Japanese Civilization Terms

Front 1

Amaterasu

Back 1

Sun goddess of Shinto mythology, and progenitor of the Imperial line that originates with Jimmu. See Kojiki, Shinto.

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Amida

Back 2

The "saving Buddha" of the salvationist Pure Land sect, object of veneration and prayer among the mass of believers.

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Ashikaga

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Bushi clan which in the mid-14th century, under the headship of Takauji, succeeded in overthrowing the Minamoto shogunate under Hojo control and assuming the shogunal succession.

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aware

Back 4

Heian courtly aesthetic of elegant pathos and emotional receptivity; the 'ah-ness' of things.

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bakufu

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'Tent government'. Generic term for the shogunal administration, whose center moved from Kamakura to Kyoto, to Edo.

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baku-han

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Tokugawa-period political arrangement consisting of a shogunal center in Edo and a complex organization of daimyo domains, known as han.

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bakumatsu

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Final stage of the Tokugawa shogunal regime, spurred by the arrival of Perry's 'black ships' and culminating in the Meiji Restoration.

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biwa

Back 8

Lute-like instrument popular during the medieval era.

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bodhisattva

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Within Mahayana Buddhist doctrine, the enlightened 'saint' who essentially defers one's own ascendence to Buddhahood in order to aid and comfort those in need of release from suffering.

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Buddhism

Back 10

Highly sophisticated religious system that entered CKJ.

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bunjin

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Tokugawa literati. Cultural sophisticates and dilettantes at the forefront of the artistic and literary scene.

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bunmei kaika

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"Civilization and enlightenment." Rallying-cry of early Meiji reformers who advocated social and political modernization based upon Western institutions and values.

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bunraku

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Puppet theater.

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burakumin

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Members of Japan's outcaste minority. Ethnic Japanese whose families had long been associated with 'untouchable' occupations.

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bushi

Back 15

Generic term for the Japanese warrior class. As a class, the bushi occupied a complex hierarchy of rank and feudal service. AKA Samurai.

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bushido

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"Way of the Warrior". The traditional "Samurai Code", which promoted the cardinal virtues of unquestioning loyalty and selflessness.

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cha

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Tea. One of the many key Chinese imports that would assume special cultural significance in Japan, esp. in the form of the Zen-inspired tea ceremony.

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chonin

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Merchant class of Tokugawa Japan. Relegated to the bottom of the official social hierarchy, the chonin managed to achieve wealth and influence and came to dominate the burgeoning urban-based popular culture of their age.

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chun tzu

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Paragon of Confucian virtue and civility. An individual of learning, cultivation, compassion, justice, and filial piety.

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CKJ

Back 20

China-Korea-japan, the main axis of East-Asian civilization.

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Confucianism

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Together with Buddhism, the great philosophical import from China during Japan's emergence as a nation. Has been used to buttress the ruling elite. Privilege the collective over the individual.

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daimyo

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Feudal lords of the several hundred han domains that comprised late-medieval and Tokugawa Japan.

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danson johi

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Male superiority/female inferiority. Reflects the strong male-chauvinist value espoused by traditional Confucianist ideology.

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Dejima

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Site of the Dutch East India Trading Company headquarters in Nagasaki harbor. Est. early in the Tokugawa, Dejima came to be Japan's sole window onto the West until the mid-19th century. Shogunal policy of national isolation prohibited all other commerce with the West.

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Edo

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Capital of the Tokugawa shogunate; renamed Tokyo.

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Francis Xavier

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Portuguese Jesuit who introduced Christianity to Japan and established a Catholic presence that would last a century.

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Fujiwara

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Aristocratic clan that came to power and prominence early in the Heian period and effectively controlled, via 'marital politics,' the imperial institution.

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fukoku kyohei

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'Wealthy nation, strong army.' One of the rallying cries of the Meiji modernization, which sought to bring Japan in line with the great Western powers.

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fumie

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'Trampling the image.' Refers to the ritualized apostasy required of Christian converts during the Tokugawa, whereby, in order to demonstrate renunciation of the faith, one was forced to trample upon a holy image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

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gagaku

Back 30

Chinese court music of the T'ang dynasty imported very early into Japan and performed thereafter until the present day.

