The shimabara rebellion catholic tragedy buddhist triumph

PREMODERN JAPAN

2

3

Westview Press was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, by notable publisher and intellectual Fred Praeger. Westview Press continues to publish scholarly titles and high- quality undergraduate- and graduate-level textbooks in core social science disciplines. With books developed, written, and edited with the needs of serious nonfiction readers, professors, and students in mind, Westview Press honors its long history of publishing books that matter.

Copyright © 2015 by Westview Press Published by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Westview Press, 2465 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301. Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com.

Every effort has been made to secure required permissions for all text, images, maps, and other art reprinted in this volume.

Westview Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hane, Mikiso. Premodern Japan : a historical survey / Mikiso Hane, late of Knox College, Louis G.

Perez, llinois State University. — Second edition. pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8133-4970-1 (e-book : alk. paper) 1. Japan—History—To 1868. I. Perez,

Louis G. II. Title. DS850.H36 2014 952—dc23

2014032427

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

4

http://www.westviewpress.com
mailto:special.markets@perseusbooks.com
Contents

Preface Introduction

1 THE EARLY YEARS Geographic Setting The Mythological Origins of Japan Japanese Prehistory Japan’s Neighbor: Korea Early Yamato Society: Fourth and Fifth Centuries The Indigenous Cults Social Practices and Conditions Architecture

2 THE ADVENT AND ASSIMILATION OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION The Introduction of Chinese Civilization Buddhism Prince Shōtoku The Taika Reforms Culture of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries Social and Economic Conditions Marriage and Gender Relations Internal and External Foes

3 THE HEIAN PERIOD The Age of Court Aristocracy The Central Government Culture Nara-Heian Buddhism The Rise of Shōen The Emergence of the Warrior Class (Samurai) The Triumph of the Samurai The Rivalry of the Taira and Minamoto Clans

5

4 THE KAMAKURA PERIOD The Kamakura Shogunate (1185–1333) The Hōjō Regency Foreign Relations: The Asian Continent The Mongol Invasions and the Decline of the Kamakura Bakufu The Ethos of the Samurai Women and Inheritance Kamakura Buddhism Culture

5 THE ASHIKAGA PERIOD AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE DAIMYŌ Political Developments Ashikaga Rule The Decline of the Shōen The Onset of the Time of Troubles The Rise of the Daimyō and the Warring States The Peasantry Economic Growth The Influence of Zen Buddhism on Culture Other Cultural Developments

6 THE RESTORATION OF ORDER Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Hideyoshi’s Domestic Policies The Ninja Azuchi-Momoyama Culture Gender and Sexuality Contact with the West Christianity in Japan The Introduction of Western Things

7 THE EARLY TOKUGAWA PERIOD The Triumph of Tokugawa Ieyasu The Power Structure Administrative Structure The Administration of Justice

6

Social Structure The Samurai The Peasants The Townspeople Other Classes Family Hierarchy and Women

8 INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN

Neo-Confucianism The Zhu Xi School in Japan The Wang Yang-Ming School Ancient Learning National Learning Agrarian Egalitarianism The Culture of the Townspeople Prose Fiction Theater Woodblock Printing and Painting Haiku Education The State of Buddhism

9 THE LATE TOKUGAWA PERIOD Political Developments Economic Problems The Pleasure Quarters The Lot of the Peasants Population Control Peasant Uprisings Agricultural Improvements Forestry Intellectual Currents: Reformers and Critics

10 THE FALL OF THE TOKUGAWA BAKUFU Sakoku The Arrival of Commodore Perry The Immediate Consequences

7

The Mentality of Sonnō Jōi The Rise of the Anti-Bakufu Forces The Meiji Restoration

Appendix A: The Internet Appendix B: Chronological Chart Appendix C: List of Shōguns Selected Bibliography Index

8

Preface

In many ways this revision is decades overdue. My late good friend Mikiso Hane first wrote the early half of a two-volume history (Japan: A Historical Survey) in 1972. Then he revised it somewhat to stand alone as Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey. In 1991 he revised it again. That version has not been revised since. Miki once told me that he intended to bring it up to date “at the turn of the twenty-first century.” He never got around to it; he passed away in 2003.

I rewrote Miki’s modern Japan half of the textbook—twice, in fact. After a decade, I took up the premodern half. You have the results in your hands. Generally speaking, I have tried to retain Miki’s voice wherever I could. His work on religion, the arts, and culture are still magnificent. Students tell me that his prose is still clear and easy to understand after four decades. Unless there has been a significant change in consensus, I have retained his words and interpretations.

A Word About Sources and Citations I have chosen to put source citations and clarifications at the end of each chapter for quick and easy reference and to avoid cluttering up the flow of the narrative. I have retained almost all of Miki’s citations except for those clearly out of date. His translations from Japanese are retained. Miki was a great translator; we owe much to him for access to some great Japanese scholars, Maruyama Masao especially. Translation is a tough job; most of us have tried it, if only because our dissertations required it. In my own case, I always feel like the shade-tree mechanic in that I find leftover parts and pieces after I am done.

