventy such outbursts were recorded between 1854 and the fall of the Bakufu.

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS

Agricultural production, as noted above, did not remain static during the Tokugawa period. A variety of factors contributed to the increased yields in rice and other crops. There was a far greater and more extensive use of fertilizers—in addition to nightsoil, animal manure, grass, leaves, and ashes, dried fish and lees of vegetable oil came into use. The acquisition and sale of human excrement became a lucrative commercial concern.22 The variety of plants also increased considerably, and it is estimated that the number of rice varieties swelled from about 175 in the early seventeenth century to more than 2,000 by the mid-nineteenth century. Irrigation systems were improved with wider use being made of waterwheels and treadmills. In the northern and Kantō regions, sericulture became important as a supplementary source of rural income.

The production of commercial and industrial crops began to increase throughout the country. Cotton, indigo, sugar cane, tobacco, silk worms, tea, wax tree, and the like were produced by the peasants to supplement their income or at the behest of their lords. Despite the increasing production of cash crops and growing commercial activities, Tokugawa Japan was still predominantly an agricultural country, not a commercial one. It is estimated that in the 1860s only about 20 percent of the agricultural products reached the commercial market, whereas a century later the figure had grown to 60 percent.

The fishing industry remained an important part of the Tokugawa economy, as did mining, forestry, and the various handicraft industries. Somewhat larger production facilities, especially in textiles, were emerging at the end of the era. Commercial capital began to enter the process of production to some extent, and the more advanced areas of the economy were showing signs of industrial growth. In view of the overall picture, however, all these changes were not really significant enough to affect the fundamentally agrarian character of the economy.

Not many Tokugawa thinkers concerned themselves with the practical aspects

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of farming, but there were a few who did. Among the more notable of these were Ōhara Yūgaku (1797–1858) and Ninomiya Sontoku (1787–1856). Yūgaku, although born into a samurai family, was disowned for having killed a man in a duel and spent years wandering around the country. He finally settled in a village in the Kantō region, just as the Tempō famine broke out. Deeply distressed at the suffering of the peasantry, he sought to devise ways to assist them. In 1838 he organized a cooperative credit union encompassing four villages. Each member was required to transfer to the cooperative a plot of land worth 5 ryō, and the profits from this land were then put into a fund that was to be used to assist the members in time of need. Yūgaku also introduced better methods of farming and initiated a land improvement program. In addition, he sought to instill a wholesome outlook into the peasantry and taught that the nature of things and the Way were fixed by the unity of heaven and earth. The common people too were created by this unity, so they were obliged to follow the Way. This consisted in practicing filial piety, adhering to one’s station in life, and respecting the samurai. In spite of his positive contributions to agrarian life and his essentially proestablishment philosophy, Yūgaku was accused by the authorities of disturbing the existing order in the village and of exceeding his proper station in life by daring to propagate his own philosophy. He was forced to dissolve the cooperative before being incarcerated. After his release he committed hara-kiri.

The other agrarian reformer, Ninomiya Sontoku, referred to as the “peasant sage of Japan,” was born into a peasant family and remained a tiller of the soil and a spokesperson for the peasantry all his life. His family was plunged into the depths of poverty by the Temmei famine and a destructive typhoon. Through hard work, Sontoku more than restored the family fortune and became a minor landlord of 4 chō.23 Like Yūgaku, he sought to help his fellow peasants improve their lot. He taught them the importance of making long-range plans and advised them to make an annual budget in which they were always to plan on spending less than they expected to make. He also proposed the establishment of voluntary credit unions, a suggestion that was adopted by a fairly large number of villages in his native Sagami, as well as in the neighboring provinces. He was active in relief work during the Tempō famine, and, as he gained renown as an agrarian expert, he was sought out by many han to assist in revitalizing villages that had fallen into decay.

Sontoku believed that the peasants must be instilled with a philosophy of life that would be fitting to them while enhancing their well-being. All people, he taught, owe their existence and well-being to their ancestors and society, and it is therefore their duty to follow the doctrine of repayment of virtue, which calls for hard work, thrift, and sharing what one can with others. Sontoku’s interpretations of the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man were pragmatic and utilitarian: the Way of Heaven is the way of nature as seen in the physical world; the Way of Man is fixed by the human need to survive in nature. Thus, the Way of Man tells us, “Rice is

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good and weeds are bad; to build a house is good, to destroy it is bad. . . . All that is convenient for man is good and all that is inconvenient is bad.”24

Unlike other Tokugawa thinkers, Yūgaku and Sontoku concerned themselves with practical problems and not with theoretical or idealistic moral concepts. This propensity to direct one’s attention to practical matters came to be manifested increasingly in the intellectual world of the late Edo period.

FORESTRY

One such practical problem involved Japan’s forests. As noted in Chapter 1, more than half of the total landmass of Japan is forested. But, by the late tenth century, the country had almost stripped the archipelago of old-growth hardwoods. Tremendous building spurts of the cities of Fujiwara, Nara, and Kyoto in the eighth and ninth centuries had gobbled up virtually all the readily accessible hardwoods in southern and western Honshu and then even Kyushu and Shikoku were being harvested. The fire that severely damaged the grand temple of Tōdaiji in Nara in 1180 required another drain on Japan’s hardwoods. Also, the building spree that accompanied the establishment of Kamakura in the early thirteenth century seriously threatened the supply of construction materials. Scores of temples were erected, forcing loggers up into northern Honshu.

Of course, the Sengoku era triggered another spurt. The fires of endemic warfare consumed thousands of homes and castles, requiring replacements. New castle construction and the increase of jōka-machi castle towns strained the logging industry. The Hideyoshi construction of Osaka and Ieyasu’s building of Edo after about 1590 was almost the proverbial last straw.

To its credit, the Tokugawa Bakufu threw its considerable weight behind forest conservation and regeneration. Initially, the Tokugawa reacted as the Heian imperial government and then the Kamakura and Muromachi Bakufu had done: they severely restricted private use of hardwoods.

All three governments had also overreacted by limiting peasant access to restricted forests. Peasants needed lumber too, but not the old-growth giant trees. They were satisfied with saplings and fast-growing “trash” woods that had little commercial value. They also needed access to the fallen forest detritus (twigs, leaves, stumps, and partially burned trees) that was mixed with other village vegetation to make “green” fertilizer. This right of forest gleaning (iriai) was actually beneficial to forest growth because it cleared the ground of flammable material. Even the charcoal industry (if we can call it that) or pottery kilns did not seriously threaten forest life to the extent that government and Buddhist temple construction did.

The major impetus to a change in government efforts from restricting access to

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reforestation was the Meireki fire of 1657 that nearly destroyed Edo. The main Bakufu Chiyodo castle was destroyed as were more than 500 daimyō mansions, 779 Bakufu residences, 350 temples, and 400 blocks of chōnin houses. More than a hundred thousand persons were killed.

The Bakufu responded by limiting the size of timber pieces used in reconstruction, encouraging piecing (bundling smaller pieces of wood) and the use of fast-growing timbers such as bamboo, stucco plastered walls, mud wattling, and ceramic tile roof shingles. It also began an extensive program of reforestation. Loggers were now required to plant ten seedlings for every mature tree harvested. Peasants were put to work clearing forest floors for new tree plantation (they got to keep the iriai detritus). Within a few decades the country was managing its forests and had made huge strides in planting seedlings on denuded hills to stop erosion. By the early part of the nineteenth century, Japan was perhaps the first country in the world to have established long-term forest stability.

As Conrad Totman notes, given its huge population and relative lack of flat agricultural land, Japan “should be an impoverished, slum-ridden, peasant society subsisting on an eroded moonscape, rather than a wealthy, dynamic, highly industrialized society living on a luxuriant green archipelago (midori no rettō).”25 He adds, “The abundant verdure is not a monument to nature’s benevolence and Japanese aesthetic sensibilities but the hard-earned result of generations of human toil that have converted the archipelago into one giant forest preserve.”26

INTELLECTUAL CURRENTS: REFORMERS AND CRITICS

During the latter half of the Tokugawa regime, heterodox views came to be embraced by a growing number of thinkers, and Zhu Xi philosophy, the official ideology, no longer dominated the intellectual scene. The Kansei edict prohibiting heterodox studies was issued in 1790 by Matsudaira Sadanobu, and it was intended to combat the rising tide of unorthodox points of view. It could, however, neither curb opinions critical of official policies nor restrict the diffusion of non–Zhu Xi, or for that matter, non-Confucian philosophies.

There were several schools of thought among the heterodox thinkers. Of course, these cannot all be neatly classified into fixed categories, but for the sake of convenience we can list the following: the school of thought that was influenced by Dutch or Western learning; the pragmatic, rationalistic critics of the existing order; the nationalists of the Mito school; and the nationalists of the school of National Learning.

The school of Dutch learning (rangaku)27 came into existence after 1720, when the Bakufu relaxed its ban against Western books and permitted works not containing Christian ideas to enter the country. This led a small circle of interested

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scholars to begin studying Dutch to become acquainted with Western science. Japanese-Dutch dictionaries were compiled, and these scholars started to pursue such subjects as astronomy, physics, electricity, plant studies, cartography, geography, and medicine. The pioneer students of this school included Aoki Kon’yō (1698–1769), who compiled a dictionary of the Dutch language, which he completed in 1758, and Hiraga Gennai (1729–1779), a versatile man who was not only interested in Western science but also in playwriting and Western painting. In his scientific work he engaged in botanical studies, conducted experiments in electricity, produced asbestos, and made a thermometer. He also taught Western painting, and among his students was Shiba Kōkan (1738–1818), who became the foremost exponent of the Western style of painting.

The Bakufu was interested in encouraging the study of astronomy and built an observatory in Edo in 1744. Surveying and cartography were also studied at this center, and it was through mastery of these fields that Inō Tadataka (1745–1818) managed to survey the entire Japanese coastline and produce an accurate map of the country. Among the early advocates of Copernican theory were Miura Baien (1723–1789) and Shiba Kōkan. Baien, though a Confucian scholar, developed a naturalistic philosophy that departed from the traditional theoretical explanation of the nature of things. He believed that the principles underlying the natural world could be understood only by observing the physical world, and not by projecting assumptions about human nature onto it. He emphasized the importance of developing a thoroughgoing spirit of inquiry and skepticism, but the comprehensive system of logic that he formulated was too complex to be easily understood by his contemporaries. It was not until very recently that his position in the history of Japanese thought as a unique and original thinker came to be appreciated.

The science that had the greatest influence on fostering Dutch studies was medicine. Among the pioneers in this field were Maeno Ryōtaku (1723–1803) and Sugita Gempaku (1733–1817). In 1771 they had an opportunity to watch a dissection being performed, and they were thus able, through direct observation, to compare human anatomy with the illustrations and descriptions in a Dutch anatomy book. They were profoundly impressed by the accuracy of the Dutch work and so appalled at the erroneous notions they had formerly held that they set about translating the Dutch text, which they published in 1774. This was the first openly circulated Dutch book that was translated into Japanese, and it did much to arouse the interest of fellow scholars.

Dutch studies were advanced significantly when Philipp Franz von Siebold, a young German doctor, arrived in 1823 to serve as a medical officer at the Dutch factory in Nagasaki. He was allowed to open a clinic and a medical school outside the city, and it was here that he taught fifty-seven Japanese medical students. In 1828 Siebold got in trouble with the authorities when it was discovered that he was planning to take a map of Japan with him on his projected trip back to Europe. He

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was expelled from the country as a suspected spy, but he was able to return in 1859 after Japan opened its doors to the West.

The Confucians began to attack Dutch studies as interest in them mounted. Ōtsuki Gentaku (1757–1827), an advocate of Dutch learning, responded as follows to the critics: “Dutch learning is not perfect, but if we choose the good points and follow them, what harm could come of that? What is more ridiculous than to refuse to discuss its merits and cling to one’s forte without changing?”28 The scholars of Dutch studies grew increasingly critical of the Bakufu’s anachronistic policy of seclusion and began as a result to experience growing official hostility. These scholars were bringing about an expanded awareness of the outside world and had become a force that could not be ignored.

Russian movements in the north along with stories about European activities in the rest of Asia induced some Japanese thinkers to turn their attention to problems of national defense. They also considered, though usually in private, the policies that they thought Japan should adopt in coping with the foreign powers. Hayashi Shihei was one of the first of these thinkers to call for the adoption of appropriate defense measures to meet the impending threat from abroad. He urged the use of Western military science and arms, especially cannons, to repel the foreign naval vessels. The Bakufu, then under the direction of Matsudaira Sadanobu, arrested him for publishing a book dealing with the affairs of state, but he had already set a precedent for such discussions, which others were to follow. In the nineteenth century Takano Chōei (1804–1850), who had studied under Siebold, and Watanabe Kazan (1793–1841), who was a student of the Dutch language, an accomplished painter, and an experienced administrator, expressed their disagreement with the Bakufu’s policy of driving away all foreign ships approaching Japanese shores. For this they were both persecuted and driven to suicide.

The practical and rational critics and analysts of Tokugawa society had acquired, in addition to what was noted above about Dutch learning, some knowledge about the West. One of these scholars, Honda Toshiaki (1744–1821),29 favored development of foreign trade and colonization to strengthen Japan’s economy. He believed that the government was responsible for the economic miseries of the people, and he was convinced that the ruling class had to provide vigorous leadership to change Japan into a wealthy, industrial nation like some of the European countries.

Toshiaki believed that, to strengthen the economy, centralized control had to be established. He thought it was particularly important to bring shipping and trade under state control. “As long as there are no government owned ships and the merchants have complete control over transport and trade,” he wrote, “the economic conditions of the samurai and farmers grow steadily worse.”30 In foreign policy he favored an expansionist course of action and bemoaned the fact that

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Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kamchatka were not being colonized. “Since,” he wrote, “it is a national obligation to attempt to increase the size of the country, even if this involves invading other countries, it makes me speechless with despair when I realize that we have permitted all of our possessions to be snatched away by another country.”31 His desire was to make Japan “the greatest nation in the world.” Toshiaki was highly critical of the Bakufu and favored drastic changes, but, because he did not publicize his ideas, he did not encounter any difficulties from the authorities. Consequently, he also failed to exert much influence on the thinking of his age.

It is interesting to note that men like Toshiaki and Satō Nobuhiro (1769–1850) already recognized key aspects of the necessity of adopting Western science and technology and the importance of developing the nation’s economy for military purposes—an idea that was to have full sway in the early Meiji period. Nobuhiro had studied Dutch and was interested in a variety of practical subjects. He was also seriously concerned about the external threat and was deeply disturbed by China’s defeat in the Opium War (1840–1842). Like Toshiaki, he believed in strengthening the economy to strengthen the nation; that is, he believed in what came to be known as a policy of fukoku kyōhei (enrich and strengthen the nation). Nobuhiro served as an adviser to Senior Councilor Mizuno Tadakuni and to several daimyō, so his ideas received the attention of the ruling authorities. His proposal for drastic economic reorganization was not adopted, but it is believed that Nobuhiro’s ideas had something to do with the Bakufu’s effort to regulate the economy more stringently after 1855.

To revitalize Japan’s economy, he advocated the establishment of a highly centralized totalitarian government that would have the authority to control the entire economic life of the society while fully utilizing and completely regulating all natural and human resources. He suggested that the country’s industries be divided into eight divisions with every person being assigned to a given occupation and strictly forbidden from engaging in any other work. The existing political order and the class system were to be abolished, of course, and the ruler given autocratic powers to “manage freely the entire nation of Japan as if it were his hands and feet.”32

Nobuhiro, under the influence of the Shintō nationalism of Hirata Atsutane (1776–1843), whose views are discussed later in this chapter, envisioned Japan extending its divine rule over the rest of the world. “In terms of world geography,” he argued, “our Imperial Land would appear to be the axis of the other countries of the world, as indeed it is. Natural circumstances favor the launching of an expedition from our country to conquer others, whereas they are adverse to the conquest of our country by an expedition from abroad.”33 It appears that an awareness of the outside world quickly led to the rise of expansionistic

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nationalism. There were a number of other rationalist critics of the existing order who

contemplated various ways of strengthening the society. Kaiho Seiryō (1755– 1817), for example, advocated that, because commerce constituted the basis of the social order, industrial activities should be extended to all segments of the society. Shiba Kōkan recognized the superiority of Western science and favored establishing trade with Russia. He also expressed egalitarian ideas: “from the emperor, and shōgun above, to the samurai, peasants, merchants, artisans, pariahs, and beggars below all are human beings.”34

Yamagata Bantō (1748–1821), a scholar who had emerged from the merchant class, also recognized the superiority of Western science and adopted a materialistic, atheist point of view. He noted the prevalence of conflict between the ruler and the people in Japanese history and, like Shiba Kōkan, asserted that all people were equal.

The nationalists, both the Mito school and the school of National Learning, though not yet in favor of overthrowing the Bakufu, were beginning to put increasing emphasis on the importance of the imperial family. They believed in “revering the emperor and respecting the Bakufu,” and they tended to be outspokenly anti-Western. The Bakufu officials were willing to tolerate expressions of respect for the imperial family as long as these were accompanied by similar declamations about the Bakufu, but they were not willing to condone proimperial expressions that at the same time implied a criticism of the Bakufu. Followers of Yamazaki Ansai, syncretist of Confucianism and Shintō, were punished by the Bakufu as exponents of proimperial, anti-Bakufu sentiments. A few were forced to commit suicide; proroyalists in the early nineteenth century were thereafter careful not to step into the danger zone.

This was true of Aizawa Seishisai (1782–1863) of Mito, one of the earliest advocates of the policy of sonnō jōi (revere the emperor and repel the barbarians). He argued in traditional fashion that obedience to one’s lord and adherence to the Bakufu’s laws signified loyalty to the emperor. In 1825 he wrote a book called New Proposals in which he set forth his nationalistic, proroyalist opinions. This book appeared at a time when Japan’s peace was being threatened by the attempts of foreign vessels to enter her ports. In fact, it was in 1825 that the Bakufu issued an order to fire upon all foreign ships approaching Japanese shores. Seishisai’s New Proposals had a significant impact on the thinking of his contemporaries, and the volume came to be regarded as something of a bible for the nationalistic patriots of the period.

Seishisai embraced the Shintō concepts of the divine origin of Japan and the uniqueness of the imperial family, who were descendants of the Sun Goddess. He held Japan to be “at the vertex of the earth” and the nation that sets the standard for others to follow. He elaborated upon the concept of Japan’s kokutai (national

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polity), a theory that combined elements from Shintō mythology, Confucian ethics, and Bushidō. It was this theory that emerged in the twentieth century as a key element in the ideology of the ultranationalists. Japan’s kokutai was unique, Seishisai asserted, because the nation was founded by the Sun Goddess and because the imperial line, which stems directly from her, has survived inviolate through the ages. Concepts of loyalty to the sovereign and filial piety were thus handed down to the Japanese people by the Sun Goddess herself.

Seishisai possessed a narrow, xenophobic point of view, as the following statement of his vividly illustrates. “Everything exists in its natural bodily form, and our Divine Land is situated at the top of the earth. . . . It [America] occupies the hindmost region of the earth; thus, its people are stupid and simple, and are incapable of doing things.35 As might be expected, he was highly critical of the scholars of Dutch learning. He accused them of being taken in by Western theories and of seeking to transform the civilized Japanese way of life into that of the barbarians. He was also rabidly anti-Christian, contending that Christianity’s aim was to devour the countries that it entered.

The nationalists of the Mito school, although they were sympathetic to certain Shintō concepts, were basically Confucians, and as such they sought to reconcile the concept of taigi mibun (rule by status) with loyalty both to the shōgun and to the emperor. Consequently, they did not agree fully with the scholars of National Learning who were critical of Confucianism.

The central figure among the scholars of National Learning during this period was Hirata Atsutane, a zealous Shintō nationalist. In seeking to place National Learning above all other schools of thought, he contended that all learning, including Confucianism and Buddhism, was encompassed in Japanese learning, “just as the many rivers flow into the sea, where their waters are joined.”36 Building on a previous generation of Shintō nationalists including Motoori Norninaga, Atsutane hoped to establish Shintō’s supremacy over all other doctrines, and he was almost irrational in his criticism of Confucianism and Buddhism. He had been exposed to Western knowledge and was influenced to some extent by Christian concepts, which were entering the country through Chinese publications. For example, he equated the early Shintō gods Izanagi and Izanami with Adam and Eve, and in one of his works he quoted the New Testament as if it were a Shintō text.