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ga-zoku

Back 31

The crucial High-Low distinction in the Japanese cultural and artistic realm.

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Genji

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Hero of Japan's greatest literary work, written by Murasaki Shikibu. Great paragon of Heian-style courtly elegance.

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genro

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Elite cadre of senior statesmen during the Meiji who exercised power behind the scenes and were a dominant force in early modern Japanese politics. Almost all were former samurai of the Satsuma and Choshu han.

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Genroku

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Tokugawa cultural renaissance.

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giri-ninjo

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Duty/obligation. Contrast of the "group imperative" and the domain of private emotion.

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Godaigo

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Emperor whose attempt in 1333 at achieving a restoration of strong Imperial rule eventuated in a secessionist Imperial court and the rise of the Ashikaga family to the shogunate.

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gonin gumi

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"Five person group". System of instituting collective responsibility and supervision at the village level.

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haibutsu kishaku

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"Destruction of the Buddhas". Refers to the Meiji policy of denigrating Buddhism and elevating Shinto as a state religion, as part of the new political agenda.

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haiku

Back 39

Traditional poetic form, consisting of 17 syllables, whose greatest practitioner is Basho.

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han

Back 40

Daimyo domain; the large feudal landholdings into which Japan was subdivided between the 15th century and the end of the Tokugawa period.

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haniwa

Back 41

Terra cotta figures used as part of burial practice by the ruling elite during the Kofun period.

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Heike

Back 42

Powerful family (AKA Taira) whose decline and fall is narrated in the Tale of Heike. Defeated by the Minamoto clan.

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Hideyoshi

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Unprecedented figure in Japanese history-- a peasant lad who became the greatest military leader. Embarked on a national unification and pacification program which was completed by his successor, Ieyasu.

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Hojo

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Influential bushi clan that became the power behind the shogunal throne during the Kamakura period.

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ie

Back 45

The traditional extended-family system that was the societal norm until the 20th century.

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iemoto

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Familistic, hierarchical system especially prominent in the traditional performing arts, whereby disciples work under a master practitioner.

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Ieyasu

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Great daimyo of the Tokugawa clan who completed the reunification of Japan and instituted a new shogunal lineage with Edo as his capital.

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iki

Back 48

Chic, panache.

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insei

Back 49

Instituted in the Heian period, a system whereby an emperor went into retirement and established a 'cloistered government'.

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Jimmu

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Mythical first emperor of Japan, descended from the sun goddess, Amaterasu.

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jinja

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Shinto shrine, site of worship of specific kami.

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jiriki

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'Power from within'. Refers to those Buddhist sects which regarded enlightenment as attainable through individual effort.

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Jodo

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Pure land. Major sects of salvationist Buddhism that gained wide popularity during the medieval period. Notion of outside agency for salvation.

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Jomon

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Japan's earliest epoch, identified with a distinctive style of rope-marked pottery.

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kabuki

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Theatrical genre that developed early in the Tokugawa and became enormously popular among the urban masses. Eventually dictated styles of dress, speech, and manner.

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kami

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Shinto deity. may be a natural object, a creature, an individual. Japan= kami no kuni (land of the gods).

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kamikaze

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'Divine wind". Responsible for sinking two Mongol invasion fleets. More recently applied to the Pacific War suicide bombers.

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kana

Back 58

Japanese syllabary. Two sets of some fifty written symbols, each a simplified form of a Chinese character (kanji).

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kanji

Back 59

Chinese ideographs.

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kan-min

Back 60

Officialdom/citizenry. Crucial ruler-versus-ruled dichotomy in japan.

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Kannon

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The Buddha of mercy and compassion. One of the central deities of the Japanese Buddhist pantheon.

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kazoku kokka

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'Family state.' Refers to the Meiji modernization project and its manipulation of Emperor and Shinto and Confucianist/famililistic value to force a national myth that would ultimately promote imperialist expansion.

