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First published in 1939, this Singer tour de force offering some fifty carefully chosen classic texts from Yamato to the Momoyama period and fully annotated, remains as significant a point of reference today as it did sixty years ago. It is both a primer for the student of Japanese social history as well as a delightful guided tour through a thousand years of Japanese culture, customs and etiquette. 'Some of these pages are chosen as they throw light on ways in which the Japanese in remoter periods felt, thought and behaved,' writes Singer. 'Some may illuminate details of social organization, economic conditions and administration. The most beautiful, however, may be taken as definitive formulations of standards, norms, moral, religious, aesthetic and sentimental; expressions of the innermost life of a nation which give significance to its existence and justify its greatest aspirations.' ... Read more

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The Arts of Japan, in two volumes, is a profusely illustrated, comprehensive survey of Japanese art from prehistoric times to the middle of the twentieth century. Every field of Japanese fine arts and many types of decorative and folk arts are covered-sculpture, painting, architecture, garden design, ceramics, lacquerware, textiles, swords. When this book was first published in a deluxe edition in 1966, the quality of its scholarship was widely acclaimed, and it became a standard reference that has yet to be superseded. This competitively priced edition contains the complete text and all the illustrations of the original; the bibliographies have been revised and updated. The first volume focuses on Japanese art history to the end of the sixteenth century, from the arts and tomb artifacts of prehistoric Japan to the Buddhist and secular arts that were developed in the successive capitals at Nara and Kyoto as well as in provincial centers. The second volume, covering the period from the end of the sixteenth to mid-twentieth century, records the appearance of a new epoch in Japanese art, when artists turned from the service of religion to direct portrayals of man and nature. The distinctly modern flavor of this art has as much direct appeal to a modern audience as it had to the people of earlier times. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great book
This book is a great book.It is very detailed and indepth. I suggest it.It says everything I want to know. ... Read more

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"Fascinating myths, legends, festivals, and stories help students experience the rich heritage of ancient cultures around the world. Detailed maps and vivid illustrations demonstrate how various people lived and what they accomplished. Each book in this s" ... Read more

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The classic study of the world of THE TALE OF GENJI ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The transience of worldly things
Based principally on Murasaki Shikibu's `The Tale of Genji', and also Sei Shonagôn's "Pillow Book', Ivan Morris brushed an in depth picture of Japan around the end of the first Millennium.

Japanese society, overall climate
In a country full of epidemics, famines, earthquakes, fires and superstitions the overall mood was somber with some bright spots on ceremony days.
A tiny fraction (0.1 %) of the population had a privileged status. The rest could barely survive, burdened with heavy taxation, forced labor and conscription.
In her book `That Mighty Sculptor, Time', Marguerite Yourcenar called the Japanese aristocracy, `the nobility of failure.'

Political economic, financial, social, administrative powers
The ruling emperor had only two representative functions: a sacerdotal one (religion) and a cultural one (arts).
Political power was in the hands of one (!) family, which consolidated its power base mainly through marriages (imperial consorts for child emperors). But, this political power was in reality an economic one: control over rice land and fiscal immunity.
The social and administrative ladder was based on one's hierarchical grade, not on merit. An inefficient and corrupt (office sales) administration undermined the central government, which was not capable to impose `law and order' even in the imperial city.

Religion, superstition
Completely opposed religious world views could continue to exist together: Shintoism (the joyful acceptance of the natural word), Buddhism (the world is a place of universal suffering) and Confucianism (the primacy of the family unit).
But superstition (demons, spirits of the dead, astrology, dreams) had a far more important influence on daily life.

Gender, love, sex, marriage
Within the aristocracy, women could be economically independent.
Not the nude body, but a white skin, blackened teeth and wealthy head hair were their most attractive features.
In its polygamous system the oldest son by the principal wife was the only heir.
Love, sex and marriage were never (or very exceptionally) combined. There existed an absolute tolerance in sexual matters (affairs).
For women, their most engaging interest was their relation with men, who could protect them against the jealousies and the lethal infighting among the concubines. Women lived in constant fear of being abandoned by a lover, of being dismissed, of gossip and, most of all, in constant anxiety about the future of their children.

