2015年12月29日火曜日

Medieval times (1)

Japan's medieval times started with the Kamakura period, the first samurai administration established in 1192 in Japan. This form of samurai administration endured until 1868 when the Edo period ended. After the Kamakura bakufu, the power shifted into the hands of Muromachi bakufu located in Kyoto. From about later half of the Muromachi period, the power of central government became nominal and many powerful samurai clans became rampant in rural areas all over Japan.

That period is called "the warning states period", and its closure means the unification of Japan and beginning of the early modern period. So Japan's medieval period means the period from the Kamakura period to the end of the warning states period. This period basically is thought to be a period of samurai, and in fact, there were so many battles in this period. Therefore, cultures become robust and gorgeous compared with those created by noble people. 

For example, there began a game in which samurais on horses shot dogs in a ground. Of course, arrows that were used in the game were made from soft material for not hurting the dogs. This game had existed even after the Edo period ended. In the Meiji period, the Russian emperor Nichoras II watched that game. However, the dog game is no longer done in Japan because of the cost and space needed for it, and the growing tendency of animal protection has made it difficult to revive.



As for sculptures, "Kongo-Rikishi-Zo" is popular as a sculpture that represents the Kamakura period. The literal translation of the word "Kongo-Rikishi-zo" is "statue of a golden and strong power man".  Kongo-rikishi-zo consists of two statues that are set in the southern gate of the Todaiji temple, Nara prefecture. Each of those two statues was made by two different craftsmen. Their expressive style in which robust muscles are portrayed with a remarkable reality is representing the air of the Kamakura period.  
          
         

As for architecture, China and India had influences on Japanese temple architecture in this period. Indian architecture was introduced via China. In those days, China had been governed by the Sung dynasty (960-1279), and Japan resumed the trade with China since the end of sending envoys to the Tang dynasty. Expect for those Chinese- and Indian-style temples, There were, Japanese-style ones and eclectic-style ones. Having said that, that Japanese style itself, in the first place, was introduced from China several hundred years ago of those days.

By the way, Kamakura is a city near Yokohama, in other words, it's fairly close to Tokyo. That is to say, the Kamakura bakufu is the first Japanese regime that is based in the east Japan. However, there are almost no architectural structures in Kamakura that is built in the Kamakura period. So if you want to see the structures built in the Kamakura period, you have to go to Kyoto or Nara. Now, only Daibutsu (huge statue of Buddha) and temple's huge bells are existing in Kamakura as structures built in the Kamakura period.

                                      

In the years before the Kamakura period, there were many battles in Kyoto and Nara. Consequently many temples were lost in the fires due to those battles. Kamakura bakufu started the reconstruction of those burnt-out temples, and as a result, there arose the demand for building so many statues to exhibit in those rebuilt temples. Inevitably many statues were built in this period and the characteristics of those ones was to be realistic, masculine, and powerful unlike those of the Heian period when aristocracies had been in power.
     
       
                                         
The Todaiji temple, one of the most famous temple in Japan that is located in Nara, also was burnt out through the battle the Heiji clan and Genji clan. The reconstruction of those burnt-out temples was one of the important national project for the Kamakura bakufu. They didn't only reconstruct those temples but also introduced new architectural technology into those temples. Daibutsuden (hall for the statue of buddha), and Nandaimon (Southern main gate) of the Toudaiji temple were built in the way of India.



Above photo is the Nandaimon. There are many deer around the gate. Actually, deer is a local specialty of Nara prefecture. What's more this gate has the Kongo-Rikishi-Zo in its both sides. They are in the red circle of above photo. Those statues each are about 8 meters tall, and they are completed in about two months. It was a fixed form to put statues in the gate of large temples like the Todaiji temple, and the purpose was to protect the sacred place from enemies. 

As for Daibutsuden (hall for the statue of Buddha), existing building is one that was reconstructed in the Edo period. After the reconstruction in the Kamakura period, it again was burnt out in a battle in 1564. In the photos below, the right is a model of building reconstructed in the Kamakura period. And the right is the existing one. In the Edo period, priest Kokei determined to reconstruct the Daibutsuden. For realizing it, he started a journey to raise money for the reconstruction.
 

It was a journey for donation endorsed by the Edo bakufu, and he raised sufficient money for the reconstructing in seven years. The amount of money he raised was about a billion yen in today's value.  However, he died before the completion of the reconstruction of Daibutsu den, though only the repair of the statue of Buddha (Daibustsu) had been completed at that point. Eventually, the Daibutsuden completed in 1709, four years later later of his death.

By the way, the Kamakura period — more than any thing — is famous for Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura bakufu. His first battle participation was at the age of 13. He belonged to his farther's troops and his farther was the Shogun (general in English) of the Genji troops. In that battle against the Heiji clan, the Genji troops was defeated and forced to withdraw from Kyoto to the east Japan. On the way of the withdrawal, Yoritomo strayed from his father's company and got captured by the enemy troops.



