Great Kantō Earthquake facts

On September 1, 1923, Tokyo and its surroundings were hit by a series of massive earthquakes of magnitude up to 8.0, now known as the Great Kantō Earthquake. The earth shook for about 4 minutes and it devastated the city: houses, bridges, roads were all destroyed, thousands were killed instantly or trapped under the rubble. A vibrant city now suddenly had no more means of transport, communication, and was all but cut off from the rest of the country.

However, the worst was not over yet. Thirty minutes after the earth had calmed down, a combination of leaking gas lines, cooking fires, and debris had created more than 130 major and countless smaller fires in Tokyo. Fanned by an approaching typhoon, the fires laid waste to what the tremors had left standing, and thousands more did not survive this second wave of destruction. Altogether, up to 140,000 people died on that day.

But the earthquake and the subsequent fires were not the only killers set loose on that day. And they would work their way through the city for another 16 days.

Flames fanning the rumors

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Last month, inspired by Children’s Day (formerly known as Boy’s Day), we took a look at the history of the samurai, starting with their rise to power during the Heian period. The look into the last real Japanese castles that survived until today made me want to pack my bags and go see all 12 of them. I’m still not sure what to make of Yukio Mishima and his suicide by seppuku, though… In any case, these articles don’t even scratch the surface of what’s to explore about the samurai and their 700-year rule, so we’ll definitely get back to them at some later point.

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Sneak Peek: For now, during my research on the early samurai I have found out that Japan controlled a part of the Korean peninsula in the Heian period, and were heavily involved in trade throughout the region until the Edo period, complete with trade colonies and posts in the major hubs of the time. Hence, the theme for June: Japan and Foreign Lands.

Look forward to articles on fun and games since the Meiji period, famous Japanese explorers (some of which were even allowed to return). We’ll also have a look on foreign influences in Japan throughout the centuries; the Yokohama Gold Rush, a contributor to the collapse of the Edo period, was just one of them.

I wish you a lovely month ahead!

Iris Reinbacher, editor-in-chief

This is a free post; a paid subscription gives you access to all current posts (and you’ll get them via email as well) and the archive. It also goes a long way in paying our writers. You can also support Yamato over on x with likes, follows, and shares.

Of the many stories of samurai valor and heroism, the most enduring one in Japan is that of the 47 rōnin. Based on a historic incident, the story spread from puppet theater to kabuki and eventually to film and anime, creating an entire genre - chūshingura - on the way.

The Akō Incident

It all began with the visit of imperial envoys to Edo. Shogun Tsunayoshi appointed Asano Naganori, daimyo of Akō, and Kamei Korechika, daimyo of Tsuwano, with the preparations and oversight of the visit. At their side was senior protocol official Kira Yoshinaka. We may assume that everything ran smoothly, until the last day, April 21, 1701.

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At the time, it was not an image of an individual, however, but rather a simple design reflecting affiliation to a certain family. And like many other traditions, kamon family crests were first established in the aristocracy before trickling down to the samurai and eventually, the common people. Even today, family crests are still in use.

Road traffic and the right of way

Around the mid-Heian period, court culture was at its height in Kyoto. There were numerous ranks at court, and in an environment where families vied to upstage one another, and to avoid becoming a target for the intrigues that were spun daily, it was extremely important to know one’s place.

While this was fairly easy in face-to-face encounters, it was all but impossible on the road. When aristocrats left the court for common outings like moon viewing or visiting relatives, they travelled in gissha, closed, ox-drawn carts. To make sure everybody knew who had the right of way - or who had to get out and prostrate themselves - family crests were prominently displayed on the gissha.

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A group of five men arrive at Camp Ichigaya of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in Tokyo and are led to the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Kanetoshi Mashita. What started out as a friendly appointment took a dramatic turn when the men attacked Mashita and tied him to a chair.

A list with demands was slipped under the door, and the group’s leader stepped onto the balcony to give a speech. However, when he failed to rouse the soldiers outside to join his coup d'état, the leader returned inside.

He knelt in front of Mashita and cut his own stomach. Another of the five men then beheaded him in the traditional way of seppuku, ritual suicide long reserved for samurai warriors.

