Page 54 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

built in the shoin domestic style of residential architecture. Here the
daimyo held council with his retainers, gave banquets, and entertained
guests. Castles and yashiki required large numbers of paintings on fold-
ing screens and sliding partitions, metalwork, furniture, lacquer and ce-
ramic utensils, and accoutrements. Artists of the Kano, Tosa, and other
schools of Japanese painting were kept busy with daimyo commissions.
Some daimyo had a particular fondness for expansive screens depicting
battles, or such martial accomplishments as falconry, riding, or eques-
trian dog-shooting. Others collected prized Chinese art objects (kara-
mono), especially those that had belonged to the Ashikaga shogunal
collection, including celadons, lacquer, incense utensils, books, ink-
stones, water droppers, brushes, and calligraphy. Others were particu-
larly attached to Muromachi-style suibokuga or illustrated handscrolls in
the revived yamato-e tradition. Genre paintings and scenes of everyday
life in and around Kyoto were much in demand in provincial castle
towns. Zen painting and calligraphy were still prized, but in general
traditional Buddhist iconographie painting and sculpture languished in
the Edo period when compared with the medieval period. Daimyo
tastes, like those of the country at large, were shifting in more secular
directions.
Although daimyo had no opportunities to appear on the battle-
field, they still needed swords, armor, muskets, and other military equip-
ment for drills, ceremonial occasions, and as symbols of personal status.
In the Edo period only samurai were permitted to bear arms, and the
sword, in particular, remained the symbol of the samurai. Daimyo com-
missioned swords and armor from the finest makers to reflect their rank,
status, and artistic taste.
Daimyo were participants in an elite cultural world in which No
and the tea ceremony were the highest expressions of political as well as
cultural preeminence. In this respect they continued to cloak themselves
in the cultural trappings that had earlier added prestige to the Ashikaga
shoguns. Culture and politics mingled in the tearooms and the No per-
formances held in Edo Castle or the daimyo residences, or in the provin-
cial castle towns. Although the Kabuki and the puppet theaters were
flourishing among the townspeople of Edo and Osaka and were attrac-
tive to many samurai, No and its comic counterpart Kyôgen remained
the official dramatic form patronized by shoguns and daimyo. leyasu
adopted it, carrying on the enthusiastic patronage of Hideyoshi, No-
bunaga, and the Ashikaga shoguns. Just as bugaku had served for centu-
ries as the formal music of the imperial court, No filled this role for
shogun and daimyo. Daimyo were expected to be able to chant No.
leyasu and Tsunayoshi (the fifth shogun), for instance, performed No
dances and urged the daimyo to do the same. Annual competitions of
chanting and dancing (utai-hajime) were held. Every daimyo household
was required to maintain a full set of robes, masks, and musical instru-
ments for the performance of No. The Hosokawa family had a particu-
larly fine collection, from which many robes and accessories have been
lent to the exhibition. Frequent ceremonial performances of No were
held in Edo and the provincial castle towns. Daimyo vied in sponsoring
No actors, building stages, and acquiring robes and masks.
During the Edo period the passion for tea (chanoyu) spread
through all sectors of society. Descendants and students of Sen no Rikyü
established the major schools of tea, including the Ura Senke, Omote
Senke, and Mushanokôji Senke that are still popular today. Professional
tea masters made their livings instructing shoguns, daimyo, samurai,
townspeople, and even wealthy farmers in the intricacies of tea and the
subtleties of the tea aesthetic. For everybody, the enjoyment of tea was a
participatory aesthetic in which some of the more rigid social barriers

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