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Japanese
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Picture of Armor
from Kyoto National Museum
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Nanbokucho
Period
A period
between Kamakura Period and Muromachi Period is called
Nanbokucho Period. The beginning of the Nanbokucho
period
was 1333 A.D., and the period came to the end when two divided
Imperial Courts were united in 1392 A.D. "Nan"
means South, "Boku" means North,
and "Cho" indicates the Imperial Court. After
the Muromachi shogunate was collapsed, Emperor
Godaigo took the reins of government and a leading
part of the politics. However, the new politics
did not last a long time because each group of people
had a different opinion from other groups of people.
For instance, the nobility desired to have aristocracy
like in Heian period, but samurai wanted to have
Samurai government like Kamakura shogunate had.
Each type of government was beneficial to only one
group, and Emperor Godaigo could not control those
people who had different idea.
Dissatisfaction among samurai
with the new politics increased and the War of
Nakasendai occurred. Takauji Ashikaga,
who was a represent of samurai, asked Emperor
Godaigo that if Takauji could take over
the
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shogun position and quell the rebellion against the politics
caused by Yukitoki Hojo. However, the emperor denied
Takauji's request. Takauji Ashikaga went
to turn down the rebellion without getting permission from Emperor
Godaigo and won back Kamakura from Hojo, and then
Takauji started to take defiance against the Imperial
Court. Emperor Godaigo sent Yoshisada Nita
to subdue Takauji Ashikaga; however, Yoshisada
lost a battle between Yoshisada and Takauji. Takauji
pursued Yoshisada and arrived to Kyoto, but Takauji
lost a battle between him and Akiie Kitabatake
from Ohshu. Takauji fled from Akiie and other people,
who were sent by Emperor Godaigo, and restored his force
in Kyushu Island where is the southern west part
of Japan. He took advantage of the circumstances and brought
Kyoto, where the Imperial Court was, under his control. Takauji
helped a prince to the next emperor, who was Emperor Komyo,
and
the Muromachi Shogunate was established in 1336 A.D. Takauji became shogun in two years after the
shogunate was founded.
Emperor Godaigo escaped from Kyoto
and went to Yoshino in Nara since Kyoto was under Takauji's
control and the position of the emperor was replaced. Emperor
Godaigo established the Imperial Court in Yoshino. The
Imperial Court in Kyoto was called Hokucho, and the Imperial
Court in Nara was called Nancho. This was the reason why two Imperial
Courts coexisted at the same time. There was
a confrontation between Hokucho and Nancho and this state of affairs
had last for approximately 60 years.
In 1368 A.D., Yoshimitu Ashikaga, who was Takauji's
ground son, took over the shogunate position from Yoshiakira and
became the 3rd Shogun when
Yoshimitu was 11 years old. Ashikaga's political
power became stable by the time Yoshimitu was
Shogun. Political rights under a control of the Imperial Court were
taken away by Muromachi shogunate gradually, and the power of shogun became
stronger. At the same time, there was Prince Kanenaga,
who was a son of Emperor Godaiko, in Kyushu. Prince
Kanenaga gained force and he was supported by people in
Kyushu, so Yoshimitu's political power did not reached
Kyushu for a while. However, Yoshimitu gained ascendancy
over Kyushu in 1372 A.D.
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Nanbokucho
Culture is
a part of Muromachi Culture. Several war chronicles
and historic books were written because war occurred
frequently in the Nanbokucho period. Although the
time is unstable, common people began to enjoy
new things that the nobility used to enjoy
practicing. Renga, linked poem, was used to be an entertainment
of Waka, classical Japanese poem, in a court life of Kamakura Period,
but renga became popular among people. Tea
was considered as medicine in 12th century;
however, people started to enjoy tea drinking in
this period. Some people were flamboyantly dressed
and had over extravagant lives. Those people were
always in the forefront of fashion in poem, flower
arrangement, tea drinking, and other things. Entertainments
in the court life of Kamakura Period spread among
common people and those people enjoyed the new customs.
This culture became base of two other cultures in
Muromachi period.
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Muromachi Period
began after the Hokucho and Nancho were united by Yoshimitu
Ashikaga.
Emperor Gokameyama from Nancho went back to Kyoto for abdicating the
Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial House to Emperor Gokomatu
in Hokucho. To unite the two Imperial Courts, Yoshimitu
promised that both offspring would be an emperor of Japan
in turn. However, Yoshimitu made descendants of Emperor
Gokameyama priests and eradicated a family line of Emperor
Gokameyama.
Ming
Dynasty
in China demanded that Japan needs to be subordinate to Ming
Dynasty like other Asian countries did and regulate against a
group of pirate, which called Wako. Messengers from Ming Dynasty
came to Kyushu and contacted Prince Kanenaga in Nanbokucho
Period. He wanted to associate with Emperor
Hongwu on equal terms because he was prince,
but Prince
Kanenaga was in state of war against Yoshimitu. So the
prince decided to bring a tribute to Ming
Dynasty with hoping if he could get help from the Dynasty. However,
the Prince Kanenaga had no support from Ming Dynasty and lost
a battle against Yoshimitu.
