Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan(Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture)

Yoshimasa may have been the worst shogun ever to rule Japan. He was a failure as a soldier, incompetent at dealing with state business, and dominated by his wife. But his influence on the cultural life of Japan was unparalleled. According to Donald Keene, Yoshimasa was the only shogun to leave a lasting heritage for the entire Japanese people. Today Yoshimasa is remembered primarily as the builder of the Temple of the Silver Pavilion and as the ruler at the time of the Onin War (1467–1477), after which the authority of the shogun all but disappeared. Unable to control the daimyos-provincial military governors-he abandoned politics and devoted himself to the quest for beauty. It was then, after Yoshimasa resigned as shogun and made his home in the mountain retreat now known as the Silver Pavilion, that his aesthetic taste came to define that of the Japanese: the no theater flourished, Japanese gardens were developed, and the tea ceremony had its origins in a small room at the Silver Pavilion. Flower arrangement, ink painting, and shoin-zukuri architecture began or became of major importance under Yoshimasa. Poets introduced their often barely literate warlord-hosts to the literary masterpieces of the past and taught them how to compose poetry. Even the most barbarous warlord came to want the trappings of culture that would enable him to feel like a civilized man. Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion gives this long-neglected but critical period in Japanese history the thorough treatment it deserves.

Table of Contents:
Chronology Shoguns of the Ashikaga Family Introduction Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. He is the author of more than thirty books, most recently Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World. Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, and has been hailed in the NYTBR as "the century's leading expert on Japanese literature."

Review :
"Keene's multifarious learning and engaging manner illuminate the improbable story of the fastidious aesthete whose taste has been so important in forming the look of the modern world." -- The New Yorker "With such admirable industry did then Yoshimasa create "the soul of Japan." And his assiduity has been matched by that of Keene, who in this short and elegant book contributes a popular account of the man and his times." -- Donald Richie, The Japan Times "Keene has outdone himself with this exceptional book, which is based on the idea that the modern Japanese aesthetic was the creation of an exceptionally incompetent fifteenth-century shogun." -- Colorado Springs Independent " Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion gives this long-neglected but critical period in Japanese history the thorough treatment it deserves." -- Sushi and Tofu "This is a book not only for all students of Japanese history but also for all who want to understand what Keen calls "the soul of Japan." -- Hugh Cortazzi, The Royal Society for Asian Affairs "Keene, the prominent scholar of Japan, brings together a masterful account." -- Yumi Sakugawa, Pacific Citizen