Page 8 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

Foreword

Japan: The Shaping

ofDaimyo Culture,
1185-1868

I N 1875, SEVEN YEARS AFTER THE ABOLITION OF THE TOKUGAWA

shogunate,
a distinguished American student
culture named Professor William Elliot Griffis of Japanese
published
in a popular magazine an article entitled "A Daimio's Life." His article
dealt with the feudal lords who controlled the provinces of Japan for
much of the medieval and early modern ages. The recent toppling of the
Japanese warrior power hierarchy—shogun, daimyo, samurai—and the
restoration to power of the Meiji emperor were being widely discussed
by those who followed current world events, so Griffis did not have to
bother to define his subject. Since that time, the word "daimyo" has
fallen from currency.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as Japan
increasingly looked to the West for models of government and education,
the Western appreciation of daimyo culture also was eclipsed. As a result
a romanticized, often fictitious view of Japan evolved, in which fierce
samurai and shogun figured prominently, and the daimyo were
neglected. Despite a proliferation of popular books and films about Ja-
pan, neither the term daimyo nor their extraordinary contributions as
both patrons and practitioners of the arts have become familiar to West-
ern audiences. Nor has any effort been made, until now, to present an
exhibition that takes as its theme the art of the daimyo. Daimyo culture,
as described by one of our distinguished catalogue authors, reflects "a
synergy of warrior traditions (bu) and civilian arts (bun)!' By bringing to
Washington a resplendent array of daimyo-related art, we are breaking
new ground and at the same time beginning to redress a longstanding
oversight.
This exhibition is, we believe, the first attempt anywhere, includ-
ing Japan, to explore the artistic legacy of the daimyo from the beginning

vn