A Tale of Two Cities: Kyoto and Tokyo - four online talks by Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Founded in 794, Heian-kyo (‘Capital of Peace and Tranquility’, present-day Kyoto, became the seat of the court of the Japanese emperor, after it moved from the nearby city of Nara. The new capital would remain the heart of Japan for a thousand years and even today Kyoto is still considered the cultural capital of the country. In this ‘Florence of the East’, the emperor appointed senior advisers who were responsible for government business and who managed to arrogate imperial power for themselves. The exploits of this powerful class of nobles forms the background to Japan’s first great literary masterpiece, The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari) and this lecture will focus on what the book tells us about life in early Kyoto.

In the Heian period Japan developed its own writing systems. The era is still regarded as a golden age of literature – and it was the work of women that predominated. Not only did Lady Murasaki Shikibu write the brilliant Genji monogatari, but other court ladies wrote poetry and a series of unique literary outputs known as ‘pillow books’ (Makura no soshi). These diaries-cum-musings tell us much about daily life in Heian-era Kyoto and this talk will explore the greatest of them all – the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, a dazzling display of comic and melancholy observations on the activities and mores of Heian aristocrats.

Although the emperor nominally ruled from Kyoto, the Tokugawa Shogunate established its administrative capital in Edo – present-day Tokyo – seat of the military government. Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated his power by eliminating all rivals and his family, the Tokugawas ruled without interruption for over 250 years. With Japan completely closed to foreigners (a policy of isolationism called sakoku), Edo witnessed a tremendous cultural blossoming. This talk explores the creation of Edo and its districts and takes a concentrated look at the lifestyle of the Shoguns and their women within Edo Castle.

Today a district that looks very similar to many other neighbourhoods in modern Tokyo, in the Edo period the area known as Yoshiwara was the greatest ‘pleasure quarter’ in all Japan. This well-known red-light district was created in 1617 by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640. Created by the shogunate to curtail the tastes of and sequester the nouveau riche chōnin (merchant) classes, the entertainment offered in Yoshiwara would eventually give rise to the creation of geisha, who would become known as the fashionable companions of the chōnin classes. This talk explores the pleasures and dangers of Yoshiwara and examines its depiction in ukiyo-e, popular prints. Alongside the world of courtesans, we will look at actors and the popularity of kabuki drama in the Edo period.