Atsutane sought to provide Shintō with a clearly defined theology37 by presenting a monotheistic interpretation of the religion and by emphasizing life after death. He may have borrowed these two concepts from Christianity. In contrast to Motoori, who envisioned two creator gods—Takami-musubi and Kami-musubi— Atsutane contended that Takamimusubi was the sole Creator God who made heaven and earth. He was, Atsutane said, omnipotent, the holiest among the many gods, and

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ruler over the world from his abode in heaven. In his concept of life after death, Atsutane again departs from the earlier Shintōists, who held that after death the soul went to the polluted land of Yomi. According to Atsutane, the soul enters the land of spirits, where it joins the gods. This earthly life, then, is only a temporary abode for man. It is “the place where we are tested for good and evil. It is a temporary world where we are allowed to live for a short while. The invisible land is our real world.”38

Atsutane’s ethnocentric nationalism was manifested in his belief that Japan, because it was begotten by the gods and thus especially favored by them, ranks far above other countries. People all over the world, he claimed, refer to Japan as the land of the gods and call the Japanese people descendants of the gods. Even the humblest of the Japanese, being descendants of the gods, are superior to others. He held the Chinese in contempt as unclean, and although he compared the Dutch to dogs, he did recognize their devotion to intellectual pursuits and their superiority in the sciences. Atsutane was not one of the furious antiforeigners who insisted on “repelling the barbarians.” He sympathized with the seclusionist policy of the Bakufu but favored adopting those elements of Western science and technology that would benefit the country. He did not advocate overthrowing the Bakufu even though he was a Shintōist, and he believed that there was no conflict between revering the emperor and upholding the Bakufu.

Atsutane, however, was fanatical in his opposition to Buddhism. He criticized its ascetic rejection of the mundane world, and he attacked the major Buddhist sects as “enemies of the gods.” He renounced the Buddhist concept of satori (enlightenment) and contended that true enlightenment was to be attained by following one’s natural inclinations. True enlightenment, he said, “is understood as soon as it is explained to a person. It can be performed at once; it is not a difficult matter at all. It is what a person is born with; it is his nature.” According to Atsutane, enlightened people feel affection for their parents, love their spouses and children, and allow their innate sentiments to have free and natural expression. “Shakyamuni Buddha and Bodhidharma,” he argued, “behaved contrary to this way so they were neither enlightened nor followers of the true Way.” Consequently, he advocated the abandonment of “all things that smell of Buddhism” and the cultivation of “the Yamato spirit.”

Atsutane’s influence was widespread. His anti-Buddhist sentiments found considerable support and took concrete form in the anti-Buddhist outbursts that followed the Meiji Restoration. His Shintō nationalist concepts had a great impact upon the nationalistic thinking of modern Japan.

NOTES 1. E. H. Norman, “Andō Shōeki and the Anatomy of Japanese Feudalism,”

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Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, series 3, 2 (1949): 57–58. 2. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū [Studies in the history of Japanese

political thought] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1954), 120. 3. Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo, and

the Culture of Early Modern Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008), 26. 4. Sakata Yoshio, Meiji Ishinshi [A history of the Meiji Restoration] (Tokyo: Miraisha,

1960), 19. 5. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū, 125. 6. An autobiography of a late nineteenth-century samurai recounts how lower-ranking

samurai had to scrimp and scramble just to subsist on their “discounted” stipends: Katsu Kōkichi, Musui’s Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai, trans. Teruko Craig (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988).

7. Donald Keene, The Japanese Discovery of Europe, 1720–1830 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1969), 168–169.

8. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū, 136. 9. See J. E. De Becker, The Nightless City; or, The History of the Yoshiwara Yūkaku

(New York: Tuttle, Tokyo, 1971). 10. Donald Shively, “Popular Culture,” in Cambridge History of Japan, ed. John W.

Hall and James L. McClain, vol. 4, Early Modern Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 748. Linguistic anthropologist James Stanlaw contends that there are at least that number in English.

11. Engelbert Kaempfer, History of Japan, 3 vols., trans. J. G. S. Schenchzer (Glasgow: MacLehose, 1906) 2:84.

12. See Sone Hiromi, “Prostitution and Public Authority in Early Modern Japan,” trans. Terashima Akira and Ann Walthall, in Women and Class in Japanese Culture, ed. Hitomi Tonomura, Anne Walthall, and Wakita Haruko (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999), 169–185. See also Amy Stanley, “Adultery, Punishment, and Reconciliation in Tokugawa Japan,” Journal of Japanese Studies 33, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 309–335; and her longer monograph, Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in Early Modern Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012).

13. Hugh Borton, “Peasant Uprisings in Japan of the Tokugawa Period,” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, series 2, 16 (1938): 10.

14. For the total population, 2–3 million must be added to account for the daimyō and samurai and their servants, as well as the outcastes, who were excluded from the census. It should be noted that in some instances children were not included in the count either. See William Wayne Farris, Japan’s Medieval Population: Famine, Fertility, and Warfare in a Transformative Age (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006).

15. Keene, Japanese Discovery of Europe, 182. 16. Fabian Drixler, Mabiki: Infanticide and Population Growth in Eastern Japan,

1660–1950 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), 62. 17. Thomas C. Smith, Nakahara, Family Farming and Population in a Japan Village,

1717–1830 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977), 83. 18. Susan B. Hanley, “Fertility, Mortality, and Life Expectancy in Pre-modern Japan,”

Population Studies 28, no. 1 (March 1974): 698. 19. The source for the figures on peasant disturbances is Aoki Kōji, Hyakushō Ikki no

Nenjiteki Kenkyū [A chronological study of peasant uprisings] (Tokyo: Shinseisha, 1966), 13. In English, see Stephen Vlastos, Peasant Protests and Uprisings in Tokugawa Japan

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(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986); and Anne Walthall, Social Protest and Popular Culture in Eighteenth Century Japan (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985).

20. During the seventeenth century rice production increased by about 40 percent while the population may have grown by about 50 percent. From the early eighteenth century, however, the population remained fairly stable until the end of the Tokugawa era while rice production grew about 18 percent by 1834.

21. For an English account of Ōshio, see Tetsuo Najita, “Ōshio Heihachirō (1793– 1837),” in Personality in Japanese History, ed. Albert Craig and Donald Shively (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970), 155–179.

22. For information on the nightsoil trade, see Sōdai and the Sale of Edo Nightsoil,” Monumenta Nipponica 43, no. 3 (Autumn 1988): 279–303; and Louis G. Perez, Daily Life in Early Modern Japan (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002), 217–226.

23. One chō was equal to 0.9917 hectares or 2.451 acres. This meant about ten acres of land which was quite an amount because few peasant families farmed more than one chō.

24. Nagata Hiroshi, Nihon Tetsugakushisōshi [A history of Japanese philosophical thought] (Tokyo: Mikasa Shobō, 1938), 237.

25. Conrad Totman, The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Preindustrial Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 171.

26. Ibid., 1. 27. Derived from the Japanese pronunciation of Holland: “Oranda.” 28. Keene, Japanese Discovery of Europe, 25. 29. See Donald Keene’s masterful intellectual biography of Honda, Japanese Discovery

of Europe. 30. Ibid., 176. 31. Ibid., 221. 32. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū, 346. 33. Ryusaku Tsunoda, W. T. de Bary, and Donald Keene, eds., Sources of Japanese

Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 577. 34. Nagata, Nihon Tetsugakushisōshi, 250–251. 35. Tsunoda, de Bary, and Keene, Sources of Japanese Tradition, 596. Reprinted by

permission of Columbia University Press. 36. Ibid., 543. 37. For a concise discussion, see Mark Teeuwen, “What Used to Be Called Shintō: The

Question of Japan’s Indigenous Religion,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012), 66–76.

38. The source for this and the quotations that follow is Nagata, Nihon Tetsugakushisōshi, 254ff.

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10

The Fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu

The final half century of Tokugawa rule, called Bakumatsu,1 was fraught with portents of the end. Historians think they can see the seeds of destruction in Tokugawa bureaucratic ennui, in the “penetration of capitalism,” the rise of proletarian consciousness, and growing peasant discontent. Perhaps, but it is also possible that the Tokugawa loyalists could have sloughed off the results of inflation, famine, and two hundred years of reactionary mismanagement in time to right the ship of state to continue on for another hundred years had it not been for the external pressures caused by the second coming of Western imperialism.

Almost all scholars can agree that Japan’s two centuries of isolation (sakoku, literally “closed country”) robbed the country of the timely benefits of the Industrial Revolution. But most scholars agree that the relative isolation also protected Japan from the slings and arrows of nationalism, mercantilism, racial slavery, and religious warfare that plagued the world during those two centuries. Indeed, sakoku deserves a historical reassessment.

SAKOKU

In the early part of the seventeenth century, Japan chased the Roman Catholic Portuguese and Spanish from their shores and forced the Dutch into the tiny artificial island of Deshima in Nagasaki Harbor, because the Tokugawa had decided that the world was too dangerous. In 1640 the Dutch were allowed to come to trade and in return they served as Japan’s eyes on the world. Every year the head of the Dutch commercial enclave on Deshima was required to journey to Edo to report on the state of the world. The Bakufu therefore knew about the various and sundry European and American wars. It knew about (at least in theory) the latest inventions and scientific discoveries; it knew what people had been conquered, slaughtered, and enslaved. It knew about the Napoleonic Wars, the British Raj in India, the sweep of wars of independence in Latin America, and the rise of newly created nations in North America, Italy, and Germany. Most disturbingly, the Bakufu knew about the Opium Wars and the rise of the Taiping Rebellion in China.

The Bakufu chose to do virtually nothing in response. It had frozen Japanese society in the early seventeenth century; why fix something that wasn’t broken? As

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noted in the previous chapter, it had relaxed laws regarding the importation of Western books to allow a chosen few carefully screened (of references to Christianity) scientific tomes into the country. It also relaxed reactionary laws that required Japanese to fire on foreign ships because the Dutch had informed them about the Chinese debacle in the Opium Wars of the early nineteenth century. It had mounted a mapping expedition of its northernmost island of Hokkaido (then called Ezo) and allowed preliminary exploration of the Ryukyus. But, other than that, the Bakufu did remarkably little.

In any case, Japan was not really totally secluded. Although it forbade its own citizens to go abroad, many foreigners aside from the Dutch came and went with relative freedom. Korean merchants were allowed a certain amount of international trade in Japan, but much more was going on. The Yi dynasty of Korea sent a dozen official embassies to Japan, usually to congratulate each new Tokugawa shōgun upon his assumption of the office. The Sō daimyō on the island of Tsushima, midway to Korea, were permitted to carry on a lively, though unofficial, trade with Korea. The Matsumae in northern Honshu were allowed to trade with the Ainu on Ezo, and the Satsuma daimyō on Kyushu was allowed to carry on trade with the Ryukyus, and thereby with China, Taiwan, and other Southeast Asian nations. Official red-seal (shuinsen) trade was allowed with China until the late 1630s. After that, only Chinese merchants were allowed to conduct trade, and then only at Nagasaki. But perhaps a thousand Chinese commercial forays were made over the two centuries.

Other foreigners managed to come and go, but only through subterfuge. A few Siamese masqueraded as Chinese came to Nagasaki, and a few Americans posing as Dutch managed to trade when the Netherlands was embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars and were unable to spare a single ship to come to Japan.

Bakufu documents attest to the fact that sakoku was a porous institution. Japan was remarkably knowledgeable about the rest of the world; at least the Tokugawa were. But the two centuries of “isolation,” imperfect as it was, had a tremendous effect on Japanese society because it forced Japan to examine itself. It had nearly two centuries of relative leisure to slough off the effects of foreign influence. It winnowed out the extraneous; it creatively adapted what it chose to import and adopt. In short, the two centuries gave the society the time to reinvent itself; it forced it to create a new Japan. The official seclusion of the country effectively channeled Japanese energies inward.

Among the unintended consequences of sankin kotai (alternate attendance) was that the system brought the samurai from all over the country together. The original intentions of the Bakufu were to keep a close eye on the daimyō, to keep their families as hostages to ensure good behavior, and to impose upon them huge expenditure in lieu of a direct land tax. But, because the daimyō were required to bring a suitable proportion of their samurai to Edo for their stay, sankin kotai also

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forced warriors from around the country into close proximity, cheek to jowl with samurai from everywhere else. The samurai of Satsuma from extreme far-western Kyushu mingled with samurai from Mutsu and Dewa of far northeastern Honshu. Scholars suggest that the Japanese spoken language became “standardized and national”2 in the market places, the Pleasure Quarters, temples, shrines, bathhouses, and restaurants of Edo.

Constantine Vaporis argues that local cultural mores from across the country were brought to Edo and that “national” sensibilities were disseminated back to jōka-machi all over the country. He notes, “Back in the domains they enriched the cultural life there and in the surrounding areas, thus raising the cultural level of the country as a whole. . . . Edo was transformed into a cultural nexus, a place where scholars, artists, and artisans from the domains were drawn.”3

In addition, sankin kotai helped to create a centralized financial network. Daimyō could not afford to bring all the food needed for a year-long sojourn in Edo sufficient to feed their huge entourages. Most sold or “deposited” their annual tax rice in Osaka (or Sendai in northern Honshu) and took credit vouchers from those transactions to be spent over the year in Edo. The wealthy Osaka rice merchants established branches in Edo (and in Sendai) and made arrangements to ship rice where and when needed by the daimyō. Obviously, this practice created an economic nexus that functioned in more than three hundred separate han currencies and served to bring the entire country together. Pawnbrokers and moneylenders (often the same rice merchants) moved sums around the country. By the mid- seventeenth century Osaka, Sendai, and Edo were locked into a sort of commodity futures network where rice could be sold even before it was planted or harvested. Transportation costs, insurance, and deficit spending practices became intertwined. In short, Tokugawa Japan was a modern economy in everything but name.

In addition to the economic aspects of sankin kotai, the country was unified in many other ways. Artists, scholars, religious figures, entertainers, vagabonds, and ne’er-do-wells flocked to Edo in search of employment, enlightenment, and entertainment. Samurai were often allowed to return on their own to the han ahead of the daimyō and the official entourage. Many took the opportunity to sightsee or to visit temples and shrines on pilgrimage along the way. Most samurai bought souvenirs, amulets, and gifts on their journey and thereby enriched the cultural milieu of their han. Most daimyō were only too happy to make a few coins by selling local delicacies brought from home. In these exchanges, Japan became more and more united and diverse. Again Vaporis suggests that sankin kotai was “instrumental in helping to counteract local tendencies toward isolationism and cultural fragmentation. This political institution, which perhaps more than any other defined the early modern era, was instrumental in producing a population with a high level of shared culture and experience.”4

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Perhaps most scholars would not go so far as to say that sakoku seclusion forged Japanese society into a completely different reality than it had in 1640. One who does, Kato Hidetoshi, has observed, “The greater portion of what we Japanese possess today as ‘Japanese tradition’ was generated during the period of national seclusion.”5

THE ARRIVAL OF COMMODORE PERRY

The coming of Perry in 1853 turned out to be an epoch-making event in Japanese history, but even before his arrival the Bakufu’s seclusionist policy was already being challenged by the arrival of other foreign vessels. Russia was the first nation to start probing the shores of Japan. In 1771 a Russian adventurer, Baron von Benyowsky, who had been exiled to Kamchatka, seized control of a small vessel with the aid of some other convicts and sailed to Awa in Shikoku.

Benyowsky pretended to be Dutch and told the Japanese that Russia was planning to attack Hokkaido the following year. This caused consternation among the Japanese officials and stirred the advocates of national defense, such as Hayashi Shihei, into action. In 1778 a Russian merchant ship came to Kunajiri Island off western Hokkaido and asked the local daimyō to enter into commercial relations. This offer to engage in trade was repeated in the fall of 1792 when a Russian ship, the Ekaterina, arrived at Nemuro in Hokkaido to return some castaway Japanese sailors. The authorities rejected the offer but told the Russians to sail to Nagasaki and present their request there. Adam Laxman, the commander of the ship, decided, however, to return to Russia without bothering to go on to Nagasaki. In 1804 the head of the Russian-American company, Rezanov, arrived in Nagasaki and requested the establishment of commercial relations. He too failed to persuade the Bakufu to abandon its seclusionist position.

In the face of increasing Russian activities in the north, especially in Sakhalin and the Kuriles, the Bakufu began to concern itself with the defense of the northern regions and in 1808 sent a survey team there and across into eastern Siberia. Under the leadership of Mamiya Rinzō (1775–1844), the group verified that Sakhalin was in fact an island and not a peninsula attached to Siberia. Russian interest in the Far East abated during the Napoleonic Wars, and it was not until 1847, when Nicholas Muraviev was appointed governor-general of eastern Siberia, that Russia began to press upon Japanese shores again.

England and America were also beginning to display some interest in opening Japan’s ports. In 1818 the British sent a vessel to Uraga, near Edo, and asked for the commencement of commercial relations, but they too were summarily turned away. Also arriving on Japanese shores were whaling ships looking for food and water. As a result, in 1825 the Bakufu issued an edict ordering forcible ejection of

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all foreign ships from Japanese coastal regions. Upon receiving word of the Chinese defeat in the Opium War, the Bakufu began to strengthen its military forces by manufacturing cannons and training soldiers in gunnery. In 1842 the edict of 1825 was relaxed by Senior Councilor Mizuno Tadakuni, and it was ordered that ships drifting accidentally to Japanese shores were to be provided with food, water, and fuel. Fundamentally, however, the seclusionist policy remained unchanged. For example, in 1844 when William II of Holland sent a message to the Bakufu courteously explaining the world situation and urging that Japan open its doors, his advice went completely unheeded.

The nation that finally succeeded in persuading Japan to open its ports was the United States. America was becoming a significant Pacific power and consequently sought to develop commercial relations with Asian nations. In addition, the United States had whaling ships roaming the North Pacific that needed supply bases and shelter. Moreover, it was believed that arrangements had to be negotiated for the protection and care of American sailors shipwrecked on Japanese shores, who were heretofore treated as unlawful intruders by the authorities.

In 1837 an American merchant ship, the Morrison, arrived with the aim of establishing contact with Japan, but the ship was promptly driven off by ancient shore cannons that were not very accurate but provided a loud, earnest report. The leader of this mission then recommended to the United States government that a naval expedition be sent to open Japanese ports. In 1846 Commodore James Biddle was dispatched with two American warships, but he too failed to achieve his objective. Finally, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry was given the assignment and on July 8, 1853, arrived off the coast of Uraga with four warships. Edo was plunged into a state of crisis when the “black ships” (kurofune) sailed into Edo Bay, ignoring the protesting Japanese on little boats. Perry was determined to accomplish his mission, so he refused to be shunted aside and gave the Bakufu three days to accept President Fillmore’s letter to the shōgun asking for humane treatment of shipwrecked sailors, permission for American ships to enter Japanese ports for coal and supplies, and, if possible, trade between the two nations. The Bakufu had no choice but to accede to Perry’s demands and allowed him to land in Uraga. He delivered the letter and then departed, stating that he would return early the following year for an official reply.

Perry’s arrival placed the Bakufu in its most difficult predicament since its founding. It had virtually ignored the outside world for more than two hundred years and now found that it could no longer continue to do so. The Bakufu officials knew that Japan was incapable of withstanding any military assault by the Western powers. After all, China, the continental behemoth, had been defeated by fewer than 10,000 British troops; what chance did tiny Japan have? Virtually the entire city of Edo was in range of the long-range cannons on any modern warship in Uraga Harbor. Japan’s ruling class was severely divided on how to deal with the

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difficulties posed by Perry. The blind fanatics favored “repelling the barbarians,” but those who were better informed realized that such action was pure folly. The gravity of the situation and the Bakufu’s inability to deal with it resolutely made it necessary to include radically new elements in the deliberative and policy-making processes. The Bakufu’s officials turned for advice to the imperial court and all the daimyō, including the tozama (outside) lords, as well as to the shōgun’s liege vassals. This, of course, gave potential opponents of the Bakufu and politically ambitious elements an opportunity to move into the center of the political arena. The Bakufu was forced, reluctantly, to abandon its seclusion policy, and the opposition then used the issue of jōi (repelling the barbarians) as a means to badger and embarrass it. At the same time, the inclusion of the imperial court in the decision-making process became a rallying point for critics of the Bakufu. Thus sonnō (revering or honoring the emperor) was tied in with jōi as a political weapon with which to assail the Bakufu.

In response to the Bakufu’s call for advice concerning the American request, seven hundred memorials were submitted. No one, however, managed to formulate a brilliant solution. Some suggested that the Bakufu accede to Perry’s demands, but a majority of the replies advanced the desirable though unrealistic position that the policy of seclusion be retained while avoiding war at all costs. A few of the respondents, however, did advocate going to war against the intruders. The most eminent proponent of this policy was the lord of Mito, Tokugawa Nariaki (1800– 1860), who contended that “if we put our trust in war the whole country’s morale will be increased and even if we sustain an initial defeat we will in the end expel the foreigner.” He bemoaned the fact that “in these feeble days men tend to cling to peace; they are not fond of defending their country by war.”6

There were many who agreed that the only practical solution was to stall the Americans as long as possible. This, however, was not a feasible plan simply because Perry did return early in 1854, just as he had promised, and this time he had eight “black ships” with him. The Bakufu’s officials were overwhelmed by this show of force and, fearing an attack if Perry’s requests were not met, agreed to open two ports—Hakodate in Hokkaido and Shimoda on the tip of Izu Peninsula— to American ships, to treat shipwrecked sailors properly, and to permit a consul to reside in Shimoda. The most-favored-nation clause was also included in the treaty even though the Bakufu did not actually agree to establish commercial relations. This agreement, the Treaty of Kanagawa, was signed on March 31, 1854. England, France, Russia, and the Netherlands soon concluded similar agreements and thus brought to a close Japan’s long period of seclusion. In effect, this signaled the beginning of the end for the Tokugawa Bakufu, for its opponents and critics could now begin to intensify their attacks, criticizing its inability to stand up against the Western powers.