Art
Remarkably, the Heian aristocratic society produced some of the all time highlights of world literature: novels written by women.
Music, calligraphy, dance and, cardinally poetry (`no poetry, no honey') occupied a central place in daily life.
Murasaki Shikibu's and Sei Shonagôn's novels are a must read for all lovers of world literature.

Ivan Morris distilled out of world class novels a remarkably pregnant portrait of the Japanese society and its irresponsible leisure class.
Not only for Japanese scholars.

The Essential Guide to Heian Japan
Ivan Morris wrote the essential guide to understanding the classical literature and culture of Heian Japan in this book.

Everything you ever wanted to know about rarified, indeed *deified* Japanese court life in the 11th century A.D. is here.From directional taboos to de rigeur blackened teeth (and other fashion highlights) to bureaucratic hierarchies - it's all here, in engaging and accessible prose.

We often think of the samurai ethoswhen we think of Japan, but the roots of Japanese culture developed in the 9th century, when imported Chinese concepts of governance and culture were assimilated.Morris describes how the Heian elite absorbed and transformed Chinese philosophy, and how Shinto beliefs operated in harmony with the teachings of Buddha.

This is an enormously entertaining book, especially in its depiction of the politics and morality of the courtiers.

Highly Readable Genji Guide
I would recommend this book to anyone who is going to read "The Tale of Genji." Elegantly written, with discreet touches of humour here and there, it should help enormously in getting to grips with the superficially accessible, but actually wholly alien and remote world of the Heian court.

Fleeting World
This book really enhances, enlarges and clarifies one's understanding of Lady Muraski's world and though not necessary reading really enriches one's reading of The Tale of Genji.

A comprehensive study on Genji culture
Mr Morris is my hero! He manages to make an extremely complex subject a joy to read and study...Gosh, i wish other subjects could be this engaging. In the world of the shining prince everything has a protocol and a reason to been, Mr Morris manages to explain many important details that may, at first, be just tiny observations and passing glances in the story. This study book provides readers with tools to better understanding the kilometric "Tale of Genji" ... Read more

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Publisher: Yokohama [etc.] Kelly ... Read more

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The Arts of Japan: Ancient and Medieval, the first volume of the two, focuses on Japanese art history up to the end of the sixteenth century-from the arts and tomb artifacts of prehistoric Japan to the Buddhist and secular arts that were developed in the successive capitals at Nara and Kyoto as well as in provincial centers. ... Read more

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Insightful overview
The Arts of Japan did not go into as much detail as I had hoped it would, it was essentially an overview of generalized examples, and the format was not ideal for an art history book - there were the pages of text followed by the illustrations discussed in the text all grouped together at the end of the chapter, which works but is not my favorite format for discussing such subjects.Overall, however, the Arts of Japan is good if you're looking for an insightful glimpse into the art of different periods in Japanese history. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Cultural Writing. Poetry. Literary Criticism. Asian Studies. Translated from the Japanese by Thomas Fitzsimmons. A priceless resource for the student and scholar of ancient Japanese poetry. These five lectures were originally presented to the College de France by Ooka, the author of more than 15 books of poetry and winner of over 10 major literary prizes, was president of the Japan PEN Club from 1989 to 1993 and was made Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Frenchgovernment just prior to being invited to give these lectures. Ooka discusses Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), the basic concepts of the imperial poetry anthologies, great women poets of the Nara and Heian eras, landscape poetry and popular songs of the middle ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

When it Comes to Japanese Poetry Lectures, Ooka Makoto is Truly King of the Hill
This fine book has a simple and straightforward title and it lives up to it perfectly. For one, the book is precisely about what it says it is: the eminent poet and critic Ooka Makoto takes the reader on a grand sweeping tour of the major forms and movements in Japanese poetry from the Heian period up until the Muromachi period (roughly 900 to 1600 AD), along the way making special efforts to explicate the poetic sensibilities implicit in the poems. But the book is stylistically straightforward as well: Not dumbed-down by any means, but based as it is on lectures given by Ooka at the College de France in the mid-90's, it possesses that clarity and simplicity often characteristic of the spoken word transcribed, especially when the speaker is introducing an unfamiliar topic to a roomful of people as seems to be the case here.