Yoritomo was almost executed by the Heiji clan, but a stepmother of the leader of the Heiji clan pleaded with him (the leader) not to killed Yoritomo, a 13-year-old boy, out of compassion. As the result, Yoritomo cheated death and was banished to a rural area.Time passed and he had turned 30 years old. In 1180, a rebellion led by the emperor famagainst the Heiji clan broke out, led by the emperor family, and Yoritomo raised his army in the battle — but also this time he was defeated again.

However, he was able to escape and survive also this time, and after that, he allied with many other clans and succeeded to expand his troops. By the early 1183, he conquered the east Japan and founded the basis of the future Kamakura bakufu. Being ready for fighting with the Heiji clan, he again headed down to Kyoto to defeat them, and this time, he succeeded. Consequently, he was approved as the shogun (head) of all samurai clans by the Emperor family, and at this point, the Kamakura bakufu was established.


By the way, his little brother, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune is also famous in Japanese history. He was a short guy with high athletic ability, and was good at material arts. He parted from his big brother, Yoritomo, in his childhood, and reunited with Yoritomo in 1174 when he was 15 years old. It is said that they together were glad about their reunion with tears of joy. Yoshitsune respected and adored his big brother Yoritomo, and worked in battles enthusiastically. 

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune

He was nicknamed as Ushi-waka-maru (young bull in English), and this nickname even nows is given to athletes who are short but have high athletic ability. Although Yoshitsune showed remarkable performances,  he gradually came to be hated by Yoritomo. That is because he was not familiar with politics, and therefore, unwittingly brought disadvantage to Yoritomo. Unfortunately, his excellence in the fields of battle did harm to himself — those who were unfavorable to Yoritomo came to make approaches to Yoshitsune, expecting his ability.   

In those days, Yoritomo banned his subordinates from being awarded any official ranks from the emperor family without Yoritomo's permission. But yoshitsune violated that rule intentionally or unintentionally. In addition to his charismatic personality, Yoshitsune  gradually came to have political power, which became a threat to Yoritomo. Evetually, Yoritomo determined to defeat Yoshitsune's troops. About the sequences of events between those two historical figures, there are various theories, and the truth remains an enigma. 

Eventually, he was killed in the north east Japan, but that fact has been doubted by many historian. In those days, soldiers used to take enemy's head and bring back it to their base as a proof of their achievements. However, Yoshitsune's head had decayed when it was brought to Kamakura. That is because it took more than 40 days to arrive at Kamakura, and what's worse, it was summer. Also, he had a dummy who acted for him. Considering his charismatic personality, there might be people who didn't obey Yoritomo's order that required to kill his little brother.

Some historians has gone so far as to say Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune crossed the sea and became Genghis Khan, the king of Mongol. Although this theory now is considered to be an absurd theory  like today's conspiracy theories, it originally was argued by scholars in the Edo period who visited Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. In Hokkaido, there were some oral legends saying Yositsune stayed there and went further north. After that, the theory was spread by a Dutch doctor Siebold in the late Edo period. 

After the death of Yoritomo, his son Yoriie took over the post of Shogun. However, since he was a kind of dictator who disregarded traditional conventions, people in power employed a council system that consists of 13 men. As a result of that system, Yoriie became a lame duck and lost his position, and that position was took over by his little brother Minamoto-no-Sanetomo. However, he was a nominal Shogun because the real power had been seized by his aides Hojo-Yoshitoki and the mother Hojo-masako. 

Hojo clan initiated new politic system. They didn't assume the position of Shogun on purpose but assume the post of its aides. Shogun was elected from noble people but was nominal, and the real power was grasped by Hojo clan. Hojo clan designated the noble people as a Shogun when they are kids and dismissed them when they became adults. Hojo clan repeated that until the end of the Kamakura bakufu. This politic system is called "shikken politics".

Hojo's politic system like above inevitably was frowned upon by other samurai clans. As a result, one general emerged as a leader of anti Hojo force. Many samurai clans gathered under him, and his name is Asikaga Takauji. He originally was a general to quell rebel force. But when he went over to the rebel force's side, many samurai clans support and allied with Takauji's army. That is because Hojo administration had been making light of samurai clans, valuing the Emperor family and noble people. 

Eventually, Takauji established the Muromachi bakufu in 1338. Muromachi bakufu based in Kyoto and lasted until 1573 when Oda Nobunaga drove the 15th general Ashikaga Yoshiaki out of Kyoto. In the early Muromachi period, there was a conflict between two powers, each of which had based in southern and northern area of the west Japan. This conflict eventually was settled by the third general Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the administration in which samurais had advantages over others was established.