In August 1856 the American government sent Townsend Harris to Shimoda to

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press for a commercial treaty. Some Bakufu officials, realizing that the Western powers were far in advance of Japan in military, economic, and technological affairs, concluded that Japan could no longer refuse to establish full diplomatic and commercial relations with foreign powers. Iwase Tadanari (1818–1861), the official who was given the task of negotiating with Harris, was convinced that Japan had to open its doors and persuaded the Bakufu’s high officials to accept this fact. Several leading daimyō also became convinced of the wisdom of opening the country, but Nariaki, one of the most influential of them, remained adamant in his opposition and sought to win the support of the imperial court. Emperor Kōmei (1831–1866) was surrounded by advisers who were grossly ignorant of the world situation,7 and so it was not exceedingly difficult to persuade him that opening the country would be disastrous. Kōmei decided, therefore, to support the antiforeign faction.

Meanwhile, Harris and the Bakufu’s officials concluded their negotiations on a commercial treaty and the senior councilor, Hotta Masayoshi (1810–1864), seeking to allay the very strong opposition led by Nariaki, asked for imperial approval of the treaty. Masayoshi expected immediate imperial consent, but the emperor remained firmly committed to the policy of jōi. It was at this point that Ii Naosuke (1815–1860), who had just been appointed tairō (great councilor), decided that the treaty would have to be signed without imperial sanction. The Bakufu’s officials, intimidated by Harris’s information that the British and French fleets, fresh from their triumph over the Chinese, were on their way to extract greater concessions from Japan, finally signed the commercial treaty on July 29, 1858. It provided for the immediate opening of three ports to trade and the addition of two more a few years later. Duties of a varied scale on imports and 5 percent on exports were agreed upon. Edo and Osaka were to be opened to foreign residents by 1862 and 1863. American citizens were granted extraterritorial rights and freedom of worship in Japan. Similar treaties were concluded with England, France, Russia, and the Netherlands.8

THE IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES

The impact of this contact with the West was felt immediately in the political realm, even though involvement with foreign nations remained limited until the Meiji government came into existence. The effects of these new relationships also became discernible in the cultural and economic areas, and the treaty ports such as Yokohama, with their Western residents, began to grow into important centers of Western culture.

In 1860 a Japanese embassy was sent to the United States to exchange ratifications of the treaty, and in 1861 another mission was dispatched to Europe.

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These trips exposed a considerable number of influential Japanese to the Western world, and some of them, like Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901), a leading Meiji educator, returned convinced of the need to adopt Western practices and institutions. The general mood of the country nevertheless remained strongly anti- Western, so these individuals were compelled to remain silent until the advent of the Meiji era. The Bakufu, however, did recognize the need to train some officials in Western languages, and in 1857 it opened the Institute for the Investigation of Barbarian Books. Initially only Dutch was taught, but by 1860 other Western languages were added to the curriculum, and in 1863 the institute was officially turned into a government college for Western studies.

Various educational programs served to increase Japanese exposure to Western culture. In 1862 the Bakufu sent a group of eight students to study in the Netherlands, and this example was soon followed by several han. In 1863 Chōshū dispatched five students to England and in 1864 Satsuma sent sixteen more. A number of students also went abroad on their own initiative, and many young men in Japan began to study Western languages with Western missionaries and Japanese instructors who were qualified in this field.

Commerce with the West, although still limited, began to increase in the 1860s. Exports exceeded imports until 1866 when the trend was reversed, and the total combined figure, not including arms and ships, exceeded $32 million. The chief trading partner was England, with whom Japan conducted 80 percent of its trade from 1859 to the downfall of the Bakufu. Raw silk was the main item of export; tea, copperware, marine products, and lacquerware were among the other major export commodities. Imported goods included cotton yarn, cotton cloth, woolen fabrics, ironware, and sugar.

The tremendous demand for such items as silk and tea resulted in increased production, but it was quite insufficient to meet the enormous demand for these commodities. The demand for raw silk9 in particular created serious domestic shortages and inflationary prices. However, the importation of cotton yarn and cotton cloth had the most adverse effects on the domestic producers. Foreign trade did, nevertheless, have the vitally important consequence of stimulating the growth of factories in which many workers were brought together under one roof to work using reeling machines or processing tea.10 These factories were, of course, still limited in number and size, and the dominant mode remained domestic handicraft production.

A feature of foreign trade that particularly disturbed the Bakufu was the inordinate outflow of gold. Gold coins were exchanged with silver at a ratio of about one to five in Japan while the world rate was about one to fifteen. This meant that foreigners could make an enormous profit by first exchanging silver for gold in Japan and then taking the gold to China, where it commanded its full value in the

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world market. Before the Bakufu corrected the situation by debasing its gold coins in 1860, about 500,000 ryō in gold coins had flowed out of the country.11

From a political point of view, the agreement to enter into commercial and diplomatic relations with Western nations proved to be disastrous for the Bakufu. The antiforeign faction began to grow increasingly disenchanted with the Bakufu, and it commenced to openly espouse the cause of the imperial court. Thus, the movement “to revere the emperor and repel the barbarians” began to congeal into a formidable force as it gained the support of a growing number of activist warriors known as shishi (people of spirit). Ii Naosuke came under severe criticism for having signed the treaty with the United States without imperial approval, and the opposition to him soon became intermeshed with the struggle over succession to the shogunate.

The struggle to pick his successor unfolded even before the weak and feebleminded Shōgun Iesada (1824–1858) passed away. One faction, which included the daimyō of Echizen and Satsuma as well as some reform-minded Bakufu officials, favored Nariaki’s son, Yoshinobu (1837–1913, also known as Hitotsubashi Keiki), who had a reputation as an individual of considerable ability and intelligence. The support of the antiforeign faction was guaranteed him simply by virtue of the fact that he was the son of an avowed anti-Westerner. Keiki was also favored by some proponents of the open-door policy who believed that the old guard among the top Bakufu officials had to be removed.

Ii Naosuke, representing the fudai daimyō who traditionally controlled the top Bakufu posts, led the faction opposed to Keiki. They feared that this succession to the shogunate would mean the control of the Bakufu by Nariaki, who was not only anti-Western but sympathetic to the imperial court as well. To block Keiki, Naosuke supported the candidacy of Iemochi, the shōgun’s cousin and eight-year-old head of Kii Han. Naosuke succeeded in making Iemochi shōgun and then began persecuting those who had opposed his policies or had supported Keiki. He placed Nariaki under house arrest, forced Keiki to retire, contrived the dismissal of anti-Bakufu court advisers, and executed the active samurai opponents and critics of the Bakufu.

Among Naosuke’s victims was Yoshida Shōin (1830–1859), a zealous patriot and the leader of the young extremist warriors of Chōshū (see below). Another victim was Hashimoto Sanai (1834–1859), a warrior of Echizen, who was condemned for having worked for the candidacy of Keiki. Unlike the other critics of Naosuke, Sanai had favored opening the country. Ten warriors, including two who died in prison, were condemned to death, and many others were exiled to offshore islands. From Naosuke’s point of view, he was merely upholding the authority of the Bakufu, for lower-level warriors were forbidden from interfering in state affairs. The zealots, however, were no longer bound by such considerations as “knowing their place.” To avenge the death of their fellow warriors, a group of activists from Mito waylaid Naosuke in March 1860 as he was entering Edo Castle

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and assassinated him. This deprived the Bakufu of its strongman and forced its officials to try to cope with the opposition by winning over the cooperation of the imperial court. Consequently, the center of political action began shifting to Kyoto.

THE MENTALITY OF SONNŌ JŌI

Many proponents of sonnō jōi, the movement “to revere the emperor and repel the barbarians,” were young warriors who came primarily from the lower rungs of the samurai hierarchy, although there were a few from the middle segment of that class. Some well-to-do farmers’ sons as well as priests and scholars could also be found among their ranks. Mito, Chōshū, Satsuma, and Tosa produced the largest number, but they were to be found in other han also.

These samurai, usually referred to as shishi, were inclined to be fiery extremists as well as fanatical political activists. They were usually expert swordfighters who rigorously upheld such traditional samurai values as duty, courage, and honor. Some of the shishi outgrew their earlier limitations and managed to emerge as perspicacious statesmen; by and large, however, they were individuals who lacked the vision to discern a meaningful role and place for Japan in the context of the changing world scene. They were not inclined to be reasonable and tended instead to be ruled by their passions. Self-righteous, intolerant, and dogmatic to the extreme, they envisioned themselves as the saviors of Japan, people with a sacred mission. They were convinced that they were on the side of truth, justice, and right and that they were the only true patriots while those who failed to agree with them were self-serving traitors. The shishi were, in effect, the forerunners of the ultranationalist extremists of prewar Japan.

The shishi constituted only a minority in their han, but the influence they wielded was very strongly felt because of the readiness with which they would use force against those who disagreed with them. There were frequent outbursts of violence as the shishi repeatedly tried to seize power. In Chōshū and Satsuma they eventually did capture the han leadership. Their uprising against the established leadership in Mito, however, was crushed. In Tosa, even though they assassinated a moderate han official, they failed to intimidate the han leaders and were finally driven out. Later, however, as the daimyō moved closer to the sonnō position, some of the shishi were restored to their good graces. Their terrorist tactics made the extremists a force to contend with not only in their own han but in Kyoto and Edo as well.

The shishi were as a rule rabidly anti-Western, but they disagreed about the tactics to be used in achieving their ends. Some favored driving the Westerners out and closing the country; others favored opening the country to enable Japan to adopt Western military methods and thus become powerful enough to cope with the

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Western threat.12 Some of the Bakufu officials who went along with the open-door policy did so because they believed it was an ineluctable necessity, but at heart they favored the seclusion policy and the preservation of the old medieval order.

Sonnō jōi sentiments are generally believed to have originated in Mito, with individuals such as Aizawa Seishisai and the Fujita (father Yūkoku, 1774–1826, and son Tōko, 1806–1855) among the early advocates. Initially, the proponents of sonnō jōi did not advocate an anti-Bakufu policy, believing that loyalty to both the imperial court and the Bakufu was possible. After the arrival of Perry, however, and the conclusion of the commercial treaties, the sonnō jōi movement took a sharp anti-Bakufu turn.

Yoshida Shōin, a brilliant shishi from Chōshū and the son of a low-ranking samurai emerged as the leading spokesperson of this movement. He studied Zhu Xi neo-Confucianism and Yamaga Sokō’s military science, read treatises on Wang Yang-ming philosophy, and was exposed to Western technology in Nagasaki. In 1851 he went to Edo and became a disciple of Sakuma Zōzan (1811–1864), a leading student of the Dutch language and Western science. He also traveled to Mito to see Aizawa Seishisai, whose works he had studied earlier.

Perry’s arrival had a decisive effect on him, and, believing that he should get to know his enemy, he sought to board an American ship to study abroad. He was arrested for violating the law of the land and was turned over to his han to be placed under house arrest. After his release, Shōin started a private school to indoctrinate the young men of his han with his loyalist, nationalistic point of view. Among his students were the future leaders of Meiji Japan, Itō Hirobumi (1841– 1909) and Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), as well as one of the three architects of the Meiji Restoration, Kido Takayoshi (1833–1877), and the would-be leaders of the extremists in Chōshū, Takasugi Shinsaku (1839–1867) and Kusaka Genzui (1840–1864)—a truly impressive galaxy of disciples. Shōin believed that the old leaders were completely incapable of solving the national crisis, and so he envisioned the establishment of a new order under the leadership of people like him and his followers, the “grass-roots heroes.” His followers in Chōshū did indeed play a major role in overthrowing the old order.

Shōin was intensely antiforeign and a loyal adherent to the Shintōistic notion of the divine nature of Japan. “One must,” he wrote, “worship and revere the gods. The country of Yamato is . . . the honorable country which was founded by the lordly Gods.”13 His anti-Western sentiments burst forth with Perry’s arrival, and he exhorted the Japanese people to unite and drive away the “wily barbarians.” He was convinced that new leadership and new ideas had to be injected into the government to cope with the national emergency. He did not advocate the Bakufu’s overthrow until it signed the commercial treaty with Harris without first receiving imperial sanction. When it finally did so, he turned against it in wrathful indignation

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that epitomized the feelings of the advocates of sonnō jōi: “It is clear that the Americans’ intentions are harmful to the Land of the Gods. It has been proven that the words of the American envoy have caused the land of the Gods to be dishonored.” Because the Bakufu had ignored the emperor’s command to drive the Americans away, the Tokugawa were guilty of a crime. “Heaven and earth will not tolerate it,” he said. “The anger of the Gods and men have been aroused.”14

Shōin used all his resources in opposing the Bakufu and frequently plotted to take direct action against its officials. Six months before his death, he wrote, “As long as the Tokugawa government exists, American, Russian, English, and French control over Japan will continue. The situation is indeed critical. How can any red- blooded person bear to see our great nation which has remained independent and unconquered for three thousand years become enslaved by other nations?”15 When the commercial treaty was signed with the United States, Shōin was so outraged that he conspired with his followers to assassinate one of the Bakufu councilors. He was arrested, turned over to the Bakufu, and later executed.

Sakuma Zōzan, Shōin’s master, was also highly nationalistic, but he responded differently to the advent of the West. Zōzan was a Zhu Xi neo-Confucian, but he was also interested in Western learning and had studied the Dutch language. In recognition of Japan’s need to adopt Western military and naval techniques, he became an expert on Western gunnery. Zōzan, unlike Shōin, favored opening Japan’s doors to master Western science and technology: “In astronomy, geography, navigation, surveying, the investigation of the principle of all things, the art of gunnery, commerce, medicine, machinery and construction, we must rely mainly on the West.”16 Essentially, he favored the morality of the East and the scientific expertise of the West. He had a wide following as a teacher and influenced many young men. However, he became identified with the policy of opening the country and was assassinated by fanatical sonnō jōi advocates.

His faith in Eastern morals and Western science, however, was the very attitude that was to be embraced by many of the leaders of Meiji Japan. Basically, the Japanese were interested in the external aspects of Western civilization while they sought to retain in their inner life those elements that they regarded as intrinsically Japanese.

THE RISE OF THE ANTI-BAKUFU FORCES

The assassination of Ii Naosuke brought about some readily observable changes in the political picture. As we have already noted, the imperial court loomed larger in the national political scene. At the same time the tozama han, particularly Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, as well as the han related to the Bakufu, Aizu and Echizen, began to exert their influence on the national political arena. Furthermore, with Naosuke

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gone the Bakufu’s leadership fell to more moderate officials who sought to neutralize their zealous opponents while effecting an alliance between the imperial court and the Bakufu. Emperor Kōmei agreed to this strategy of cooperation in the belief that the Bakufu would in return adopt the policy of driving out the Westerners. The alliance, known as kōbu-gattai (union of the court and military), was cemented by the marriage of Shōgun Iemochi to the emperor’s younger sister Princess Kazunomiya (1846–1877), in early 1862. This policy was supported by the daimyō of Satsuma, Echizen, and Aizu.

The shishi angrily opposed this policy and launched a campaign of terror, assassinating those who had cooperated with Naosuke in suppressing them as well as those who had supported the marriage of Iemochi and Kazunomiya. Another target of the anti-Western fanatics was naturally enough the foreign officials. Starting with the killing of two Russian sailors in the summer of 1859, a number of Westerners were murdered, among whom was Henry Heuskin, Harris’s Dutch- language interpreter, who was killed in January 1861.

The most active elements among the shishi emerged from Chōshū. The lord of Satsuma was able to keep the extremists in his han under control, but the shishi in Chōshū were able to operate in a rather freewheeling manner. The lord of Chōshū was willing to leave the management of political affairs to his chief officials. Around 1860, when Chōshū leaders adopted a policy of playing an active role in the national scene, the han leadership was in the hands of Nagai Uta (1824–1863), an official who favored a policy of moderation. He sought to play the role of mediator between the court and the Bakufu when Naosuke’s departure offered Chōshū an opportunity to move into the national political arena. Nagai also favored the policy of opening the country to the West. His ideas were vehemently opposed by the shishi, and his failure to effect a reconciliation between the court and Bakufu offered his opponents, led by Kusaka, a perfect opportunity to discredit him. He was ultimately ordered to commit hara-kiri, and the Chōshū leadership passed into the hands of the proponents of sonnō jōi.

Contrary to the expectations of the advocates of kōbu-gattai, the terrorists managed to swing the court back to a rigidly anti-Western position. Emperor Kōmei dispatched a messenger to Edo calling for the immediate expulsion of the foreigners. In early 1863 the shōgun and Keiki, who had been appointed his guardian, traveled to Kyoto to confer with the imperial court regarding the command. Seeing that the imperial court was dominated by the jōi faction, the daimyō who were opposed to such a policy, including the lord of Satsuma, departed for their home provinces. As a result, the Bakufu officials were forced to agree to implement the policy of jōi, and May 10, 1863, was set as the date the policy was to go into effect.

The deadline arrived with the extremists of Chōshū firing upon Western ships passing through Shimonoseki Straits. As might be expected, the Western powers

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were swift to retaliate, and three American and French men-of-war attacked the Shimonoseki shore batteries, before landing and completely destroying the gun emplacements. The attacks, however, against the Western vessels passing through Shimonoseki Straits nevertheless continued. During the following summer, England, France, the United States, and Holland sent seventeen warships against Chōshū, destroyed its forts, and routed its forces on land. This caused Chōshū to abandon its blind anti-Western stance and begin Westernizing its military forces. In a similar way, Satsuma also underwent a kind of baptism by fire in the summer of 1863, when British warships attacked Kagoshima in retaliation for the killing of an English citizen the previous fall. This encounter resulted in bringing the British and Satsuma officials closer together.

In the fall of 1863, the political faction favoring a union between the imperial court and Bakufu finally succeeded, with the support of Satsuma and Aizu, in driving the Chōshū warriors out of the imperial court. The anti-Bakufu court advisers were also expelled from Kyoto. Swordfighters organized to support the Bakufu retaliated against the violence-prone anti-Bakufu shishi, and the lord of Aizu, the constable of Kyoto, kept the city under tight control. Once the Chōshū radicals and the anti-Bakufu court officials were out of the way, the relationship between the Bakufu and the court improved. To fulfill its promise to expel the foreigners, the Bakufu agreed to close the port of Yokohama. The court accepted this pledge as adequate proof of the Bakufu’s willingness to reimpose the policy of seclusion.

Chōshū now became the base for all the anti-Western, anti-Bakufu extremists. They succeeded in persuading the han leaders to re-enter Kyoto by force, and in the summer of 1864 the men of Chōshū marched against the imperial seat. They were driven back by the Satsuma-Aizu forces, and in the course of the conflict some of the extremist leaders, including Kusaka Genzui, lost their lives. In the fall, the Bakufu sent a punitive expedition against Chōshū. Having just been rather severely chastised by the Western powers, Chōshū was in no condition to engage the expeditionary army in combat. Consequently, it acceded to the Bakufu’s demands that those responsible for the attack against Kyoto be executed. Leadership in Chōshū was then taken over by the conservatives.

The extremists who called themselves the “righteous faction,” under the leadership of Takasugi Shinsaku, rebelled against the conservative officials in 1865 and succeeded in re-establishing their political influence. Takasugi had the support of those auxiliary militia units trained in Western military techniques and equipped with Western arms. Takasugi had been authorized to organize these units to defend the han against the Western powers. The samurai, who composed 25–30 percent of the personnel, provided the leadership. A fairly large percentage of each unit consisted of peasants; nonsamurai were now allowed to join because upper-class samurai disdained the use of rifles, convinced that it was a dishonor to abandon

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their swords. Masterless samurai and townspeople were also among the militia. Membership in the auxiliary militia opened the way to political success for many lower-class samurai. Future leaders such as Kido Takayoshi, Itō Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo, and Inoue Kaoru (1835–1915) were active in these units.

Even before their crushing defeat by the Western powers, some sonnō jōi leaders in Chōshū were beginning to realize the necessity of adopting Western military techniques and arms. The naval assaults by the Western powers naturally enhanced this already growing awareness. In addition, Itō Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru had traveled abroad and returned thoroughly convinced that Japan could not return to its former seclusion. They began to urge their fellow shishi to accept the policy of broadening contact with the outside world for the purpose of strengthening the nation. Kido and Takasugi shared their views. They ceased concerning themselves solely with the interests of their own han and began thinking of the well-being of the entire nation. They concluded that it was essential to establish a strong centralized authority if Japan were to withstand the foreign menace.

