Kyoto: A Cultural History

On my last trip to Kyoto I started reading John Dougill's book, Kyoto: A Cultural History (2005) and it gave a lot of interesting background details about the city and its history. Doughill relates each of the eleven chapters to a specific theme and historical period with several sub sections relating to history and culture. In Chapter One: City of Kammu it is set in the Heian period (794-1185) and he discusses the history of the court that was established in Kyoto at the time. Chapter Two: City of Genji (Heian) discusses the influence of the great novel The Tale of Genji and how it reflected court life in Kyoto. Chapter Three: City of Buddhism (Heian-Kamakura 1185-1333) looks at the influence of Buddhism on the city. Chapter Four: City of Hieke (Heian-Kamakura) looks at the influence of the great Heike War and its impact on the city. Chapter Five: City of Zen (Kamakura-Muromachi 1336-1573) explores the influence of the concept of zen on city and its culture. Chapter Six: City of Noh (Muromachi) shows the impact of the Noh theater on the city. Chapter Seven: City of Unification (Azuichi-Momoyama 1568-1600) looks at the influence of strong leaders like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi on Kyoto. Chapter Eight: City of Tea (Momoyama) explores the influence of the practice of tea ceremony on the culture of the city. Chapter Nine: City of Tradition (Edo 1603-1868) looks at how several earlier established cultural traditions lived on in that era. Chapter Ten: City of Geisha (Edo) observes how the tradition of geishas was developed and cultivated in Kyoto. And the last Chapter Eleven: City of Japaneseness (Meiji and after 1868-present) was of the most interest to me as he looked at more recent film and literary depictions of the city from artists that I admire like Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, Yukio Mishima, Junichiro Tanizaki, and Yasunari Kawabta. It is an informative and fascinating book that tries to capture the history and distinct culture of Japan's other great city.