Japan Term Exam Flashcards
Define bakufu
When Minamoto Yoritomo gained military dominance in 1185, he established the 1st shogunate or bakufu (tent government). It became Japan’s military government between 1192 and 1868, headed by the shogun. The bakufu was responsible for warfare, policing, and it was a firm follower of the imperial court. Over centuries, its power expanded and ruled Japan for almost 700 years. When Commodore Perry arrived in Tokyo in 1853, it caused a chain of events that led to Japan’s rise as a modern imperial power and fall of the bakufu. As a result, in 1868 the Meiji Restoration replaced the bakufu and its authority came to an end. OR Tokugawa house government.
Define ukiyo zoshi
It was the first major genre of popular Japanese fiction . It describes the hedonistic lifestyle of Japan’s middle and lower class. This amorous fiction was created by Ihara Saikaku, whose books heavily featured themes of love and romance among ordinary Japanese people. This was a new bourgeois literature written mainly for the amusement and instruction of townsmen in the large commercial centers and describing them and the world that they inhabited. They were not restricted to the Floating World. They were concerned with the conditions and customary ways of thought and action of the contemporary merchants and samurai. An example would be Life of an Amorous Man
Define tozama
A class of daimyo that meant ‘outsiders.’ These men were the least-trusted allies of the shogun. Despite their lack of hereditary ties to the shogun, they were allowed to retain their domains. As potential rivals, they were excluded from participation in the government, and many of their estates were reduced in size.
Define Fudai
- A class of daimyo that were hereditary vassals.
-their ancestors would have proven their loyalty to the Tokugawa - providing military strength of the Tokugawa shogunate -staffing for the bakufu
- wielded great power through their bureaucratic position
- they were dependent on the shogun.
Define Shinpan
A class of daimyo that were certain relatives of the shogun.
Define Sankin-kotai
→daimyo posted to other parts of Japan, not in their hometown
Their families held hostage in Edo
If they try anything, their family gets killed
Daimyo spent half of time in wherever they get posted and half back in Edo
Daimyo walked all the way back, long distance
Daimyo don’t have time to rebellions, although some attempted
Same thing in China (chen houmou Politics)
It led to the improvement of a commercial economy, as merchants gathered in the provincial and metropolitan capitals to supply the needs of these lords. The daimyo also became divorced from the government of their fiefs, and their debts piled up. It was abolished in 1862. “Alternate residence.”
Define iki
-Iki is a Japanese aesthetical concept
-Refined spontaneity
-“coolness” or “chic”
-behaviors that are stylish and/or sexy, but in a simple, low-key, –implicit but crisp way – it’s almost the opposite of being tacky
Define chonin
“Townspeople”, craftsmen and merchants who lived in the urban area during the Edo period. With the class system (warrior, farmer, craftsmen, and merchant classes) established in the early Edo period, they held the lowest social position.
Define kana-zoshi
“Kana-booklets
-various types, short, works of fiction and semi-fiction,
-written in kana (phonetic) script and could be read by the ordinary townspeople more easily than difficult Chinese characters
-stories about popular actors, critiques of the leading courtesans, frivolous romances
- practical books of advice or instruction
- mainly written by, for and about members of the merchant class, who until then had played so negligible a part in Japanese culture.
Define renga
genre of Japanese linked-verse poetry in which 2 or more poets supplied alternating sections of a poem
Joruri
Puppet drama (the genre in which Chikamatsu made his great name)
Ikebana
The art of flower arrangement
What was the Eternal Storehouse of Japan about? Who was it’s author?
Ihara Saikaku
-practical economic life of the townsmen and how they lived and how they should live
- 30 stories describing ways in which men can accumulate money or how they could lose it
- practical advice on money-making
Shows the positive, optimistic aspects of the rise of new commercial groups, while at the same time warning his readers how easily improvidence or laziness can deprive men of the wealth that they or their fathers have accumulated
What was Life of an Amorous Woman about?
Life of an Amorous Woman
The protagonist of The Life of an Amorous Woman is a nymphomaniac and the book describes the steady degradation that results from her efforts to find a constant variety of sexual enjoyment, while at the same time surviving economically as a single woman in a harsh feudal society. The courtesan’s life however, is no longer pictured in rosy colors of the earlier works, but is revealed with full realism as a place where money rules the day and where sensual desire is rarely relieved by tenderness. As the heroine’s beauty begins to desert her with advancing age, she becomes a common streetwalker. Saikaku evokes the dark, gloomy aspect of sex and shows us the reverse side of the medal.
Who was Matsuo Basho?
Matsuo Basho was a 17th century poet who created hakai and haibun. His most famous work is The Narrow Road to the North. Basho’s poetry dealt with the lives of farmers and fishermen, stimulating the reader’s imagination using playful and lively dialogue. His own origins were reflected in his poems when talking about figures like the beggar, the old man, the outcast, and the traveler. He focused on the image of the travelling monk and the fate of tragic heroes of the “warrior plays” compared to Noh and “women plays.” Other things his poems contained were a sense of naturalness, animals, nature, and the description of mundane things.