The man in question, however, was not a samurai, not even a member of the modern military. It was - then already famous - author Yukio Mishima, who is now considered one of the top literary figures of the 20th century.

Mishima’s life

Yukio Mishima, pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka, was born on January 14, 1925 into a wealthy family in Tokyo, who could trace their lineage back to the Matsudaira clan, the family of the Tokugawa Shoguns.

He spent his early years under the tutelage of his grandmother, and he enjoyed reading and going to Noh and Kabuki plays. In school, he belonged to the literary society and at age 16, one of his stories was published - already under his pen name - in the national Bungei Bunka magazine to high acclaim.

After WWII, he became a full-time novelist and his work received high acclaim in Japan and internationally. In the 1960s, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature a total of five times.

From around 1941, Mishima met several right-wing figures, whose nationalist views and insistence to return to traditional Japanese values influenced him greatly. He was also deeply devoted to Shinto and believed in the emperor being central to Japanese culture. However, he would eventually denounce Emperor Hirohito for the renunciation of his own divinity, saying that this made the deaths of countless soldiers in the war meaningless.

In the 1960s in particular, Mishima’s work became more and more political. He published a number of essays and stories espousing his anti-American, anti-democratic, and anti-consumerist views, believing that Imperial Japan was a spiritually rich and thus superior society.

In 1968, he founded and funded the Tatenokai (Shield Society), a private militia, whose 100 members were recruited mostly from right-wing students from Waseda University. The group focused on military training and fitness and was directly overseen by Mishima.

Four top members of the Tatenokai - Masakatsu Morita, Masahiro Ogawa, Masayoshi Koga, and Hiroyasu Koga - accompanied him to Camp Ichigaya on that fateful day in 1970. Morita, although he failed to cut off Mishima’s head and was replaced by Hiroyasu Koga, committed seppuku directly after Mishima’s death, also assisted by Koga.

The three survivors were sentenced to four years in prison in April 1972. They were all released in October 1974 after serving two and a half years of their sentence.

Mishima’s legacy

How Mishima experienced his final moments is anybody’s guess. It is fairly obvious that he himself did not believe in the success of his attempted coup. His suicide was meticulously planned for about a year, and he earmarked funds for the defense of his co-conspirators. Furthermore, he also arranged for birthday gifts and magazines to be sent to his children after his death.

But despite all his planning, he was not granted the romanticized easy death he had envisioned. While he cut his stomach with a knife with considerable force, his designated kaishakunin failed to completely behead him, not once, but twice. Only the third strike, administered by another man, finally brought Mishima’s life to an end.

Today’s views on Mishima are as complicated as was his death. Many people see him as the literary genius that he doubtlessly was, and in Japan, he is considered among the most important postwar stylists. Had he lived, it is very likely that eventually, he would have been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

At the same time, Mishima’s extreme nationalist views are received much more critically, to put it mildly. His Tatenokai was one of the groups that launched the Japanese ethno-nationalist New Right movement which still exists today.

Whether his artistic merits would have overshadowed his political views in the long run can only be guessed. But maybe the best art is indeed made by people drawn to extremes, in life and in death.

The sheaths of swords rattle / As after years of endurance / Brave men set out / To tread upon the first frost of the year.

Yukio Mishima, death poem

Further reading (affiliate links):

The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima by Henry Scott Stokes. A biography.

Patriotism, a short story by Yukio Mishima, centered on an “ideal” ritual suicide.

The Sea of Fertility. This series of four books is considered Mishima’s masterpiece, best expressing his views on life. It is said that he submitted the final volume in the morning of his day of death.

But where did those warriors come from in the first place, and how did they manage to rule the country for almost 700 years, pushing even ahead of the emperor? There are several reasons, and we’ll look at them in turn below.

From conscription army to warrior class

In the early days of centralized Japan, the country made use of a conscription army to deal with foreign invasions and domestic rebellions. Each province had to send a certain contingent of men into war as required. A large part of these men were farmers and other poor people.

