Lit 231: Morrison Brief Historical Overview of Japan A.

Pre-modern Heian (794-1185): -capital moved here from Nara in 794, and remained capital until Taira clan (and emperors) were defeated by Minamoto clan in Genpei War, establishing Kamakura bakufu or Shogunate; -city modeled after Tang dynasty capital Changan; -Buddhism (mainly Lotus-sutra-based populist Tendai and China-Kkai-derived esoteric-aristocratic Shingon), Taoism, Chinese influences spread; -imperial court center of culture, while Fujiwara clan ruled from behind scenes, securing power through intermarrying with royalty; -rise of samurai class, first as bodyguards (this class eventually defeats the aristocracy and takes power) -court stops sending official delegates to Tang dynasty China in 9th century development of kana and flowering of indigenous Japanese culture of the literate aristocracy/Buddhist clergy; -waka (later known as tanka; 5-7-5 kami no ku + 7-7 shimo no ku; e.g. Kokinwakash first of series of imperial anthologies, also scattered throughout monogatari) replaces kanshi; -monogatari reaches peak; monogatari: tale or prose narrative, relating of things or person telling: mono o kataru; Taketori monogatari said to be the first; usually have monogatari in title; about someone other than author; many subgenres, e.g. denki, rekishi, gunki, jitsuroku, etc; examples: Ise monogatari, Genji monogatari, Konjaku monogatari, and later, Eiga monogatari, Taiheiki; at least 198 monogatari written by late 13th century, 40 of which still exist. Kamakura (1185-1333) -Victorious Minamoto clan, led by Minamoto no Yoritomo, makes Kamakura the seat of shogunate and regent; -bushi class replaces aristocracy as rulers of Japan; -in dark days, Buddhism thrives and spreads its influence; -resistance to Shogunate dictatorship in provinces, situation unstable, although

Shogunate mains maintains equilibrium with Kyoto court (contrast with Ashikaga Shogunate); -great popularization of Buddhism (newer Jdo-sh and Zen dominate, while older aristocracy-supported esoteric Shingon and the Tendai at Hiezan continue; -Key Tendai followers break off: Nichiren forms Nichiren, Dgen forms St Zen, Eisai forms Rinzai Zen, Ippen forms Ji (i.e. Amida Buddha dance), Shinran forms Jdo shinsh, Hnen forms Jdsh); -taking advantage of this instability, the Mongols invade Japan in 1274 and 1281, but were repulsed by two well-timed typhoons; -Finally, loyalist Nitta Yoshisada conquers and destroys Kamakura in 1333, reestablishing imperial rule under Emperor Go-Daigo. -era of political uncertainty reflected in literature of period (e.g. heavily Buddhist-influenced Hjki by Kamo no Chmei in 1212; Heikei monogatari about rise and fall of Taira; Shin kokinwakash in 1201-5); -nostalgia for past a major theme; mapp end days -early renga, haikai; busshi (Buddhist sculptor); -Unkeis sculptures in Nara, etc. Muromachi (1336-1573) -period of the Ashikaga (i.e. Muromachi) Shogunate, who lived on Muromachi street in Kyoto; -period has two major eras: Nanboku-ch (1336-1392) and Sengoku (1467-1573) -nin War (14671477) marked the start of the Sengoku period; wiped out Kyoto, as well as the bakufus national authority, leaving a power vacuum that led to a century of war and anarchy; -contact with Ming Dynasty China renewed; -Ashikaga shogunate takes over parts of imperial government; -Shint, for centuries quiet and absorbed into more powerful Buddhism (esp. Shingon; ryb or dual Shint) reemerges as autonomous force, spurred by Mongol invasion and new sense of national consciousness, and encouraged by Kitabatake Chikafusa and other Shint revivalist-loyalists; -Europeans arrive: first the Portugese in southern Kysh in 1543 (Xavier and Spanish Jesuits in 1549), initiating period of Nanban trade (lasts till 1614), followed by the Spanish in 1587, then the Dutch in 1609; -attention to outside intensified with increase in foreign trade;

