Permissions
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
AMS Press, Inc.: Two three-line poems from page 75 of Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan; Doubleday & Company, Inc.: Eight Haiku poems from An Introduction to Haiku by Harold G. Henderson. Copyright © 1958 by Harold G. Henderson; The Hokuseido Press Co. Ltd.: Poem on page 35 of The Kobin Waka-Shu, translated by H. H. Honda. Poem on page 82 of History of Haiku, Vol. II by R. H. Blyth; Penguin Books Ltd.: A tanka from 'Ise Monogatari' by Ariwara Narihira. Reprinted from page 71 of The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse, translated by Geoffrey Bownas and Anthony Thwaite (1964). Copyright © 1974 by Geoffrey Bownas and Anthony Thwaite; Shambala Publications, Inc. (Berkeley, California): Poems on pages 15 and 18 of The Sutra of Hui-Neng; Stanford University Press: Poem on page 91 of An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry by Earl Miner; Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.: Three lines of verse from page 130 of The Noh Drama; University of California Press: Four-line Haiku poem from page 104 of The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa's Oraga Haru, translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa. Copyright © i960, 1972 by The Regents of the University of California.
[Acknowledgments]
The author's thanks go to Anne Freedgood for editing the manuscript and for her many helpful suggestions; to Professor Ronald F. Miller for critical advice on things Western, ranging from art to aesthetics; to Professor Gary D. Prideaux for introducing the author to both Japan and Japanese linguistics; to Tatsuo and Kiyoko Ishimoto for assistance in interpreting Japanese architecture; and to others who have graciously reviewed the manuscript at various stages and provided helpful suggestions, including Julie Hoover, Lynn Grifo, Anna Stern and Ellen O'Hara. I am also grateful for guidance from Professors Shigeru Matsugami and Takashi Yoshida, formerly of Tottori University, and from the garden artist Masaaki Ueshima. The insights of yet others, lost in years of questioning and research, are acknowledged here in spirit if not, unfortunately, in name.
[Japanese Chronology]
Jomon Culture (2000 b.c. [?]-ca. 300 b.c. )
Yayoi Period (ca. 300 b.c-ca. a.d. 300)
Mound Tomb Era (ca. a.d. 300-552)
Asuka Period (552-645)
Buddhism introduced (552)
Chinese government and institutions copied
Early Nara Period (645-710)
Late Nara Period (710-794)
Japan ruled from replica of Chinese capital of Ch'ang-an built at Nara (710)
Bronze Buddha largest in world dedicated at Nara (752) Compilation of early poetry anthology Manyoshu (780)
Scholarly Buddhist sects dominate Nara
Heian Period (794-1185)
Capital established at Heian-kyo (Kyoto) (794)
Saicho (767-822) introduces Tendai Buddhism from China (806)
Kukai (774-835) introduces Shingon Buddhism from China (808)
Last mission to Tang court ends direct Chinese influence (838)
Tale of Genji written by Lady Murasaki (ca. 1002-1019)
Honen (1133-1212) founds Pure Land, or Jodo, sect (1175)
Taira clan takes control of government, ousting aristocracy (1159)
Minamoto clan replaces Taira (1185)
Kamakura Period (1185-1333)
Warrior outpost in Kamakura becomes effective capital (1185) Eisai (1141-1215) introduces koan-oriented Rinzai sect of Zen
on Kyushu (1191)
Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) becomes shogun (1192)
Hojo clan assumes real power in Kamakura (1205)
Shinran (1173-1262) founds rival Amidist sect called True Pure
Land, or Jodo Shin (1224)
Dogen (1200-1253) founds zazen-oriented Soto Zen (1236)
Nichiren (1222-1282) founds new sect stressing chants to Lotus Sutra (1253)
Ashikaga Period (1133-1573)
Hojo regency ended; Kamakura destroyed (1333)
Emperor Godaigo briefly restores imperial rule (1334)
Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) ousts Godaigo, who establishes
rival court (1336)
Takauji becomes shogun, beginning Ashikaga era proper (1338) Muso Soseki (1275-1351) convinces Takauji to found sixty-six
Zen temples throughout Japan (1338)
Landscape gardens evolve to reflect Zen aesthetic ideals Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) establishes relations with
Ming China (1401)
Zeami (1363-1443), encouraged by Yoshimitsu, creates No
theater
Golden Pavilion built by Yoshimitsu (begun 1394)
Sung monochromes imported, inspiring re-creation of Chinese
schools (fourteenth century)
Yoshimasa (1435-1490) becomes shogun (1443)
Onin War begins, to devastate Kyoto for ten years (1467)
Silver Pavilion built by Yoshimasa; Zen architecture (1482)
Tea ceremony begins to take classic shape as a celebration of
Zen aesthetics
Sesshu Toyo (1420-1506), greatest Japanese landscape artist Abstract stone gardens appear (ca. 1490)
General anarchy envelops country (ca. 1500)
Portuguese discover Japan, introduce firearms (1542)
Francis Xavier arrives to preach (1549)
Ashikaga shogunate overthrown by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)
Momoyama Period (1573-1615)
Nobunaga begins unification of Japan (1573) Nobunaga assassinated (1582)
Hideyoshi (1536-1598) assumes control and continues unification (1582)
Sen no Rikyu (1520-1591) propagates Zen aesthetics through
tea ceremony
City of Edo (Tokyo) founded (1590)
Hideyoshi unsuccessfully invades Korea, returns with Korean
ceramic artists (1592)
Momoyama Castle built by Hideyoshi, giving name to the age (1594)
Rise of elaborate arts in opposition to Zen aesthetic ideals Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) appointed shogun (1603)
Ieyasu defeats forces supporting Hideyoshi's heir (1615)
Tokugawa Period (1615-1868)
Ieyasu founds Tokugawa shogunate (1615)
Daimyo forced to begin system of attendance on Tokugawa in
Edo
Basho (1644-1694), greatest Haiku poet
Popular arts of Kabuki and woodblock prints arise in Edo
Classic Zen culture no longer supported by shogunate
Hakuin (1685-1768) revives Zen and broadens appeal
Zen culture influences popular arts and crafts