Even so, every conscript was required to bring his own weapons and armor, and furthermore, the central government provided practically no training. Needless to say that these foot soldiers were no match for better equipped - and organized - armies like Chinese invaders or rebellious Emishi in the north of Honshu.

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While that view is often worth the hike, the castle itself, sadly, is not. Instead of a traditional building, the visitor encounters a structure made from concrete, complete with elevator and souvenir shop.

What happened to the old castles? Surely they weren’t just replaced under the guise of reinforcement against earthquakes? Not at all. The story of the disappearing Japanese castles is much simpler - and at the same time much more interesting.

Rising samurai castles

In early medieval Japan, samurai castles (chusei) were common in the countryside, as many local lords built one as sign of their (financial) power. Most of these castles were built on easily defendable elevated ground, but others were strategically placed at confluences of rivers or important trade centers/routes, for example.

The unstable Sengoku period already caused a drop in the number of serviceable castles.

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By the Meiji period, when the celebrations were fixed on May 5, it was called Boy’s Day or the Feast of Banners (Nobori-no-sekku), the custom had trickled down from court to the samurai class - who was responsible for the change to a celebration of boys - and finally to the chōnin townspeople.

It was in the Edo period that displays of samurai dolls and armor became fashionable, just like the flowing of large carp streamers at the houses of families with sons. These customs survive to some extent in many Japanese regions until today. But let’s start at the beginning.

Dispelling evil with flowers

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But who was Miyamoto Musashi? Despite being well-known even during his own lifetime, not much is definitively known about him. Even records of the time often contain large discrepancies, so let’s try and see what we can find out about one of Japan’s kensei sword saints.

The life of Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi was born in 1583 or 1584, towards the end of the Sengoku period in Harima province (now south-western Hyōgo prefecture) to a lower class samurai called Munisai. Raised by his uncle who intended him to become a Buddhist monk, Musashi nevertheless practiced sword fighting.

His first recorded duel took place in 1596 with a man named Arima Kihei, and the second one in 1599 with Tadashima Akiyama. Young Musashi won both and this probably set him up for a career as fighter - throughout his life, he fought and won 62 duels, a number unrivalled to this day.

When he was 16, it is believed that Musashi fought in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 on the side of the Tokugawa Clan. The experience set him to wander around the country as a ronin - masterless samurai - to further study swordsmanship and to challenge fighters of various styles.

Local records show that in 1604, Musashi arrived in Kyoto where he challenged the Yoshioka clan, one of the top schools of swordsmanship at the time. He fought with them a total of three times:

At the first duel near Mt. Funaoka (then at the outskirts of the city), he defeated the head of the school, Yoshioka Seijuro, who after the duel took the tonsure. In the second duel, said to have taken place at Sanjusangendo Temple, he killed Yoshioka Denshichiro, Seijuro’s successor.

In the third and most famous duel, he defeated the entire student body of the Yoshioka school, who had lain in wait for him at the Ichijoji pine in the northeastern mountains surrounding Kyoto. He also killed Yoshioka Matashichiro, a mere boy and the last descendant of the Yoshioka clan, thus closing the school forever. It is said that during this fight, Musashi first used his unique Niten Ichi-ryū style of fighting with two swords instead of one.

After his father taught him in his personal style in 1607, Musashi resumed travelling, duelling a number of well-known fighters in various places. In 1612, the most famous of all his duels took place at a beach on Ganryū-jima. His opponent was Sasaki Kojirō, who was just as well-known as Musashi himself.

Musashi, knowing that Kojirō used an especially long and heavy sword, came prepared: First, he deliberately arrived late to the arranged duel, which upset Kojirō, and second, he prepared a large wooden bokken to fight to match Kojirō’s weapon. It is said that Musashi struck only twice, killing his opponent without much of a fight.

Not much is certain about the coming years; while it is believed that Musashi fought in the Siege of Osaka (1614/15), there is no official record of him taking part. Afterward, he was apparently in service with Ogasawara Tadanao in today’s Himeji for several years before travelling again.