However, the latter half of the Muromach bakufu period was a time of battle because there was The Onin War. The Onin War lasted 10 years (1467-1477) and involved over 270,000 soldiers — the biggest number in Japanese history before modern times. The Onin War was triggered by a succession race in Ashikaga clan. Strictly speaking, it was a matrimonial quarrel between the general (Shogun) and his wife that triggered The Onin War. This fact is one of the most famous stories in Japanese history.

The cause of The Onin War was as follwoing: Then general Ashikaga Yoshimasa and his wife respectively nominated different person as the next general. And what's worse, each of those two candidates was suported by different two powers. 

As the war progressed, other factores were added to the war and it gradually went into chaos. As a result of that war, Kyoto city was largely destroyed and traditional social order was confused. In addition, many powers emerged in local regions, which leads to the time of the next major disruption, the Sengoku period (warning states period).

In the midth of the war, Ashikaga Yoshimasa lost interet in politics, indulging in drinking bout and cultural activity such as art collection and temple building. While he has been lowly evauated as a general, his contribution to the culture of the Muromachi period has been appreciated by today's histrians. Meanwhile, his wife, Hino Tomiko, was absorbed into economic activity. She built checkpoints around Kyoto to collect toll charge, and loan money to earn interest.

That is to say, the battle they caused had gone out of their controle. Interestingly, because of noble people and puriests freeing from disturbing Kyoto to rocal regions, the cultures of Kyoto spread to rural areas.

By the way, one of the most popular temple in this era is the Ginkakuji-Temple, which was built in Kyoto by Ashikaga Yoshimasa after The Onin War. Yoshimasa reflected his sense of beauty in that temple, and his sensibility about arts has been highly evaluated by today's art critics.

The name "Ginkaku" means silver palace, and this name is pairing with "Kinkaku" that means gold palace. The Kinkaku temple was renewed by Yoshimasa's ancestor Asikaga Yoshimitsu, and as the name suggests, the temple is decolated with gold foil like the poto below. Meanwhile, the Ginkakuji-temple isn't decolated with silver foil. As for it, some opinion exist: while someone says Yoshimasa died before decolating it with silver foil, and someone says there are no intention of decolating with silver foil.

Ginkakuji-temple and Kinkakuji-temple

Probably, there was no intention of decolating the Ginkakuji temple with silver foil because the culture style booming in those days featured simplenes. That culture style has been called "Higashiyama culture" and it was promoted by Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In that culture style, while flashiness was hated, simpleness and austereness are prefered. Art hystrians says that  Japanese beauty like the photo below was established in this period. Considering those trend, it should be rational to think that there was no intention of decorating the Ginkakuji temple with silver foil.

 
Donald kneene, an American-born history scholar says the period of Higashiyama-culture (1483-1490) is the most brilliant period in the history of Japanese culture. Besides, he argues that the many features of Japanese traditional culture originate in the Higashiyama-culture. And those features, which is often expressed by the word of wabi-sabi, has been preserved up to the present time in the forms of various art works, cultural activities, and architectural styles. 

The Higashiyama-culture is always compared with the Kitayama-cultre that flourished from the end of the 1300s to the eraly 1400th when Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, grandfather of Yoshimasa, was the general. The Kitayama-culture had been influenced by Chinese culture and therefore, it was a gorgeous culture. A Japanese musical drama called "Noh" is developed and estabilished in the period of the Kitayama-culture by Kan'ami and his son Zeami.

So then, let me cite some examples of the Higashiyama-culture. 

(1)Sadoh (Japanese tea ceremony): Sadoh was established in the period of the Higashiyama-culture, influenced by Chinese Buddhism. In Sado, simplicity and austerity were valued and flashiness and luxury were hated. That is because getting calmness and the peace of mind were the aim of Sado. The culture of Sado influenced Japanese architecture (the photos below are the house for Sado). 

 
(2)Suibokuga(Ink wash painting): Yoshimasa also had a profound sensibility on Suibokuga. He had an unknown painter drawing a Suibokuga, and the unknown painter then became a maestro of Suibokuga — his name was Kano Masanobu. His sect of Suibokuga dominated Japanese painting scene over 400 years after his debt. This proves Yoshimasa's great eye for art. One of the most histric painter, Sesshu Toyo, also succeeded in the period of Yoshimasa's administration.

Ink wash painting 

Sesshu is one of the most popular painter in Japanese history (above painting is a work of Sesshu), and there is a popular anecdote relating to him that many Japanese know in their school days. The contents are as follows: When he was a kid, he became a monk of a temple. However, since he didn't work hard as a priest , always drawing pictures, a senior monk tied him to a pillar to punish him. While he was tied on the pillar, he shed tears and started drawing a picture of a mouse with his toe.  