To strengthen the nation, they believed that it was necessary to attend to Chōshū first. Consequently, after Takasugi’s rebellion, the han leadership adopted the policy of fortifying Chōshū’s military power. Ōmura Masujirō (1824–1869) was given the assignment of building the Chōshū army into a modern military force. Western vessels as well as thousands of Western rifles were purchased through an English arms merchant, Thomas Glover. The money to purchase these ships and weapons was taken out of a special reserve fund that Chōshū had established in 1762 and preserved even when the han budget was running a yearly deficit.

Chōshū was busy strengthening its military forces as a momentous turn of events was occurring on the national scene. The policy of uniting the court and Bakufu was beginning to disintegrate; at the same time, behind-the-scenes machinations aimed at bringing together the two rival han, Satsuma and Chōshū, were beginning to meet with some success. A group of daimyō, including those of Satsuma, Tosa, and Aizu, and Bakufu officials headed by Keiki, worked together to maintain harmony between the court and Bakufu after the departure of Chōshū from Kyoto. Soon, however, dissension began to break out because, although the leaders of Satsuma wanted a government controlled by the major han, a faction in the Bakufu was seeking to revive their autocratic powers. The leader of this group was Finance Commissioner Oguri Tadamasa (1827–1868), who was a member of the embassy that had visited the United States in 1860. Oguri hoped to modernize the Bakufu’s military forces, reduce the influence of Chōshū and Satsuma, and establish a strong national government under the Bakufu. To accomplish this, Oguri favored obtaining the support of a Western power and turned to Leon Roches, the French minister, for advice and assistance.

Shimazu Hisamitsu (1817–1887), who was regent to the daimyō of Satsuma,

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disapproved of the new trend in the Bakufu and began to entertain the thought of joining hands with his former foe, Chōshū. Prior to this, the radicals in Satsuma, headed by Saigō Takamori (1827–1877) and Ōkubo Toshimichi (1830–1878), had begun agitating for the adoption of an anti-Bakufu position, but Hisamitsu had restrained them. Now that he was changing his attitude toward the Bakufu, they came to the fore as key leaders of the anti-Bakufu faction.

The person who served as a mediator between Satsuma and Chōshū was Sakamoto Ryōma (1835–1867), a shishi from Tosa who had outgrown the narrowly anti-Western position he had originally embraced. He now favored opening the country and introducing reforms at the national level. He brought Saigō of Satsuma and Kido of Chōshū together, and in early 1866 the two agreed upon an alliance.

In June of that year, the Bakufu, now led by the centralists, decided to eliminate Chōshū as an obstructive element once and for all and sent a second expeditionary force against it. This time, however, many major daimyō refused to support the move. Satsuma, naturally, declined to go against its recently acquired ally. Chōshū instituted a policy of total mobilization to stop the Bakufu’s forces. Its troops were better trained and better armed and their morale was higher, so it is no surprise that they managed to rout the expeditionary army. This failure revealed the Bakufu’s weakness and served to strengthen the opposition’s determination to overthrow it.

Satsuma was also taking steps to modernize its armed forces by purchasing Western arms. Like the Bakufu and other han, Satsuma also had financial difficulties, but the measures it had put into effect during the Tempō era placed it in a far stronger financial position. It repudiated its debts to the merchants, reduced the samurai’s stipends, encouraged the production of cash crops, and fostered trade with the Ryukus. In particular, it successfully exploited the sugar cane production on its offshore islands by allowing no other crops to be produced and by imposing Draconian controls over the peasants. Those, for example, who produced poor- quality sugar were severely punished, and anyone who engaged in the private sale of sugar was put to death. Such ruthless measures enabled Satsuma to increase its sugar production to the point where it came to supply more than one half of all the sugar sold in Osaka. Principally because of its rigid sugar monopoly, it managed to accumulate reserve funds, which it was able to draw upon when it began to modernize its armed forces.

Satsuma was a particularly dangerous foe of the Bakufu for numerous reasons. First, it was the second-largest han, with an official yield of 770,000 koku. Second, it was located in the most distant part of the country, making it difficult for the Bakufu to exert its authority. Third, Satsuma was situated close to Nagasaki and conducted trade with the Ryukyus, both of which put it close to Europeans (primarily the Dutch) who could sell them weapons. Fourth, its population had a ratio of samurai to commoners of one to three, whereas the national average was one to seventeen. Fifth, the civilizing influence of the urban centers was much

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diminished in Satsuma, and the warriors tended as a result to retain a hardier and more militaristic outlook than the samurai of other han.

In evaluating the potential threat against the Bakufu, it should be noted that Chōshū also had a larger ratio of samurai to commoners—one to ten—than the national average. The Bakufu, in sharp contrast to Chōshū and Satsuma, retained fewer samurai than even its own scale called for, based on the official assessment of agricultural productivity. This was also true of Owari and Aizu, both collateral houses of the shogunate. Traditional martial values along with a deep sense of loyalty and dedication to the han were strongly embedded in the Chōshū samurai. In its productive capacity, moreover, Chōshū was among the top ten han, with more than 700,000 koku, well over the official estimate. In view of all these factors, the combination of Satsuma and Chōshū posed a very serious threat to the Bakufu.

The opposition han were aided by the Bakufu’s lack of strong and resolute leadership. The shōgun died during the course of the second expedition against Chōshū, and although everyone’s choice for successor was Keiki, he lacked confidence in his own ability to cope with the situation and hesitated for several months before accepting the offer. He then moved to strengthen the Bakufu by following Oguri’s line of thinking. He also turned to the French minister Roches for advice and initiated steps to modernize the army and navy as well as the administrative system.

These moves disturbed the opposition leaders because they feared that if the Bakufu succeeded in introducing reforms and in strengthening its military forces, it could possibly regain its former status as the paramount authority. Consequently, the opponents, led by Saigō Takamori, Ōkubo, and Kido, moved swiftly to overthrow the Bakufu. They joined hands with the anti-Bakufu court nobles led by Iwakura Tomomi (1825–1883), the most able of the court aristocrats, and began to make plans for the restoration of power to the imperial court.

THE MEIJI RESTORATION

Sakamoto Ryōma managed to persuade his fellow clan member Gotō Shōjirō (1838–1897) to work for a peaceful solution to the power struggle at the same time that the Satsuma-Chōshū faction was plotting to overthrow the Bakufu. Under the prompting of Sakamoto and Gotō, Yamanouchi Yōdō (1827–1872) urged Shōgun Keiki to restore the powers of government voluntarily to the young Emperor Meiji, who had just ascended the throne. Keiki agreed to the proposal, and in November of 1867 he formally petitioned the emperor to accept the restoration of power.

In describing his reasons for this momentous decision, Keiki later explained that he had concluded that the restoration of power to the court was absolutely essential to the resolution of the crisis facing the country. Several rival centers of

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power had developed, and he was searching for a political system that would incorporate the various factions in such a way as to allow the new government to function effectively. At this point, he wrote, he became convinced that some manner of coalition government must be formed to preserve Japan’s independence. An Upper House could be formed of courtiers and daimyō, and a Lower House of important samurai. “In this way all matters would be decided by public opinion, and the actual task of restoring imperial rule would be accomplished. As a result I acquired the courage and the confidence to bring about the restoration of imperial rule.”17

The daimyō of Tosa as well as Gōtō Shōjirō wanted to avoid a civil war that might offer the Western powers a chance to intervene and thus compromise Japan’s independence. They also envisioned the establishment of a government that would be run along parliamentary lines, with the shōgun serving as the prime minister. Evidently, Keiki also expected to become the chief executive of this new government. He may have relinquished his authority as shōgun, but as the head of the Tokugawa domains he was still a major feudal lord. The Tokugawa clan was bound to be a significant force in the new order as long as this situation remained unchanged. The anti-Tokugawa faction, however, had no intention of permitting the family to dominate the new government. They were prepared to destroy the Tokugawa clan by force if necessary, and they had even obtained a secret imperial mandate to do so. In a conference of court aristocrats, and leading daimyō and their retainers, Iwakura, with Ōkubo and Saigō’s support, demanded that the Tokugawa family relinquish its entire holdings and that Keiki renounce all his authority. Yamanouchi Yōdō fought strenuously to preserve a place in the new order for Keiki and the Tokugawa clan, but his efforts were completely undermined by Saigō’s machinations.

Convinced that an armed conflict was necessary if the Tokugawa clan was to be completely liquidated, Saigō decided to incite the Tokugawa forces into attacking by hiring a large number of ruffians and hoodlums in Edo to provoke their retainers. The latter fell into the trap and raided the Satsuma residence in Edo. News of the conflict soon reached Keiki, and he and his advisers believed that they could no longer endure the humiliations being inflicted upon them by the Satsuma-Chōshū faction. They decided to take up arms against them even though this meant defying the imperial court, which was now in the grip of the Satsuma-Chōshū clique. Consequently, the Tokugawa forces were branded as rebels. Even Yōdō of Tosa was forced to join the Satsuma-Chōshū faction against Keiki.

In the ensuing battle, the Tokugawa forces were easily routed at Toba-Fushimi outside of Kyoto. Keiki fled to Edo and permitted his commander, Katsu Kaishū (1823–1899)18—who was convinced of the necessity of establishing a new order —to surrender Edo without a fight in April 1868. Keiki was placed under house

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arrest, and he subsequently retired to Shizuoka. Some loyal Bakufu warriors continued to resist the imperial forces in the vicinity of Edo, but they were soon subjugated. The overthrow of the Tokugawa Bakufu was thus achieved without the country undergoing a major civil war. Parenthetically, some Bakufu die-hards refused to surrender. They seized eight recently purchased Western ships and escaped to Hokkaido where they founded the Ezo Republic. A Bakufu naval commander, Enomoto Takeaki (1836–1908), was elected president of the republic at age thirty-two. He would later humorously refer to himself as the “youngest president of the first democratically-elected republic in Asia.”19 After a brief battle in late 1868, Enomoto was persuaded to concede defeat.20

The end of more than 260 years of Tokugawa rule and the subsequent restoration of imperial rule was primarily a political event, although it has been interpreted by many Japanese historians as the product of the new social and economic forces that developed during the latter part of the Tokugawa era.21 It is unquestionably true that social and economic problems had begun to trouble the Bakufu, but these had not become serious enough to undermine its political authority. Elements of the ascending social and economic forces—the townspeople and the peasantry—were not the ones that challenged the existing order of things. The opposition faction emerged from the same political, social, and economic background as the Bakufu. Basically, the struggle that resulted in the downfall of the Bakufu was an old-fashioned power struggle between traditional power blocs. Specifically, it was a struggle between the Bakufu and, primarily, Chōshū and Satsuma. The failure of the former and the success of the latter were not directly related to the rise of the peasantry, the emergence of the merchant class, and the growth of commercial capitalism. The Meiji Restoration was certainly not a bourgeois revolution. It was not class struggle. Furthermore, peasant uprisings were not politically motivated or even directly involved in the actual overthrow of the Tokugawa government.

The outcome of the power struggle was the result of a variety of factors. For one thing, the Satsuma-Chōshū forces were militarily better prepared and possessed more able leaders. They did not gain their advantage over the Bakufu through a more significant growth in commercial capitalism or by virtue of a stronger political consciousness among the merchants and the peasantry in their domains. Neither did these forces in the Bakufu’s domains align themselves with the Satsuma-Chōshū faction to assist them against the Tokugawa clan. The two han were better prepared militarily because they were financially capable of purchasing modern weapons from the West. This was not the result of their having moved from an agrarian to a commercial economy. As we noted, Chōshū had a special reserve fund that was utilized to purchase weapons, and Satsuma maintained strict control over its economy and had a profitable sugar monopoly.

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The crucial factor that made the difference in the rivalry between the Bakufu and the opposition han was leadership. A large number of zealous, highly capable shishi who were willing to take drastic action to achieve their objectives were present in Satsuma and Chōshū. Many new leaders had also emerged from the lower rungs of the samurai class in these han. The Bakufu, in contrast, lacked strong leadership, and control remained largely in the hands of the more conservative, high-ranking members of the political hierarchy.

In the smaller political communities of the han it was easier for able men from the lower ranks of the samurai to gain recognition and be utilized in time of crisis. In the larger political world of the Bakufu, however, the upper levels of the hierarchy were crowded with unimaginative conservatives, and the chances of a low-ranking samurai attracting the attention of the higher officials were extremely limited. After he became shōgun, Keiki claimed that he sought to utilize “men of talent,” but by that time it was too late. Furthermore, it is entirely possible that if Keiki himself had been rigorously determined to retain political power at all costs, the outcome may have turned out differently. He was severely lacking in determination and willpower, so he hesitated and procrastinated. The inevitable consequence was that power slipped away from the Bakufu almost by default, that is, with a whimper, not with a bang.

Probably the single most important factor, however, that contributed to the downfall of the Bakufu was the arrival of the Western powers. The Bakufu, as the authority directly responsible for foreign relations, was confronted with an impossible dilemma. Perry’s arrival forced the Bakufu into opening a Pandora’s box that brought the imperial court as well as the daimyō and its retainers into the decision-making process. This was followed by a series of crises that were set off by the signing of the commercial treaty with the United States without first securing imperial sanction. The Western powers were demanding still broader contact, and the Bakufu’s opponents were thus given additional opportunities to play upon anti- foreign sentiments and to forge an emotionally charged movement—the sonnō jōi movement—that cut across han barriers.

The Bakufu was unable to adopt a definitive policy that it could pursue with firmness. It wavered between opening the country and succumbing to the pressures exerted by the exclusionists. The Bakufu staggered along without resolute leadership after Ii Naosuke, who was willing to use strong measures to curb the advocates of sonnō jōi, was eliminated. The lower-ranking samurai, who would not have been permitted to meddle in the affairs of state under normal circumstances, were able to use terrorist means to intimidate and sometimes eliminate their political foes.

Opposition leaders used every opportunity to harass the Bakufu in its management of foreign affairs. The Chōshū proponents of sonnō jōi fired upon Western vessels, and when they were directly confronted by the foreign powers

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they sought to shift the blame to the Bakufu by claiming that they were following its orders to expel the intruders. In 1867, as the deadline for opening the port of Hyōgo approached, the leaders of Satsuma insisted that the Bakufu renege on its agreement to do so because, they claimed, it was too close to Kyoto and would be offensive to the imperial court. At the same time, the leaders of Satsuma were in fact themselves purchasing ships and arms from the Western powers. To embarrass the Bakufu, the British, in collusion with the Satsuma-Chōshū faction, were pressing for the opening of the port, fully expecting the Bakufu’s opponents to block it. In the ensuing crisis the opposition forces were expected to overthrow the Bakufu. Ernest Satow, the British minister’s interpreter, recalled, “I hinted to Saigō that the chance of a revolution was not to be lost. If Hiogo was once opened, then good-bye to chances of the daimios.”22

Clearly, the situation that most seriously contributed to undermining the Bakufu’s authority and self-confidence was the arrival of the Western powers. Without the crisis engendered by this situation, the Bakufu would not have collapsed as soon as it did. The end of Tokugawa rule, needless to say, did not bring about a completely new age and a new society overnight. In the course of the Meiji era, significant transformations took place, but the new was built upon the foundations of the old. The attitudes, values, practices, and institutions that molded the Japanese mode of thinking and behavior prior to and during the Tokugawa era continued to govern the thought and actions of the people during the Meiji era and for a long time afterward. Added to the old, however, were many new elements. These involved not only science and technology but new, imported political, social, and cultural ideas. All of these were to contribute to the very difficult period of transition that ensued.

NOTES 1. Combining the first kanji of “Bakufu” and the kanji for “end of.” 2. Roger K. Thomas and James Stanlaw in personal communications suggest that

mutually unintelligible regional dialects were reconciled in this Edo exchange. 3. Constantine N. Vaporis, “To Edo and Back: Alternate Attendance and Japanese

Culture in the Early Modern Period,” Journal of Japanese Studies 23, no. 1 (1997): 63. 4. Ibid., 67. 5. Kato Hidetoshi, “The Significance of the Period of National Seclusion

Reconsidered,” Journal of Japanese Studies 7, no. 1 (Winter 1981): 103. See also Ronald P. Toby, State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984); and Tashiro Kazui, “Foreign Relations during the Edo Period: Sakoku Reexamined,” trans. Susan Downing Videen, Journal of Japanese Studies 8, no. 2 (Summer 1982): 283–306.

6. W. G. Beasley, trans. and ed., Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853– 1868 (London: Oxford University Press, 1955), 103, 107.

7. After all, the court was not privy to the annual Dutch report to the Bakufu. No one

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at court had any idea about the state of the world. 8. Immodestly, for a discussion of these “Unequal Treaties,” see Chapter 2 of Louis G.

Perez, Japan Comes of Age: Mutsu Munemitsu and the Revision of the Unequal Treaties (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999).

9. China, the usual supplier of the bulk of silk for the world, was embroiled in the Taiping Rebellion. The normal export rate virtually collapsed, so Japanese silk looked very attractive to Western importers.

10. Again, the Taiping Rebellion in China had nearly destroyed the tea industry there. The British-controlled island of Ceylon had not yet replenished the shortfall.

11. See C. T. Assendelft de Coningh, A Pioneer in Yokohama: A Dutchman’s Adventures in the New Treaty Port, ed. and trans. Martha Chaiklin (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2012), 76–77.

12. This latter group would correspond to what Arnold Toynbee calls the “Herodians”: “The ‘Herodian’ is the man who acts on the principle that the most effective way to guard against the danger of the unknown is to master its secret; and, when he finds himself in the predicament of being confronted by a more highly skilled and better armed opponent, he responds by discarding his traditional art of war and learning to fight his enemy with the enemy’s own tactics and own weapons.” In contrast, the “Zealot” reverts to “archaism evoked by foreign pressure.” Arnold Toynbee, Civilization on Trial and the World and the West (New York: World, 1958), 167–173. Perry’s arrival brought forth these two types in Japan, and it was the Herodians who ultimately won out.

13. David M. Earl, Emperor and Nation in Japan (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1964), 183.

14. Maruyama Masao, Nihon Seijishisōshi Kenkyū [Studies in the history of Japanese political thought] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1954), 355–356.

15. Ibid., 356–357. 16. Naramoto Tatsuya, ed., Nihon no Shisōka [The thinkers of Japan] (Tokyo:

Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1954), 237. 17. Sakata Yoshio, Meiji Ishinshi [A history of the Meiji Restoration] (Tokyo:

Miraisha, 1960), 202. 18. The son of the samurai who wrote an autobiography mentioned above. Katsu

Kōkichi, Musui’s Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai, trans. Teruko Craig (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988).

19. Kamo Giichi, Enomoto Takeaki (Tokyo: Chuo Koronsha, 1965), 76. 20. Enomoto and several of his last-ditch compatriots served brief prison terms but

were later rehabilitated and allowed to join the Meiji government. Keiki, the last shōgun, was also later allowed to join the government and was appointed a prince in the Meiji nobility.

21. These and the interpretations offered immediately below were the primarily Marxist economic determinist arguments offered by post–World War II Japanese historians.

22. Ernest M. Satow, A Diplomat in Japan (London: Seeley, 1921), 200.

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Appendix A: The Internet

Generally speaking, the Internet has been a great boon to historians but especially so for those who study Japan. That being said, it can also be a great hindrance if the scholar is not careful. The nature of samurai culture draws serious aficionados as well as hundreds of less serious people. Many people who watched Karate Kid on television or who bought a package of sushi at the Quiki-Mart seem to want to spread the bits of misinformation that they acquired. The Internet is thus replete with hundreds of websites offering wildly inaccurate suppositions, rumors, statistics (always suspect anyway), and folklore.

That is not to say that there aren’t many sites with good material. Generally, I use web sources the same way I use other scholarly sources: with great care and cynicism. Using one isolated source is dangerous. Even the same information found at two or more sites can be worse than useless if they are all crackpot sites.

On any given day, commercial search engines such as Google or Ask.com will return more than a hundred sites for a search using the term “Japanese history.” The order in which they are posted has very little to do with reliability of the sites. The order is generally a mix of the most used and advertisers.

I have classified some websites into six general categories, in descending order of reliability: scholarly links, labors of love, commercial ad–driven, travel-based, samurai wares, and special interest groups. I will examine them in that order and make some general comments.

SCHOLARLY LINKS

These are generally links created by legitimate scholars, often working for museums, universities, or research think tanks. The information is usually reliable, often with source citations embedded in the text. Frequently they contain hot links, which take the viewer to another site with one or two clicks of the mouse. Here are some of my favorites:

Kansai Institute of Information Systems (KIIS) http://www.kiis.or.jp/rekishi/kaido-e.html

This is a reliable site run by academics in Japan. One must be careful, however, because translations can give variant spellings of historical names. For instance, Ito Hirobumi is sometimes rendered “Hirofumi,” which has to do with alternate pronunciation systems. The site says that it “helps promote the Rekishi Kaido (historic route) project by providing a database for historic cultural resources in and around the Kansai region through the Kansai Digital Archives. These pages are expected to encourage cultural activities and the use of advanced information technology, contributing to revitalization of the region.”

