1.
Architecture of the Song dynasty
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The architecture of the Song dynasty was noted for its towering Buddhist pagodas, enormous stone and wooden bridges, lavish tombs, and extravagant palaces. The professions of architect, master craftsman, carpenter, and structural engineer did not have the status of the Confucian scholar-officials during the dynastic era. Architectural knowledge had been passed down orally for thousands of years, there were also government agencies and schools for construction, building, and engineering. The Song dynastys building manuals aided not only the private workshops. The outer city of ancient Bianjing was built during the reign of Emperor Shenzong to a plan, almost square in proportions. The south wall had three gates, with Nanxun Gate in the center, Chenzhou Gate to the east, and this method of using bracket assemblies to support superstructure was specified in Li Jies 12th-century building manual Yingzao Fashi as pingzuo. The city wall itself was built with rammed earth, a technique also detailed in Yingzao Fashi, vol. III, Standards for Moat, Stronghold and Masonry Work, Foundation, For every square chi, apply two dan of earth, on top of it lay a mixture of brick, tile and crushed stones. Following this, tamp the surface with pestles or stamp with feet randomly to even out the surface, every five-cun layer of earth should be compressed to three cun, every three-cun layer of brick and stone to one and a half cun. Rammed-earth walls during this time were tapered, the thickness of the wall is greatest at the base and decreases steadily with increasing height, as detailed in Li Jies book. During the Song dynasty, the city of Bianjing had three enclosures, the city wall, the inner city wall, and the palace at the center. The inner city was rectangular, with three doors on each side, the palace enclosure was also rectangular, with a watch tower on each of the four corners. It had four gates, Xihua Gate to the west, Donghua Gate to the east, Gongchen Gate to the north. There were also two glazed dragons, each biting an end of the ridge, its tail pointing to the sky. However, they misnamed it sparrow-hawk tail, running southward from Xuande Gate was the Imperial Boulevard, about two hundred paces wide, with the Imperial Corridors on either side. Merchants opened shops in the Corridors until 1112, when they were banned, two rows of black fencing were placed at the center of the boulevard as a barrier to pedestrians and carriages. Along the inner sides of the fences ran the brick-lined Imperial Water Furrows, about 400 m south from Xuande Gate, the Bian River intercepted the Imperial Boulevard, which crossed it over the stone Zhou Bridge, balustraded and flat-decked. This design of a boulevard with a bridge crossing a river was later imitated in the Forbidden City
2.
Zen
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Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as Chan Buddhism. Zen school was influenced by Taoism and developed as a distinguished school of Chinese Buddhism. From China, Chan Buddhism spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and east to Japan, the term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 which traces its roots to the Indian practice of Dhyana. Zen emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation-practice, insight into Buddha-nature, as such, it de-emphasizes mere knowledge of sutras and doctrine and favors direct understanding through zazen and interaction with an accomplished teacher. The Prajñāpāramitā literature and, to an extent, Madhyamaka have also been influential in the shaping of the paradoxical language of the Zen-tradition. Central to Zen is the practice of dhyana or meditation, during sitting meditation, practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza postures, using the dhyāna mudrā. To regulate the mind, awareness is directed towards counting or watching the breath or by bringing that awareness to the center below the navel. Often, a square or round cushion placed on a mat is used to sit on, in some other cases. This practice may simply be called sitting dhyāna, which is zuòchán in Chinese, in the Sōtō school of Zen, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise, in the Japanese language, this practice is called Shikantaza. Intensive group meditation may be practiced occasionally in some temples, in the Japanese language, this practice is called Sesshin. While the daily routine may require monks to meditate for hours each day. In modern Buddhist practice in Japan, Taiwan, and the West, lay students often attend these intensive practice sessions and these are held at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddhas attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. One distinctive aspect of Zen meditation in groups is the use of a kyosaku, at the beginning of the Sòng dynasty, practice with the kōan method became popular, whereas others practiced silent illumination. This became the source of differences in practice between the Línjì and Cáodòng schools. A kōan, literally public case, is a story or dialogue and these anecdotes give a demonstration of the masters insight. Koans emphasize the non-conceptional insight that the Buddhist teachings are pointing to, koans can be used to provoke the great doubt, and test a students progress in Zen practice. Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen, kinhin, and throughout all the activities of daily life, kōan practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai school, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line
3.