 

The senior priest was moved by the picture of a mouse, and decided to let him draw pictures freely. Sesshu's evaluation as a painter rose  in the Edo period when Kano school, successors of Kano Masanobu, highly evaluated Sessue's works, admiring him as a master of Suibokuga. 

(3) Japanese-style garden: As you can see in the photo below, there are no trees or flowers in the garden, and only some stones are randomly arranged on the floor paved with white pebbles. There is almost no color, and this simpleness and cleanliness embodies Japanese beauty.



By the way, this kind of gardens, in those days, were built by discriminated people. They were making a living with their specialized skills, including entertainment performance like today's musical. They generally were living by rivers, and therefore, called "kawara-mono (river side people)".

Among others, Zen-ami is popular as an artist of the stone garden. He was also a discriminated people, but was valued by Ashikaga-Yosimasa. In his last days, when he was lay down on the bed with illness, Yoshimasa sent a messenger to give him medicine.

Some say "Seki-tei (stone garden)" is the first ever abstract sculpture around the world. As you can see in Sadoh room, Suibokuga, and stone garden, there is a characteristic  sense of beauty among those Japanese style art works. This kind of the sense of beauty is referred to as "Wabi-Sabi" in Japanese: Wabi means simpleness and austerity, and Sabi means antiqueness. The tea cups in the photo below embody the sense of Wabi-Sabi.




This kind of beauty is the characteristics of Japanese culture. Although Japan absorbed many cultures from China, Chinese culture was typically gorgeous and flashy as you can see in the photo below.  They were clearly different from Japanese culture in terms of the sense of beauty. 



However, Okinawa, the southernmost of Japan, has a sense of beauty like that of Chinese culture as you can see in the photo below. That's because they had been in close relationship before modern period.

Okinawa's traditional temple


(4) Shoin-zukuri: The word "Shoin-zukuri" means a style of Japanese residential architecture, and it became the basis of today's Japanese traditional house. The word "shoin" means study and it has equipment for reading and writing. However, since the way of reading and writing have changed since then, these equipment, in today's life style, has became nominal existence. By the way, shoin was also used as a living room, and this kind of architectural style was preferred mainly by samurai classes because of its practicality. 

shoin



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As I mentioned above, Higashiyama-culture formed the base of today's Japanese culture with its sense of beauty that is expressed by the word "wabi-sabi". When Japan went ahead with the modernization, absorbing western technology, and therefore was gradually forgetting the sense of wabi-sabi in the early 20th, german architect Bruno Tauto taught us our original sense of beauty. He particularly was moved by Katsura Rikyu because it exactly embodied the sense of wabi-sabi.



However, Bruno Tauto criticized the Ginkaku-ji temple to be a Chinese like temple. That is to say, he didn't see it embodying the word wabi-sabi, comparing with Katsura Rikyu. That was because in the period of Higashiyama-culture, the sense of Japanese culture style hadn't yet been completed. (Katsura Rikyu was built in the Edo period.) He integrated Japanese traditional architecture into modernism style architecture — they are common interns of their simplicity. 

Left: Katsura Rikyu / Right: Tauto's work
 

Anyway, as a result of prolonged battle, The power balance in Japan plunged into the state of disorder — which leads to the beginning of the Warring states period (early 15th ~ late 16th). By the way, the end of the warring states period means the completion of the unification of Japan. And the warring states period is one of the most popular periods in Japanese history. So let me write on the history and cultural history of that period from the next page.

2015年11月20日金曜日

Pre medieval times (2)

During Heian-period, Heian-kyo, today's Kyoto city, had been flourishing. However, in the medieval times, Kyoto city was burnt out by a war called Ounin-no-ran, which lasted about 10 years from 1467 to 1477. The war stemmed from a succession struggle within the feudal Japanese military government called "Bakufu". Since in that war, poor common people were drafted as soldiers, they looted in the city. Consequently, most important important cultural properties including shrines and residences were lost during the medieval times.
Ounin war

As for the population of Heian-kyo, it is estimated that about one hundred thousand people lived their in the early Heian period. The city by no means had good public security and hygiene. Excretions were dumped into the gutter of the road, and therefore, plagues often  spread in the city. Besides, there was a huge gap between the poor and rich. For example, the lowest class people didn't have their houses and worked in aristocracies' residences, and then expelled when they became unhealthy — those bodies are eaten by birds and dogs.

The common images of Heian period among today's Japanese people are aristocrats, effeminate cultures,  and peace. However, Heian period was not so peace days in reality. The authority in the western Japan attempted to dominate the eastern and northern Japan. In particular, the eastern Japan played an important role as the base for soldiers who are to go to the northern Japan to attack and dominate there. As a result, the eastern Japan came to have many soldiers and it became the driving force of the following military administration called Kamakura-bakufu.