Japan: The Official Guide http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/cultural/experience/d.html

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This site is very informative, with many links to scholarly articles and bibliographies by well-known scholars. It is run by the Japan National Tourist Organization.

Library of Congress: Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html

This is an excellent semiofficial site maintained by professionals working for the Library of Congress. Some care is needed, however, since I have been told by friends who work for the library that some of the material is “farmed out” to consultants. The site contains excellent links complete with extensive bibliographies.

Arts of China Consortium (formerly Chinese and Japanese Art History WWW Virtual Library) http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/html/chinese/

This site was constructed with grant money in 2002. A few years later, the money ran out, and the site became a little messy. It is much better now. According to the site’s home page, its original raison d’être was “to promote the study and understanding of Chinese art history, archaeology, and visual and material culture, and to support the research and professional activities of its members. ACC is currently in the process of applying for affiliation with the College Art Association and the Association for Asian Studies, where ACC hopes to organize annual thematic panel sessions. To encourage more informal dialogue among members, ACC conducts an e-mail listserv and maintains this website to provide information on graduate programs in Asian art, symposia and conferences, fellowships and grants, positions available, and web links to facilitate research and pedagogy.” The site goes on to say, “We welcome faculty and graduate students in art history and related fields, museum professionals, independent scholars, and serious collectors worldwide to become members of ACC.”

H-Japan http://www.h-net.org/~japan//

This is an excellent site maintained by Michigan State University. It is part of a consortium of listserv discussion sites. It maintains some archived materials, including an excellent links page and book reviews by scholars. The editors say, “H-Japan is an international, nonpartisan electronic discussion group. It provides scholars, graduate students and professionals a free daily forum to discuss Japanese history, culture, religion, and society, including contemporary political, diplomatic, security, and economic issues.”

National Museum of Japanese History http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/index.html

This is one of the best museum sites that contain links to their gallery exhibitions. But, like all museums, what appears on the website is idiosyncratic, depending on curator interest and what the museum wants to emphasize.

A Short Chronology of Japanese American History http://www.janet.org/janet_history/niiya_chron.html

Adapted from Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the

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Present, the site is edited by Brian Niiya, resource center director at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

A Chronology of Japanese History http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/japanhistory.html

A usually reliable site with only a few inaccuracies. It is written and compiled by David Turkington, project coordinator at University of Illinois at Chicago’s National Center for Data Mining.

Timeline of Japanese History http://people.cohums.ohio- state.edu/bender4/eall131/EAHReadings/module02/m02japanese.html

Somewhat simplistic, but it contains a good chronology with many illustrations.

LABOR OF LOVE

Arts of China Consortium http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/html/chinese/

Nixi Cura is an editor of H-Japan. Her academic specialty is Chinese art history, but she exhibits a deep understanding of Japan as well. This site contains links to many excellent scholarly websites.

COMMERCIAL AD–DRIVEN SITES

These are sites that rely on advertisements paid by commercial companies. As such, they are somewhat unreliable. Many of the short articles on Japanese history are written by pedestrian historians (at best). Sometimes they are written by press agents. They do not always check their facts. Here are just a few, to give examples:

Japan-Guide.com http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e641.html

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Japan

I place this here because although generally it is accurate, this is a “user-input” site. It is probably as accurate as most low-end encyclopedias that do not employ academics as editors. It is fact based with good links.

Infoplease http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107666.html

This page is short, like an encyclopedia entry with statistics; there are not many good links.

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SAMURAI WARES

There are dozens of sites geared toward samurai aficionados. Many of these exist purely to sell samurai-esque items (ersatz swords, armor, etc.). Historical accuracy is clearly a matter of random chance.

Samurai Archives http://www.samurai-archives.com/

A perfect example of a commercial-based page selling samurai whatnots. It contains the subheading “Shop for Samurai Archives Items and Logo Wear.” Its history page includes links to pages entitled “Sengoku Biographic Dictionary,” “Famous Generals,” and “Daimyo House Codes,” but also “Famous Women” (twenty-four samurai-linked women including Empress Jingū and Hōjō Masako). Not much historical reasoning or historiographic material, but if you wish to know what banners samurai marched under, this is certainly the place to look.

SUMMARY

By far, the best services available on the Internet are those that permit the reader to link to peer-reviewed scholarly work. One such is JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/), a subscription service that links to many scholarly journals. Most college online library sites have links to JSTOR, but one may subscribe as an individual. The search engine provides dozens of links to research articles in journals such as Journal of Asian Studies, Monumenta Nipponica, and the Journal of Japanese Studies.

One can use the Internet as a valuable tool. But, as with all other research tools, it cannot be assumed to be accurate. One must test all facts, ideas, and opinions through other sources.

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Appendix B: Chronological Chart

PRE- AND PROTOHISTORICAL ERAS

?–ca. 250 BCE Jōmon culture ca. 250 BCE–CE 250 Yayoi culture

660 BCE Mythical date of the accession of the first emperor,Jimmu ca. 100 BCE Rice cultivation in wet fields commences.

CE 57 The Japanese Kingdom of Nu sends an envoy to theChinese court of the Later Han Dynasty.

239 The ruler of Yamatai, Himiko, sends an envoy to theChinese Kingdom of Wei. 248 Himiko dies.

YAMATO PERIOD (CA. CE 300–710)

ca. 300 The imperial family establishes its hegemony overJapan. ca. 400 Writing is introduced from Korea. 538 (or 562) Buddhism is introduced from Paekche in Korea.

562 The Japanese colony of Mimana in Korea isconquered by Silla. 587 Soga destroy Mononobe family. 593–622 Prince Shōtoku is regent. 604 The Constitution of Seventeen Articles is issued. 607 The Hōryūji is constructed. 645 The Taika Reforms are initiated. 668 Naka-no-Ōe becomes Emperor Tenji. 690 Term tennō first used for emperor. 694 Capital established at Fujiwara-kyō. 701 The Taihō Code is completed.

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NARA PERIOD (710–794)

710 The capital is established in Nara (Heijōkyō). 712 The compilation of the Kojiki is completed. 720 The compilation of the Nihongi is completed. 735–737 Smallpox epidemic. 743 Private ownership of reclaimed land is permitted. 752 The Great Buddha of Tōdaiji is dedicated. 757 Yorō Ritsuryō law code issued. 774–811 Military campaigns against emishi. ca. 780 The compilation of the Man’yōshū is completed.

788 Enryaku-ji temple established on Mt. Hiei bySaichō.

HEIAN PERIOD (794–1185)

794 The capital is moved to Kyoto (Heian-kyō). 794 Seiitaishōgun is appointed to subdue the Ezo. 797 Shoku Nihongi history published. 838 Last official embassy to China. 858 Fujiwara Yoshifusa is appointed regent. 927 Engishi law codes published. 939–940 Taira-no-Masakado leads a rebellion. 1002–1019 The Tale of Genji is written. 1016 Fujiwara Michinaga is appointed regent. 1028–1031 Taira Tadatsune insurrection. 1086 The cloister government is established. 1156 Hōgen Incident. 1160 Heiji Incident.

1167 Taira-no-Kiyomori is appointed chancellor (dajōdaijin). 1175 The Pure Land Sect is founded by Hōnen. 1180 Minamoto-no-Yoritomo challenges the Taira family. 1181 Taira Kiyomori dies. 1185 The Taira family falls.

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KAMAKURA PERIOD (1185–1333)

1192 Yoritomo is appointed shōgun. 1199 Yoritomo dies. 1205 Hōjō Yoshitoki becomes regent to the shōgun. 1219 Minamoto Sanetomo assassinated 1221 Jōkyū attempted imperial restoration

1224 The True Pure Land Sect is founded byShinran. 1233 Sōtō Zen founded by Dōgen. 1238 Great Buddha at Kamakura finished. 1253 The Nichiren Sect is founded by Nichiren. 1274 The first Mongol invasion occurs. 1281 The second Mongol invasion occurs. 1333 The Kamakura Bakufu collapses.

KEMMU RESTORATION (1334–1336)

1334 The Kemmu Restoration is established underEmperor Godaigo.

1335 Ashikaga Takauji rebels against the imperialgovernment.

1336 Emperor Godaigo flees to Yoshino and establishesthe southern court.

ASHIKAGA PERIOD (1338–1573)

1338 Takauji becomes shōgun. 1350–1352 Kannō Incident. 1392 The southern and northern courts are united. 1397 Relations with Korea re-established.

1401 The third shōgun, Yoshimitsu, establishes relationswith Ming China. 1467–1477 The Ōnin War.

1489 Shōgun Yoshimasa builds Ginkaku-ji (SilverPavilion). 1495 Hōjō Sōun captures Odawara.

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1506 The painter Sesshū dies. 1543 A Portuguese ship arrives at Tanegashima. 1549 St. Francis Xavier arrives to propagate Christianity. 1568 Oda Nobunaga occupies Kyoto. 1571 Nobunaga burns Enryaku-ji. 1573 The last Ashikaga shōgun is deposed by Nobunaga. 1582 Nobunaga commits suicide.

1586 Toyotomi Hideyoshi is appointed chancellor (dajōdaijin). 1587 Christianity is banned by Hideyoshi. 1588–1598 A land survey is conducted under Hideyoshi. 1588 Hideyoshi confiscates arms from the peasants. 1592 Japan invades Korea. 1593 First Franciscan monks arrive. 1598 Hideyoshi dies.

1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu triumphs in the Battle ofSekigahara.

TOKUGAWA PERIOD (1600–1867)

1603 Ieyasu is appointed shōgun. 1605 Hidetada becomes shōgun.

1607 First Kabuki performance by Izumo no Okuni, EdoCastle. 1614 Toyotomi Hideyori dies at siege of Osaka Castle. 1616 Ieyasu dies. 1621 Overseas travel for Japanese prohibited. 1624 Spanish expelled. 1626 Yoshiwara “pleasure quarters” opens in Edo. 1629 Ieyasu’s granddaughter becomes Emperor Meishō.

1635 The system of alternate attendance of daimyō in Edois introduced. 1637–1638 The Shimabara Rebellion.

1639 The nation is closed to the outside world. Portugueseexpelled. 1641 Dutch moved to Deshima.

292

1643 Buying and selling land is prohibited. 1657 Meireki fire kills 100,000 in Edo. 1669 Ainu attack in Ezo. 1690 Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer arrives in Deshima. 1693 The novelist Ihara Saikaku dies. 1694 Poet Matsuo Bashō dies.

1702 Forty-nine Akō retainers attack and kill theirdaimyō’s enemy. 1703 Earthquake kills 200,000 in Kantō.

1716 Tokugawa Yoshimune becomes shōgun and initiates

the Kyōhō Reforms. Onna Daigaku (Greater Learning for Women) published.

1720 The ban on Western books is relaxed. 1724 The playwright Chikamatsu dies. 1772 Kōjinzaka fire destroys part of Edo. 1782–1787 The Temmei famine. 1783 Mt. Asama erupts killing 20,000.

1787 Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes rōjū (seniorcouncilor) and initiates the Kansei Reforms. 1791 American ship hired by Dutch visits Deshima.

1792 A Russian vessel commanded by Laxman arrives inHokkaido, asking for commercial relations. 1801 Motoori Norinaga dies. 1825 An edict to drive off foreign vessels is issued.

1833–1837 The Tempō famine, estimated 200,000–300,000starve to death.

1837 Ōshio Heihachirō leads an insurrection. Americanship Morrison fired upon. 1841 Rōjū Mizuno Tadakuni initiates the Tempō Reforms. 1849 The woodblock artist Hokusai dies. 1853 Commodore Perry arrives.

1854 The Treaty of Kanagawa is signed with the UnitedStates. 1855 Ansei Earthquake kills 7,000 in Edo.

1858

Ii Naosuke is appointed great councilor (tairō); a commercial treaty with the United States is signed;

293

woodblock artist Hiroshige dies. Shōgun Iesada dies.

1860 Ii Naosuke assassinated. 1862 Kōbu-gattai announced, Sankin kōtai abolished.

1863 Western bombardment of Shimonoseki andKagoshima. 1864 First punitive expedition against Chōshū.

1866 Emperor Kōmei dies; Satsuma-Chōshū coalition;

failure of second punitive expedition against Chōshū.

1867 Shōgun Keiki restores political power to the imperial

court; battle of Toba-Fushimi; Sakamoto Ryōma and Nakaoka Shintarō assassinated in Kyoto.

1867–1868 Ee-ja-nai-ka movement.

MEIJI PERIOD (1868–1912)

1868 Edo surrenders; Meiji imperial governmentestablished; Edo becomes Tokyo.

294

Appendix C: List of Shōguns

THE KAMAKURA ERA SHŌGUNS

KEMMU RESTORATION ERA SHŌGUNS

MURMACHI ERA SHŌGUNS

295

EDO ERA SHŌGUNS

296

Selected Bibliography

A note: The bibliography is divided, topics being predominant over chronology. For instance, sources involving samurai are listed together rather than by era. But occasionally the literature, religion, or economics of the samurai are listed by the former rather than the latter.

The topics are:

Historical and Biographical Dictionaries Geographical Works General Histories Early History to 1185 The Ascendancy of the Military Houses: From 1185 to 1600 Arms, Violence, and the Samurai The Tokugawa Period: Political and Social Affairs The Tokugawa Period: Intellectual Developments Bakumatsu: Last Years of Tokugawa The Arts Foreign Relations Gender and Sexuality Literature Religion Science, Technology, Demography Commerce and Economics Law and Justice Special Aspects of Japanese History and Culture (topics that resist chronological or special

topic emphasis) Material Culture The Emperor

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES

Goedertier, Joseph M. A. Dictionary of Japanese History. New York: Weatherhill, 1968. Hisamatsu, Senichi. Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Literature. Tokyo: Kodansha,

1976. Hunter, Janet. Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1984. Itasaka, Gen, ed. Japan Encyclopedia. 9 vols. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1983. Iwao, Seiichi. Biographical Dictionary of Japanese History. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1978. O’Neill, P. G. Japanese Names. Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1972. Papinot, Edmund. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. 2 vols. 1910.

297

Reprint, New York: Ungar, 1964. Roberts, Laurance P. A. Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1976.

GEOGRAPHICAL WORKS

Barnes, Gina. “Japan’s Natural Setting.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 3–15. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

Cressey, George B. Asia’s Lands and Peoples. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Dempster, Prue. Japan Advances: A Geographical Study. New York: Barnes & Noble,

1968. Isida, Ryujiro. Geography of Japan. Tokyo: Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1969. Trewartha, Glenn T. Japan: A Physical, Cultural and Regional Geography. Madison:

University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. Yoshikawa Torao, Kaizuka Sohei, and Ota Yoko. The Landforms of Japan. Tokyo: Tokyo

University Press, 1981.

GENERAL HISTORIES

Beasley, W. G. The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.

Farris, William Wayne. Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.

Hall, John W. Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Times. New York: Delacorte, 1970. Ienaga, Saburō. History of Japan. Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau, 1956. Inoue, Mitsusada. Introduction to Japanese History, Before the Meiji Restoration. Tokyo:

Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1968. Kaempfer, Engelbert. History of Japan. 3 vols. Translated by J. G. S. Schenchzer.

Glasgow: MacLehose, 1906. Murdoch, James. A History of Japan. 3 vols. 1930–1936. Reprint, New York: Ungar,

1964. Perez, Louis G. The History of Japan. 2nd rev. ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2009. Reischauer, Edwin O. Japan: The Story of a Nation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. Reischauer, Edwin O., and John K. Fairbank. A History of East Asian Civilization: East

Asia the Great Tradition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. Sansom, Sir George B. A History of Japan. 3 vols. Stanford: Stanford University Press,

1963. ———. Japan: A Short Cultural History. New York: Appleton, 1943. Totman, Conrad. A History of Japan. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000. ———. Japan Before Perry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981.

EARLY HISTORY TO 1185

Adolphson, Mikael, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, eds. Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

298

Aikens, C. Melvin. “Origins of the Japanese People.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 55–65. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

Akima Toshio. “The Myth of the Goddess of the Undersea World and the Tale of Empress Jingū’s Subjugation of Silla.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 20, nos. 2/3 (June–September 1993): 95–185.

Arnesen, Peter J. “The Struggle for Lordship in Late Heian Japan: The Case of Aki.” Journal of Japanese Studies 10, no. 1 (Winter 1984): 101–141.

Aston, W. G., trans. Nihongi [Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697]. 1924. Reprint, New York: Paragon, 1956.

Barnes, Gina L. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century Ruling Elite. London: Routledge, 2002.

———. “The Emergence of Political Rulership and the State in Early Japan.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 77–88. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

Batten, Bruce. “Foreign Threat and Domestic Reform: The Emergence of the Ritsuryo State.” Monumenta Nipponica 41, no. 2 (Summer 1986): 199–219.

Batten, Bruce L. “Early Japan and the Continent.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 89–97. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

———. Gateway to Japan: Hakata in War and Peace, 500–1300. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.

———. “Provincial Administration in Early Japan: From Ritsuryō Kokka to Ōcho Kokka.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 53, no. 1 (June 1993): 103–134.

Bender, Ross. “Changing the Calendar: Royal Political Theology and the Suppression of the Tachibana Naramaro Conspiracy, 757.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 37, no. 2 (2010): 223–245.

———. “The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident.” Monumenta Nipponica 34, no. 2 (1979): 125–153.

Borgen, Robert. “The Japanese Mission to China, 801–806.” Monumenta Nipponica 37, no. 1 (1982): 1–28.

———. “Jōjin’s Travels from Center to Center (with Some Periphery in Between).” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 384–413. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

———. Sugawara no Michizane and the Early Heian Court. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986.

Brown, Delmer M., ed. Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 1, Ancient Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Brown, Delmer M., and Ichirō Ishida, eds. Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.

Bruschke-Johnson, Lee. Dismissed as Elegant Fossils: Konoe Nobutada and the Role of Aristocrats in Early Modern Japan. Tokyo: Hotei, 2005.

Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology. New York: Viking, 1962. Chamberlain, Basil H., trans. Kojiki [Records of Ancient Matters]. London: Routledge &

Kegan Paul, 1932. Childs, Margaret H. “The Value of Vulnerability: Sexual Coercion and the Nature of Love

in Japanese Court Literature.” Journal of Asian Studies 58, no. 4 (November 1999): 1059–1079.

299

Como, Michael I. “Horse, Dragons, and Disease in Nara Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 34, no. 2 (2007): 393–415.

———. Shōtoku: Ethnicity, Ritual, and Violence in the Japanese Buddhist Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

———. Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.

Crawford, Gary W. “Advances in Understanding Early Agriculture in Japan.” In “The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas,” special issue, Current Anthropology 52, no. S4, (October 2011): S331–S345.

———. “The Jōmon in Early Agriculture Discourse: Issues Arising from Matsui, Kanehara and Pearson.” In “Debates in ‘World Archaeology,’” special issue, World Archaeology 40, no. 4, (December 2008): 445–465.

Daifuku Hiroshi. “The Early Cultures of the Island Kyushu Japan.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 5, no. 3 (Autumn 1949): 253–271.

Edwards, Walter. “Event and Process in the Founding of Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 9, no. 2 (1983): 265–295.

———. “In Pursuit of Himiko. Postwar Archaeology and the Location of Yamatai.” Monumenta Nipponica 51, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 53–79.

Egami Namio. “The Formation of the People and the Origin of the State in Japan.” Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (Tokyo) 23 (1964): 35–70.

Farris, William Wayne. Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.

Friday, Karl. “The Futile Paradigm: The Quest for Feudalism in Early Medieval Japan.” History Compass 8, no. 3 (2010): 179–196.

Fuqua, Douglas. “Centralization and State Formation in Sixth and Seventh Century Japan.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 98–108. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

Habu Junko. Ancient Jōmon of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ———. Subsistence-Settlement Systems and Intersite Variability in the Moroiso Phase of

the Early Jōmon Period of Japan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001. Hall, John W. Government and Local Power in Japan, 500–1700: A Study Based on Hizen

Province. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966; Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.

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Hurst, G. Cameron. “Kugyo and Zuryo: Center and Periphery in the Era of Fujiwara no Michinaga.” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 66–101. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

———. “The Structure of the Heian Court: Some Thoughts on the Nature of ‘Familial Authority’ in Heian Japan.” In Medieval Japan: Essays in Institutional History, edited by John W. Hall and Jeffrey P. Mass, 39–59. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1974.

Imamura Keiji. Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia. London: University College London Press, 1996.

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University Press, 1993. Inoue Tatsuo and Aoki Michiko. “The Hitachi Fudoki and the Fujiwara.” In Capital and

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Kamens, Edward. Three Jewels: A Study and Translation of the Minamoto Tamenori’s “Sanboe.” Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1988.

Kidder, J. Edward, Jr. Japan Before Buddhism. New York: Praeger, 1959. Kidder, J. Edward, Jr. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology,

History, and Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Kiley, Cornelius J. “Estate and Property in the late Heian Period.” In Medieval Japan:

Essays in Institutional History, edited by John W. Hall and Jeffrey P. Mass, 109–126. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.

Komatsu, Isao. The Japanese People: Origins of the People and the Language. Tokyo: Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1962.