In 1633, he began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi in Kumamoto, and in 1640, he officially became a retainer of the Hosokawa daimyo. At the time, he received 17 retainers of his own, 300 koku rice as yearly income, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence.

In 1637/38, Musashi took part in the Shimabara Rebellion (today’s Nagasaki Prefecture) the only time his involvement in battle was officially recorded. He served as a military advisor and aide to Hosokawa Tadatoshi, and suffered the indignation of being knocked off his horse by a stone thrown by a peasant rebel.

Musashi dedicated the rest of his life to martial arts, writing, and other non-lethal pursuits. He became a hermit at Reigandō, a cave west of Kumamoto, where he penned his famous Book of Five Rings and eventually died in 1645.

The legend Musashi

As can be expected from a famous person, Musashi’s life is surrounded by many myths and legends that sometimes contradict each other. On the one hand, it is said that he never touched a woman (which is easy to believe since allegedly he never bathed either) but at the same time, records indicate that he may have fathered a daughter with a courtesan.

He is known to have studied far beyond the martial arts and became accomplished in tea ceremony, calligraphy and ink paintings; some of his art pieces survive in temples to this day.

While he definitely met countless people on his travels, his close involvement if not friendship with illustrious figures of his times like the spiritual leader Takuan Sōhō, renowned artist Hon’ami Kōetsu and famous courtesan Yoshino tayū can probably be relegated to mere fiction. In fact, the popular perception of Musashi in Japan and abroad has largely been shaped by Eiji Yoshikawa’s 1935 historical novel.

Even well-known facts mentioned above have been disputed recently. For example, it was long believed that in the Battle of Sekigahara, Musashi and his father had fought on the side of the Western Army, but records seem to indicate that their allegiance should have lain with the Eastern Army instead.

However, neither Musashi’s involvement in the Battle of Sekigahara nor in the Siege of Osaka have been actually documented.

Even so, Musashi’s reputation as martial artist stands to this day, as is his school of sword fighting. And his writings remain inspiring to everybody seeking a straightforward way of life with a deeper meaning.

Further reading (affiliate links):

The Book of Five Rings, Musashi’s original text in a modern translation by William Scott Wilson.

Musashi’s Book of Five Rings, The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi’s Classic Book of Strategy by Stephen F. Kaufmann, intended for martial artists.

Musashi: The Novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, in a recent, unabridged translation in 3 volumes by Alexander Bennett.

A little announcement upfront: Last month I was struggling to keep up with all my responsibilities here and elsewhere because my work schedule has changed slightly. So, to make my life a little bit easier, I will adjust the posting schedule here accordingly, posting one day later from now on, that is: on Wednesday and Saturday. I hope that the extra day will help me write better articles so that the wait is worthwhile.

Last month’s most worthwhile article with respect to research is the one on the Great Kantō Earthquake. Although I had been aware of the destructions and that Tokyo needed to be rebuilt, I only found out now that many of the things we take for granted in the city are comparatively new. However, what I really wanted to write about - and now only mention briefly - was the Kantō Massacre, a mass killing of Koreans deemed responsible for the firestorm after the earthquake. In the end, I felt that this topic and the victims deserved a stand-alone article; I’ll get to it at a later time.

Also, I now have a new appreciation for Shigemori Mirei and his rock gardens. There are a number of them in Kyoto I had seen before, but knowing his thoughts behind them helps see them with fresh eyes. His conclusion that something that isn’t modern will never become a classic is true for many arts.

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Sneak Peek: May starts off with Golden Week, a string of 3 consecutive holidays. At the center is the traditional Boy’s Festival on May 5, so Boys and Heroes is a good theme for next month.

Look forward to articles about Miyamoto Musashi, one of Japan’s best-known fighters, a deep dive on how the warrior class came to be, and who might have been the last samurai.

I wish you a lovely month ahead!

Iris Reinbacher, editor-in-chief

This is a free post; a paid subscription gives you access to all current posts (and you’ll get them via email as well) and the archive. It also goes a long way in paying our writers. You can also support Yamato over on x with likes, follows, and shares.