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keigo

Back 63

System of Japanese honorifics.

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koan

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Zen paradox.

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Kofun

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'Ancient tomb'. Perior from 250-500 which witnessed the rise of the Yamato state. Rulers had large keyhole-shaped burial tumuli built.

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Kojiki

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First extant book written in Japanese. Presents national 'creation myth', which links Shinto gods to the imperial line.

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kokoro

Back 67

Heart, feeling. nation that developed during the Heian.

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kokugaku

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'National learning.' Influential nativist intellectual movement of the late Tokugawa period that explored roots of Japanese cultural uniqueness.

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kokutai

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Semi-mythical notion of Japan as a unique racial/cultural/spiritual entity.

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koto

Back 70

Zither-like instrument favored by Heian courtiers.

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kotodama

Back 71

Quasi-mythical, spiritualized property attributed to language among the early court aristocracy.

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kuge

Back 72

Court aristocracy, centered in Kyoto.

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kurofune

Back 73

'Black Ships'. Refers to the American steamships under the command of Commodore Perry, whose arrival marked the beginning of Japan's confrontation with the West, and the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate.

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ma

Back 74

Space, interval, gab. The absence that marks a meaningful presence in the realm of traditional Japanese aesthetics.

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makoto

Back 75

Sincerity.

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Manyoshu

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Japan's first anthology of poetry (759). 4400 verses.

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mappo

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'Latter days of the law.' Buddhist notion of cyclic decline, whereby human civilization was seen as periodically entering a degenerate, final phase.

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matsuri

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Shinto shrine festival, when the community would periodically gather to observe kami-related rituals and rites.

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michi

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Denotes the path of spiritualized dedication and devotion espoused within traditional Japanese culture.

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Minamoto

Back 80

Aristocratic family which in the 12th century vied with the Taira clan in a series of momentous battles. Yorimoto became the first in a line of shoguns based in Kamakura.

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miyabi

Back 81

Courtly elegance.

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mobo, moga

Back 82

'Modern boy, modern girl.' Refers to modern Japan's first generation of stylish young people who, in the 'roaring twenties' spirit of the Taisho, could be found parading their Hollywood-inspired chic along Tokyo's Ginza.

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monogatari

Back 83

Broad genre of Japanese prose narrative.

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mu

Back 84

Buddhist notion of nothingness.

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mujo

Back 85

Crucial medieval aesthetic of ephemerality and evanescence, as embodied in works such as the Tale of Heike.

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namban

Back 86

'Southern barbarians.' Term applied to the Portuguese who entered Japan during the mid 16th century.

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nembutsu

Back 87

Formulaic prayer to Amida central to Salvationist Buddhism.

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Nichiren

Back 88

Charismatic religious leader who styled himself a reincarnated Bodhisattva and advocated absolute faith in the Lotus Sutra.

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Nihon/Nihongo/Nihonjin

Back 89

Japan/Japanese language/Japanese people.

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Nihonjinron

Back 90

'Discourse on Japanese people'

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nikki

Back 91

Diary, memoir.

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Nobunaga

Back 92

Daimyo who began the project of national reunification following a century of civil strife.

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Nobunaga/Hideyoshi/Ieyasu

Back 93

The three great unifiers of Japan in late-16th century, whose rise to power eventuated in a feudalized nation and an authoritarian social order.

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Noh

Back 94

Elitist genre of traditional Japanese theater. Similar to classic Greek drama.

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Onin War

Back 95

Decade of continuous civil strife in and around Kyoto, indicative of the collapse of authority at the center.

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onnagata

Back 96

The women's role in all-male kabuki theater.

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Rangaku

Back 97

'Dutch studies.' The domain of Western studies during the Tokugawa, so named because the source texts were in Dutch. Influential in establishing the framework for intellectual and scientific modernization (esp. medical).

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rei

Back 98

Civility, propriety, etiquette. Key Confucianist norm.

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renga

Back 99

Linked verse. Classical poetic genre.

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Rimpa

Back 100

Important school of decorative arts deriving from the work of the great early-Tokugawa artist Ogata Korin.