-Muromachi period ends when last Ashikaga shogunate (Yoshiaki) forced out of Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga; -much of what we consider as Japanese aesthetics developed/came to prominence in this period: wabi (transient and stark beauty; spiritual wealth in material poverty), sabi (beauty of aging), ygen (profound grace and subtlety), cha no yu, Sen no Riky, ikebana, Noh, bonsai, zen landscape gardening, etc.; -why this emphasis on transience?national culture was centered around the bakufu-Shogunate headquarters in Kyoto, thus military/somber/Spartan/austere ethics-aesthetics; -Also, Zen, which plays a major role in spreading religion and art; -Also, imperial court and bakufu-Shogunate together in Kyoto lead to comingling of regional daimy, samurai, Zen priests, imperial family members, courtiers; militarization of aristocracy; -Also Zeami (1364-1443), father of Noh. As we will see, Buddhist concerns/themes/messages feature prominently in Noh. Azuchi-Momoyama (1568-1603): -following Sengoku warring states period, political unification; era name derived from Nobunagas castle in Azuchi (Shiga-ken); -during this transitional period, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi impose order on the chaos following Ashikaga Shogunate collapse in 1573; -Hideyoshi wages two failed Korean campaigns (1593, 1597); -beginning of rise of merchant class; -ornate architectural styles in marked contrast to somber Muromachi styles; -new aesthetic sense evident in nanban style of painting (exotic paintings of European priests, traders, southern barbarians, etc.); -Muromachi-era tea ceremony, ceramics, etc. continue to thrive; -interest in outside world increases; -Nobunaga supports Christianity to help suppress Buddhism, but Hideyoshi is suspicious, prohibiting Christianity in 1587, clamping down in 1597; -end of Nanban trading, beginning of sakoku/kaikin policies. B. Early Modern Edo (Tokugawa) (1603-1868):

-period of peace and semi-sakoku, ruled by Tokugawa shoguns, lasting until Fall of Edo and restoration of emperor in 1868; -by mid-18th century, Edo largest city in world with population of 1 million; -strict mibunsei: kuge + 4 classes (shi-n-k-sh: 5% 80% hinin/eta; -however, unprecedented intermingling of classes (Sorai considered this the corruption/commercialization of the samurai class); -sankin ktai (alternate residence) system ensures that samurai daimy (warlords in han) remain loyal to shgun; -no individual rights ( smallest legal unit; contrast with post-Meiji emphasis/obsession with self/individual); -increasing restrictions/persecutions against Christians sparks failed Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-1638, which marks end of Christians practicing openly; -despite sakoku policy, knowledge of West keeps trickling in through Rangaku Dutch studies in Dejima in Nagasaki bay; -flourishing of humanistic, rational, historical, secular perspective of Neo-confucianism (no longer solely the domain of Buddhist clerics; now dominant legal philosophy)yet, from within this movement occurs a rise of Shint and kokugaku (national learning) studies, and a renewed interest in Kojiki, Nihon shoki, and Manysh and anti-continental sentiment. -rise of chnin status, plebeian culture; -80% literacy in Edo; -floating world literature: Matsuo Bash, Ihara Saikaku, Takizawa Bakin, yomihon, gesaku comic literature, haikai no renga, ykaku red-light districts such as Yoshiwara, kyka, ukiyo, shunga, iki, kabuki, bunraku, Chikamatsu plays, etc. C. Modern Meiji (1868-1912): -begins with overthrow of Tokugawa Shogunate, restoration of emperor Meiji, and relocation of capital to Edo-Tokyo; -after decades of threats and pressures from West to open up, they open up; -end of ban on Christianity, revocation of mibunsei laws; -regional daimy relinquish lands to show support for emperor, as Han system is replaced by prefectures (a blow to samurai, increase in # of rnin; as we will see, many ) +

writers from this disenfranchised, formerly elite class); -officials from former key han given top positions in new central government; -efforts to establish 1,000 year old Shint imperial throne lead to creation of new invented tradition of State Shint (separated from Buddhism with which it had been linked); -national mythology of divine throne created, kokutai ideas of Mito-han embraced; -neo-Confucianism still basis for ethics; Buddhism still persists, despite series of anti-Buddhist laws and movements (e.g. 1868 haibutsu kishaku, 1868 shinbutsu bunri law, etc.); -private ownership legalized with 1873 land tax reform: land owning elites secure monopoly of government through new tax laws. -however, reacting to thisItagaki Taisukes The Freedom and Peoples Rights Movement (1873-1880s) sought democratic reform, representative government, criticized Meiji oligarchy, and pushed for Meiji Constitution; Itagaki followed with his Aikokusha party and French-inspired Jiyt; also: Fukuzawa Yukichis liberal treatises; Protestant Christian connection; other anti-oligarchy parties follow, leading to government crackdown; -Universal Conscription Law of 1873 another blow to samurai class already hurt by 1871 Abolition of Han System act; many refuse to serve in military with lowly peasants; series of former samurai-led rebellions culminating in Saig Takamoris Satsuma Rebellion in 1877); more disgruntled samurai as shi-n-k-sh continues to be challenged/inverted; -1889 Meiji Constitution a blow for progressive parties, as it ensured that the small clique of elite Satsuma and Chsh statesman (later called the genr) would rule the nation, and enfranchised only men who pay substantial amount in property taxes; -two major war victories, over Qing Dynasty China in 1894-1895 for control of Korea, and over Russia in 1904-1905 for control of Manchuria and Korea; -development of modern conscript army, modern monarchy, modern industry, modern financial system, centralized modern state, modern police force/justice system. -ethos of day can be summed up in phrase/slogan: bunmei kaika (Civilization and Enlightenment); -yatoi-gaijin such as Ernest Fenollosa, Lafcadio Hearn, Basil Hall Chamberlain, and others teach at universities; -translation begins of nearly everything Western (philosophy, literature, etc.);