Kumar, Ann. Globalizing the Prehistory of Japan: Language, Genes and Civilisation. London: Routledge, 2009.

LaMarre, Thomas. Uncovering Heian Japan: An Archaeology of Sensation and Inscription. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000.

Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. “Adoption Among the Hereditary Elite of Japan: Status Preservation Through Mobility.” Ethnology 28, no. 3 (July 1989): 185–218.

Maringer, Joseph. “Dwellings in Ancient Japan: Shapes and Cultural Context.” Asian Folklore Studies 39, no. 1 (1980): 115–123.

Mass, Jeffrey P. Antiquity and Anachronism in Japanese History. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992.

———. “Patterns of Provincial Inheritance in Late Heian Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 9, no. 1 (Winter 1983), 67–95.

Metevelis, Peter. “The Deity and Wind of Ise.” Asian Folklore Studies 61, no. 1 (2002): 1–34.

Miller, Alan L. “Ritsuryō Japan: The State as Liturgical Community.” History of Religions 11, no. 1 (August 1971): 98–124.

Miller, Richard J. Uji and Kabane in Ancient Japanese Nobility: The Kabane Ranking System. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.

Mizoguchi Koji. An Archaeological History of Japan 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

Morris, Dana. “Land and Society in Heian Japan.” In The Cambridge History of Japan, edited by Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough, 183–235. Vol. 2, Heian Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Murakami Yasusuke. “Ie Society as a Pattern of Civilization: Response to Criticism.” Journal of Japanese Studies 11, no. 2 (Summer 1985): 401–421.

Nickerson, Peter. “The Meaning of Matrilocality. Kinship, Property, and Politics in Mid- Heian.” Monumenta Nipponica 48, no. 4 (Winter 1993): 429–467.

Ōbayashi Taryō. “Japanese Myths of Descent from Heaven and Their Korean Parallels.” Asian Folklore Studies 43, no. 2 (1984): 171–184.

———. “Uji Society and Ie Society from Prehistory to Medieval Times.” Journal of Japanese Studies 11, no. 1 (Winter 1985): 3–27.

Onoyama Setsu. “The Sumptuary Restrictions on Tomb Mounds in the 5th Century AD.” Kōkogaku Kenkyū 16, no. 3 (1970): 73–83.

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Philippi, Donald L., trans. Kojiki [Records of Ancient Matters]. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968.

Piggott, Joan R. “Mokkan Wooden Documents from the Nara Period.” Monumenta Nipponica 45, no. 4 (Winter 1990): 449–470.

———. “Court and Provinces Under Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira.” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 35–65. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

Piggott, Joan R., and Yoshida Sanae, eds. Teishinkōki: Year 939 in the Journal of Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002.

———, ed. Capital and Countryside in Japan, 300–1180: Japanese Historians Interpreted in English. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.

Pollack, David. “The Informing Image: ‘China’ in Genji Monogatari.” Monumenta Nipponica 38, no. 4 (Winter 1983) 359–375.

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Shinoda, Minoru. The Founding of the Kamakura Shōgunate 1180–1185, with Selected Translations from the Azuma Kagami. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.

Takahashi Tomio and Karl Friday. “The Classical Polity and Its Frontier.” In Capital and Countryside in Japan, 300–1180: Japanese Historians Interpreted in English, edited by Joan R. Piggott, 130–145. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.

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Toby, Ronald P. “Why Leave Nara? Kammu and the Transfer of the Capital.” Monumenta Nipponica 40, no. 3 (Autumn 1985): 331–347.

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Asakawa Kanichi, ed. The Documents of Iriki, Illustrative of the Development of the Feudal Institution in Japan. Tokyo: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 1955.

———. Land and Society in Medieval Japan. Tokyo: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 1965.

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———. Japan’s Renaissance: Politics of the Muromachi Bakufu. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

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Kierstead, Thomas. “Fragmented Estates: The Break-up of the Myō and the Decline of the Shōen System.” Monumenta Nipponica 40, no. 3 (Autumn 1985): 311–330.

———. Geography of Power in Medieval Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.

———. “Inventing Medieval Japan: The History and Politics of National Identity.” Medieval History Journal 1, no. 1 (1998): 45–71.

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———. Treatise on Epistolary Style: João Rodriguez on the Noble Art of Writing Japanese Letters. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.

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———. The Development of Kamakura Rule, 1180–1250: A History with Documents. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1979.

———. Family, Law, and Property in Japan, 1200–1350. Boston: Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, 2000.

———. “Formative Period of Kamakura Justice.” Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan 21 (1976): 148–150.

———. “Jito Land Possession in the Thirteen Century: The Case of Shitaji Chubun.” In Medieval Japan: Essays in Institutional History, edited by John W. Hall and Jeffrey P. Mass, 157–183. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.

———. The Kamakura Bakufu: A Study in Documents. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1976.

———. Lordship and Inheritance in Early Medieval Japan: A Study of the Kamakura Soryo System. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1989.

———. “The Missing Minamoto in the Twelfth Century Kanto.” Journal of Japanese Studies 19, no. 1 (Winter 1993): 121–145.

———, ed. The Origins of Japan’s Medieval World: Courtiers, Clerics, Warriors, and Peasants in the Fourteenth Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997.

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BAKUMATSU: LAST YEARS OF TOKUGAWA

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———. Toward Restoration: The Growth of Political Consciousness in Tokugawa Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.

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———. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 2000.

———. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961.

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THE ARTS

Akiyama, Terukazu. Treasures of Asia: Japanese Painting. Cleveland, OH: World, 1961. Ando, Tsuruo. Performing Arts of Japan: Bunraku, the Puppet Theater. New York:

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University of Michigan Press, 2006. Binyon, Lawrence. Painting in the Far East. New York: Dover, 1959. Boger, H. Batterson. The Traditional Arts of Japan. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964. Bowers, Faubion. Japanese Theatre. New York: Hill & Wang, 1959. Carpenter, John T., ed. Hokusai and His Age: Ukiyo-e Painting, Printmaking and Book

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and Shirley Collection. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. The Major Plays of Chikamatsu. Translated by Donald Keene.

New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. Davis, Julie Nelson. Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty. Honolulu: University of Hawaii

Press, 2007. Ernst, Earle. The Kabuki Theatre. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956. Fukagawa Hidetoshi and Tony Rothman. Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple

Geometry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. Gerhart, Karen M. The Eyes of Power: Art and Early Tokugawa Authority. Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Graham, Patricia J. Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005. Honolulu:

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and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan, edited by Nakane Chie and Ōishi Shinzaburō, 192–212. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990.

Guth, Christine. Art of Edo Japan: The Artist and the City 1615–1868. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.

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in Eighteenth-Century Japan. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003. Hofmann Alexander. Performing/Painting in Tokugawa Japan: Artistic Practice and

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Johnson, Hiroko. Western Influences on Japanese Art: The Akita Renga Art School and Foreign Books. Leiden: Hotei, 2006.

Jordan, Brenda, and Victoria Weston, eds. Copying the Master and Stealing His Secrets: Talent and Training in Japanese Painting. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.

Jungmann, Burglind. Painters as Envoys: Korean Inspiration in Eighteenth-Century Japanese Nanga. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004.

Kirby, John B. From Castle to Teahouse: Japanese Architecture of the Momoyama Period.

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Tokyo and Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1962. Komnitz, Laurence R. Avatars of Vengeance: Japanese Drama and the Soga Literary

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Columbia University Press, 1978. McCallum, Donald F. Zenkōji and Its Icons: A Study of Medieval Japanese Religious Art.

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Late Medieval Kyoto. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006. Meech, Julia, and Jane Oliver, eds. Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in

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Morinaga Maki. Secrecy in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” as a Mode of Knowledge. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Munsterberg, Hugo. The Arts of Japan: An Illustrated History. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1957. ———. The Folk Arts of Japan. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1958. ———. Zen and Oriental Art. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1965. Nakamura, Yasuo. Noh, the Classical Theater. Translated by Don Kenny. New York:

Walker/Weatherhill, 1971. Paine, Robert T., and Alexander C. Soper. The Art and Architecture of Japan. Baltimore:

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Tokyo National Museum. Pageant of Japanese Art. 6 vols. Tokyo: Tōto Bunka, 1952– 1954.

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Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004. Yashiro, Yukio. Art Treasures of Japan. 2 vols. Tokyo: Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1960. Yiengpruksawan, Mimi Hall. Hiraizumi: Buddhist Art and Regional Politics in Twelfth-

Century Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Barnes, Gina. China Korea and Japan: The Rise of Civilization in East Asia. London: Thames & Hudson, 1993.

Batten, Bruce L. “Cross-Border Traffic on the Kyushu Coast, 794–1086.” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 357–383. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

———. “Early Japan and the Continent.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 89–97. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012.

———. To the Ends of Japan: Premodern Frontiers, Boundaries, and Interactions. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003.

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Borgen, Robert. “Jōjin’s Travels from Center to Center (With Some Periphery in Between).” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 384–413. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

Chaiklin, Martha. Cultural Commerce and Dutch Commercial Culture: The Influence of European Material Culture on Japan, 1700–1850. Leiden: Research School, 2008.

Cooper, Michael, SJ. The Japanese Mission to Europe, 1582–1590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys Through Portugal, Spain and Italy. Leiden: Brill, 2005.

———, ed. They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543– 1640. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1965.

Cullen, L. M. A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Elisonas, Jurgis. “The Inseparable Trinity: Japan’s Relations with China and Korea.” In The Cambridge History of Japan, edited by John Whitney Hall and James L. McClain, 478–518. Vol. 4, Early Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

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Hellyer, Robert I. Defining Engagement: Japan and Global Contexts, 1640–1868. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010.

Hesselink. Reinier H. Prisoners from Nambu: Reality and Make-Believe in 17th-Century Japanese Diplomacy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001.

Hioki, N. Francis. Silent Dialogue and “Taoism”: European Missionaries’ Experience in the Way of Tea in Late Sixteenth Century Japan. Tokyo: Sophia University Press, 2013.

Hong Wontack. Paekche of Korea and the Origin of Yamato Japan. Seoul: Kudara International, 1994.

Inō Kōji. “Japan and Ryukyu During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries.” Acta Asiatica 95 (2008): 79–99.

Kang, Etsuko Hae-Jin. Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: From the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.

Kato Hidetoshi. “The Significance of the Period of National Seclusion Reconsidered.” Journal of Japanese Studies 7, no. 1 (Winter 1981): 85–109.

Kazui Tashiro and Susan Downing Videen. “Foreign Relations During the Edo Period: Sakoku Reexamined.” Journal of Japanese Studies 8, no. 2 (Summer 1982): 283– 306.

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Lewis, James B. Frontier Contact Between Chŏson Korea and Tokugawa Japan. New York: Routledge, 2010.

Lidin, Olaf G. Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2002.

Lieberman, Victor. Beyond Binary History: Reimaging Eurasia to c. 1830. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997.

———. Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Contexts, 800–1830. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Lensen, George. The Russian Push Towards Japan: Russo-Japanese Relations, 1697– 1975. New York: Octagon Books, 1971.

Massarella, Derek. A World Elsewhere: Europe’s Encounter with Japan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.

Medzini, Meron. French Policy in Japan During the Closing Years of the Tokugawa Regime. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971.

Nelson, Thomas. “Japan in the Life of Early Ryukyu.” Journal of Japanese Studies 32, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 367–392.

Ōbayashi Taryō. “Japanese Myths of Descent from Heaven and Their Korean Parallels.” Asian Folklore Studies 43, no. 2 (1984): 171–184.

Shapinsky, Peter D. “Predators, Protectors, and Purveyors: Pirates and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan.” Monumenta Nipponica 64, no. 2 (Autumn 2009): 273–313.

Shimada Ryuto. The Intra-Asian Trade in Japanese Copper by the Dutch East India Company During the Eighteenth Century. Leiden: Brill, 2006.

Smits, Gregory. Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.

So, Kwan-wai. Japanese Piracy in Ming China During the Seventeenth Century. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1975.

Swope, Kenneth M. “Crouching Tigers, Secret Weapons: Military Technology Employed

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During the Sino-Japanese-Korean War, 1592–1598.” Journal of Military History 69, no. 1 (January 2005): 11–41.

Tanaka Takeo with Robert Sakai. “Japan’s Relations with Overseas Countries.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, edited by John W. Hall and Takeshi Toyoda, 159–178. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.

Toby, Ronald P. State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Totman, Conrad. Pre-industrial Korea and Japan in Environmental Perspective. Leiden: Brill, 2004.

Uezaro Takashi. “The Formation of the Port City of Naha in Ryukyu and the World of Maritime Asia from the Perspective of the Japanese Network.” Acta Asiatica 95: 57– 77.

Verschuer, Charlotte von. Across the Perilous Sea: Japanese Trade with China and Korea from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries. Translated by Kristen Lee Hunter. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.

———. “Ashikaga Yoshimitsu’s Foreign Policy, 1398–1408 AD: A Translation from Zenrin Kokukōki, the Cambridge Manuscript.” Monumenta Nipponica 62, no. 3 (2007): 261–297.

———. “Japan’s Foreign Relations 600 to 1200 A.D.: A Translation from Zenrin Kokuhōki.” Monumenta Nipponica 54, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 1–39.

———. “Looking from Within and Without: Ancient and Medieval External Relations.” Monumenta Nipponica 55, no. 4 (Winter 2000): 537–566.

Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi. Anti-foreignism and Western Learning in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986.

Wang Zhenping. Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.

Zuikei Shuho and Charlotte von Verschuer. “Japan’s Foreign Relations 600–1200 A.D.: A Translation from ‘Zenrin Kokuhōki.’” Monumenta Nipponica 54, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 1–39.

———. “Japan’s Foreign Relations 1200–1392 A.D.: A Translation from ‘Zenrin Kokuhōki.’” Monumenta Nipponica 57, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 413–445.

GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Abe Hideko Nornes. “From Stereotype to Context: The Study of Japanese Women’s Speech.” Feminist Studies 21, no. 3 (Autumn 1995): 647–671.

Ackroyd, Joyce. “Women in Feudal Japan.” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 3rd series, 7 (1959): 31–68.

Bargen, Doris G. A Woman’s Weapon: Spirit Possession in “The Tale of Genji.” Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

Bernstein, Gail L., ed. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice. “The Persecution of Confucianism in Early Tokugawa Japan.” Monumenta Nipponica 48, no. 3 (Autumn 1993): 293–314.

Brazell, Karen, trans. The Confessions of Lady Nijo. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1973.

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———. “Towazugatari: Autobiography of a Kamakura Court Lady.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 31 (1971): 220–233.

Collcutt, Martin. “Nun Shōgun: Politics and Religion in the Life of Hōjō Masako (1157– 1225).” In Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan, edited by Barbara Ruch, 165–177. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.

Como, Michael I. Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.

Conlon, Thomas D. “Thicker Than Blood: The Social and Political Significance of Wet Nurses in Japan, 950–1330.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 65, no. 1 (June 2005): 159–205.

Copeland, Rebecca, and Melek Ortabasi, eds. The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Cornell, Laurel L. “Peasant Women and Divorce in Preindustrial Japan.” Signs 15, no. 4 (Summer 1990): 710–732.

———. “Why Are There No Spinsters in Japan?” Journal of Family History 9, no. 4 (December 1984): 326–339.

DeBecker, J. E. Yoshiwara: The Nightless City. New York: Frederick, 1960. Dobbins, James C. Letters of the Nun Eshinni: Images of Pure Land Buddhism in

Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. Fruhstuck, Sabine, and Anne Walthall, eds. Recreating Japanese Men. Berkeley: University

of California Press, 2011. Fuess, Harald. Divorce in Japan: Family, Gender, and the State, 1600–2000. Stanford,

CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. Fukutō Sanae with Watanabe Takeshi. “From Female Sovereign to Mother of the Nation:

Women and Government in the Heian Period.” In Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, 15–34. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

Goodwin, Janet R. Selling Songs and Smiles: The Sex Trade in Heian and Kamakura Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

———. “Shadows of Transgression: Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution.” Monumenta Nipponica 55, no. 3 (Autumn 2000): 327–368.

Goto Michiko, “The Lives and Roles of Women in Various Classes in the Ie of Late Medieval Japan.” International Journal of Asian Studies 3, no. 2 (July 2006): 183– 210.

Groemer, Gerald. “Female Shamans in Eastern Japan During the Edo Period.” Asian Folklore Studies 66, nos. 1–2 (2007): 27–53.

Hata Hisako. “Servants of the Inner Quarters: The Women of the Shōgun’s Great Interior.” In Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History, edited by Anne Walthall, 172–190. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.

Hauser, William B. “Why So Few? Women Households Heads in Osaka Chōnin Families.” Journal of Family History 11 (1986): 343–351.

Ihara, Saikaku. Five Women Who Loved Love. Translated by William T. de Bary. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1956.

———. The Life an Amorous Woman and Other Writings. Translated by Ivan Morris. Norfolk, CT: Laughlin, 1963.

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Kaneko Sachiko and Robert E. Morrell. “Sanctuary: Kamakura’s Tōkeiji Convent.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 10, nos. 2–3 (1983): 195–227.

Kawashima, Terry. Writing Margins: The Textual Construction of Gender in Heian and Kamakura Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Kidder, J. Edward, Jr. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.

Kimbrough, R. Keller. Preachers, Poets, Women, and the Way: Izumi Shikibu and the Buddhist Literature of Medieval Japan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008.

Klein, Susan Blakeley. Allegories of Desire: Esoteric Literary Commentaries of Medieval Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Kornicki, P. F. “Unsuitable Books for Women? ‘Genji Monogatari’ and ‘Ise Monogatari’ in Late Seventeenth-Century Japan.” Monumenta Nipponica 60, no. 2 (Summer 2005): 147–193.

Kornicki P. F., Mara Patessio, and G. G. Rowley, eds. The Female as Subject: Reading and Writing in Early Modern Japan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010.

Kwon Yung-Hee Kim. “The Female Entertainment Tradition in Medieval Japan: The Case of ‘Asobi.’” Theatre Journal 40, no. 2 (May 1988): 205–216.

Leupp, Gary P. Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543– 1900. New York: Continuum, 2003.

———. Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

———. Servants, Shophands and Laborers in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.

Lindsey, William R. Fertility and Pleasure: Ritual and Sexual Values in Tokugawa Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.

MacDuff, William. “Beautiful Boys in Nō Drama: The Idealization of Homoerotic Desire.” Asian Theatre Journal 13, no. 2 (Autumn 1996): 248–258.

Marra, Michele. “The Buddhist Mythmaking of Defilement: Sacred Courtesans in Medieval Japan.” Journal of Asian Studies 52, no. 1 (February 1993): 49–65.

McClellan, Edwin. Woman in the Crested Kimono: The Life of Shizue Io and Her Family. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985.

McCullough, William. “Japanese Marriage Institutions in the Heian Period.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 27 (1967): 103–167.

Meeks, Lori. Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010.

Miyazaki Fumiko. “Female Pilgrims and Mt. Fuji: Changing Perspectives on the Exclusion of Women.” Monumenta Nipponica 60, no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 339–391.

Mostow, Joshua S. “Female Readers and Early Heian Romances: The ‘Hakubyō Tales of Ise Illustrated Scroll Fragments.’” Monumenta Nipponica 62, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 135–177.

Mulhern Chieko Irie. Heroic with Grace: Legendary Women of Japan. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1991.

Nenzi, Laura. Excursions in Identity: Travel and the Intersection of Place, Gender, and Status in Edo Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008.

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Piggott, Joan R. “Chieftan Pairs and Corulers: Female Sovereignty in Early Japan.” In Women and Class in Japanese Culture, edited by Hitomi Tonomura, Anne Walthall, and Wakita Haruko, 17–52. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.

———. “The Last Classical Female Sovereign: Kōken-Shōtoku Tennō.” In Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, edited by Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott, 47–74. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

Ruch, Barbara, ed. Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.

Schalow, Paul Gordon. A Poetics of Courtly Male Friendship in Heian Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.

Screech, Timon. Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan 1700–1820. London: Reaktion Books, 1999.

Sei Shōnagon. The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon. 2 vols. Translated and edited by Ivan Morris. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.