Buddhism in Japan
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Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since its official introduction in 552 AD according to the Nihon Shoki from Baekje, Korea by Buddhist monks. Though some Chinese sources place the first spreading of the religion earlier during the Kofun period, Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day. In modern times, Japans most popular schools of Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism, as of 2008 approximately 34% of the Japanese identify as Buddhists and the number has been growing since the 1980s. In 2009, a survey showed that over half the Japanese families had a butsudan or Buddhist altar in their homes. In 2009 data from the Agency of Cultural Affairs stated that there were 89 million Buddhists in Japan, in 2011, after the Tsunami, it was reported that 90% of the Japanese identified as Buddhist or Shinto or a combination of both. In 2013, official said there were over 87 million Buddhists in Japan. The arrival of Buddhism in Japan is ultimately a consequence of the first contacts between China and Central Asia, where Buddhism had spread from the Indian subcontinent. These contacts occurred with the opening of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC and these contacts culminated with the official introduction of Buddhism in China in 67 CE. Historians generally agree that by the middle of the 1st century, according to the Book of Liang, which was written in 635, five Buddhist monks from Gandhara traveled to Japan in 467. In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion and they propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result the customs of Fusang changed, the powerful Soga clan played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country. Initial uptake of the new faith was slow, and Buddhism only started to spread some years later when Empress Suiko openly encouraged the acceptance of Buddhism among all Japanese people. On January 15,593, Soga no Umako ordered relics of Buddha deposited inside the stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Asuka-dera. In 607, in order to obtain copies of sutras, an envoy was dispatched to Sui China. As time progressed and the number of Buddhist clergy increased, the offices of Sōjō, by 627, there were 46 Buddhist temples,816 Buddhist priests, and 569 Buddhist nuns in Japan. These were not exclusive schools, and temples were apt to have scholars versed in several of the schools and it has been suggested that they can best be thought of as study groups. This kind of Buddhism had little to offer the illiterate and uneducated masses and their practice was a combination of Buddhist and Daoist elements and the incorporation of shamanistic features of indigenous practices. Some of these figures became popular, and were a source of criticism towards the sophisticated academic and bureaucratic Buddhism of the capital
4.
Shimonoseki
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Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is at the tip of Honshu, facing the Tsushima Strait. Nicknamed the Fugu Capital, it is known for the locally caught pufferfish and is the largest harvester of the pufferfish in Japan, as of October 1,2016, the city has an estimated population of 265,684 and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area is 716.14 km², the Heike and Genji fought at Dan-no-ura near the present Kanmonkyo Bridge. The city prior to 1902 was commonly known as Bakan and formally Akamagaseki, on February 13,2005, Shimonoseki absorbed the towns of Hōhoku, Kikugawa, Toyota and Toyoura to create the new and expanded city of Shimonseki. Since October 1,2005, the city has designated as a core city by the Japanese Government. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Shimonoseki as a port for trading with the United States. On January 7,2006, the station building at Shimonoseki station, which had dated back to 1942, was destroyed in a fire. Shimonoseki has a subtropical climate with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heavier in summer, Shimonoseki Shipyard and Machinery Works Yamaguchi Financial Group, Inc. Yamaguchi Shimbun Minato Shimbun The Kanpu ferry to Pusan in South Korea regularly, the Gwangyang Beech to Gwangyang in South Korea regularly. The Orient ferry to Shanghai in China regularly, the Orient ferry to Qingdao in China was suspended in November 2015. Shin-Shimonoseki Station - Shin-Shimonoseki Station is a station on the Sanyō Shinkansen Line. Intercity bus services go to the destinations, Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Airport. It formerly housed two other North Korean schools, Yamaguchi Korean High School and Shimonoseki Korean Elementary and Junior High School, Fugu uni Sea urchin Whale Anko Goosefish Kawara Soba Ganryu Yaki Mentaiko Roe Fuku Chochin Akamagaseki Suzuri Jourou Ningyo Shimonoseki is home to many festivals that are held throughout the year. Of these, the most famous are Shimonoseki Kaikyo Festival and Shimonoseki Bakan Festival, a designated yakuza group, the Goda-ikka is the largest yakuza syndicate in Yamaguchi Prefecture. S. Shimonoseki City Tourism Promotion Film Shimonoseki City Official Channel
5.
Ueda, Nagano
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Ueda is a city located in central Nagano Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. As of 1 October 2016, the city had an population of 155,664. Its total area was 552.04 square kilometres, which makes it the fifth largest city in the Nagano Prefecture in terms of area, Ueda is located in central Nagano Prefecture, some 40 kilometers from the prefectural capital of Nagano City and 190 kilometers from Tokyo. The Chikuma River divides the city into two parts, the ruins of the Shinano provincial temple are also to be found within Ueda. However, the capital was shifted to Matsumoto during the early Heian period. During the Sengoku period, the area was the centre of the powerful Sanada clan, during the Edo period, Ueda was a castle town and headquarters of Ueda Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. During the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reform of April 1,1889, Ueda was elevated to city status on May 1,1919. On March 6,2006, Ueda absorbed the towns of Maruko and Sanada. Ueda is a commercial centre with a mixed agricultural and light industrial economy. The main crops include rice, apples, grapes, cabbage, the traditional industry of Ueda was cotton-weaving. The city now hosts automobile components and electronics manufacturing, the city has five public high schools operated by the Nagano prefectural Board of Education, and four private high schools. Ageo, Saitama Numazu, Shizuoka Ueda Castle Anraku-ji in Bessho Onsen, the pagoda has been designated as National Treasure
6.