I have used the endnotes to cite sources for new quotations I have employed but also to suggest particularly good sources that a student might consult to flesh out what I have suggested. Long ago (in the previous century) when I was an undergrad, I valued most those histories that provided suggested readings right in the footnotes.

Regarding the new bibliography, I have found that recent scholarship has nearly doubled since Miki’s last edition. This is mostly due to the explosion of higher education in the last half century. In former times only wealthy people could afford to send their children to college, and then few would “waste” the effort by allowing them to pursue esoteric topics like Japanese history. The idea of the first child of a Chicano illegal immigrant farm worker family to graduate from high school spending much time in college puzzling out Japanese history was unimaginable. By far the best of the “new stuff” is in what has been called the “subaltern voice.” The influx of women into the profession has profoundly changed it. We must remember

9

that Miki was among the very first to include discussions on gender, sexuality, and the “nonpeople” (variously called hinin and eta). As Jim Huffman eloquently noted in Miki’s obituary, he had “led the way for his American peers in making women, workers, and peasants a serious part of the narrative.”1

Because this revision is intended to make Japanese history more readily available to younger scholars, I have chosen to cite only English-language sources. Citations to Japanese-language sources are retained in the endnotes for each chapter to cite sources for Miki’s translations.

To facilitate the use of the bibliography, I have added new subsections (The Arts, Gender and Sexuality, Religion, etc.) for quick reference. When in doubt about a new source, I have repeated the entry in more than one section. I have tried to keep that to a minimum in the interest of space.

Illustrations The folks at Westview Press have commissioned cartographers to delineate changes that I think can best be expressed in line maps. I chose not to bring in new full-color illustrations because they drive up the price for the book beyond what I believe to be reasonable. If one wants to see a plethora of excellent color illustrations, one only has to type in names and places (Hiroshige, Utamaro, Kabuki, Ise, etc.) into a decent search engine, and one has access to scores of examples. Please see the appendix on the use of the Internet at the end of the book.

Names and Transliteration The Hepburn system of transliteration of the Japanese language will be employed. This entails using the “shi” instead of “si,” using “n’” at the end of some words to indicate that sound (the only consonant without a vowel sound), as well as the use of macrons (small horizontal marks, as in “Chōshū”) to indicate elongated vowels. Surnames are written first (e.g., Tokugawa Ieyasu) followed by the “given” or personal name, but we will use the personal name when differentiating between two people with the same surname (e.g., Ieyasu and Nariaki, both named Tokugawa). The only exceptions will be when the person is better known using the Western system (Mikiso Hane or D. T. Suzuki). Also, place names that should be written with macrons that are now more commonly written without (Tōkyō vs. Tokyo or Ōsaka vs. Osaka) will appear in their modernized form. We will employ the new Pinyin style (Beijing) instead of the old Wade-Giles (Peking) for Chinese unless the latter system is used in a quotation or title (Peking duck).

Thanks! I wish to thank all the folks who contributed to this revision. My good friend Betsy Dorn Lublin kindly read the first draft, as did seven anonymous reviewers employed by Westview Press. I also wish to thank (alphabetically) Sydney DeVere

10

Brown, Roy Hanashiro, Ethan Segal, James Stanlaw, and Roger Thomas for ideas, clarifications, and kind words of encouragement along the way. Obviously, all the editors at Westview over the decade are appreciated for their patience. I know the publication of textbooks is a vested-interest business, but these folks have served beyond the call of duty.

My students at Illinois State University have also provided me with help and suggested revisions during the last eighteen months. I taught Premodern Japanese History twice during that time, using this textbook. I often asked them what they liked and didn’t like and what wasn’t clear. I have employed their suggestions. This is the only credit they will get.

My long-suffering wife Karla is, as ever, to be thanked for her patience. I’d also like to thank Alexandra Mackey, who tended to Millie and Gabby, giving me some “space” and time to write.

LOUIS G. PEREZ Normal (still!), Illinois

11

Introduction

Today Japan is the seventh–most populous country in the world. More than 126 million people are crowded into an area slightly smaller than the state of Montana. The islands that make up the nation are mountainous, and only slightly more than 14 percent of the land is farmed. Although the country is poor in natural resources, it is the world’s third–most productive industrial nation.

Japan’s position in the world was not always as prominent as it is today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Japan was a significant presence in world affairs. In the first half of the twentieth century, Japan emerged as a major military power in East Asia. However, following defeat in World War II, the country renounced militarism and began concentrating on economic development.

Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan was relatively isolated from the external world, with contact restricted primarily to Korea and China and to the Dutch, although relations with the other European countries did prevail briefly from the mid-sixteenth to the early seventeenth century. In a sense Japan was a cultural satellite of China, remaining under its influence for centuries following the introduction of Chinese culture in the fifth and sixth centuries. By adopting, adapting, and assimilating the fruits of Chinese civilization, Japan developed a culture and way of life and established institutions and values that were distinctly its own. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Japan was exposed to Western civilization, and another period of importation and assimilation ensued. Yet the traditional attitudes, ways, and institutions persisted; consequently, contemporary Japan cannot be adequately understood without an examination of its early history.

Before the massive influx of Chinese culture that started in the fifth century, Japan had indigenous beliefs, institutions, and practices; some survived the “Sinification” (made more Chinese, “Sino” is the shorthand for China) process and persisted to the present. Among these were hundreds of indigenous cults that in the medieval period became known as Shintō. Shintō became an animistic folk religion that acknowledges the presence of sacred beings—gods and spirits—in nature. Myths about creator deities and the belief that the imperial dynasty was founded by the descendants of the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu-no-Omikami) were propagated by the clan that gained political hegemony. These beliefs formed the basis of state Shintō, which was used by the leaders of modern Japan to unify the people under the imperial family.

The emperor system came to be intimately associated with Shintō. The ancestors of the current imperial family established their political dominion around

12

the late fifth or early sixth century; this family remains the central political entity today. This is not to say that it remained the actual source of power through the ages, but it did persist as an institution to which even the actual wielders of power, the shōgun (military deputy), had to pay at least pro forma honor. Thus loyalty to the imperial court was stressed as a quintessential principle of Japanese behavior by proponents of imperial rule.

Another characteristic of the Japanese that persisted through the ages is a strong sense of group identity, whether it be with the clan, the family, or the community. Thus, individualism in traditional Japan never developed into an acceptable mode of behavior. This suppression of individual interests for the good of the group was reinforced by the advent of Confucianism around the fifth century, which built its moral code around the family system. The emphasis on group interests led to an idealization of values such as submissiveness, obedience, self-sacrifice, responsibility, and duty. The emphasis on group interests also resulted in a parochial outlook with a strong demarcation between the “in-group” and the outsiders. This attitude structured not just the relation of the family, clan, or village to others but also ultimately that of “we, the Japanese,” to foreigners. This insular mentality, a product of the island geography of the country, fostered a pronounced ethnocentrism and a belief in the homogeneity and uniqueness of the Japanese people. This mode of thinking is manifested in the modern age as militant nationalism; traces of nationalism first began to surface from time to time after the seeds of cultural nationalism began to sprout in the Heian period (794–1185).

The Confucian emphasis on preserving the hierarchical order of “superior” and “inferior” persons and the maintenance of proper relationships to ensure social harmony (that is, the “inferior” person should behave in accordance with his or her station in the family and society) came to be strongly embedded in Japanese mores. This social imperative was reinforced by the emergence of the samurai as the dominant force in the late twelfth century. The proper order of things came to be enforced by the edge of the sword, not simply by moral rectitude inculcated by learning, as the Confucian scholars taught.

The Confucian hierarchy based on gender and age came to define the place of women in Japan. Despite some evidence that early Japan may have been a matriarchal, or at least matrilineal, society, the Chinese philosophy emphasized male dominance. The acceptance of the Confucian social philosophy and the ascendancy of the samurai class resulted in a steady decline in women’s social standing, although women were still accorded property rights even after samurai rule was established in the late twelfth century. It was not until the Tokugawa era (1600–1867) that gender discrimination came to be enforced stringently among the samurai class; as noted in Chapter 7, however, relationships between men and women among the townspeople remained less rigid.

The emergence of the samurai, and their ascendancy from the late twelfth to the

13

mid-nineteenth century, was a significant factor in the formation of the Japanese way. The militaristic side of Japan emerged as the antipode to the civilian side, which had been nurtured and fostered by the Heian court aristocrats who had adopted the Chinese code of propriety, decorum, moderation, and composure. The samurai favored direct action and decisiveness. The code of the warriors (Bushidō) that came to be idealized in the years of shōgunal rule stressed such ideals as loyalty, self-sacrifice, courage, martial valor, honor, integrity, and other Spartan virtues. Such values functioned as counterpoints to the genteel ways of the court aristocrats as well as to the freer and more hedonistic ways of the townspeople in the Tokugawa era. Likewise, the disdain for materialism fostered by Confucian and samurai value systems was offset by the townspeople’s unabashed pursuit of riches. We shall see that the pursuit of wealth during the Tokugawa era became institutionalized among the merchant class. Contemporary Japan’s economic success is not surprising in light of this tradition. Thus, the Japanese value system, like those of virtually all other societies, evolved in a multifaceted manner from its origins.