What is now known as the Great Kantō Earthquake happened just two minutes before noon on September 1, 1923: a megathrust earthquake of magnitude 8.0 struck some 100 km south of Tokyo. Two more shocks followed three minutes (magnitude 7.2) and five minutes later (7.3), the second one closest to Tokyo.

Immediate destruction

Together, these three tremors wiped out practically all of Yokohama, half of Tokyo, and caused widespread damage in the surrounding prefectures. The earthquake was one of the most destructive natural disasters in the 20th century leaving 105,000 people dead, 1.38 million homeless in Tokyo alone and 2.5 million displaced throughout the affected area.

The immediate damage already crippled Tokyo and Yokohama: Thousands of buildings collapsed, infrastructure like bridges, roads and train tracks, water and sewage pipes lay in shambles, and the widespread panic had the survivors clog the streets leading out of the city, making quick rescue efforts all but impossible.

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Traditional beginnings

Born in 1896 in Okayama Prefecture, Shigemori Mirei was fascinated by traditional Japanese art from a young age and was allowed to study ikebana and tea ceremony. In 1917, he enrolled in the Tokyo Fine Arts University with the goal of studying nihonga. It was there that he was exposed to Western philosophy and avant-garde painting, he later cited Kandinsky and Matisse among his major influences.

When he was 29, he went so far to change his first name from Kazuo to Mirei in honor of the French painter Jean-François Millet. Later, he gave Western-inspired names to all of his five children.

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Gigantic variety

The bamboo plant is native to all continents except Europe and Antarctica. Overall, there are more than 1450 species of bamboo, from the giant Dendrocalamus sinicus (up to 46 m high, 36 cm in diameter, 450 kg weight per stalk) to the tiny Raddiella vanessiae (10-20 mm high, 2 mm diameter) and everything in between. The internodes (the space between two nodes) can be up to 5 meters long - only those of papyrus are longer.

Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant with a rate of up to 120 cm height gain per day, reaching full height within a single growth season of three to four months only.

All for one, one for all

Biologically, bamboo is a grass of the subfamily Bambusoideae. That means mainly two things:

First, each stalk, or rather: culm, emerges from the soil at the full diameter of the mature plant. Other than in trees, bamboo maturation only means a hardening of the culm, not an increase in diameter.

Second, bamboo spreads through interconnected underground rhizomes. A single bamboo grove may well contain just a single plant; therefore, a sick or damaged culm can potentially spread disease to the entire bamboo grove.

In many species of bamboo, a plant flowers only a single time and then dies (similar to palm trees.) What makes this even more intriguing is the fact that when a bamboo plant is divided and planted at different sites, all of them will still flower at the same time, regardless of their environment. This suggests a type of genetic alarm clock, but the mechanism has not yet been discovered.

A life of usefulness

As mentioned, a bamboo culm can reach full height within three to four months. There are no branches until close to the top. Over time, the culm hardens and reaches maturity in three to five years, with a total life span of ten to twenty years depending on the species. Bamboo used as timber for construction is typically harvested at an age of five to seven years.

From ancient times on, bamboo has seen a multitude of uses: as paper and writing utensil, for textiles, furniture, boxes, jewelry, as fuel, weapons, or instruments.

Besides cooking utensils like chopsticks, bamboo has culinary uses in the kitchen too. It is high in protein and has low amounts of carbohydrates - those giant pandas are definitely on to something here. However, raw bamboo shoots contain toxiphyllin, which produces cyanide during digestion.

So, it is absolutely necessary to cook the shoots before eating; they can also be fermented or pickled. The leaves themselves may be used as wrappers for rice, or the rice itself can be cooked inside a piece of empty culm, giving it an interesting flavor.

Bamboo and Japan

Since bamboo is native to Japan, weapons may have been its first use. Bows and arrows for kyūdō as well as shinai practice swords for kendo are made from bamboo to this day.

Probably equally old are bamboo flutes like the Japanese shinobue or the shakuhachi.

Japan’s oldest fictional prose narrative is Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) from the late 9th century. It has been made in a live-action movie as early as 1935, but the 2013 animated version by Studio Ghibli - The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - is probably much more famous.

