A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (21 page)

In another interesting move Yoshimitsu expressed fealty to the Chinese Emperor. In a letter to the Ming court in 1403 he termed himself ‘Your subject, the King of Japan’.
⁵¹
This self-designation may well have compromised Japanese sovereignty, but it also established a basis for the sh
gunate to deal with foreign powers independently of the imperial court.
⁵²

However, after Yoshimitsu’s death in 1408 sh
gunal power declined particularly noticeably. Sh
gunal orders were often ignored, and in some cases were even effectively over-ruled by the court, which was itself weak. For example, in 1443 the sh
gunate forbade performances by a troupe of actors during the New Year holiday, but the court gave its permission, and the performances went ahead.
⁵³

Provincial families continued to become more powerful, becoming the forerunners of the
daimy
(feudal lords) of a later age. The estates that were theoretically under the absentee ownership of noble court families were in effect dismembered as power accrued to local lords. Revenue from them was no longer paid to their absent owners. The peasants still paid their taxes, however. In fact the burden worsened, leading to numerous uprisings. This was despite – or perhaps because of – increased agricultural productivity due to improvements in tools, fertilisers, and strains of rice.

Unchecked by any sh
gunal power, the provincial families increasingly fought against each other as fragile alliances were made and broken. The inconclusive
nin Civil War of 1467–77 laid waste much of Ky
to, and laid bare the inability of the sh
gunate to quell civil unrest. For the next hundred years – known as the Sengoku (‘Warring States’) era – there was to be an almost constant series of civil disturbances.

In this warrior-dominated age Zen Buddhism continued to appeal to the warrior. Zen ideals such as simplicity, restraint, discipline, and meditation formed a contrast to the actual disorder and confusion of the country. It was an age of aesthetic ideals such as
wabi
(subdued taste),
kare
(literally ‘withered’ or ‘dry’, but with connotations of ‘severe’, ‘unadorned’, and ‘natural’),
sabi
(elegant simplicity), and
y
gen
(elegant and tranquil otherworldliness), ideals that still characterise much of Japanese culture today. Many of these ideals, especially restraint and
y
gen
, are also well-known characteristics of the
n
drama that developed during this period.
N
plays were often based on tragic military encounters and often had a theme of retribution in after-life.