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risshin

Back 101

Success, ambition, getting ahead in the world. Reflects the new, Western-style individualism of the Meiji.

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ryosai kenbo

Back 102

'Good wife, wise mother'. Confucianist ideal of subservient womanhood that emerged as an orthodox social norm in the Tokugawa period.

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sabi

Back 103

Humble simplicity. Zen-inspired aesthetic of plainness, austerity, and artful imperfection that emerged in the medieval period and culminated in the tea ceremony.

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sakoku

Back 104

The Tokugawa policy of national seclusion enacted early in the 17th century, which effectively isolated Japan from the world until the 19th century.

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sankin kotai

Back 105

'Alternate attendance.' Tokugawa policy that required each daimyo to establish and maintain an official residence in Edo. Part of an elaborate and highly effective Tokugawa strategy of social and political control.

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satori

Back 106

Enlightenment.

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seishin

Back 107

Spirit.

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Sekigahara

Back 108

Major battle won by Tokugawa Ieyasu and his allies in 1600, which resulted in the Tokugawa unification of Japan.

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sengoku jidai

Back 109

'Period of civil strife'. Century of virtually constant fighting and feuding among Japan's many daimyo, which spanned the Onin War and national reunification begun by Nobunaga.

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seppuku

Back 110

Ritual warrior suicide, via disembowelment and beheading. Ultimate symbol of the bushi class, for whom readiness to die was a central tenet. AKA harakiri.

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sessho, kampaku

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A system of regency developed during the Heian period, whereby an emperor too young to govern was replaced by a regent who ruled on his behalf.

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shamisen

Back 112

Stringed instrument used widely in Tokugawa performing arts.

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share

Back 113

Stylishness. A mainstay of Tokugawa chonin culture and its passion for chic and savoir faire.

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shibumi

Back 114

Refined simplicity. Preference for tastefulness and restraint, as opposed to the bright and garish.

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shimaguni konjo

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Island-nation complex. The insularity that Japanese so often identify as a defining national and cultural trait.

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Shingaku

Back 116

Confucianist ethic of achievement and hard work popular among Tokugawa chonin.

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Shingon

Back 117

Important Heian sect of esoteric Buddhism. Mantra recitation, mandala meditation, mudra (hand positions).

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shinju

Back 118

Popular genre of Tokugawa drama, whose formulaic plot involves the double suicide of star-crossed lovers.

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shi-no-ko-sho

Back 119

Samurai-farmer-artisan-merchant. Confucian-based social hierarchy imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate. Economic realities would ultimately reverse this idealized social schema.

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Shinto

Back 120

Way of the gods. Japan's native religion.

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shishi

Back 121

'Men of high purpose'. Refers to the group of samurai from Satsuma and Choshu domains who, in the late Tokugawa period, called for a return to imperial sovereignty and challenged the shogunate to deal with the threat of foreigners. Paved the way for the Meiji Restoration.

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shoen

Back 122

Private landholdings, the graduate expansion and consolidation of which eventuated in the complex, decentralized society of feudal Japan.

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shogun

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Leader of Japan's hereditary feudal administration.

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Shokotu Taishi

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Imperial regent who, with the support of the powerful Soga family, succeeded in opening up Japan to pervasive Chinese influence. Buddhism and Confucianism advocate.

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sonno joi

Back 125

'Respect the Emperor, expel the barbarian!' Catalyst for the events that culminated in the Meiji Restoration.

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State Shinto

Back 126

Policy, pursued by Meiji oligarchs and culminating in the Pacific War, that exploited the images and myths of Shinto and Emperor so as to mobilize the nation.

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sumi-e

Back 127

Monochrome ink painting. Chinese-inspired genre whose elegant simplicity and understatement appealed to the austere sensibilities of the medieval era.

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Taira

Back 128

Warrior clan that dominated Japanese politics in the 12th century. Lost to Minamoto Clan.

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Tanegashima

Back 129

Name of the Japanese island where the Portuguese first landed in 1543. Also the musketry introduced by the Portuguese.