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LAW AND JUSTICE

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SPECIAL ASPECTS OF JAPANESE HISTORY AND CULTURE

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MATERIAL CULTURE

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THE EMPEROR

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———. “The Last Classical Female Sovereign: Kōken–Shōtoku Tennō.” In Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan, edited by Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott, 47–54. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

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Index

Age of the Warring States, 127–135, 151 Agriculture

area increase (1600 to 1730), 207 beginnings, 8–9, 46–47 draft animals and, 47, 136 fertilizer and, 17, 47–48, 136, 201, 275, 278 improvements (Ashikaga/Tokugawa periods), 135–136, 275–276 irrigation, 2, 20, 47, 131, 133, 136, 201, 261, 275 survey of land/taxes, 160, 200 swidden (slash-and-burn) method, 48 terraced hillsides, 4, 135 today, 2, 3–4 yield during Tokugawa period, 186–187 See also specific types

Ainu, 7 Aizawa Seishisai, 283–284, 300, 301 Akechi Mitsuhide, 153–154, 155, 163 Akiko, Empress, 66 Albinos, 20 Altaic people/languages, 9 Amakusa Shirō, 173 Amaterasu. See Sun Goddess (Amaterasu) Amida Buddhism/Amidism, 71, 103–105, 106, 112, 113 Analects of Confucius, The, 29, 220, 229 Ancient Learning, school, 227–231 Andō Hiroshige, 244–245 Andō Shōeki, 235–237 Antoku, Emperor, 83 Aoki Kon’yō, 279 Arai Hakuseki, 184 Architecture

Ashikaga period, 143 Chinese influences, 41–43 early shrines, 20–21 Heian period, 68 Kamakura period, 113 shinden zukuri style, 68 Yamato society, 20–21

Asakura Toshikage, 128 Ashikaga Academy, 146

343

Ashikaga period Age of the Warring States, 127–135, 151 Ashikaga rule summary, 123–124 Bakufu system, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 132, 133, 134, 137–138, 139 conflict/uprisings, 119–123 culture, 140–148 dual imperial courts, 122–123 economy, 135–140 education, 145–146 histories, 146–147 Ōnin War (1467–1477), 125, 126–128 overthrowing Hōjō family, 119–121 peasants, 132–135 shōen decline, 124–126 taxes and, 133–135, 138 Zen influence on culture, 140–145 See also Daimyō

Ashikaga Tadayoshi, 112, 123 Ashikaga Takauji, 112, 119–120, 121, 122, 123, 125 Ashikaga Yoshiaki, 152 Ashikaga Yoshihide, 151 Ashikaga Yoshimasa, 126–127, 133, 134, 141, 143 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, 123–124, 126, 139, 143, 145 Ashikaga Yoshiteru, 151 Astronomy, 280 Azuchi-Momoyama culture, 162–164

Baku-han system, 186–187, 188 (map), 189–190 Bakufu beginnings (tent government), 88–89, 90 Battle of Sekigahara (1600), 181, 181 (map), 186, 187 Be (corporation) system, 15–16, 28–29, 37 Benyowsky, Baron von, 292–293 Beriberi, 261 Berry, Mary Elizabeth, 79–80, 142 Biddle, James, 294 Bodhidharma, monk, 108, 109 Book of Mencius, 229 Botsman, Dani, 193, 194 Buddha (Gautama Buddha), 30–31, 103–104, 111 Buddha images, 41, 113 Buddhism

Amida Buddhism/Amidism, 71, 103–105, 106, 112, 113 beliefs/values, 19, 30–31, 51, 66–67, 71, 270–271 Buddhist schools, 43 factions competing for power, 30, 31, 35 Heian period, 68–72, 102 Hinayana Buddhism, 69

344

Hirata Atsutane anti-Buddhist views, 285–286 indigenous cults and, 43–44, 70, 147 influence of, 33, 51–52 introduction/adoption in Japan, 30, 31–32, 43–44 Kamakura period, 102–112 magical aspects, 63–64, 70 Mahayana Buddhism, 31, 69, 103, 104 misogyny of Taoism/Confucianism and, 70–71, 102 Nara period, 57, 68–69 new sects, 69, 103–112 Nichiren (Lotus) Sect, 106–108, 111, 127, 148, 168, 248 Nobunaga and, 153, 154, 169 paintings of deities, 67 Pure Land Sect, 71, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 112, 148, 153, 163, 165 requirement to affiliate, 172, 248 Ritsu Sect, 112 Shingon Sect/central deity, 69, 70, 71, 110 structures/architecture, 41–43 sutras, 64, 69, 70–71, 105, 106–107, 146 temples in Heian period, 68 Tendai Sect, 69, 70, 71 Theravada Buddhism, 31, 103 threatening imperial institution, 57, 68–69 Tokugawa period (summary), 248–249 True Pure Land Sect, 112, 148, 153, 163 Zen Buddhism, 69, 95, 108–112, 113, 140–145, 248–249

Buddhist Bon Dance, 112, 147 Buddhist monasteries

Nobunaga destroying, 153 power/concerns of, 104 shōen and, 73, 74 wakashu sexual relations and, 164–165

Buddhist monks Nobunaga killing, 153, 154 See also specific individuals

Buke Shohatta, 189 Bushidō (Way of the Warrior), 96, 111, 197, 228, 284 Buson, 246

Calligraphy, 67, 70, 140, 141, 143–144, 246, 247, 249 Carletti, Francesco, 165–166 Cartography studies/activities, 280, 290 Castles

castle towns, 131–132, 135, 136, 207 description/art (Azuchi-Momoyama culture), 162–164

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, 205, 212, 240 Chinese civilization assimilation architecture, 41–43

345

Chinese writing system, 29 Heian culture and, 63–64, 65 Japanese missions to China and, 28, 34, 64 Korean immigrants and, 28–29 literature, 46 medical knowledge and, 48–49 misogyny and, 23, 36, 67, 70–71, 102 music, 46 overview, 27–30 timing of, 27–28 See also specific components

Christianity in Japan bans/persecution, 168, 169–170, 171–173, 174, 184, 185, 290 daimyō and, 168, 169 differences in customs/moral standards and, 170–171 Franciscans, 170–171, 172 Jesuits, 154, 165–166, 167–169, 170–171 missionaries, 154, 165–166, 167–171, 172, 175 Netherlands and, 171, 172, 173 overview, 167–175 Shimabara Rebellion and, 173 trade and, 154, 167, 171

Cities. See Towns/cities Class system

agrarian egalitarianism of Andō Shōeki, 235–237 See also specific classes

Climate overview, 3–4 “Cloister government,” 60, 79, 82, 121 Code of One Hundred Articles (1742), 185, 192 Coelho, 168, 169 Como, Michael, 14, 16, 17 Confessions of Lady Nijō, 72, 93 Confucianism

Analects, 29, 220, 229 beliefs/values, 23, 29, 33, 36, 45, 219–221 elite vs. common people, 221 establishment beginnings, 29, 219 influence in Japan, 32–33, 45 Korea and, 12 misogyny and, 23, 36, 70, 165 See also Neo-Confucianism

Confucius, 204, 206, 219–221 Constitution of Seventeen Articles (604), 32–33 Culture

Ashikaga period, 140–148 Azuchi-Momoyama culture, 162–164 Genroku culture/era, 184, 237, 239, 240–241, 242, 249, 265, 266

346

Kamakura period, 112–115 nature and, 141 of seventh/eighth centuries, 41–46 of townspeople (Tokugawa period), 237, 239–247 Zen Buddhism and, 108, 113, 140–145 See also Heian culture; specific components

Daimyō background/rise of, 127–132 Bakufu requirements on, 187, 189 castle towns and, 131–132, 135, 136, 207 crime/punishment, 132 economy of late Tokugawa period, 258–263 Edo/residence requirements (sankin kōtai), 189, 259, 291 era of ge-koku-jō, 128 Hideyoshi actions against, 161 “house laws” example, 132 sankin kōtai/effects, 185, 189, 259, 291–292 Tokugawa period and, 186–187, 188 (map), 189–190, 191 trade with China/Korea, 139–140 types/examples, 128–130 vassals and, 130, 132 women’s rights and, 130–131

Dainihonshi, 232 Date Masamune, 168 Death/tombs, 18–19, 39, 51 Debt peonage, 21 Divorce, 52, 199, 212, 214 Dogs, protection of, 183 Dōkyō, priest/controversy, 37, 57 Drama

Kubuki, 166, 237, 241–242, 244, 256, 264 Nō drama, 111, 133, 141, 144–145, 147, 241, 244, 256 Tokugawa townspeople and, 237

E-makimono, 67, 112–113 Earthquakes, 2, 103 Economy

Ashikaga period, 135–140 barter system, 49, 137 Chinese copper coins and, 49, 93, 95, 137 contact with Southeast Asia, 140 “cottage industries,” 102, 213 curtailing gold/silver exports, 184 daimyō castles/towns and, 131–132, 135, 136, 194, 207 duty collection, 138 financial crisis/Tokugawa Tsunayoshi reign, 183

347

growth (Tokugawa period), 207–210 guilds, 131, 136–137, 154, 194, 209–210, 254, 256 Kamakura period, 93–94, 95–96 markets/market towns, 136, 138 merchants and, 138 money economy beginnings, 137 Nobunaga’s efforts with, 154 port cities and, 138 sankin kōtai effects, 259, 291–292 seventh century, 49–50 toll stations, 138, 154 trade with China/Korea, 139–140 See also specific components; Tokugawa period (late) economy; West and Japan

Edict of Tokusei (Act of Grace), 96 Edo

fires, 183, 210, 278 sankin kōtai/effects, 185, 189, 259, 291–292 in Tokugawa period, 155, 174, 182, 183, 185, 189, 190, 193, 200, 205 (map), 208, 209,

210, 228, 237–238, 239, 255, 256–257, 261, 263, 264, 275, 278, 280, 290, 291, 291–292, 292, 294, 296, 299, 300, 309

Edo period, 210, 226, 241, 246, 248, 268, 272, 273, 277 Eisai, monk, 109, 111–112, 141 Eison, monk, 112 Emperor/imperial rule

Buddhist establishment threatening, 57 emperor as god, 33–34 political compromise/tradition and, 120–121 relations with shōgun, 33–34, 88–89, 90, 91 shishi warriors and, 298, 300, 301–302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311 sonnō jōi, 283, 299–302, 303, 305, 311, 312 symbols and, 6, 9–10 See also Meiji Restoration/period; specific individuals

England and Japanese trade, 167, 174, 293, 295–296, 297–298, 304, 312 Enomoto Takeaki, 310 Epidemics in Japan, 42, 48, 49, 72–73, 103, 107, 268 Eta class, 210–211 Ezo tribe, 53

Fillmore, President (US), 294 Fishing industry, 276 Flower arrangement, 111, 141, 142 Forests

clear-cutting/heavy use, 42, 49, 277–278 conservation/regeneration, 278–279 today, 5

France and Japanese trade, 295–296, 302, 304, 306, 308 Friday, Karl, 97, 100

348

Frois, Luis, 156, 168 Fujita Yūkoku/Tōko, 300 Fujiwara family

emperor/imperial family and, 35, 58, 59–60 establishing power, 59, 74, 101 life style/culture, 59, 62–63, 64–65 shōen system and, 74, 75

Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, 59, 60, 66 Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo, 78, 94 Fujiwara-no-Yoshifusa, 64–65 Fujiwara Seika, 222, 223–224 Fukuzawa Yukichi, 196, 204–205, 297

Gardening as art/examples, 111, 141, 142–143 Geertz, Clifford, 32 Geisha, 213–214 Gempei Wars, 87, 119 Gender duality rule, 5–6, 14, 32 Genroku culture/era, 184, 237, 239, 240–241, 242, 249, 265, 266 Genshin, monk, 104 Geography overview, 1–5 GoDaigo, Emperor, 119, 120–123, 147 GoFukakusa, Emperor, 120–121 GoSaga, Emperor, 120 Gōshi, 196–197, 203 Gotō Shōjirō, 308, 309 Gotoba, Emperor, 89, 91, 121 Great Mirror of Male Love, The (Ihara Saikaku), 166 Guilds, 131, 136–137, 154, 194, 209–210, 254, 256 Gukanshō (Jien), 115 Gyōki, monk, 43, 68

Haiku, 111, 237, 239, 245–247 Hakuin, 248–249 Han currencies, 261, 292 Hanazono, Emperor, 121 Haniwa figures, 19, 21 Hanley, Susan, 271 Hasegawa Tōhaku, 163 Hashimoto Sanai, 299 Hata uji, 59 Hayashi Razan, 195, 222, 224 Hayashi Shihei, 255, 281, 293 Hayato tribe, 53 Heian culture

architecture, 68 calligraphy, 67

349

Chinese influence and, 63–64, 65 court aristocracy life style/manners, 61–63, 72 court ladies/golden age of Japanese literature, 66 Japanese writing systems, 65–66, 65 (fig.) overview, 61–68 paintings, 67 poetry, 64–65 See also specific works

Heian era Buddhism and, 68–72, 102 name origins/time of, 58 samurai, 76–83 shōen, 73–76

Heian-kyō. See Kyoto (Heian-kyō) Heike rule, 81–82 Heuskin, Henry, 303 Higashiyama Culture, 141 Himiko priestess/kingdom, 10–11, 13, 14, 19 Hinayana Buddhism, 69 Hinin class, 210, 211 Hiraga Gennai, 279–280 Hirata Atsutane, 282–283, 284–286 Hishikawa Moronobu, 243 History of the Kingdom of Wei, 10, 11, 13, 18 History of the Later Han Dynasty, 10 History of the Sui Dynasty, 20 Hitomi Tonomura, 22, 51 Hōgen era, 81 Hōgen Insurrection, 81, 87 Hōjō family, 119–121, 151, 153, 155 Hōjō Sōun, 129–130, 132 Hōjō Tokimasa, 90–91 Hōjō Tokimune, 95 Hōjōki (Kamo-no-Chōmei), 114 Honda Masanobu, 199–200 Honda Toshiaki, 281–282 Hōnen, monk, 104, 105 Horse station system

description, 49–50, 138, 191, 200 peasants’ obligations to, 265, 272–273 restoration, 138

Hōryuji monastery, 41–42, 72 Hosokawa family, 126–127, 151 Hotta Masayoshi, 296 Housing

Nara period, 50–51 prehistory, 9

350

Hurst, G. Cameron, 59

Ichikawa Danjurō I, 242 Ihara Saikaku, 166, 205, 212, 239–240, 243 Ii Naosuke, 296, 298, 299, 302, 303, 312 Ike-no-Taiga, 245–246 Ikkō/forces, 148, 153 Imagawa family, 129, 151, 152, 180 Indentured servants, 202–203, 213 Indigenous cults overview, 16–19 Infanticide, 270–271 Inoue Kaoru, 305 Ippen, Saint, 112 Ishida Baigan, 206–207 Isolation (sakoku)

description/effects, 289–291 end of, 295–296 knowledge of West and, 289–290

Issa, 247 Itō Hirobumi, 301, 305 Itō Jinsai, 229, 230 Iwakura Tomomi, 308 Iwase Tadanari, 296 Izanagi (mythological), 5, 6, 14, 17, 285 Izanami (mythological), 5, 6, 14, 17, 285

Jien, monk, 115 Jimmu, Emperor, 15, 28 Jingū, Empress, 7 Jinnō Shōtōki (Kitabatake Chikafusa), 147 Jitō, 87–88, 89, 96, 125–126, 130 Jōkyū Insurrection, 91 Jōmon period/people, 8, 49 Josetsu, 144 Justice system

ancient Japan, 20 confessions and, 193 crime/punishment, 192–194 family members of culprit and, 192 jurist guidelines (Kamakura period), 91–92 modes of execution/torture, 193–194 prison beginnings, 192–193 “rule by status,” 191–194 trial by ordeal, 20 villagers system, 194

Kabane system/titles, 13, 15, 32, 34

351

Kabuki, 166, 237, 241–242, 244, 256, 264 Kada Azumamato, 232 Kaempfer, Engelbert, 239, 264 Kaibara Ekken, 204, 225 Kaiho Seiryō, 283 Kamakura period

art, 112–113 Bakufu system, 88–91, 93, 94, 95–96, 98, 101–102, 106, 108, 119, 121, 122, 123, 135,

146, 183 Buddhism, 102–112 China relations, 93, 94–95 culture, 112–115 differences from European feudal system, 89–90 end of, 110–120 foreign relations (Asian continent), 93–95 histories/chronicles of, 115 Hōjō regency, 90–93 law guidelines, 91–92 shogunate, 87–91 women’s status and, 92–93

Kameyama, Emperor, 120–121 Kami, 13, 16–17, 18, 23, 33, 63, 70, 92, 107, 147, 165, 232 Kamikaze, 95 Kammu, Emperor, 57–58, 69 Kamo Mabuchi, 232–233, 235 Kana syllabary system, 65, 65 (fig.), 70 Kan’ami Kiyotsugu, 145 Kanazawa Library, 145–146 Kannon (Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara) figures, 41, 72 Kanō Eitoku, 163 Kansei Reforms, 254–255, 273 Kato Hidetoshi, 292 Katō Kiyomasa, 157 Kato Mieko, 71 Katsu Kaishū, 309 Katsushika Hokusai, 244 Keene, Donald, 246 Keiki (Tokugawa Yoshinobu/Hitotsubashi Keiki), 298–299, 303, 306, 308, 309–310, 311 Keitai, Emperor, 28 Kemmu Restoration, 120, 121, 147 Ki-no-Tsurayuki, 65 Kido Takayoshi, 301 Kiley, Cornelius, 14 Kitabatake Chikafusa, 147 Kitagawa Utamaro, 243–244 Kōan and Zen Buddhism, 109–110, 248–249 Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai), 69, 70

352

Kōgon, Emperor, 121 Koguryo kingdom/people, Korea, 11–12, 34, 35, 52–53 Kojiki, 5, 44–45, 232, 233–234 Kōken, Emperor, 57 Kōken, Empress, 37 Kokinshū (Ki-no-Tsurayuki/other poets), 65, 114–115 Kōmei, Emperor, 296, 303 Konishi Yukinaga, 157 Kōnoike family, 260 Korea

immigrants to Japan, 28, 29, 45, 93–94 prehistory overview, 11–12 Tang China and, 34–35

Kublai Khan, 95 Kubuki, 166, 237, 241–242, 244, 256, 264 Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi), 69, 70 Kumaso tribe, 53 Kumazawa Banzan, 226–227 Kusaka Genzui, 301 Kusunoki Masashige, 122, 147 Kūya, monk, 71 Kyōhō famine, 268, 269, 273 Kyōhō Reforms, 185, 273 Kyoto (Heian-kyō)

as capital, 57–58, 83, 127, 239 Nobunaga and, 152 Ōnin war/fires, 127

Land reform Taika Reforms/failure and, 37–38, 73 See also Shōen

Laxman, Adam, 293 Life of an Amorous Man, The (Ihara Saikaku), 166 Literacy, 248 Literature

golden age of, 66 histories, 115, 146–147 Kamakura period, 114–115 prose fiction, 239–241 Tokugawa period, 239–241, 246–247 See also specific types

McMullen, I. J., 222 Maeno Ryōtaku, 280 Mahayana Buddhism, 31, 69, 103, 104 Mamiya Rinzō, 293 Man Who Spent His Life in Love, The (Ihara Saikaku), 239–240

353

Man’yōshū, 45–46, 65, 114–115, 232, 233 Marriage practices, 19, 22, 39, 51, 52, 211–213, 214, 215 Maruyama Ōkyo, 245 Masako, 82, 90, 91, 92–93, 105 Masamune, 113 Mass, Jeffrey, 101 Matsudaira clan, 180 Matsudaira Sadanobu, 254–255, 260, 279, 281 Matsunaga Hisahide, 151, 152 Matsuo Bashō, 246–247 Medicine studies, 280 Meditation, 108, 109, 110, 113, 249 Meiji Restoration/period, 110, 204, 207, 209, 231, 282, 286, 297, 301, 302, 308–312 Mencius, 206, 219, 220, 221, 225, 229, 231 Merchants

apprentice/adoption and, 210 Ishida Baigan on, 206–207 status in society, 204 Tokugawa period, 204–207, 209, 210

Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) families rivalry, 79, 80–83 Minamoto Yoritomo

conflict with Taira family, 81, 82, 83 death and, 90–91 imperial authority and, 88–89, 90 power/land control, 87–89, 90, 99 shugo/jitō and, 87–88, 90

Minamoto Yoshiie, 79, 80, 122 Mineral resources, 5, 49 Mito school, 232, 279, 283–284 Mitsui house, 205, 209 Mitsui Takafusa, 205–206 Mitsunari, 181 Miura Baien, 280 Miyamoto Musashi, 144 Miyoshi family, 151 Mizuno Tadakuni, 256–257, 282, 293 Money lenders

beginnings, 96, 134, 137–138 debt to, 77, 96 taxes and, 124

Mongols, 12, 93, 95 Mononobe family, 15, 30, 34 Moon God, 6, 14 Moore, Ray, 198 Mōri family, 128–129, 153, 154, 155, 181 Morinaga, Prince, 122 Motoori Norinaga, 45, 66, 231, 233–235, 284–285

354

Mountains of Japan, 1–3 Muqi Fachang, monk, 143, 163 Murasaki Shikibu, 66, 67

See also Tale of Genji, The Muro Kyūsō, 225 Muskets introduction/use, 131, 152, 175 Musō Soseki, 143 Mutō Sukeyori, 94 Myōshu, 75, 90, 125, 133, 134 Mythological origins of Japan, 5–7

Naka-no-Ōe, Prince, 35, 37, 59 Nakae Tōju, 226 Nakatomi family, 30, 34 Nakatomi-no-Kamatari, 35, 36, 58, 59 Nanga painting, 245–246 Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (Takizawa Bakin), 240–241 Nara