As for aristocrats' amusement, various kinds of game were come up with by themselves. Even football-like game called "Kemari" had been enjoyed among them, though it was not as hard as football since it was played by aristocrats. Specifically, several men stand in moderate space like the photo below. They each has to pass the ball one of the other players without bounding on the ground. Although, there basically was no wining or losing in Kemari, manners were valued instead.



Each player was required to touch the ball three times and each touch had its meaning. The first touch was for receiving the ball from another player, the second touch was for exhibiting their own skills, and the third touch was for passing the ball to another player. Kemari originally came from China and enjoyed first by aristocrats. After that, it came to be enjoyed among all classes of Japanese people. Although about the early Meiji period, people stopped playing Kemari, Japanese emperor ordered to establish its preservation society.

Then let me wright on some architectural structures built during Heian period.

1) Joruriji Temple

Joruriji Temple is located in outskirts of Kyoto prefecture. In its site, there still are the major  hall, three stories tower, and garden centering a pond. The most notable feature of this temple is its main hall's design and the exhibition. For exhibiting nine buddhism statues in a row, the main hall has a horizontally long structure. The nine statues are painted in gold and sitting on a horizontally long base wood — they have been designated as a national treasure.



2) Daigoiji Temple

Daigoiji Temple is located in Fushimi ward, Kyoto prefecture. Fushimi ward is in the southern are of Kyoto and relatively close to Osaka. This temple's construction was determined in a year after the emperor Daigo passed away. However, the proposer also died on the way of the construction, it took twenty years to complete the temple. The size of its site is so large and it's more than 6,611,560 square meters in area. A five stories tower is the main attraction of this temple.



Daigoji Temple was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1994. As one of the famous stories related to the Daigoji temple, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a shogun who almost  ruled all over Japan in the 16th century, held a cherry-blossom viewing party in the Daigoji Temple. It was one of the major ceremonies he held during his administration. Most of the invited guests were women, and powerful samurai clans were in charge of guarding and managing the ceremony.

After about half a year of the party, Hideyoshi died of a high fever of uncertain cause. It is said that people in power covertly tried to read each other's minds and intensions about the behavior after Hideyoshi's death in the party. The number of the invited guests of the party was about 1,300, and women who attended the party were ordered to change their dress two times in the party — the cost for those dresses was worth about 4 billion dollars in present value of money (as of 2015).

Hideyoshi elaborately did preliminary inspection for the cherry-blossom viewing party in the site of the Daigoji Temple. First, he was surprised at how torn the temples were. He asked the chief priest why those temples had been in such a condition and left as they were. The chief priest replied that they were torn by repetitive wars and armed conflicts. "We cannot afford to reconstruct them," he said to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi decided to reconstruct the torn temples and transplanted about 700 cherry trees into the site from near regions.


Cherry-blossom viewing party at the Daigo Temple

~ closure of the Heian period ~

In those days, Japanese samurai classes are divided into two great families or clans, Genji and Heishi, and in the Heian period, Heishi had been ruling. They are dispatched officers to rural areas and those officers had been exploiting the people living there. Particularly, samurai classes living in the east Japan had been seeking a chance to revolt against Heishi. But they were in anxiety because if one clan of them carried out a revolt, they might be suppressed as a rebel army from the surrounding clans that were ordered by the central administration. 

In above circumstances, the clans in the east Japan came to look to Minamoto no Yoritomo, a general descending from Genji family. Therefore, many powers in the east Japan gathered under Minamoto no Yoritomo. His innovative management system was also a cause that drew many samurais to him. He distributed lands he seized in a battle to samurais who made some achievement in the battle. Such a merit system like that was favored by samurais.   

As a result, Yoritomo unified and supressed the east Japan, and then, defeated Heiji who had been in power in those days. After that, he makes the Emperor family  appoint him as the head of samurais all over Japan. That, vertually, was the first time when samurais, namely soldiers, grasped the power of administration in Japanese history — their government was called Bakufu. Although Bakufu has the real power, the Emperor family had sperior position to it.

In other words, Bakufu or any other samurai clans cannot its varidity without Emperor's approval. In fact, in a battle in the late edo period, when one side troops flew an frag of the emperor, the other side troops fallen into disorder with many soldiers fleeing from the battle field. Even though the real power shifted to the leader of samurai class, the Emperor family called Chotei still had nominally been in the supreme position.Since the dawn of Japanese history, the Emperor has always been existing as it until today.

Anyway, Minamotono Yoritomo made a model of samurai-ruled government that endured throughout the medieval times in Japan. In short, it was an administration ruled by the most powerful samurai clan backed by the Emperor family. By the way, the last war of Heiji and Genji that vertually brout a closure to Heian period is a very popular event in Japanese history. The war, called "battle of dan-no-ura", was a sea battle in a strait located in the southern tip of Japan's main island. 