In Japan, bamboo groves do have a spiritual connotation. They may surround shrines or temples, or at least are a part of their precincts, where they function as a sacred barrier against evil.

This is not too far-fetched, since bamboo can tolerate extreme heat. In fact, bamboo was the only plant that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.

Further reading:

• The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon-Child, a very early translation taken from The Japanese Fairy Book (1908)

• The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter translated by Donald Keene in 1956, with an introduction in Monumenta Nipponica (free to read with login)

One with the universe

Shinto beliefs state that there is no fundamental difference between the kami (gods) and humans, since we all are part of the energy of the universe, to which we return after death. When we are born, we are all spiritually pure beings; however, this purity becomes tainted over time, and our body and spirit needs to be cleansed every so often.

This is where misogi comes in, the practice of washing the entire body with cold water to purify it from the sins, misfortunes, and impurities (tsumi kegare) that become attached to it in the course of daily life.

The mythical origin of misogi and the subsequent harae purification is mentioned in the Kojiki: When the god Izanagi returned from Yomotsukuni, he performed misogi and harae to rid himself of the pollution that attached to him when he searched the realm of the dead for his wife Izanami.

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The roots of this fascination with three lies probably in the ancient concept of the Three Realms - Heaven, Earth, Humanity - a triad representing the fundamental balance between the divine, the material world, and society. This idea was heavily influenced by Confucianism and translates even into Japanese aesthetics, for example using three elements of varying sizes.

Both Shinto and Buddhist beliefs incorporate the number three as well. In Shinto, where the number three links to divine powers and completeness, the emphasis lies on purity, nature, and the kami (gods). Especially in Zen Buddhism, rituals reinforce concepts like the three marks of existence - impermanence, suffering, no-self.

In any case, let’s focus here on the three most scenic views of Japan, also known as the Nihon Sankei. They are: Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, Amanohashidate in Kyoto Pref., and Miyajima in Hiroshima Pref. They were first selected in a 1643 book, and their long-term celebrity may actually be due to its author

Hayashi Gahō, daigaku-no-kami

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Microseasons, two weeks long, shape traditional decorations in tearooms and determine details like the utensils that are used, the sweets that are offered, and what kind of flowers are appropriate to put into the tokonoma alcove.

The art of Japanese flower arrangement, ikebana or kado, has its roots in flower offerings at Buddhist altars, and as such, it can be traced to India via China. However, at first, these offerings did not go beyond putting flowers into a vase in front of the Buddha.

Japan’s oldest school of flower arrangement dates back to 8th century Kyoto, and its headquarters are still at the same spot, at Rokkaku-do temple in the heart of Kyoto. Rokkaku-do itself was founded by Shotoku Taishi in 587, long before the capital was moved here. The temple’s priests lived in a hut (bo) at a nearby pond (ike), and over time, the people began to call them ikenobo.

The priests made flower offerings at the temple every day, and over time, they established rules on how to present the flowers at their temple.

From tatehana to ikebana

These rules crystallized during the Muromachi period into tatehana (standing flowers), a basic style that presented flowers as they occurred in nature. At this time, flower arrangements were quite large and therefore only created for temples and the spacious homes of wealthy aristocrats.

The term ikebana – it means arranging flowers or living flowers – can be traced back to the 15th century, however the oldest book on the subject, the Sendensho is dated 1445 and already gives detailed instructions for flower arrangements meant for special occasions.

In the first half of the 16th century, Senno Ikenobo wrote the Kadensho, another book on the art. There, he emphasizes the importance of finding the inner beauty of plants through the arrangement, instead of merely appreciating beautiful flowers.

Rikka: strict formality

At this time, the style of rikka became popular, and Senno was not only its main artist, he also formalized the style as a combination of fixed elements that needed to be present in every arrangement.

In rikka, the goal is to create a whole landscape with a wide variety of plants; the back and top of the arrangement signifies the landscape far off, the closer and lower parts the nature nearby. Rikka is easily recognizable by the round bundle the stems of the plants form in the container.