Buddhism threatening imperial institution, 57, 68–69 building/as capital city, 40, 57 Kammu moving capital from, 57–58, 69 Tōdaiji temple/complex, 42, 74, 113, 133, 277

Nara period, 43–44, 50–51 National Learning, 231–235, 283, 284–285 Nationalism

anti-Western views and, 283, 284 criticism of Chinese influence, 232, 233, 234, 235 criticism of neo-Confucianism, 232–234, 235 early nationalists, 228–229 Mito school, 232, 279, 283–284 National Learning, 231–235, 283, 284–285 Shintō nationalism, 106, 108, 282–283, 284–285, 286, 301 shishi warriors and, 298, 300, 301–302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311 Sun Goddess and, 234–235, 284

Neo-Confucianism class status and, 195 frugality and, 207 rulers’ authority and, 220, 222–223, 225, 230 samurai and, 195, 222, 228 school of Ancient Learning, 227–231 Shintō and, 224 Tokugawa period, 184, 192, 195, 197, 204, 207, 210, 213, 221–231 Wang Yang-ming school of, 224, 225, 226–227, 274, 301 Way of Heaven, 223, 225, 227 Zhu Xi school of, 140, 195, 219, 221–225

Neolithic Japan, 7–8 Netherlands

355

influence in learning, 279–281 trade and, 167, 172, 173, 174, 246, 257, 279, 289–290, 294, 295–296, 297, 304

New Proposals (Aizawa Seishisai), 283–284 Nichiren, 106–108, 148 Nichiren (Lotus) Sect of Buddhism, 106–108, 111, 127, 148, 168, 248 Nihon, 45 Nihongi, 5, 19, 44–45, 232 Ninja, 161–162 Ninomiya Sontoku, 276–277 Ninshō, monk, 112 Nintoku, Emperor, 18 Nisshin, 148 Nitta Yoshisada, 119, 123, 147 Nō drama, 111, 133, 141, 144–145, 147, 241, 244, 256

Oceans importance, 3, 5 Oda family, 128–129, 151, 152, 180 Oda Nobunaga

Buddhism and, 153, 154, 169 castle of, 162, 163 Christianity and, 168 commerce and, 207 power and, 138, 152–154, 164, 180

Ogata Kōrin, 245 Oguri Tadamasa, 306, 308 Ogyū Sorai, 229–231, 258–259 Ōhara Yūgaku, 276, 277 Ōjin, Emperor, 12, 28, 29 Ōkubo Toshimichi, 306, 308 Ōnin War (1467–1477), 125, 126–128 Onna Daigaku (Greater learning for women), 211, 225 Onoe Kikugorō I, 242 Opium Wars, China, 282, 290, 293 Ōshio Heihachirō, 274–275 Ōtsuki Gentaku, 281 Ōuchi clan, 124 Outcasts, 210–211

Paekche kingdom/people, Korea, 11–12, 16, 29, 30, 34–35, 44, 52–53 Paintings

Ashikaga period, 143–144 Azuchi-Momoyama culture, 163–164 Heian culture, 67 Kamakura period, 112–113 Nanga painting, 245–246 screen painting, 245 Tokugawa period, 245–246

356

Western style, 279–280 Peasants

Andō Shōeki views on, 235–237 Ashikaga period, 132–135 classes of, 201 disparity between rich/poor, 267–268 divisions of land and, 198–199 Hideyoshi’s orders to, 159–161 indentured servants, 202–203, 213 “insulated/ignorant” and, 204, 265, 274 Kumazawa Banzan and, 227 late Tokugawa period, 260, 262, 265–269 nago, 203 rules/life of, 198–204 samurai and, 134–135 Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) and, 173 taxes and, 133–135, 173, 199–201, 202, 203 Tokugawa period, 198–204 uprising causes/leaders, 271–275 uprisings, 133–135, 173, 204, 267, 271–275 views on, 161, 199, 204, 235–237

Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 174, 190, 257, 275, 292, 294–295, 301, 311 Phoenix Hall, 68 Piggott, Joan, 13, 14, 32, 37 Pillow Book, The (Sei Shōnagon), 62 Piracy, 78, 94, 139 Poetry

haiku, 111, 237, 239, 245–247 Heian culture, 64–65 waka (poems), 64–65, 114–115

Pollack, David, 29 Polygamy

aristocracy/emperor and, 50 gender and, 51, 170 Taihō Code and, 50 Yamato societies, 19, 22

Population growth in Tokugawa period, 207–208 Jōmon era, 49 Kyōhō/Temmei famines and, 268–269 late Tokugawa period, 269–271 today, 2

Portugal and Japanese trade, 131, 166–167, 169–170, 175, 289 Pottery

Azuchi-Momoyama culture, 164 Kakiemon wares, 246 Kamakura period, 114

357

overview, 142 porcelain, 246 prehistory, 8 Setoware, 114 tea ceremony and, 142, 164 Tokugawa period, 246

Prehistory overview, 7–11 Prostitution

quarters (late Tokugawa period), 263–265 Tokugawa period, 162, 165–166, 185, 201, 202, 211, 213–214, 237, 239, 242, 255,

263–265, 271 views on, 21–22, 165–166, 264 Yamato society, 21–22

Protection of all living things, 183, 184 Puppet plays, 237, 241, 242 Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, 71, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 112, 148, 153, 163,

165

Religion kami and, 13, 16–17, 18, 23, 33, 63, 70, 92, 107, 147, 165, 232 pilgrimages and, 148 purity and, 17, 20, 39 stone images and, 148 unification with political functions, 13, 14, 33–34 See also specific religions

Rennyo, 148 Restoration of order

Azuchi-Momoyama culture, 162–164 Christianity in Japan, 167–175 contact with the West, 154, 166–167 gender/sexuality, 164–166 men responsible for (summary), 152 survey of land/taxes, 160 “sword-hunt”/weapons collection, 160, 194 See also specific families/individuals

Rice cultivation beginnings/Yayoi culture, 8–9 Korean innovations and, 46–47 protection of rice fields, 20 standard of measurement, 161 today, 4 transplantation and, 47 wet-rice cultivation, 14, 48, 49 Yamato society, 14 See also Agriculture

Rise and Fall of the Genji and Heike, The, 114 Ritsu Sect of Buddhism, 112

358

Ritsuryō Reforms, 49 Roads

in 1800, 238 (map) seventh century, 49–50

Roches, Leon, 306 Ruch, Barbara, 102 Russia and Japan, 255, 281, 283, 292–293, 295–296, 302, 303 Ryukyu Islands, 1, 8, 135, 140, 261, 290, 307

Saga Han, 259 Saichō, 69 Saigō Takamori, 306, 308 Sakamoto Ryōma, 306, 308 Sakuma Zōzan, 302 Samurai

adopting an heir and, 155, 156, 198 bow and arrow/sword, 100 Bushidō/code of, 96, 111, 197, 228, 284 culture of Kamakura period, 112–113 decline of imperial power and, 78–79 description, 76–77, 80 economy of late Tokugawa period and, 258–263 ethos of, 96–101 family/self-interests and, 97 Heian era, 76–83 hierarchy of, 196–197 literacy of, 248 money economy and, 95–96 neo-Confucianism and, 195, 222, 228 peasant uprisings and, 275 prostitution quarters (late Tokugawa period), 263, 264, 265 sankin kōtai effects, 291, 292 service/reward and, 97–98 sexual relations, 23, 165 shōen protection and, 76–78 suicide/hara-kiri, 98, 121, 154, 156, 164, 180, 182, 197, 198 sword making, 113 Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) families rivalry and, 79, 80–83 Tokugawa period (overview), 195–198 uprisings and, 78–79 wives/women and, 99–101, 102, 211–212, 213, 214

Sanetomo, 90, 91 Sankin kōtai/effects, 185, 189, 259, 291–292 Sansom, George, 199 Satō Nobuhiro, 282–283 Satow, Ernest, 312 Satsuma-Chōshū faction and Meiji Restoration, 308, 309, 310–311, 312

359

Sculpture in Japan, 41, 113 Segal, Ethan, 137 Sei Shōnagon, 62 Sen-no-Rikyū, 164 Sengoku era, 131, 162, 196, 278 Sesshū, 144 Sexual mores

bisexuality, 165 Christians and, 165–166, 170 female-female sexuality, 23, 166, 245 male-male sexuality, 23, 164–165, 166, 170, 239, 245 pederasty, 133, 165, 170 pornography, 166, 245 Tokugawa period reforms and, 185 wakashu sexual relations, 165 Yamato society, 22–23 See also Polygamy; Prostitution

Shiba Kōkan, 280, 283 Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638), 173–175 Shimazu Hisamitsu, 306 Shingaku, 206 Shingon Sect/central deity, 69, 70, 71, 110 Shinkokinshū, 114–115 Shinran, 105–106, 148 Shintō

Dual Shintō/Buddhism and, 43–44, 70, 147 meaning, 16 neo-Confucianism and, 224 as sacred city/shrines, 16, 21

Shintō ceremonies, 18 Shintō nationalism, 106, 108, 282–283, 284–285, 286, 301 Shirakawa, Emperor, 60–61 Shishi warriors, 298, 300, 301–302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311 Shōen

Buddhist monasteries and, 73, 74 concentration of land owners and, 73–74 court aristocrats and, 73, 74 decline/Ashikaga period, 124–126 decline of imperial power and, 75–76, 80 differences with European feudal system, 77–78 freedom from official supervision, 74–75 government officials and, 73 Heian era/description, 73–76 reclaimed land and, 73, 74 samurai protection and, 76–78 system of rights with, 75–76 taxes and, 74, 76, 89

360

Shōgun. See specific military rulers Shōmu, Emperor, 42 Shōsōin, 42–43 Shōtoku reign, 37 Shōtoku Taishi, Prince, 32–34 Shugo

Ashikaga period, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 132–133, 134–135 beginnings/Kamakura period, 87–88, 89, 91, 96

Sidotti, Giovanni B., 184 Siebold, Philipp Franz von, 280, 281 Silk sericulture, 14, 21, 275 Silla kingdom/people, Korea, 7, 11–12, 14, 34–35, 52–53 Sima Qian, 34 Slavery, 21, 50, 169, 170, 200–201 Smallpox epidemics, 42, 48, 49, 73–74 Smith, Thomas C., 13, 161, 196–197, 271 Soga family, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 44, 59, 162 Spain and Japanese trade, 166–167, 168, 171, 174, 175, 289 Sugita Gempaku, 280 Suicide/hara-kiri, 98, 121, 154, 156, 164, 166, 180, 182, 185, 192, 197, 198, 211, 242,

259, 275, 276, 281, 283, 303 Suika Shintō, 224 Suiko, Empress, 32 Suinin, Emperor, 21 Sujin, Emperor, 28 Sun Goddess (Amaterasu)

background, 5–6, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21 as chief deity, 20, 45, 234–235, 284 emperor and, 33 shrine to, 16, 21

Superstitions (Heian period), 63–64 Suzuki Daisetsu, 110, 111, 141, 142, 246 Suzuki Harunobu, 243 “Sword-hunt”/weapons collection, 160, 194

Taiheiki, 146–147 Taihō Code, 35, 36, 37, 38–39, 50, 76, 102 Taika Reforms

aristocracy/common people gap and, 41 capital location and, 39–40 court rank and, 39 government reorganization/administration, 36, 50 imperial authority and, 35–36 land reform and, 37–38, 73 military conscription, 38–39, 76 models for, 35, 37, 39, 40 reasons for, 16, 34–35, 73

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reformer origins, 12 results overview, 40–41 Taihō Code and, 35, 36, 37, 38–39, 50, 76, 102 taxes and, 38–39 time of, 35 township/villages and, 50 women and, 36–37, 50, 102

Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) families rivalry, 79, 80–83 Taira Kiyomori, 80, 81–82, 83, 124 Taira-no-Masakado, 78, 79 Takano Chōei, 281 Takasugi Shinsaku, 301, 305 Takeda family, 151, 152, 153 Takeda Shingen, 128, 152 Takizawa Bakin, 240–241 Tale of Genji, The (Murasaki Shikibu)

significance of, 64, 66 story/customs description, 61, 62–63, 66–67, 71, 72, 165

Tale of the Heiji, The, 114 Tale of the Heike, The, 81, 114 Tale of the Hogen, The, 114 Tameyoshi, 80, 81 Tang China, 12, 34, 35, 37, 39, 64, 69 Tanuma Okitsugu/Tanuma era, 253–254 Taoism (yin-yang cosmology), 14, 63–64, 70–71 Taxes

Ashikaga period, 133–135, 138 merchants/moneylenders and, 138 peasant uprisings and, 133–135, 173, 204, 267, 271–275 peasants and, 133–135, 173, 199–201, 202, 203, 260, 265–267, 272 shōen and, 74, 76, 89 Taika Reforms and, 38–39

Tea ceremony, 111, 114, 141–142, 164 Teahouses, 143 Temmei famine, 269, 273, 276 Tempō famine, 273, 274, 276, 277 Tempō Reforms, 256–257, 273 Tendai Sect of Buddhism, 69, 70, 71 Theravada Buddhism, 31, 103 Toba Sōjō, 113 Tōdaiji temple/complex, Nara, 42, 74, 113, 133, 277 Tokugawa Bakufu

activities, 152, 167, 172, 173, 182, 183, 184–185, 186–187, 189, 190–195, 197–198, 199, 200, 201, 203–204, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 214, 221–222, 228, 230, 234, 242, 248

decline/end of, 296, 298–299, 300–312 reasons for fall, 310–312

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See also Tokugawa period (late) economy Tokugawa clan, 128–129, 151 Tokugawa Hidetada, 172, 182 Tokugawa Ieharu, 253 Tokugawa Iemitsu, 172, 182, 197 Tokugawa Ienari, 254, 255–256 Tokugawa Ienobu, 184 Tokugawa Iesada, 298 Tokugawa Ieshige, 253 Tokugawa Ietsugu, 184 Tokugawa Ietsuna, 182–183 Tokugawa Ieyasu

Christianity and, 171–172 Hideyoshi and, 155, 162 Minamoto clan and, 182 overseas commerce and, 167 personality/traits, 179–180, 203–204 religion/philosophy, 195, 221, 222, 223–224 restoration of order and, 152, 161, 214–215, 253 rise to power, 180–182, 187

Tokugawa Mitsukuni, 232 Tokugawa Nariaki, 295, 296, 298, 299 Tokugawa period

administrative structure, 190–191 agrarian egalitarianism views, 235–237 art, 243–246 baku-han system, 186–187, 188 (map), 189–190 culture of townspeople, 237, 239–247 discouraging suicides, 185 Edo becoming capital, 182 education, 247–248 family hierarchy/women, 211–215 financial problems/attempts to correct, 183, 184, 185 “freezing” political/social order and, 159–160, 179, 194–195, 214–215, 253 justice administration, 191–194 literature, 237 morality issues and, 185 outcasts, 210–211 peasants, 198–204 power structure, 186–187, 188 (map), 189–190 rational critics/analysts, 281–283 samurai overview, 195–198 social structure, 194–195 summary, 179 taxes and, 191 theater overview, 241–242 townspeople (chōnin), 204–210, 237, 238 (map), 239

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See also Neo-Confucianism; specific individuals Tokugawa period (late)

defense and, 255, 257, 281, 293, 294 forestry/conservation, 277–279 intellectual thinking, 279–286 political developments, 253–257 population control, 269–271 prostitution quarters and, 263–265 strains on social/political order, 265

Tokugawa period (late) economy agricultural improvements, 275–277 attempts to help peasants, 276–277 borrowing from merchants, 259–261 Chōshū retainers example, 262 corruption and, 254, 256 daimyō/samurai and, 258–263 debt cancellations and, 255, 260, 263 famines/natural disasters and, 268–269 han special products and, 261 Kansei Reforms and, 254–255, 273 money requests from merchants/villagers, 256 peasant uprisings/causes, 271–275 peasants and, 260, 262, 265–269 rice production and, 255, 258, 261, 262 standard of living and, 258–259 taxing peasants, 260, 265–267, 272 Tempō Reforms and, 256–257, 273

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, 183–184, 230, 237 Tokugawa Yoshimune, 184–185, 192, 200, 230, 253, 254 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (Hitotsubashi Keiki), 298–299, 303, 306, 308, 309–310, 311 Tōshūsai Sharaku, 244 Totman, Conrad, 42, 279 Towns/cities

administration, 209 castle towns and, 131–132, 135, 136, 207 fires/firefighting, 210 Tokugawa period, 207–209 towns in 1800, 238 (map) See also specific towns/cities

Townspeople/chōnin (Tokugawa period) classes of, 208–209 culture of, 237, 238–247 materialism, 237, 239 merchants, 204–207 overview, 204–210

Toynbee, Arnold, 179 Toyotomi family, 181

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Toyotomi Hideyori, 180, 181 Toyotomi Hideyoshi

background, 152, 153, 154–155, 162, 180 castles of, 162, 163 Christianity and, 169–170, 171 death, 159, 162 domestic policies, 159–161, 194, 207, 263 national reunification, 155, 156 Nobunaga and, 154–155 overseas commerce and, 167 personality/traits, 155–156 plans to conquer Korea/China, 156–157, 158 (map), 159, 164 tea ceremonies/pottery, 164

Treaty of Kanagawa, 295–296 Trial by ordeal, 20, 92 True Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, 112, 148, 153, 163 Tsunami of March 2011, 2 Typhoons, 4

Uesugi family, 151, 153 Uesugi Kenshin, 128 Uji

clan solidarity/defense, 17–18 description, 13–15, 16 kami and, 13, 16–17, 18 military valor and, 17–18 shōen system and, 77 Taika Reforms and, 36

United States and Japanese trade, 290–291, 293, 294–296, 304 See also specific individuals

Valignano, Alejandro, 165, 168, 175 Vaporis, Constantine, 259, 291, 292 Village in Tokugawa era, 203 Volcanoes/eruptions, 1, 2, 3, 269

Waka (poems), 64–65, 114–115 Wakita Haruko, 52 Wang Yang-ming, 226 Wang Yang-ming school, 224, 225, 226–227, 274, 301 Warrior-monks, 80 Watanabe Kazan, 281 West and Japan

anti-Western views/actions, 297, 298, 300, 301–302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311 contact consequences/trade, 297–299 contact/trade beginnings, 154, 166–167 countries requesting trade and, 292–296

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eating meat and, 169, 170 gold/silver and, 298 influences in late Tokugawa period, 279–281 introduction of Western items (Tokugawa period), 175 Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) and, 173–175 shishi warriors and, 298, 300, 301–302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311 treaties/agreements, 296, 297

Western education/languages and, 297, 302 Western vessels/weapons and, 305 See also specific countries; specific individuals William II, Holland, 294 Women’s status

adultery and, 92 before late eleventh century, 52 “blood pollution” philosophy and, 70–71 Buddhist temples helping women, 214 Chinese Confucian misogyny and, 36, 67, 70 daimyō and, 130–131 divorce and, 52, 199, 212, 214 inheritance and, 92, 100, 101–102, 130 Kamakura period, 92–93 late thirteenth century and, 52 marriage and, 19, 22, 39, 51, 52, 211–213, 214, 215 misogyny/Chinese civilization and, 23, 36, 67, 70–71, 102 misogyny/Confucianism and, 23, 36, 70, 165 mukō and, 52 Onna Daigaku (Greater learning for women) and, 211, 225 remnants of matriarchy today, 20 shaman powers and, 10, 13, 51–52, 101 summary through Kamakura period, 101–102 Taika Reforms and, 36–37, 50, 102 Tokugawa period, 211–215 wives of samurai, 100, 211–212, 213, 214 Yamato society, 13, 14, 19–20 See also specific mythological figures; specific women

Woodblock prints/printing, 146, 166, 175, 237, 243–245

Xavier, Francis, St., 167–168 Xunzi, 231

Yamada Nagamasa, 167 Yamaga Sokō, 197, 228–229 Yamagata Aritomo, 301 Yamagata Bantō, 283 Yamana family, 126–127 Yamanoe Okura, 45 Yamanouchi Yōdō, 308, 309

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Yamato society (fourth/fifth centuries) organization of people, 13–16 overview, 13–23 titles and, 13, 15, 16 Yamato uji/family, 14–15, 16

Yamato-takeru, 6–7 Yamazaki Ansai, 224, 283 Yasutoki, 91–92 Yayoi period, 8–10 Yi dynasty, Korea, 12 Yodoya Tatsugorō, 259–260 Yoshida Shōin, 299, 301–302 Yoshinaka, 82–83 Yoshitomo, 81 Yoshitsune, 81, 82–83, 87, 147

Zeami Motokiyo, 145 Zen Buddhism

Ashikaga period influence, 140–145 beliefs/history, 69, 95, 108–112, 113, 140 culture and, 108, 113, 140–145 elite and, 110 kōan and, 109–110, 248–249 Rinzai Sect, 109, 248–249 warriors/samurai and, 111 zazen (meditation) and, 110, 249

Zhou China and Confucius, 219–220, 222 Zhu Xi, 219, 232 Zhu Xi school, 140, 195, 219, 221–225

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