It was a fleet battle of ancient times. Soldiers were embarked in battle sips to fight with archeries, and then rode in opponents' ship to go into hand-to-hand fight. Even noble people and emperor family were on those ships. When the defeat of Heiji became all but certain, many of those nobeles threw themselves into the sea. A story of the eight-year-old emperor who has gone into the sea with his mother is popular.The story about Heiji's ups and downs became an opera-like drama and and was handed down from from generation to generation.


Heiji also was one of samurai clans likewise Genji. But they based in Kyoto and ingratiated themselves with noble people and the Emperor family to control them. Their purpose was accomplished and they grasped the real power of the emperor administration system in those days. However, as a result of the success, they assimilated in noble people, absorbing cultural activity that were fashionalble in those days. Consequently, their fighting ability was spoiled and it became one of the major reasons of their defeat.




2015年10月1日木曜日

Pre medieval times (1)

Pre medieval times mean the period between ancient times and medieval times, and it overlaps with the late tumulus period. Specifically, Asuka period and Nara period correspond to the pre medieval times. In that period, Japanese architecture was strongly affected by buddhism that came from China and Korea in the 6th century. In fact, many craftsmen were invited to Japan from China and Korea to instruct Japanese craftsmen about how to construct buddhism buildings. 

The term "tumulus period" is for periodization based on social structure. On the other ward, The term "Asuka period" and "Nara period" is for periodization based on administration. Therefore, it isn't illogical that the late tumulus period overlaps with the early Asuka period. Having said that, the difference of architectural  technology between the early tumulus period and late tumulus period is quite a wide, and that evolution was provided mainly by China and Korea.

The architecture of this period was profoundly affected by Buddhism. Asuka shrine and Shitennoji shrine are regarded to be the most oldest shrines, though original building of both shrines already have lost, and only rebuilt shrine is now existing. 

             Left is Shitennoji shrine : Right is Asuka shrine
  
Since the capital city of Japan in this period was located in west Japan, most culturally important buildings was built in west Japan. The area where the capital city existed in those days is now called Nara prefecture. After Nara period, the capital city was relocated to Kyoto. 

Asuka period started in 592 when emperor Suiko mounted the throne and ended in 710 when the capital city was relocated from Asuka to Heijo-kyo, which rotated in Nara. In this period, Shotoku-Taishi, one of the most famous historical figure in Japan, established the seventeen-article constitution, the first Japanese constitution. Besides, buddhism and emperor system are valued as the core elements of administration. Shotoku-Taishi, buddhism, and emperor system are the keyword of this period.


Shotoku Taishi

The shrines and temples constructed this period have following characteristics: Hall way with many columns like greek architecture, five story tower-like  main building, and wooden structure in which nails are almost not used.  Columns in those days have a structure called entasis, a term for column structure in which slightly lower part than the center of the column is made thick. This structure previously had been thought to be a proof of Roman influence, though that idea now is denied.  



Common people in those days, on the other hand, had been living in primitive houses that were built just by digging a hole in the ground and covering it with a hat-like roof like the photo below. Likewise, in present times, some people use state-of-the-art technology while some people use that of hundreds of years ago like a water wheel. That is to say, shrines were the state-of-the-art building in that period. People who saw those shrines at the first time would have surprised at their "modern" appearances. 



Asuka period (592-710) was closely related with buddhism. In 587, two powerful family, Soga-shi and Mononobe-shi, fought over whether buddhism should be introduced into Emperor family. The battle ended in a win of Soga-shi, who was for buddhism. After the victory, Soga-shi enthrone the Emperor Suiko after assassinating the previous Emperor  -the moment of beginning of Asuka period. Mononobe-shi perished in the battle against Soga-shi. FYI, the word "chi" means "clan".
  
In 607, fifteen years later of the enthronement of the Emperor Suiko, authorities sent envoys, including students and priests, to China to learn Chinese advanced technology and culture. They called Kenzui-shi -this "shi" does not mean clan, but means envoy-, and they were dispatched to China more than five times between from 600 to 618. As for first Kenzui-shi, it was not mentioned in Japanese ancient document, but mentioned only in Chinese one. 

The purpose of sending Kenzui-shi is as following three points: Learning Chinese latest technology and culture; increasing the influence to other powers within Japan; keeping a predominant position over Korea by establishing an equal relationship with China. To achieve this aim, Japan sent a letter that dare to say in its head "Emperor of the land of rising sun send a letter to the emperor of the land of sun set." Of course, China got angry when read the letter.

Then, in 710, Japanese capital town is relocated within today's Nara prefecture, and it was called Heijyo-kyo. The photo below is the imaginary picture of Heijyo-kyo (upper) and its ruin site (lower). 