Rikka was meant for large-scale arrangements in temples and the homes of nobles and samurai – essentially to show off their wealth and influence. Thanks to the strict formality of the presentation, virtually everybody could produce pleasing arrangements, but on the other hand, individual artistic expression was rather limited.

Shoka: pure flowers

In the 18th century, a much simpler style emerged that reduced the number of parts in an arrangement. This style is called seika or shoka (pure flowers); the final creations are much smaller since they were meant for the tokonoma in the private homes of wealthy commoners like merchants in the big cities.

As a rule, a shoka arrangement uses at most three different types of plants. They always form a single line segment in the container and are best viewed from the front of the row rather than the side. Today, shoka is considered the most dignified style, and ideally, the flowers used encompass the past, present, and future of the seasons.

Jiyuka: free style renaissance

From the Meiji era onwards, Japanese traditions lost their appeal under the influences of new art and lifestyle introduced from the West. However, through new styles like the nagairebana (thrown-in flowers) and moribana (piled-up flowers), as well as permitting Western flowers in the arrangements, ikebana saw a renaissance.

This was only reinforced when ikebana, together with tea ceremony and calligraphy, was seen as essential in the education of women, especially of the upper classes.

So far, the latest innovation in ikebana was the introduction of the jiyuka style (free flowers) after WWII. As the name suggests, “anything goes”, there are no more rules and the focus lies on individual creativity. These arrangements come in all sizes and often include non-natural materials as well.

Ikebana today

Whether rikka, shoka, or jiyuka, the goal of any flower arrangement is that it looks as natural as possible. To achieve this, artificial means are permitted, for example wires to bend stiff materials, or hand crème to prevent the tips of leaves from drying out too quickly. Some large-scale arrangements may be planned out in advance, and tree branches are cut and put together to create specific angles to fit the design. All of this is allowed – as long as the end result still looks natural.

Today, dozens of ikebana schools exist in Japan, all with slightly different rules for their arrangements and a varying emphasis on formality and creativity, respectively. Ikebana is taught worldwide, but nowhere else has it such a recognition as in Japan.

In Kyoto, the birthplace of ikebana, the Ikenobo school operates an entire college dedicated to the art. There, students start out with the jikuya before moving on to shoka and finally, rikka. Soft materials are easiest to use, while a rikka arrangement that only consists of pine branches, for example, marks the height of a student’s accomplishment.

Further reading (affiliate links):

• Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers by Shozo Sato and Kazen Yoshimura. History of the art with illustrations and beautiful photographs.

• Ikebana Unbound: A Modern Approach to the Ancient Japanese Art of Flower Arranging by Amanda Luu and Ivanka Matsuba. A practical handbook for creating simple arrangements.

• Ikebana: The Zen Way of Flowers by Yuji Ueno. Arrangements with a single flower only.

Last month began with Hina Matsuri, Japan’s doll festival centered on girls. Therefore, we featured articles on dolls and women, with some special favourites of mine. The supposedly dark origin of the kokeshi dolls from northern Honshu has always fascinated me, however, diving into juicy 8th century court rumours around Japan’s last “real” empress was a personal highlight.

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Sneak Peek: April in Japan means cherry blossom season, and even though this year’s sakura equator has already passed Kyoto (and it’s raining to boot as I write this), there are many places further north where the delicate blossoms are still to open.

So, in honour of the season, we’ll have a look at The Nature of Japan: the cute, the beautiful - and the destructive.

I wish you a lovely month ahead!

Iris Reinbacher, editor-in-chief

This is a free article; a paid subscription gives you access to all current article (and you’ll get them via email as well) and the archive. It also goes a long way in paying our writers. You can also support Yamato over on x with likes, follows and shares.

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The Japanese puppet theater was developed and refined in the Edo period, just like noh and kabuki. The birthplace of ningyo joruri bunraku is Osaka, where in the early 17th century, the sangyo, the three professions, were combined into a single performance.

1. Narration

In bunraku, a single tayu storyteller narrates the story, describes the setting and recites the lines for all characters on stage. This gidayu bushi is a special technique to give each character a distinct vocalization, and it can take decades to master. Its roots lie in the 13th century, when storytellers recited famous epic tales like the Heike Monogatari to a - then mostly illiterate - audience.