In addition to affecting Japan’s social and political institutions, Chinese civilization also influenced Japanese cultural, intellectual, and literary realms, which included the writing system, philosophical schools, and arts and crafts. Most of these influences entered by way of Korea, after having gone through some modification there. Similarly, Korean arts such as pottery, painting, and sculpture evolved radically from the Chinese ideals. Nationalist scholars later asserted that before the advent of Chinese influence, with its emphasis on artificial rules of propriety, decorum, and rectitude, the cultural artifacts of Japan reflected the free and natural sentiments of the people. Here too we can see the two faces of traditional Japan: one that is more naturally Japanese and another that is heavily infused with Chinese culture. The influence of Chinese art and culture and the development of a distinctively Japanese style in art and literature—with aesthetic sensitivity toward nature that is reinforced, some would say, by Zen aesthetics—is discussed in Chapter 5.

Buddhism, which came to Japan at about the same time that Chinese culture began to inundate the country, also shaped the Japanese outlook and culture in significant ways. Although it did not become a state religion (the Japanese, like the Chinese, believe that one can worship many gods and participate in many different religious practices at the same time), Buddhism did eventually permeate the entire land.

A significant economic factor that molded Japanese society and outlook is the near-total reliance on agriculture as a means of subsistence in traditional Japan. Rice culture, which entered Japan in the Yayoi period (circa 250 BCE–CE 250),2 determined the style of farm work through the ages. Working the handkerchief-sized paddies and rugged hillside terraces to produce the necessary crops to feed the

14

population taught the peasants patience, diligence, frugality, and discipline. These qualities were later reinforced by the samurai, who bound the peasants to the soil and insisted on a strict adherence to the virtues of frugality, hard work, and obedience to meet the economic needs of the medieval order. These characteristics persisted into the modern age and contributed to the creation of the modern economic “miracles” of the mid-nineteenth century and later the postwar mid- twentieth century.

But the peasants did not always remain docile and submissive: periodically they rose up in protest. Hence the revolutionary tradition is not totally absent from Japanese history. Widespread and large-scale peasant uprisings broke out in the Ashikaga (1336–1573) and Tokugawa years, even when such nonviolent acts as submitting petitions to the ruling class led to certain death.

Despite the resulting stress on Japan’s harmony, propriety, and hierarchical order, the pattern of its political history is one of constant conflict and bloodshed, beginning with the struggle to establish a dynastic order from the third to fourth century CE. This pattern continued through the power struggles in the Heian years, the emergence of the samurai in the outlying regions and the sanguinary power struggle among them, the establishment of military rule by the Minamoto clan, the conflict with the imperial forces, the struggles that continued into the Ashikaga years, and the Age of the Warring States of the latter part of the fifteenth century and throughout most of the sixteenth century. It was not until the Tokugawa family established its hegemony that peace and stability ensued for almost two and a half centuries. While the struggle for power was taking place in the political arena during the entire military era (1180–1868), the peasants continued to work the land, suffering privation, famines, epidemics, and repression. The townspeople were busy perfecting the arts and crafts.

During the years of turmoil and disaster, literature and the arts survived and enjoyed peaks of creative splendor. This is seen in the art and architecture that followed the introduction of Chinese culture and its Japanization in the Heian period. The result was the golden age of literature produced by great Heian women writers like Lady Murasaki and Sei Shonagon and the production of Japanese poems, diaries, essays, and military romances. The profound influence of Zen aesthetics is reflected in painting, architecture, landscape gardening, Nō (sometime written Noh) theater, ceramics, the tea ceremony, calligraphy, the construction of multistory picturesque castles, and the production of fine armor and swords in the Kamakura (1185–1333) and Ashikaga (1336–1573) years. In the Tokugawa era the culture of the townspeople flourished with woodblock prints, haiku, Kabuki theater, puppet theater, novels, and folk art.

Japanese history, like the history of all societies, is an unfolding of multifaceted developments, a montage of political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual elements. But to give a coherent structure to this kaleidoscopic phenomena, some

15

sort of framework is required. The most convenient schema in a general historical survey is still a chronological sequence centered on political developments. This historical survey of pre-Meiji Japan is organized in this conventional manner.

NOTES 1. Jim Huffman, “Mikiso Hane: 1922–2003.” Journal of Asian Studies 63 (2004): 571–

572. 2. Instead of the Judeo-Christian system of dating, the following will be used: what used

to be referred to as “BC” (before Christ) will now be “BCE” (before the Common Era); “CE” (Common Era) will replace “AD.”

16

17

1

The Early Years

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

The Japanese archipelago, consisting of the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu and more than one thousand smaller islands, juts into the Pacific Ocean in a convex arc. The total area of Japan is 145,834 square miles, which is slightly larger than Germany and smaller than Zimbabwe. It is about the size of the state of California in the United States. To the north the Russian- administered Kuriles, a large number of small volcanic islands, extend to Kamchatka Peninsula, while to the south the Ryukyu Islands stretch out toward Taiwan.

The Japanese islands are mountainous, with considerable volcanic activity. Offshore on the eastern side are great deep-water trenches, five or six miles below sea level. Along the coast on the same side, the mountaintops reach two miles above sea level. This great range of elevation from sea bottom to mountain peak causes enormous geological strains and stresses, resulting in constant shifts in the rock masses.