Yoshimitu tried
to bring a tribute to Chinese Emperor after he controled
Kyushu area, but Emperor Hongwu denied it because Yoshimitu
was a vassal of Emperor in Japan. However, Yoshimitu
became the Premier and the shogun's authority got stronger than
emperor's. He started to bring gold, copper, fan, and a few
other goods as tributes to Ming Dynasty for trading
since his position was the king of Japan when
he had the trade with China. Bringing
a tribute to the Ming Dynasty worked well because
the dynasty gave crafts objects, books, silk fabrics, and
many other things in return for a tribute received. Since Japan
in those days traded only by bringing goods as tribute, the
expenses during Japanese stay and transportation fee were paid
by Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Japanese made a good profit on the trade. This
trade was discontinued for a while when a shogun changed,
but common people in Japan kept trading goods with people in China. Muromachi
Shogunate collected tax from those people since they made huge money by selling goods from China to people in Japan. Muromachi Shogunate
levied a tax on Ashikaga's land, money lending, a barrier station,
and Zen temples. However, the tax on each barrier station was
abolished in later period because this barrier station disturbed
a distribution of goods from place to place.
Shogun's power was strong and every rebellions
was put down; however, the situation changed when Yoshinori
Ashikaga became the 6th Shogun. He ruled his
country by fear, and many court nobles, monks, Shinto priests,
and court ladies were sacrificed because those people remonstrated
with Yoshinori about his conduct. That reign of terror and many
rebellions made the authority of Shogunate less strong. The
War of Onin occurred between 2 groups because of family
for a dispute about the succession to decide who would be the
9th Shogun. Kyoto, where the Shogunate was, turned into a scene
of battle and was devastated. Many court noble and monks got
out of the war and moved to the provinces; therefore, a culture
flourished in Kyoto was spread to the provinces. The authority was passed into Hosokawa's hands
when Yoshizumi Ashikaga became
the 10th shogun,
but the authority was changed hands again and again. Hidehisa
Nagamatu assassinated the 13th Shogun, and this was typical
of the inferiors overthrowing their superiors. Muromachi
Shogunate had entirely lost the authority after that case. Since
Kyoto was still politically unstable, samurais from variety
of class established local politics. Those samurai were called
Sengoku-daimyo, and during a century after the War of
Onin was called the Age of Civil Wars.
During the Age of Civil Wars, people from
Portugal arrived to Tanegashima (an Island) in Japan. Those
people had introduced a matchlock gun in 1543 A.D., and the
gun had come into wide use among Sengoku-daimyo. This
implies that people started to use the gun for a battle.
A strategy of the battle was changed by introduction of the
gun and a defense of a castle against the gun was considered.
Moreover, the matchlock gun was started to produce in Japan
as time went. In 1584, Spanish came to Hirado in Nagasaki.
A trade thrived in a region such as Hirado and Nagasaki,
and merchant from Kyoto, Sakai, and Hakata
went to the region to buy goods from other countries. Trading
goods were raw silk made in China, gunpowder, and gun.
In this time period, Japanese did not know a manufacturing method
of raw silk; therefore, people bought the raw silk made in China. Since people
from Europe stopped by China, they bought those raw silk and
traded it as one of goods to get Japanese silver, which quality
was higher. Several missionaries came to Japan with traders,
and Christianity was brought. The first person who brought the
religion was Francisco de Xavier from Spain in 1549
A.D. Missionaries devoted to propagate Christianity in Japan
and established schools, churches, and missionary's training
schools. According to a record, a number of Christian increased gradually in
Japan and the number
of Christian reached about 150,000 . A
lot of events occurred in Muromachi Period; however, Muromachi
Sogun ate came to the end when the 15th Shogun was exiled by Nobunaga
Oda, who was one of Sengoku-daimyo.
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Picture from National
Museum of Japanese History
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Picture of Gold Lacquer
from National Kyoto Museum
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Picture of Nishijin
Textile
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Agriculture,
Commerce and Industory
Agriculture
in Muromachi period was a little developed as compared
with agriculture in Kamakura period. Double-cropping,
using farm implements made of iron, and utilizing
force of cow and horse for cultivation had
become widespread; moreover, raising three crops
a year was practiced in 15th century. Harvesting
crops became stable because of manuring on the land
and breed improvement of paddy rice. Increased the
productivity of produce brought farmer to be rich.
