Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Publishing
Copyright © 2003 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISBN: 978-1-4629-1460-9 (ebook)
LCCN 2002103669
Printed in Singapore
All photographs by Michael Yamashita except the following:
P. 6, Luca Tettoni Photography P. 55, Luca Tettoni Photography/Brian Lovell
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Front Endpaper: The Miyako Odori (Cherry Blossom Dance) is performed by eight maiko, apprentice geisha, at the Gion Kobu-Kaburenjo Theater in Kyoto.
Photographer's Dedication
To Lil and Maggie
Photographer's Acknowledgements
Throughout my 30-year love affair with Japan, from my first "roots" trip in 1971 to my most recent assignment this year covering Tokyo Bay, there have been many people who have helped me along the way. Special thanks go to Nobuo Yabashi and the Yabashi family, my first employer in Japan; to Pacific Press Service president Robert Kirschenbaum, my close friend and advisor, as well as the entire PPS staff; to Kunio Kadowaki, my most frequent guide and assistant in Japan; to Shiro Nakane, who introduced me to the worlds of gardens and geisha; to National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler magazine, on whose assignments many of these pictures were taken (with acknowledgements to National Geographic magazine for the photographs on p. 58 and p. 91); to Yoko Yoshioka, editor of JAFmate, who also sent me on many a Japan shoot; to Osama Iijima of Dai Nippon CDC and Nikon Cameras for their assignments in Tohoku; to Stan Braverman, former art director of Signature magazine, who gave me my first job as a professional photographer in Japan; and finally, thanks to my publisher, Eric Oey and his wife Christina, for their enthusiastic support.
A hishaku, bamboo ladle, sits on an ablution basin inset in a stone in the Ryoanji rock garden in Kyoto. Ritual cleanliness is a key characteristic of Japanese culture.
Three geisha in exquisite kimono dance at a party in Kyoto's Gion entertainment district.
Contents
The Japanese Enigma
"The people whom we have met so far are the best who have as yet been discovered, and it seems to me that we shall never find among heathens another race to equal the Japanese. They are a people of very fine manners, good in general, not malicious. They are men of honor to a marvel, and prize honor above all else in the world. They are a poor people in general, but their poverty, whether among the gentry or those who are not so, is not considered a shame."
— Francis Xavier, in his first letter from Japan to superiors in Goa
A pair of wooden geto, slippers, at the venerable Tawaraya Inn, which has been operating for more than three centuries.
Snow falls on the Nijubashi bridge of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
If Westerners consider Japan to be exotic, other Asians usually consider it an enigma. In fact, there is a question as to whether Japan should be classified as a sub-unit of the East Asian cultural sphere or treated as a separate civilization in its own right. Complicating (he matter further, the Japanese frequently declare themselves to be unique, even while speaking of "we Asians" in contra-distinction to the West But in the eyes of many Asians, Japan seems in Asia but not of Asia. What then is Japan?
The first key to understanding Japan and the Japanese is recognition of its geographical circumstances. The country lies some 160 kilometers off the Asian continent; it comprises four main islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku) and over 1,000 small islands which, some 12,000 years ago, separated from the Asian mainland.
Climate, too, has been a critical factor in shaping the national character. Tokyo may be more southerly than Sicily but because of the workings of the monsoon system, Japan's climate can range from near tropical to sub-arctic, depending on location and season. The resulting diversity of scenery, flora and fauna is part of its attraction and never more so than in spring and autumn.
The austere elegance of the Daibutsu-den hall of the Todaiji in Nara, the world's largest wooden building and home to the Great Buddha.
The origins of the Japanese still remain unclear. Despite the relentless mantra declaring ethnic and cultural homogeneity, it is likely that the Japanese are of mixed ancestry. What is clear is that the earliest inhabitants were physically different from those in the 5th century, when Japan finally established a centralized state during its Kofun (Burial Mound) Period.
We do not know whether the original inhabitants were replaced by, or intermixed with, latecomers. Nevertheless, DNA testing makes it clear that the Japanese of historical times belong to a genetic pool that covers the Korean peninsula, much of north China and Mongolia, possibly originating in the Lake Baikal area.
The basic design of Japanese homes, however - wooden frames with thin removable walls - suggests southern origins. Okinawan culture offers hints about what core Japanese culture might have been like since the local religion and creation myths are similar to those in Japan.
By around AD 400 the Yamato