The archipelago was created when a portion of Asia broke off the continent. It now sits astride two continental plates that push in opposite directions, creating a tremendous uplift that has scoured the islands, forcing up mountains along its spine. Moreover, the archipelago contains about five hundred volcanoes, and earthquakes, a related phenomenon, are commonplace occurrences, with an average of about 1,500 tremors annually. Since 1596 there have been twenty-three major earthquakes, each resulting in the death of more than a thousand people. The latest, in March 2011, called the Great Tohoku Earthquake, measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and was the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since modern record keeping began in 1900. More than 20,000 were estimated killed by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.1

Seventy-two percent of the country is hilly or mountainous, with an average slope of more than fifteen degrees. But nearly 65 percent of the land with a slope of fifteen degrees or less is tilled. The total area under cultivation, however, amounts to less than 14.3 percent of the landmass. The highest elevations are located in the Gifu Node in central Honshu. A dozen or more mountains measuring 10,000 feet are located in these highlands, known as the Japanese Alps, including Mt. Fuji (12,461

18

feet). There are no extensive lowlands in Japan. The typical plain is a small isolated

area in a coastal indentation or mountain basin. The largest of the plains, the Kantō Plain, where Tokyo and Yokohama are located, has an area of only 5,000 square miles, or 3.2 million acres. Other major plains are the Nōbi Plain at the head of Ise Bay, where Nagoya is situated (450,000 acres), and the Kinai Plain at the head of Osaka Bay, where Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are located (310,000 acres). These are the most important plains, on which six of Japan’s largest cities were built. Other fairly large plains are the Ishikari in southwestern Hokkaido, the Echigo in northwestern Honshu, the Sendai in northeastern Honshu, and the Tsukushi in northwestern Kyushu. This lack of flat land suitable for agriculture has made Japan the fifth–most densely populated country (which includes land-locked Singapore, Hong Kong, or Gibraltar) in the world, with a population of about 126 million. The average for the whole country is 343 persons per square kilometer, but for the Tokyo metropolitan area it is an astounding 5,751!2 About three-quarters of its population is jammed into about 14 percent of its landmass.

Rivers water most of these plains, but they are generally short, swift, and shallow, and therefore not suitable for navigation. The two longest rivers are the Ishikari in Hokkaido (227 miles) and the Shinano in central Honshu (229 miles). The mountain rivers are important as sources of irrigation for the rice fields and for hydroelectric power.

The mountains are unusually susceptible to erosion and landslide. The steep slopes are covered by a thick canopy of conifers that blocks sunlight to the forest floor, inhibiting the natural soil building common to broadleaf deciduous forests. The thin soil often contains large amounts of slick volcanic ash, which does not hold well, particularly after logging or fire has stripped the mountains of their natural vegetative cover. Volcanic and seismic activity routinely shakes the country, making landslides and erosion a natural part of Japanese existence. Because the Japanese have crowded up to the very edge of these mountains, landslides and erosion have tumbled down on small villages with great regularity and great cost in human life.

Japan proper has a remarkably long coastline, about 17,000 miles, or one linear mile of coast for each 8.5 square miles of area. Although the coastline contains few natural harbors, most of the lowlands have sea frontage. Along with the extensive coastline, this has fostered a strong maritime outlook in the Japanese. Virtually all Japanese have grown up within a short distance from the seaside. A large part of the coastline has indentations and irregularities that, together with the many tiny islands along the coastline, make the landscape strikingly beautiful and diverse.

Because the Japanese archipelago extends from 31 to 45 degrees north latitude, there is a marked contrast in the climate between the northern and southern regions. Discrepancies in surface configurations, great differences in altitude, and diversity

19

in the effects produced by the Pacific Ocean and the Japan Sea also account for notable differences in climate. A large part of Japan lies at subtropical latitudes. Consequently, in most areas climatic conditions are conducive to plant growth and are not too harsh for human comfort.

The monsoonal air masses affect the climate in a significant way. In the winter great waves of dry, cold polar air descend from the Lake Baikal region of Siberia. In the summer moist tropical and subtropical maritime air masses, originating over the warmer parts of the Pacific Ocean, move into eastern Asia. Thus, although the winter winds blow prevailingly from the northwest, the summer winds blow from the southeast. The winters are colder and the summers hotter and more humid than normal for regions with Japan’s latitude.

During late spring and early summer, a period of abundant rain, high humidity, and cloudiness sets in. This is the so-called bai-u, or “plum rains.” In the late summer and early fall, violent storms and typhoons strike the islands, causing much damage to the rice fields as well as to dwellings and the general landscape. It is not uncommon to have more than a dozen typhoons hit Japan annually, causing tremendous property damage and loss of life.