As areas of growing tea, lacquer, and other plants became
larger, farmers produced those plants on commercial
bases. Those farmer were indispensable for growing
a money economy in this period since a supply and
demand of products were larger and the products
were transferred to further area. The farmers made
goods by using their harvested plants. A skill of
lacquer handicrafts for making "Gold lacquer"
was much developed in this period. Manufacture among
people was developed and each region started to
have a special goods and/or food. For example, Kyoto
and a couple of other areas were used to be the
principal products of Japanese alcohol. Ceramics
and textiles were also developed. A base of famous
silk textiles in present was founded in Muromachi
Period, and the name of textiles is Nishijin.
Not only men but also women worked
in Muromachi period.Women
worked as peddler for selling fish, fan, cloth,
and tofu. Moreover, some women also participated in commerce
and financial business.
Because of increased product, a number of time
of market in a month was changed from 3 to 6 times
in a month. Also, a distribution of goods from
other region made a market possible to deal with
only a special goods. Since people spent money for
buying those things in markets, a circulation of money
among people was spread. People began to pay a tax with money
instead of paying tax in kind as the money economy
developed.
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Kitayama Culture
had a strong
influence of Chinese culture since Yoshimitu Ashikaga
was
very interested in Chinese books and culture. Some
Zen monks went to Ming Dynasty to study and obtain
what idea of Zen was; also, some Zen monks were from China. The
influence can be seen in a black-and-white drawing
and a building style in the early Muromachi period.
There is a famous building, which is Rokuonji-Kinkaku, from
Kitayama culture. Some part of the building is gilded.
Rokuonji-Kinkaku is composed by 3 floors. 1st
floor is the palace style of the Fujiwara period
architecture. 2nd floor is an architecture style
introduced from China in Nara period, and 3rd floor
is the style of Zen architecture.
Many
art tequnich developed in Kitayama culture. Noh, which is the
oldest musical theater in Japan, also flourished
in Kitayama cuture. Noh actors usually wear a lacquer-coated
mask made of wood when they play, and there
are several kinds of mask for Noh. Kanami and Zeami
completed to make Sarugaku-noh, which was a high quality theater.
Sarugaku-noh was originated in Sarugaku that
was also the prototype of both the Kyogen face and
the Noh play, and Sarugaku-noh was a performance
of mimicry and a comical action. Noh can be seen
in Present time in Japan since it is one of
traditional performance.
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Kinkaku Rokuon temple
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Higashiyama
Culture is
different from Kitayama culture even though both
cultures were in Muromachi Period. Bases of Higashiyama
culture was simple idea of Zen, the subtle and profound,
and subtle taste. A Japanese garden, which was made
of only rocks and gravel, consists of a concentration
of Zen idea. "The subtle and profound" and "subtle
taste" are also seen in Japanese traditional art
such as the art of flower arrangement and the tea
ceremony. Moreover, the foundations of the flower
arrangement and the tea ceremony were composed in
this culture.
Yoshimasa Ashikaga, who was
the 8th Shogun, built Jishoji-Ginkaku. The building was structured
by 2 floors. 1st floor was the shoin style
of traditional Japanese architecture, and 2nd floor
was the Zen style of architecture. The shoin style
of traditional architecture is the base of Japanese
present architecture. For example, a room covered
with tatami, partitioning a room into compartments
with a paper sliding door or a sliding door, and
hanging a ceiling are characteristics of the shoin
style.
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Variation
of food can be seen in Muromachi period
because of an introduction of new foods, invent
of a seasoning, and new cooking method. Himeii(a
kind of rice) became popular among Samurai
and common people. Boiling was the way of cooking
the rice, so those people ate softer rice than rice, which was eaten by the nobility, because the
nobility clung to tradition. What the nobility ate? They ate steamed rice
that was harder. Himeii
is the rice eaten by Japanese at present.
Eating custome changed gradually
such as Eating between meals among people.
People used to eat twice a day, but eating between
meals became common to monks, Samurai, and farmers. The
reason why those people began to take food more than 2 times in a day was
because of a heavy work or practice. Those people needed to take in enough food
for achieving their own work. The noblity also started
to eat between meals.
Miso soup can be seen on a menu
if you go to Japanese restaurant in America. Some
Japanese family cook Miso soup for every meal, and
it is pretty common. However, many people do not
know when is the origin of Miso soup. Miso
was already eaten in Kamakura period, but Miso soup
was originated in Muromachi period. According to
a record, people in a battle field dissolved miso
in hot water and ate it.
Rice ball was also eaten in a battle field.
You may see Soy sauce on a shelf
if you go to a grocery store. The sauce is
one of seasoning and used by many people. Soy sauce was invented in 1500's.
People began
to flavored a soy sauce in a process of cooked food,
and new recipes were created.
As trade between
Japan and Portugal started, a couple of
new food and a new custom were introduced. According to a material, a red
pepper, squash, and bread were brought to Japan by Portuguese traders.
Missionaries from Portugal made their believer eat
beef. Japanese people usually thought a cow was a labor of cultivation in this
time period. Another thing, which is not food, brought by European people
was cigarette.
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Miso soup
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