The period when Heijyo-kyo was Japanese capital city is called "Nara period", and it endured from 710 until 794. In 794, the capital city was relocated to Kyoto. Since then, Nara prefecture has been one of Japanese rural  areas.  Today, Nara is famous for a great statue of Buddha and deers.

In this period, family registration, tax, and conscription system were established in Japan. Besides, the first ever Japanese coin made of silver called "Wadokaiho" was introduced. Meanwhile, there was a rule that banned private coining -violators were subjected to capital punishment. 


Wadokaiho


Heijyo-kyo has a grid pattern structure that was separated by a central main street. To construct the city, then chinese capital city Changan was employed the model of it. Although Chinese administration had changed from Sui to Tang, Japan still had been sending envoys in this period to China to learn its culture and technology.

In Nara period, a cultural style called Tenpyo-bunka, which mainly based on Buddhism, had been flourishing. It included architectures, statues, craft products, poems, and any other forms of culture and art works. However, culture in those days was enjoyed exclusively by emperor family, politicians, nobles, bureaucrats, and priests. At first place, Heijyo-kyo, the center of Tenpyo-bunka, itself was a town mainly for those kinds of people. Inevitably, the features of Tempyo-bunka were not matched with common people.

As for architecture in Tenpyo-bunka, Todai-ji is particularly famous. For your information, Todai-ji does not relate to Todai, the abbreviation of  Japan's most prestigious university "Tokyo University" located in Tokyo. Todai-ji is located in Nara, and is a buddhism temple. Shoso-in, a warehouse for precious cultural assets located in the premise of Todai-ji, is also famous. It was registered in Unesco World Heritage list in 1998 at the same time as Todai-ji was registered in.


Shoso-in stores about 9000 treasures and has been administered by the Imperial Household Agency. There are millers, pictures, craft works, and so on in the Shoso-in. As for Todai-ji, there had been two seven stories towers that amount to 100 meters. The east tower   was burned down in the war held in Heian period (794-1185), and the west tower was struck by lightning and then burned down in Heian period. As of today, there are reconstruction plan for the east tower.


By the way, also in Nara period, Japan had still been sending envoys to China to learn Chinese culture and technology. They were called "Kentou-shi" and typically consisted of about 400 to 500 envoys separately boarding on four ships. Since the navigation technology in those days was not matured, the fleets were sometimes wrecked in the sea. There was a case of a Chinese priest, Ganjin, who oppositely came to Japan to spread Buddhism.

Kentou-shi ship and Ganjin

Ganjin decided to become a priest in China when he was 13 years old, being moved by a statue of great Buddha. He first tried to go to Japan when he was 55 years old, but in vain. After that his tries were hindered by storms and those who were against his going to Japan. Finally, he arrived at Japan in his 6th voyage, and at that time, he had already been 65 years old. To make matters worth, he had lost his sight in his 5th voyage. He arrived at Kyushu in December 20, 753, and then arrived at Heijyo-kyo, Kyoto in February 4, 754.

Until abolished in 894,  Kentou-shi was dispatched about 12 to 20 times -the number of times varies, depending on researchers. The reason why Kentou-shi was abolished is: Tang, the Chinese administrative power in those days, declined and became just a local government. Besides, the voyages for it were always dangerous to the extent of many of them being lost by storms and pirating. Finally, Tang collapsed in 907 and it means the eternal end of Kentou-shi.

Going back to the topic about Heijyo-kyo, many official building were built there as well as common people's house and they all were encouraged to paint their pillars red to match with the city's main building. All roads in the city were laid out in a grid pattern as you can see in the photo below.  

  
Many shrines were moved from the previous capital city to Heijyo-kyo and a great statue of Buddha was built as an important national project. Heijyo-kyo had been in its flourish time until Japan's capital city was relocated in Kyoto in 784.

In the construction of Heijyo-kyo, so many people worked as a tax. In those days, there was a tax that was paid by labor besides rice and cloth. The labor was so hard that quite a few people freed from it and became vagabonds as they would be caught and punished if went back to their country. As for its population, they say it maybe had been less than 100,000. Having said that, since it was then Japan's capital city, there should be the inflow of many people from other local areas besides that estimated population.

As for the food in those days, ingredients are supplied as the pay for the residents working in Heijyo-kyo. Needless to say, the kind of those ingredients was different, depending on their social classes. For example, the left of following photo is a menu for common people, and the right of it is one of noble people.


While noble people were able to eat white rice, common people mainly eat brown rice. Also as for seasoning, while there were many kind of seasoning, common people only can use salt.