For all that, the book is anything but simplistic, covering a wealth of detail and full of startlingly fresh insights. The first chapter took me off guard, in fact. I'm used to such discussions starting with the "Manyoshu" usually, but after brief preliminaries Ooka chooses instead to start his lectures with the poet, statesman, and (later) deity Sugawara no Michizane and his kanshi (poems in Classical Chinese)--triply interesting in that these poems are inaccessible to most Japanese today and so rarely considered, in them Michizane broaches serious political and social topics that would later end up all but utterly absent from Japanese poetry, and all of this casts the more familiar poetry that follows in a somewhat different and freshly unusual context. From this intriguing starting point Ooka embarks on more familiar ground, discussing the classical Kokinshu poetics of Ki no Tsurayuki (the basis of most of what follows) and then the great women poets of the time (especially Kasa no Iratsume, Izumi Shikibu, and Princess Shikishi), after which he extensively expounds upon the more-than-meets-the-eye role of landscape in Japanese poetics (with special attention to the Kyogoku school). Then he ends the lectures as unexpectedly as he began them, not moving on to Renga and Haiku (though Matsuo Basho is mentioned some in the landscape bit) but with the contemporary popular songs of the very early and very late medieval periods as transcribed in Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa's "Ryojin Hisho" and the anonymously compiled "Kanginshu"--these are as raw and blunt as the classical aristocratic waka poems are refined and round-about, and the characteristics of both are highlighted in the process as the multifarious nature of Japanese poetry is vividly suggested.

This is then a great book for both the beginner and the old hand. It's a fine introduction, approachable and clear, full of lots of information and organizing that info into a manageable narrative. And yet it's full of intriguing insights and uncommon explorations that spice up deeply eloquent meditations on the standard stuff, making it well worth the time and enjoyment of anyone long interested and moved by Japanese poetry. That said, the book is riddled with one serious flaw highly annoying to the initiate and highly confusing to the newcomer: spelling errors infect the proper nouns like a plague ("Suguwara" instead of Sugawara, "Oshiko" instead of "Oshikochi", "Isumi" instead of "Izumi", "Murumachi" instead of "Muromachi" etc etc and never consistently), and it's truly a shame that such a fine book is brought down a notch by such lazy editing and utter carelessness. With that in mind though, the book is still highly recommended--plus it's nice and short, so you'll breeze through it like a wind through the pines. ... Read more

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Marvel at the secrets of Japan--a land of emperors and shoguns, tea ceremonies and martial arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good addition to the elementary library...
While the majority of offerings in the field of Ancient Civilizations are aimed at adults, this book is a perfect level for my fourth and fifth graders.During a recent research project, we relied on a variety of source material, including many Eye-Witness Books, but needed to expand our library to cover some of the cultures selected.This book on Ancient Japan is concise and well-organized, though more relative to daily life in ancient times than to the scope of history.I would recommend it to any elementary level library; however, sadly, FIND OUT ABOUT ANCIENT JAPAN may be out of print. ... Read more

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Ancient Japan provides provides lesson plans and cross-curricular activities based on the following pieces of literature:Exploration into Japan, The Samurai's Tale, and The Sign of the Chrysanthemum. This reproducible resource is filled with ready-to-use lessons and cross-curricular activities. Also included are management ideas, creative suggestions for the classroom, and a bibliography. ... Read more

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Shinto, the "Way of the Gods", was the religion of Japan before the arrival of Buddhism from Korea during the 6th century AD. Central to Shinto beliefs are the "kami", animistic gods perceived in all aspects of nature. They exist in the nooks and crannies of houses and inhabit streams, trees and mountains, while others are sacred to human activities such as agriculture and arts and crafts. The principle rites of appeasing the gods - considered essential to a stable society - include acts of cleansing, gratitude, tolerance and obedience to tradition. This book, documenting an exhibition from Japan, begins with a wide ranging introduction to Shinto which traces its role in Japanese culture. The fully illustrated catalogue contains 110 entries, and each of its five sections opens with an essay by an international scholar. The objects, loaned by museums and religious shrines across the country, include masks, ceramics, mirrors, bells, sculpture, paintings, lacquer, ceremonial clothing, swords and armour. ... Read more

