Page 200 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

city with the changing seasons and ace to wed the emperor Go-Mizunoo, in relief with gofun and then painted over
monthly events to one that highlights spe- which took place on the eighteenth day of with gold. The richly textured result is in
cific sites, architecture, both public and the sixth month of 1620. YS keeping with the extravagant tastes typical
private, and the individual activities of citi- of the Momoyama period. MR
zens of this fast-growing city. This trend 116 Amusements at Higashiyama
toward thematic changes became even pair of six-fold screens, ink, color and 117 Matsushima
more marked during the first quarter of gold leaf on paper pair of eight-fold screens; ink, color,
the seventeenth century, the period to each 84.0 x 276.0 gold, and gold leaf on paper
which this set of screens belongs. Edo period, iyth century each 185.0 x 488.6 (727/8 x 1923/3)
This pair of screens depicts Kyoto Edo period, late ryth century
shortly after 1620. In the right screen, di- Kozu Kobunka Kaikan, Kyoto
vided by the Kamo River, is the area along FukuokaArt Museum,
Higashiyama, or Eastern Hills, seen from Higashiyama, the eastern section of Fukuoka Prefecture
the west. The view includes Toyokuni Kyoto, remains today a popular spot for Transmitted in the Kuroda family of Fu-
Jinja, which enshrines Toyotomi Hide- visitors on pleasure trips and pilgrims to kuoka, the daimyo of a domain in north-
yoshi, in the upper portion of panel one; the shrines and temples. This small-scale ern Kyushu, these screens depict the
the colossal Buddha Hall of Hôkôji, the fo- continuous composition gives the viewer a scenic cove of Matsushima, a part of Sen-
cus of this screen, on panel two; Yasaka miniaturized look into various scenes in dai Bay on the Pacific coast of today's
Jinja, or Gion Shrine, on panels three and the Higashiyama area, focusing on spring Miyagi Prefecture in northern Honshu.
four; Yoshidayama, a hillock in the north- cherry-blossom viewing. Unlike many The bay at Matsushima, with its widest
eastern part of the city, on panels five and other Higashiyama compositions, in this span of a little over ten kilometers (eight
six; and the Shinto sanctuary of Kamo version the Yasaka Jinja appears on the
Jinja on panel six. Two large bridges, Sanjó left-hand screen, with the temple of Kiyo- miles), is a meisho ("famous place" or
"place with a name") of long standing in
and Gojô Ohashi, span the river. Town mizu on the right-hand screen at the very Japanese history. It attained national
blocks stretch northward along the river's top. Between these two stretches a long prominence in the Edo period as one of
west bank, with floats and processions of avenue filled with travelers and merrymak- the three most beautiful sites of Japan (Ni-
the Gion Festival depicted along a main ers. Vendors of food and various wares hon sankei); the two others are Amano-
street. On panel six is the precinct of the throng the road. Interesting scenes in- hashidate on the Japan Sea coast, and
Imperial Palace, only partially visible. clude the banquet being held under the Itsukushima, renowned for a Shinto shrine
The left screen presents the western cherry trees at the far right, where dancers of the same name, on the Inland Sea. Vis-
part of the city bordered by two rivers: the perform. In the left screen groups of iting Matsushima in the fifth month of
Horikawa, which runs north and south, is women stroll in colorful kimono, while 1689 on his famous journey to the north,
depicted at the bottom; the Oigawa, nearby samurai admire them. poet Matsuo Bashó (1644-1694) remarked
which meanders southward to become the Because among the figures in these that Matsushima was the most beautiful
Katsura River, is on panels four and five. screens warriors predominate, it is be- spot in Japan, comparable to Dongting
The port town of Yodo, where the Katsura lieved to have been commissioned by a Lake and West Lake of China, and that its
River ends and the Yodo River begins its daimyo. In the left screen, members of the churning waves at high tide were as dra-
flow southwest toward Osaka, is depicted warrior class rest in tearooms outside the matic as the Hangzhou bore on the Qian-
on panel six. The focus of this screen is shrine's gate. Some warriors engaged in tang River.
Nijô Castle, completed shortly after 1603, archery practice are shown in the middle
sheer geographic wonder of the
The
the Kyoto headquarters for the garrisons of the right screen. The lively style of the site alone invites awe. Over 260 fantasti-
of the shogun Tokugawa leyasu. From its figures and the lavish use of color suggest cally shaped rocky islets, large and small
gate issues a procession, observed by war- that it is a work of the Kano school. Bril- and crowned with pine trees, are scattered
riors along its path, which has been inter- liant green, red, blue, and yellow pigments around the cove. (Matsushima means
preted to be the procession of Kazuko, the enhance a beautifully decorative surface "pine islands.") The scenes represented in
daughter of the second shogun, Tokugawa dominated by gold. The clouds that weave these screens are viewed from the ocean
Hidetada, on her way to the Imperial Pal- in and out of the trees are first patterned
side. The focus of the right screen is the

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