The two ocean currents washing the shores of Japan also influence its climate. A cold current from the north, the Okhotsk Current, and a warm stream from the south, the Japan Current, converge off northern Honshu. A smaller stream from the Japan Current swings into the Japan Sea from the Tsushima Strait and flows northward as far as Hokkaido.

Japan’s climate is much like that of the US Atlantic Seaboard or the Mississippi Valley in similar latitudes. Temperatures in January range from about ten or fifteen degrees Fahrenheit in northern and central Hokkaido to thirty-five or forty degrees on the lowlands of central Honshu and forty-five degrees in the extreme south of Kyushu. July temperatures in central and southern Japan range from seventy-seven to eighty degrees. August is slightly warmer than July in most areas. High temperatures combined with high humidity make the summers extremely sultry and oppressive.

Japan has a considerable amount of precipitation year round; although it rains more in the warm months than in the winter, the difference in precipitation between summer and winter is not great. Even in the driest cool season, each month sees 2 or 3 inches of precipitation, with several times this amount in the warm months. Where precipitation is heaviest, it may exceed 120 inches annually; while where it is lightest, in the Inland Sea region, it averages 40 inches per year.

Snow falls throughout the main islands, although it is light in the southern regions. In Hokkaido (the island north of Honshu) and all across the Japan Sea side, snow remains on the ground all winter. In the mountainous regions of western and northern Japan, the snow reaches a depth of six or seven feet in January.

The growing season varies from about 120 to 130 days in central and eastern

20

Hokkaido to 250 days or more along the extreme southern and eastern littoral. The region around Tokyo has an average growing season of 215 days.

Rice, grown in paddy fields, is the most important food crop produced. Today 55 percent of the cereal acreage consists of rice fields. Barley, wheat, oats, soybeans, potatoes, and a variety of vegetables are also grown. Tea, cotton, flax, and mulberry (for silkworms) constitute important supplementary-income crops for farm families. Because only a little more than 15 million acres is arable, intensive cultivation is practiced, and terraced fields climb the hillsides of the Japanese landscape.

Because Japan is an island nation, the sea is an important source of food. Seafood is the chief source of protein in the Japanese diet. The warm Japan Current yields sardine, mackerel, tuna, bonito, skipjack, albacore, and seabream, while herring, salmon, cod, and crab are fished from the Okhotsk Current. Many edible seaweeds are also extracted from the sea. Japan has led the world in the production of dried sea products, both for human consumption and as rich fertilizers.

Japan is one of the most completely forested countries in the world. About 55 percent of the island is forested and another 8–9 percent is potential forest land. The forests are a source not only of timber but of charcoal, wood fuel, wood pulp, and a variety of foods. Broadleaf forests occupy about 50 percent of the forest land, while coniferous and mixed forests occupy 29 and 21 percent, respectively.

Japan does not have an adequate supply of mineral resources. Because Japan’s coal is of poor quality or is simply too costly to mine economically, a supply of better quality must be imported for heavy industrial use. Petroleum resources are extremely limited: in the early twenty-first century, 99.9 percent of the crude oil consumed came from abroad. Japan’s iron mines supply only a small percentage of the country’s industrial needs. The supply of copper, limestone, and sulfur is adequate, but lead, zinc, and phosphate and potassium materials for fertilizers must be imported.

THE MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF JAPAN

According to Japanese mythology—based upon the first historical accounts, the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters; completed in 712) and the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan; completed in 720)—sky and heaven gradually separated from the primordial chaos in the universe, and primal deities appeared. They were followed by a series of mated deities, ending with the creative pair, He-Who- Invites (Izanagi) and She-Who-Invites (Izanami). They stirred the sea with a spear and created an islet. Descending upon it, they created many other deities as well as the other islands of Japan.

Izanami died while giving birth to the Fire God and descended into the

21

underworld of Yomi (darkness), where putrefaction and pollution prevailed. Longing to see his wife, Izanagi followed her into the land of darkness, but she drove him back because she was ashamed to be seen by him in her state of putrefaction. Returning from the land of darkness, Izanagi cleansed himself, and as he washed his left eye—left being the side of honor—the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu (which means “shining in heaven”), was born, and from his right eye sprang the Moon God. As he washed his nose, the Impetuous-Male-Deity (Susano-o), the Storm God, came into being.

The Sun Goddess and the Moon God ascended to the sky, the former to rule at Takamagahara (Plain of High Heaven) and the latter to serve as her consort. This precedent, like the joint rule of Izanagi and Izanami, helped to establish the custom of dual, mated political leaders. The Storm God was to rule over the earth. When Susano-o, who was an unruly character, visited his sister in the sky, he behaved obstreperously, damaging her rice fields and defiling her house with excrement. In anger Amaterasu shut herself up in a cave, darkening the world. To lure her out, the heavenly gods engaged in dancing and merrymaking. When Amaterasu opened the door of the cave to see what was taking place, the gods compelled her to leave the cavern, tying up the entrance with a strong straw rope (shimenawa), and thus the world was made radiant again. This story may be connected with ceremonies conducted during a solar eclipse or during the winter solstice to revive the waning power of the sun. It was also intended, some maintain, to signify the triumph of light over darkness, peace and order over savagery and destruction.