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REPRINT. Special Description Note- This is not a print on demand edition. Care has been taken to enhance and improve the original text whenever possible. Martino Publishing follows the standards of traditional printing and quality is a primary concern. We distinguish ourselves from Print on Demand by our quality controls, paper quality and binding quality. Hardbound. Quarto. Book 215 p. xvi pl. Berlin, Oesterheld & Co., 1923 . In Theravada Buddhism the Buddha himself is first named as an Arahat, as were his enlightened followers, since he is free from all defilements, without greed, hatred, and delusion, rid of ignorance and craving, having no "assets" that will lead to a future birth, knowing and seeing the real here and now. This virtue shows stainless purity, true worth, and the accomplishment of the end, Nibbana. In the Pali canon, Ven. states that he has known monastics to achieve Nibbana in one of four ways: * one develops insight preceded by serenity ; * one develops serenity preceded by insight; * one develops serenity and insight in a stepwise fashion; * one's mind becomes seized by excitation about the Dhamma and, as a consequence, develops serenity and abandons the fetters. This is one of the few works on arhats in china and japan. Scarce. ... Read more

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Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan is an ambitious and ground-breaking study that offers a new understanding of a formative stage in the development of the Japanese state. The late seventh and eighth centuries were a time of momentous change in Japan, much of it brought about by the short-lived Tenmu dynasty. Two new capital cities, a bureaucratic state led by an imperial ruler, and Chinese-style law codes were just a few of the innovations instituted by the new regime. Herman Ooms presents both a wide-ranging and fine-grained examination of the power struggles, symbolic manipulations, new mythological constructs, and historical revisions that both defined and propelled these changes.

In addition to a vast amount of research in Japanese sources, the author draws on a wealth of sinological scholarship in English, German, and French to illuminate the politics and symbolics of the time. An important feature of the book is the way it opens up early Japanese history to considerations of continental influences. Rulers and ritual specialists drew on several religious and ritual idioms, including Daoism, Buddhism, yin-yang hermeneutics, and kami worship, to articulate and justify their innovations. In looking at the religious symbols that were deployed in support of the state, Ooms gives special attention to the Daoist dimensions of the new political symbolics as well as to the crucial contributions made by successive generations of "immigrants" from the Korean peninsula. From the beginning, a "liturgical state" sought to co-opt factions and clans (uji) as participants in the new polity with the emperor acting as both a symbolic mediator and a silent partner. In contrast to the traditional interpretation of the Kojiki mythology as providing a vertical legitimation of a Sun lineage of rulers, an argument is presented for the importance of a lateral dimension of interdependency as a key structural element in the mythological narrative.

An enlightening line of interpretation woven into the author's analysis centers on purity. This eminently politico-ritual value central to Chinese Daoism and Buddhism was used by Tenmu as the emblematic expression of his regime and new political power. The concept of purity was most fully realized in the world of the Saiô princess in Ise and was later used by Ise ritualists to defend themselves against Buddhist rivals. At the end of the Tenmu dynasty, it was widely believed that avenging spirits were the principal source of danger and pollution, notions understood here as statements about the bloody political battles that were waged in Tenmu court circles.

The Tenmu dynasty began and ended in bloodshed and was marked throughout by instability and upheaval. Constant succession struggles between two branches of the royal line and a few outside lineages generated a host of plots, uprisings, murders, and accusations of black magic. This aspect of the period gets full treatment in fascinatingly detailed narratives, which the author skillfully alternates with his trademark structural analysis.

Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan is a boldly imaginative, carefully and extensively researched, and richly textured history that will reward reading by Japan specialists and students in several disciplines as well as by scholars with an interest in the role of religious symbolism in state formation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Brings the 7th and 8th centuries alive
A fantastic book.I have read much about Heian and pre-Heian Japan, and Ooms' volume is the best at bringing this turbulent time alive.It is filled with remarkable details -- not the boring, stultifying sort, but rather the sort that flesh out characters and motivations of personages long gone.The book covers a wide range of issues, including both the role of "allochthons" (as Ooms terms those people who originated from outside Japan) in the creation of the Japanese state and the generally ignored (until now, at least) existence of Daoism and Daoist ritual that existed alongside Buddhism.Ooms is respectful of the reader; the impact of a bewildering list of names and events is lessened because he provides the little cues necessary to remind the reader of so-and-so's actions in a previous chapter.Plus, there is a handy, detachable card at the back of the book, which not only diagrams the sometimes confusing genealogy of early Japanese emperors but also serves as a handy bookmark -- a little touch of genius to answer those who predict the death of books in the digital age.Overall, Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan is an invaluable addition to my bookshelf.
... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more