Kamakura period
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The Kamakura period is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, the Kamakura period marks the transition to land-based economies and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class. Lords required the services of vassals, who were rewarded with fiefs of their own. The fief holders exercised local military rule, once Minamoto Yoritomo had consolidated his power, he established a new government at his family home in Kamakura. He called his government a bakufu, but because he was given the ancient high military title Seii Tai-shōgun by the Emperor, Yoritomo followed the Fujiwara form of house government and had an administrative board Mandokoro, a board of retainers, and a board of inquiry. After confiscating estates in central and western Japan, he appointed stewards for the estates and constables for the provinces, as shogun, Yoritomo was both the steward and the constable general. The Kamakura shogunate was not a regime, however, and although it controlled large tracts of land. The regime continued warfare against the Northern Fujiwara, but never brought either the north or the west under complete military control, however, the 4th leader of the Northern Fujiwara Fujiwara no Yasuhira was defeated by Yoritomo in 1189, and the 100-year-long prosperity of the north disappeared. The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed to consolidate the leadership of his family on a lasting basis. Intrafamily contention had long existed within the Minamoto, although Yoritomo had eliminated most serious challengers to his authority. When he died suddenly in 1199, his son Minamoto no Yoriie became shogun and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie was unable to control the other eastern warrior families. By the early century, a regency had been established for the shogun by Hōjō Tokimasa—a member of the Hōjō clan. Often the Shikken was also the Tokuso and Rensho, under the Hōjō, the shogun became a powerless figurehead. The Hōjō forces easily won the war, and the court was brought under the direct control of the shogunate. The shoguns constables gained greater powers, and the court was obliged to seek Kamakuras approval for all of its actions. Although deprived of power, the court retained extensive estates. Several significant administrative achievements were made during the Hōjō regency, in 1225 the third regent Hōjō Yasutoki established the Council of State, providing opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority at Kamakura. The Hōjō regent presided over the council, which was a form of collective leadership
7.
Kamakura
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Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about 50 kilometres south-south-west of Tokyo. Kamakura was designated as a city on November 3,1939, as of September 1,2016, the modern city has an estimated population of 172,302 and a population density of 4,358.77 persons per km². The total area is 39.53 km2, as a coastal city with a high number of seasonal festivals, as well as ancient Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples, Kamakura is a popular tourist destination within Japan. Surrounded to the north, east and west by hills and to the south by the water of Sagami Bay. The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold, to the north of the city stands Mt. Genji, which then passes behind the Daibutsu and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea. From Kamakuras alluvional plain branch off numerous narrow valleys like the Urigayatsu, Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, Kamegayatsu, Hikigayatsu, Kamakura is crossed by the Namerigawa river, which goes from the Asaina Pass in northern Kamakura to the beach in Yuigahama for a total length of about 8 kilometres. The river marks the border between Zaimokuza and Yuigahama, in administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders with Yokohama to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west. North-west of Kamakura lies Yamanouchi, commonly called Kita-Kamakura because of the presence of East Japan Railway Companys Kita-Kamakura Station, Yamanouchi, however, was technically never a part of historical Kamakura since it is outside the Seven Entrances. Yamanouchi was the border of the city during the shogunate. Its name at the used to be Sakado-gō. The border post used to lie about a hundred meters past todays Kita-Kamakura train station in Ofunas direction. Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and these three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the Hōjō clan, a branch of the Taira clan which ruled Japan for 150 years. Among Kita-Kamakuras most illustrious citizens were artist Isamu Noguchi and movie director Yasujirō Ozu, Kamakuras defining feature is Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, a Shinto shrine in the center of the city. A1. 8-kilometre road runs from Sagami Bay directly to the shrine and this road is known as Wakamiya Ōji, the citys main street. Built by Minamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyotos Suzaku Ōji, Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a 3 metre deep canal and flanked by pine trees. Walking from the beach toward the shrine, one passes through three torii, or Shinto gates, called respectively Ichi no Torii, Ni no Torii and San no Torii. Between the first and the second lies Geba Yotsukado which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders had to get off their horses in deference to Hachiman and his shrine. Approximately 100 metres after the second torii, the dankazura, a raised pathway flanked by trees that marks the center of Kamakura
8.
Kyoto
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Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. It has a close to 1.5 million. Kyoto is also known as the thousand-year capital, in Japanese, the city has been called Kyō, Miyako, or Kyō no Miyako. In the 11th century, the city was renamed Kyoto, after the Chinese word for capital city, after the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868, and the seat of the Emperor was transferred there, Kyoto was known for a short time as Saikyō. Obsolete spellings for the name include Kioto, Miaco and Meaco. Another term commonly used to refer to the city in the period was Keishi. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, the new city, Heian-kyō, a scaled replica of the then Tang capital Changan, became the seat of Japans imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. The city suffered destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477. Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the court nobility and religious factions as well, nobles mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since, Hideyoshi also built earthwork walls called odoi encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city, throughout the Edo period, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo. The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city, the modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1,1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 is one taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932, stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The city was spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. As a result, the Imperial City of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, however, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex. Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1,1956, in 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the citys name. Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro Basin, in the part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands
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