2. Shamisen

The narration is accompanied by music, at first performed on biwa lutes. Today, the accompaniment is commonly one or two shamisen, a 3-stringed guitar that originated in Okinawa and became popular in Japan in the 16th century.

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Ōmura Park, Nagasaki Prefecture

A beautiful spot with dark history: The park marks the former site of Kushima Castle, base of the Christian daimyō Ōmura Yoshiaki. In 1616, many local Christians were herded into the castle grounds and forced to take poison. The castle was replaced with a shinto shrine in the late 19th century, and today, the park is home to many rare species of sakura.
Peak: late March to early April.

Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Castle is one of the few black castles of Japan. Sadly, the main keep, built in 1600, was destroyed in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion. The current keep is a 1960s reconstruction made from concrete. However, the black exterior provides a fantastic contrast to the pink cherry blossoms.
Peak: late March to early April

Shiudeyama, Kagawa Prefecture

To arrive at this literally breathtaking view over the Inland Sea, you must climb the peak of Mt. Shiude, where 1000 cherry trees have been planted. The sunset, bathing the scenery in pastel hues explains the name: mountain of emerging purple clouds.
Peak: early April.

Himeji Castle

This is the most beautiful castle in Japan, hands down, and thanks to its elegance, it’s often compared to a white heron. The main keep rests on two huge trees that rest on the ground at the bottom of the stone fortifications and that carry the top floor. From there, the cherry blossoms in the park below look like an ocean in white and pink - with many floating black “dots” of people.
Peak: late March to early April.

Mount Yoshino, Nara Prefecture

The first cherry trees were planted on Mount Yoshino in the Heian period. Today, there are around 30,000 trees that bloom at different times, according to their altitude. Besides the sakura, there are ancient temples and shrines on the mountain, all connected by hiking paths. Mount Yoshino has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004 and draws thousands of visitors each year.
Peak: early to mid-April.

Maruyama Park, Kyoto

The ancient capital is filled with famous spots for hanami, not only near the mountains surrounding the city on three sides, but also in the gardens of Nijo Castle and many temples in between, as well as along the Kamogawa river. However, the most photogenic cherry tree of all Japan is certainly the weeping cherry of Kyoto’s Maruyama Park.
Peak: late March to early April.

Lake Kawaguchi near Mt. Fuji

Located near Mount Fuji, the sakura along Lake Kawaguchi provide a perfect frame for Japan’s perfect mountain, at this time of the year still covered in snow. The other perfect image - the one with the red pagoda, Chureito - can be taken from Arakurayama Sengen Park.
Peak: mid-April.

Chidorigafuchi Moat, Tokyo

This broad moat lined with sakura trees surrounds the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, once Edo Castle. While one can definitely walk alongside on the outside, the best view on the cherries is from a boat on the water.
Peak: late March to early April.

Kakunodate, Akita

This town in the mountains of Akita Prefecture is often called “Little Kyoto”, and its well-preserved district with old samurai residences is definitely a picturesque site. Many sakura can be found there as well as on the aptly called Sakura Avenue along the river.
Peak: late April.

Hakodate’s Goryōkaku

Our final entry on this list is the Goryōkaku, a typical Dutch five-star fortress built in Hakodate in 1866. It was the capital of the short-lived Republic of Ezo and saw the Tokugawa Shogunate’s last battle in the Boshin War in 1869. It is surrounded by sakura in- and outside the moat, but for the view above, you must climb the Goryōkaku Tower next door.
Peak: late April to early May.

In this case, the underlying Shinto ritual was called shunki kōrei-sai, a ceremony to honor the spirits of successive emperors, empresses, and members of the imperial family at the imperial court. In 1878, the memorial days of emperors and other prominent members of the imperial family were consolidated into spring and autumn ceremonies during the vernal and autumnal equinox, respectively.

These ceremonies, which include traditional kagura dance in the courtyard in front of the Imperial Ancestor Hall, are still held by the members of the Imperial Family to this day.

Other ceremonies

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