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T'ang

Back 130

Great Chinese dynastic period, whose institutions and culture were deeply influential in the development of Japan's imperial civilization.

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tariki

Back 131

'Power from without.' Buddhist notion of reliance upon external agency as a means of gaining salvation. Contrasts with jiriki.

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Tendai

Back 132

Syncretic Buddhist sect. Stressed the ability of all humans to realize their Buddha nature through religious devotion and monastic discipline.

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tenko

Back 133

Conversion. Enforced renunciation of leftist beliefs among writers and intellectuals, as part of the militarization of Japan in the 1930s.

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tenno

Back 134

Emperor.

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tennosei

Back 135

The Imperial system. A relatively fixed feature of Japanese political and cultural life until the Postwar period, when the Emperor and the Imperial system became the subject of vigorous debate.

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tera

Back 136

Buddhist temple.

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terakoya

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Schools established in Buddhist temples throughout Japan during the Tokugawa era. Largely responsible for the high rates of literacy that helped the nation modernize so quickly during the Meiji.

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Todaiji

Back 138

Japan's most important Buddhist temple during the Nara period, and site of the Great Buddha.

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Tokugawa

Back 139

Clan which, under the leadership of Ieyasu, succeeded in reunifying Japan in the 17th century and establishing itself as a new shogunal lineage.

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torii

Back 140

Gateway to Shinto shrine.

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tsu

Back 141

Savoir faire, chic.

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uji

Back 142

Powerful clans that dominated central Japan during the Yamato period, forming the nucleus of the court aristocracy. One of these clans emerged as the imperial lineage.

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ukiyo

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'Floating world.' Metaphor for the epicurean, hedonistic world of the Tokugawa pleasure quarter, and focus of the extraordinary popular culture of the period.

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ukiyo-e

Back 144

Pictures of the floating world.

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wa-

Back 145

Noun prefix denoting a Japanese, as opposed to foreign, style or genre.

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waka

Back 146

Major genre of Japanese poetry (31 syllables). Widespread among Heian courtiers.

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wa/kan

Back 147

Japan/China. Term that suggests the cultural bifurcation involved in the rise of Japanese civilization.

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wakon yosai

Back 148

'Japanese spirit, Western knowledge/technique'. Key Mieji slogan that points to the nationalist goals of the state, which envisioned competition with the West as requiring both an aggressive modernization and an emperor-centered identity bordering on chauvinism.

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yamato

Back 149

Early name for Japan, before being changed to Nihon. Came to symbolize cultural uniqueness, and is used in terms denoting special Japanese qualities.

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yamato-e

Back 150

Important genre of traditional Japanese-style painting.

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yin-yang

Back 151

Chinese cosmological principle of complementary opposition, whereby the yin element (feminine, dark, passive) is balanced by the yang element (masculine, bright, active).

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Yoshimitsu

Back 152

Third Ashikaga shogun. Deeply drawn to the cultural refinement of the Kyoto aristocracy; patron of Zen Buddhism; sponsored artistic endeavor.

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yugen

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Abstract medieval aesthetic of 'mystery and depth'. Associated with highly refined arts such as waka and Noh drama.

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yukaku

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Generic term for Tokugawa-period pleasure quarters. Best known is the Yoshiwara, the Edo pleasure quarter and center of an extraordinary entertainment culture centering on sex, spectacle, style, and money.

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zaibatsu

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Elite group of family-run industrial and financial combines that in effect controlled the economy of pre-war Japan. A major target of Occupation reforms.

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zazen

Back 156

Seated meditation. The gradual path to enlightenment as espoused by the Soto sect of Zen.

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Zeami

Back 157

Great playwright and theorist of Noh drama.

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Zen

Back 158

Well-known Japanese Buddhist sect, based on Chinese Ch'an teachings. Espouses the jiriki notion that humans are capable of achieving enlightenment through dedicated self-discipline, without recourse to prayer or scriptures. Patronage by the medieval bushi elite led to the gradual emergence of Zen-inspired arts (Noh, tea ceremony, sumi-e).