-genbun-itchi slowly displaces old literary style; -shsetsu/bungaku now a respectable enterprise; -Tsubouchi Shy translates Shakespeare, advocates psychological realism in his Shsetsu no shinzui (1885); -Futabatei Shimei writes first modern novel Ukigumo (1887; four characters; critical of materialistic society; depicts anomie/social breakdown); -gai and Sseki grapple with the political and literary problems of the age; gai-introduced Romanticism and English-style Realism reign supreme; -risshin shusse capitalist society vs. anti-materialistic neo-Confucian ethic (tension is a main theme in Botchan); -debut of naturalist shsetsu (I-novel) at end of Meiji; -Major writers from this period include: Tsubouchi Shy, Mori gai, Futabatei Shimei, Higuchi Ichiy, Izumi Kyka, Shimazaki Tson, Kunikida Doppo, Natsume Sseki, and somewhat reactionary, neo-classicists Ozaki Ky, Yamada Bimy, and Kda Rohan. Taish (1912-1926): -a period of peace and relative prosperity (especially prosperous after WWI); -Japan becomes one of Big 5 powers at Treaty of Versailles in 1919, and given permanent seat in League of Nations: now caught up with West; -taking advantage of Germanys defeat and collapse of tsarist Russia, Japan consolidates its position in Asia, expands empire; -slight power shift from old genr elite clique to democratic parties and the DietTaish democracy. -rise of popular culture, the bourgeoisie; -commercialization of literature/culture and revolution in mass publishing (enpon in 1926); -bunkashugi (from bunmei to bunka; birth of bourgeois subjectivism); -at the same time, increase in leftist-/anarchist-inspired ideas, Marxism, labor unions, Japanese Communist Party in 1922, rise of proletarian writers in 1920s as economic situation worsens; -increased calls for universal suffrage leads to passing of 1925 General Election Law (made ineffective however w/ 1928 Peace Preservation Law); -then bam!1923 Tokyo Earthquake destroys Tokyo (downhill from here, according to many): 100,000 dead; much of city (especially old shitamachi) destroyed; city center moves westward).

-experimental modernist fiction; -prominent writers of this period include: Tayama Katai, Akutagawa Rynosuke, Tanizaki Junichir, Kajii Motojir, Nagai Kaf, Sat Haruo, Shiga Naoya and other Shirakaba writers, etc. Shwa (1926-1989): -left suppressed (Communist Party forced underground in 1926, gone by 1933); -progressive victory with General Election Law (1925; all 25+ males can vote), followed immediately by reactionary Peace Preservation Law (1925; restricts political activities, makes kokutai supreme symbol of nation); -1931: conquest of Manchuria begins with army acting independently; pioneer settlements begin; -1933: Japan withdraws from League of Nations; increasing isolation, international criticism; -1935: rapid rise of militarists; fascism/cult of emperor; Nihonshugi/kokusuishugi nationalism (post-Meiji phenomenon) reaches fever pitch; -1936: ni-ni-roku jiken, right-wing coup of 1,500 against government; ordered by emperor to stop after several assassinations; -1937: Marco Polo Bridge incident leads to full-scale invasion of China; -1937-1945: bloodiest war in human history; 10 million Chinese dead; 3 million Japanese (1 million civilians); several million from around Southeast Asia; -Disillusioned writers flee to imagined past (Edo, Heian, etc.): nihon kaiki and tenk novels from former leftists, Japanese Romantic School . . .; -attempt to overcome modernity and seek other alternatives; - defeat, occupation/postwar/economic boom/etc; Heisei (1989- ): -otaku culture, muen shakai, anime, manga, pillow-humpers, etc.