Define ninjo and giri
ninjo: ex:occurs in pleasure quarters, a world of desire, passion, and the individual, fantasy
giri: ex:in paper shop, a world of responsibility, reason, reality, obligation
EX: the family, with Jihei caught between the two
(reflected in the Love Suicides of Amijima)
Who was Ihara Saikaku?
-Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) was a Japanese haikai poet and novelist who created the ‘floating world’ genre
- rise of a commercial economy and new urban class in early modern Japan.
- themes of love and romance which was actually (recreational sex)
-understanding of social values at the time
-The Eternal Storehouse of Japan, which contained many stories of ordinary townspeople and their efforts to make money and pay off debt
- Life of an Amorous Man and Life of an Amorous Woman.
Who was Chikamatsu Monzaemon?
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) was a Japanese playwright who wrote for both the puppet theatre and kabuki. His plays are of value because they provide detailed insight into Japanese society in the Edo period. Some of the things reflected in his plays are the new urban culture in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo the same way as Ihara Saikaku’s novels and Matsuo Basho’s poetry. His puppet plays were divided into two categories – historical dramas (jidaimono) and contemporary life dramas (sewamono). Hisotrical plays included Chushingura and The Battles of Coxinga. Chushingura was banned for the portrayal of politically sensitive topics, but Chikamatsu retold the story (The Ako Incident) set in a different century to avoid censorship. One of his famous contemporary life plays was The Love Suicides of Amijima. This play got so popular that the government banned more plays on the topic to prevent real couples from committing suicide.
What are the 4 major sects of Buddhism?
Pure land
True pure land
Nichiren (lotus)
Zen
Who wrote the Love Suicides of Amijima? And what is it’s theme?
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Half of Chikamatsu’s life plays focus on an Osaka urban commoner, almost all male protagonists are young and of low social station, either an adopted son or a shop clerk, and most of them become involved with a low-level prostitute
Central themes of life plays = conflict between those who try to preserve the family and the individual driven by his or her own desires, who works against that social order
→creates complex conflicts between ninjo (desire/emotion) and giri (responsibility, obligation)
→focuses on conflicts between giri and giri that result in extreme ninjo, or pathos (a quality that evokes pity or sadness- tragedy) you can’t have both
Define Bushido
What does it entail?
- A moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behaviours, and lifestyles
-Ruled by 7 principles: righteousness, loyalty, respect, honor, honesty, courage, and consistency
Define wabi and sabi
appreciation of something that becomes more beautiful as it ages, fades, and consequently acquires a new charm.
WABI: loneliness and melancholy, appreciation of a serene life, far from urban hustle and bustle
SABI: the delightful contemplation of what is old and worn. It was also used to talk about the beauty of faded or withered things. Sabi could also mean “old and elegant”, or “being rusty”, with an untranslatable impression of peacefulness.
as an appreciation of a beauty that’s doomed to disappear, Acceptance and appreciation of the impermanent, imperfect and incomplete nature of everything
What was the Hakone Pass?
- important site in the history of transportation in the Edo period (1603-1868)
-checkpoint that enforced the strict travel regulations
-important bc of its proximity to the capital
-role = mainly to control “guns entering and women leaving” the Edo area to prevent any possibility of revolt against the newly established government - one way to ensure that the Tokugawa government would remain in control of the country
What were the 3 classes of samurai?
Rank determined by family history and koku of rice
Hatamoto (bannermen)
Gokenin (housemen)
Ronin (masterless samurai)
→considered most dangerous because of their free will
How were the social positions ranked in Japan?
→daimyo / shogun??
→farmers
→artisans
→merchants
What does michiyuki refer to?
poetic journey
What are the 4 features of Japanese aesthetics?
Suggestion: stimulate imagination, while emphasizing the individual uniqueness of each thing and non-existence of fixed essences, allows us to appreciate the quality and craftsmanship of something
→implying, not saying something directly, suggests something has been done, subtle
→leaves room for interpretation, creativity, interest
→never fulfilling if people are given things directly
Irregularity: imperfection of that is part of existence
→example: something out of focus, the angle might be questionable
→symmetry might get boring after a while
Simplicity: appreciate quality of craftsmanship of something, the grace of a gesture
→nothing complicated
Perishability: key for evoking the aesthetic experiences, includes elements of sadness at the brevity of things, the beauty of knowing something is not gonna be there
Define yugen
mysterious, dark, grace, a sense not to enjoy the exterior beauty of an object, which is in front of our eyes but to enhance the beauty more impressive by imagining its latent beauty,
suggestiveness, lingering memory, aftertaste, or implication
Define Mono-no-aware
mono (thing) and aware (feeling),
a beautiful sadness in the passing of lives and objects
→cherry blossoms, autumn leaves about to fall, changes of the moon, passing of seasons, absence of friends or lovers
What does mononame mean?
imitation of things, copying,
What is Okashii
funny, invokes laughter
What books were considered for women and what books weren’t allowed for women to read?
Women were allowed to read the Onna Daigaku (The Great Learning for Women), the Classic of Filial Piety, Biographies of Notable Women
They were not allowed to read the tale of genji or the tale of ise because they depicted sexual and emotional relationships between men and women, encouraging sensuality, forgetting ethics
What do age joro and mise joro refer to?
Age joro: tayu, courtesans of higher rank
Mise joro: apprentices, servers/servants