Susano-o was banished to the earth for his misconduct. He first traveled to Korea, then to Izumo in western Honshu. From Izumo, Susano-o’s descendant, Ōkuninushi, ruled the earth. The Sun Goddess, wishing to extend her authority to the earth, sent several messengers to persuade the Great-Land-Master to abdicate in her favor. After resisting several of Amaterasu’s attempts to persuade him, the ruler of the earth finally agreed to submit to her authority. The Sun Goddess then sent her grandson, Ninigi, to rule the earth.3

Ninigi descended to the earth at Tsukushi in northern Kyushu and brought with him three items that became symbols of the imperial rule: a bronze mirror (a symbol of the Sun Goddess and of purity), a sword (courage) that was used by Susano-o to slay a huge serpent, and a curved-bead necklace (benevolence) that warded off evil spirits.

Ninigi’s great-grandson, Waka-mike-nu, left Kyushu to conquer the rest of Japan. Sailing through the Inland Sea, he entered the Kinki region (the area that encompasses Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara) and established his rule in Yamato in 660 BCE. He then became the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu.4

Among other mythological figures two deserve mention because they came to be popularly regarded as actual historical personages of heroic stature. One is

22

Yamato-takeru, who performed great military feats in conquering the rebellious people in the south (the Kumaso) and in the north (the Ezo). The other is the Empress Jingū, who is said to have led an expedition against Silla, a premodern Korean state.

Mythological tales similar to those found in Japan are told in other parts of Asia, especially among the peoples of Korea and Southeast Asia and the nomads of northern Asia.5 Perhaps most anthropologists (and a growing number of historians) are now convinced that Japan’s mythological origin stories owe more to Chinese ideas of ancient origins than to anything native. The interplay between the indigenous religious cults and the Chinese stories centered on magic and imported technologies (more below).6

JAPANESE PREHISTORY

Archaeologists and historians fail to agree about the origins of the Japanese.7 There is a consensus, however, that the early inhabitants came from different areas in several separate waves of immigration. Some of the early inhabitants are believed to have been a Tungusic people who came from the northeastern region of the continent by way of Hokkaido or Korea. It is also thought that people of Malayan origin came from the south—from South China or perhaps from Southeast Asia—by way of Taiwan and the Ryukyus, while others of Mongoloid origin came by way of Korea. Small islands dot the Tsushima Strait from Korea to Kyushu at intervals of less than forty miles. The relatively shallow waters (120–150 feet) make the journey possible during good weather. Skeletal fossils of animals not indigenous to Japan suggest that migration from the continent stopped thousands of years ago.

The Japanese language seems to have links with both the Polynesian and Altaic languages. Some authorities theorize that a language of southern origin was spoken in the Jōmon period (see below), while in the Yayoi period a new language, Altaic in character, entered from the continent.

Until very recently there was no concrete evidence to substantiate the existence of Paleolithic peoples in Japan, but archaeological discoveries since 1947 indicate that this was the case. Tools made of roughly flaked stone dating from perhaps 200,000 years ago have been discovered. Archaeological remains of microlithic artifacts, that is, tools of sharp-edged stone flakes, indicate that Mesolithic peoples were present in Japan around 30,000 BCE.

Among the early inhabitants of Neolithic Japan were, it is believed, ancestors of the Ainu, an indigenous people who inhabit Hokkaido today. (There are at present only about 20,000–30,000 Ainu in existence.) Other scholars would suggest that the progenitors of the Ryukyuan people were also probably related to these ancient Jōmon people.8

23

The early stages of the Neolithic age in Japan, known as the Jōmon period, extended from about 4500 BCE to 250 BCE. On the basis of carbon 14 tests conducted on archaeological finds, some authorities now contend that the Jōmon period started around 7000 or 8000 BCE. The term jōmon (cord marking) describes the type of decoration on pottery associated with this age. Jōmon earthenwares are among the earliest pottery in the world. They have designs of high relief made with cord impressions. This era is divided into several periods based upon the changing style of pottery, which became increasingly more complex in later stages.9

Five thousand years ago the Jōmon people, with a population of more than 100,000, lived near the sea coast and gathered shellfish for food. A large number of shell mounds, principally in the Tokyo Bay area, have been found at archaeological sites that had been inhabited by Jōmon people. Those living in mountainous areas hunted game and lived on fruits, nuts, berries, and edible roots. These early folk used fishhooks made of animal bones and ground and chipped stone tools and lived in pit dwellings covered with thatched roofs. The houses were circular, had several supporting pillars for the slanting roofs, and a fireplace of earthenware or stone. Clay figurine fetishes were used to ensure fertility and guard against pernicious forces. It appears from the iconography of these idols that the sun and the spirits of stones were worshipped in this period.