It has been assumed that tea and coffee had not been introduced into Japan in those days. While as the same time, some kinds of primitive liquor had already been drunk by every class of people, even though the quality of the liquor the lower class people can drink was inevitably low. According to a document, there had already been a kind of pub in Heijyo-kyo. As a side note, Japanese liquors in those days were made mainly from rice likewise today's Japanese sake.

As for the space for houses of residents living in Heijyo-kyo, there was a basic module divided by the grid pattern. While executive officers were able to use all of part of the module, minor officers were allowed to use only a fraction of the module for their residence. People know the time by the sound of a big water clock that was managed by two officers in turn, and during nighttime, people were banned to go out from their houses. It was for the security of Heijyo-kyo —a fire can be fatal to the city in those days because houses were made of woods.


The main street of Heijyo-kyo was called Suzaku-oji and its width was about 75 meters. Suzaku-oji went through the south gate of the city to the imperial palace, and was used for ceremonies. Its enormous width was for possible ceremonial uses. The road cleaning of Heijyo-kyo was managed by expert officers and their laborers brought from local rural regions. Their work was very important because Heijyo-kyo needed to be kept clean for keeping its face as Japan's capital city.

In 794, Japan's capital city was relocated to Kyoto, and the new capital city was called "Heian-kyo". However, there were several times of capital city relocation before it was settled in Heian-kyo. The reason why such frequent relocation was possible is that many of buildings were brought over from the previous city, being broken up into their materials. Since this relocation to Heian-kyo, Kyoto had been the place where the Emperor family lived for a long period of time.

Heian-kyo

Heian period lasted about 400 years from 794, but after the period ended, Japanese emperor family continued living there until 1863 when Edo period ended. Therefore, Kyoto is called "the one-thousand-year capital city". Japanese emperor family moved to Tokyo when Edo period ended and Meiji new government started, and since then, they have been living in Tokyo up to now. However, the one thousand years in which the Emperor family lived in Kyoto gave the city prestigiousness that is still enduring now.

Heian-kyo was designed resembling to Chinese capital city. And unlike Heijyo-kyo, the area where Heian-kyo had been is still prospering as the downtown of Kyoto, though its original appearance was almost completely has been changed. By the way, the change of the location from Heijyo-kyo to Heian-kyo is a result of a power struggle in those days. Emperor kanm, who ordered the construction of Heian-kyo, also was committed to decide the city's name as "Heian" that means peace, which probably reflected his hope for a time of peace after the power struggle. 

Emperor Kanm

Heian period became a peaceful period as its name suggested, and therefore, various cultures flourished in this period, including novels poems, fashion and so on, mainly among noble people. However during such a peaceful period, the noble people gradually became spoiled and spineless. Conversely, soldier class people who were serving the noble people were steadily strengthening their power, and they gradually came to have grumbles on their position that was not match with their actual power.

Meanwhile, during Heian period, Japanese cultures that came from China evolved in Japanese original ways unlike the previous periods. In particular, Japanese original character called "Hiragana" was developed by women who exchanged letters frequently with their friends or loved ones like todays youths exchange text messages. Before that, Japanese character was limited to "Kanji" that came from China. However, women and girls hated its difficulty and formality, and therefore, they prefer to the Hiragana instead. There allegedly are people who hated Hiragana, which just like today's adults dislike text messaging abbreviations.

Kanji and Hiragana

The culture in Heian period is called "Kokuhu-bunka" in historical term. While "bunk" means culture, "kokuhu" means national taste, that is to say, the culture in this period was developed uniquely by Japanese people, being based on the culture that originally came from China. However, there were quite a few countries that had influence on Japan in terms of culture. Since Japan was the terminal point of the Silk Road, many countries on it including India or Persia were able to have influence on Japanese culture.

In fact, in Gion-matsuri, one of the most famous Japanese traditional festival that has been held in Kyoto since Heian-period,  an intriguing decorated display has been used. As you can see in the photo below, pictures depicting  western world are exhibited around a huge carriage called "Yamahoko". Although these tapestries were decorated in medieval times, a historic theory that argues Gion-matsuri has its roots in western world has been accepted even by the organizer of the festival.


As for architecture, a method of constructing a palatial residence called "Sinden-zukuri" was popular among aristocrats in those days. This kind of residences typically had left-right symmetry structure and spacious garden in front of those structures that were connected by wall-less corridors each other. Interestingly, there almost were not walls in the main space of the residence, baring its poles —residents partitioned the space, depending on the occasion.


Itsukusima-shirine, best known for its floating gate, was also affected by Shinden-zukuri. The shrine is located in Hiroshima prefecture, and the design is characterized by its sea-floating gate and left-right symmetrical structure. However, present structures are rebuild ones that date from the 16th century as they were destroyed several times in the history. Needless to say, this shrine is one of the most popular tourist attractions, being registered in the UNESCO's world heritage in 1996.