Changes

While some of the most major schools of painting, such as the [[Kano school|Kanô school]], [[Tosa school]], and [[Rinpa]], had their start in the late Sengoku, all of these developed much further into their "mature" "traditional" forms in the Edo period. The vast majority of famous Japanese painters and paintings date to the Edo period. [[Pottery]], similarly, had major infusions of new styles and techniques in the 1590s as Hideyoshi's armies brought kidnapped artisans from Korea, but numerous regional styles which trace their origins to those Korean potters only developed into their more "mature" "traditional" forms over the course of the Edo period. [[Shamisen]] music, too, was first introduced in the mid-to-late 16th century, but the various styles and schools of ''[[kouta]]'', ''[[nagauta]]'', ''[[jiuta]]'', ''gidayû bushi'', ''kiyomoto bushi'', ''tokiwazu bushi'', and ''[[tsugaru jamisen]]'' which accompany geisha dances, bunraku and kabuki theatre, and so forth, or which are played alone, only developed in the Edo period.

While some of the most major schools of painting, such as the [[Kano school|Kanô school]], [[Tosa school]], and [[Rinpa]], had their start in the late Sengoku, all of these developed much further into their "mature" "traditional" forms in the Edo period. The vast majority of famous Japanese painters and paintings date to the Edo period. [[Pottery]], similarly, had major infusions of new styles and techniques in the 1590s as Hideyoshi's armies brought kidnapped artisans from Korea, but numerous regional styles which trace their origins to those Korean potters only developed into their more "mature" "traditional" forms over the course of the Edo period. [[Shamisen]] music, too, was first introduced in the mid-to-late 16th century, but the various styles and schools of ''[[kouta]]'', ''[[nagauta]]'', ''[[jiuta]]'', ''gidayû bushi'', ''kiyomoto bushi'', ''tokiwazu bushi'', and ''[[tsugaru jamisen]]'' which accompany geisha dances, bunraku and kabuki theatre, and so forth, or which are played alone, only developed in the Edo period.

The wide circulation of books, along with the increased accessibility of travel, density of urban spaces, increased economic prosperity (for some), and other developments combined also to create a very lively cultural life for many in both the larger cities and elsewhere in the realm. In the large cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka in particular, social circles organized around cultural pursuits became a major site not only of socialization and the kind of interpersonal networking that Eiko Ikegami emphasizes as playing the important socio-political role of "publics," but were also sites of cultural development and spread. Poetry, dance, shamisen and [[koto]] music, [[ikebana]], [[tea ceremony]], amateur [[Noh]] chanting, and many other arts became much more popularly (i.e. among commoners) widespread during this period, where previously they had been restricted to the realms of elite patronage. Teachers traveled and offered lessons, running large workshops on a weekly or monthly basis and seeing students regularly for private lessons, just as teachers of such traditional arts might do today; relatively affordable woodblock-printed books also circulated which allowed people to teach themselves, or to at least be aware of these arts. Countless schools of traditional arts surely owe their survival, if not their origins, to this popular explosion of interest in cultural pursuits.<ref>Ikegami, ''Bonds of Civility''.</ref>

The wide circulation of books, along with the increased accessibility of travel, density of urban spaces, increased economic prosperity (for some), and other developments combined also to create a very lively cultural life for many in both the larger cities and elsewhere in the realm. In the large cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka in particular, social circles organized around cultural pursuits became a major site not only of socialization and the kind of interpersonal networking that Eiko Ikegami emphasizes as playing the important socio-political role of "publics," but were also sites of cultural development and spread. Poetry, dance, shamisen and [[koto]] music, [[ikebana]], [[tea ceremony]], amateur [[Noh]] chanting, and many other "polite arts" or "arts of play" (''yûgei'')<ref>Rebecca Corbett, ''Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2018), 51.</ref> became much more popularly (i.e. among commoners) widespread during this period, where previously they had been restricted to the realms of elite patronage. Teachers traveled and offered lessons, running large workshops on a weekly or monthly basis and seeing students regularly for private lessons, just as teachers of such traditional arts might do today; relatively affordable woodblock-printed books also circulated which allowed people to teach themselves, or to at least be aware of these arts. Countless schools of traditional arts surely owe their survival, if not their origins, to this popular explosion of interest in cultural pursuits.<ref>Ikegami, ''Bonds of Civility''.</ref>

The samurai, meanwhile, patronized and pursued a number of "elite" artistic forms which matured or blossomed in this period. Samurai retained their swords, which became a prime marker of their samurai status, and various martial ideals remained core elements of the ideology of samurai identity. However, the samurai were no longer true warriors, and their martial identity became a more abstract, conceptual one; within a few generations, a samurai's training in martial arts, for example, was no longer truly a matter of practical skills applicable to an actual encounter, but was more a matter of art, correct form, discipline, and spiritual focus, or, as one scholar has written, "a matter of formal gymnastics and disciplined choreography."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 136.</ref> Certain notions of the "Way of the Warrior" were likewise codified and established in the Edo period. Though it certainly drew upon earlier notions of honor, loyalty, and a particular code of ethics, the concept only truly coalesced in this period. [[Tsuramoto Tashiro]], the compiler of the ''[[Hagakure]]'', along with [[Miyamoto Musashi]], [[Yagyu Jubei|Yagyû Jûbei]], and many other great philosophers of the warrior code lived during this period. In securing, or honing, their position as the elite class, the samurai embraced a variety of arts, including painting, calligraphy, certain forms of pottery arts, [[tea ceremony]], and [[Noh]] theatre, as well as ideologies of refinement, including [[Neo-Confucianism|Confucianism]] and the notion of pursuing or perfecting a balance between ''bun'' (the literary) and ''bu'' (the martial). Still, the concept remained vague enough, not too widespread or well-established in any single agreed-upon version, that [[Nitobe Inazo|Nitobe Inazô]] was able to believe he was coining the word "''[[bushido|bushidô]]''" in [[1900]].

The samurai, meanwhile, patronized and pursued a number of "elite" artistic forms which matured or blossomed in this period. Samurai retained their swords, which became a prime marker of their samurai status, and various martial ideals remained core elements of the ideology of samurai identity. However, the samurai were no longer true warriors, and their martial identity became a more abstract, conceptual one; within a few generations, a samurai's training in martial arts, for example, was no longer truly a matter of practical skills applicable to an actual encounter, but was more a matter of art, correct form, discipline, and spiritual focus, or, as one scholar has written, "a matter of formal gymnastics and disciplined choreography."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 136.</ref> Certain notions of the "Way of the Warrior" were likewise codified and established in the Edo period. Though it certainly drew upon earlier notions of honor, loyalty, and a particular code of ethics, the concept only truly coalesced in this period. [[Tsuramoto Tashiro]], the compiler of the ''[[Hagakure]]'', along with [[Miyamoto Musashi]], [[Yagyu Jubei|Yagyû Jûbei]], and many other great philosophers of the warrior code lived during this period. In securing, or honing, their position as the elite class, the samurai embraced a variety of arts, including painting, calligraphy, certain forms of pottery arts, [[tea ceremony]], and [[Noh]] theatre, as well as ideologies of refinement, including [[Neo-Confucianism|Confucianism]] and the notion of pursuing or perfecting a balance between ''bun'' (the literary) and ''bu'' (the martial). Still, the concept remained vague enough, not too widespread or well-established in any single agreed-upon version, that [[Nitobe Inazo|Nitobe Inazô]] was able to believe he was coining the word "''[[bushido|bushidô]]''" in [[1900]].