The later years of the Neolithic age are called the Yayoi period (ca. 250 BCE–CE 250) because pottery belonging to this culture was first discovered at a place called Yayoi in Tokyo in 1884. The Yayoi pots, symmetrical and reddish in color, were fashioned on pottery wheels and are less elaborately decorated than Jōmon pieces. The designs are simple and neat, generally consisting of straight lines. Yayoi pottery, fired at a higher temperature, is technically superior to Jōmon pottery, and a greater variety of earthenwares were produced. There were three basic types: plain jars used for cooking, decorated urns for storing food, and more elaborately designed dishes on pedestals in which offerings to the gods were placed.

Yayoi culture is believed to have emerged around the third century BCE in northern Kyushu. It would appear that it was influenced by two different cultural forces, one from the south and the other from the north. Rice cultivation, which was not yet practiced in northern China, came to Japan from the south. It may have been introduced from Southeast Asia or by immigrants fleeing the Han conquerors, who were extending their control into South China. Perhaps it entered from South China by way of southern Korea. At any rate, the introduction of rice cultivation revolutionized the way of life of ancient Japan and established the basis for the economic life of the people until the industrial age.

Although rice cultivation indicates a southern influence, the polished stone implements of Yayoi culture show links with Korea, Manchuria, and northern China. As we have already noted, it is possible that during this period Japan came

24

under the influence of people who belonged to the Altaic world. The Yayoi decorative designs resemble ornaments found in areas where the Altaic languages were spoken. Around the second century BCE, bronze and iron implements were introduced from China and Korea. Among the bronze artifacts were swords, halberds, and mirrors used for religious and ceremonial purposes.

The agricultural implements used in the Yayoi period were crude wooden and stone tools such as hoes, rakes, spades, semilunar knives, and adzes. In the later stages of the period, iron implements came to be used for household and agricultural purposes, and the Yayoi men used iron swords, spears, and halberds for weapons. Remnants of looms and fabrics indicate that weaving was also introduced from the continent in this period. Pits and caves continued to be employed, but new styles of construction were common as well. Huts were now constructed above the ground, and wooden posts and beams were used to hold up thatched roofs. The dead were buried in urns, dolmens, and stone cists; a variety of artifacts, many of Chinese origin, were buried with them.

In the Yayoi period, with the population numbering around 600,000, there were two population centers. One was near the present city of Nara in the Yamato Plain and the other was in northern Kyushu near Dazaifu. Evidently, they adhered to different religious cults. The people in Yamato used bronze bells for ceremonial purposes, while those in Kyushu used gems and bronze spears, swords, halberds, and mirrors. Although the swords and halberds are believed to have come from the continent, the bronze bells used in the Yamato region are not found there. These bells were fairly large, some as long as four feet, and were decorated with engravings of farming and hunting scenes.

The ritualistic use of these artifacts was apparently linked with political control. An ancient account states that shields and spears sent to the governors and chiefs were interred in the sacred hills to ensure the protection of the frontiers; thus, the bronze spear became a symbol of divine presence as well as of power. That the possession of ritual symbols endowed the possessor with special authority is seen in the fact that the imperial family traditionally used three symbols—the sacred sword, mirror, and gem—to assert its special authority and legitimacy.

The first written accounts of Japan are found in the historical chronicles of China, specifically in the History of the Kingdom of Wei (a kingdom in North China, CE 220–265), written in CE 297, and in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, compiled around CE 445. These histories mention the existence of more than one hundred communities in Japan and note that a number of envoys were sent from Japan to the Han court in what is the present-day city of Xian (Chang-an) and to the Han governors in Korea. The first envoy is said to have arrived in the Han capital in CE 57. A golden seal presumably given to one of the rulers of northern Kyushu by an emperor of Later Han China in the first century was found in 1784. Its authenticity has been questioned, but many authorities now consider it to be

25

genuine. According to the Chinese records, Japan underwent a period of civil strife in

the second century CE, but eventually the nation was unified under a queen referred to as Pimiku. Pimiku (or Himiko in Japanese, meaning “daughter of the sun”) was not a proper name but rather a term applied to female rulers in general. The Himiko mentioned in the Chinese histories was a shaman, a priestess who served as an intermediary between supernatural forces and the people. The History of Wei states that Himiko “occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people. Though mature in age, she remained unmarried. She had a younger brother who assisted her in ruling the country. After she became the ruler, there were few who saw her. She had one thousand women as attendants, but only one man.”10

Historians disagree about the location of the land ruled by Himiko. The History of Wei states that Himiko resided in Yamatai, located on an island southeast of Korea. This might indicate that Yamatai was in northern Kyushu, but if the distances given in the History of Wei were followed, it would be located on the high seas. The similarity of the names might signify that Yamatai was actually Yamato in central Honshu, but Yamatai, which means “gateway to the mountains,” was not an uncommon place name.