ARTH 215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Heian Shrine, Kansai Region, Emperor Kanmu
16 Aug 2016
School
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ARTH 215
Week 3 — Jan 18
Kyoto: The city of Japanese-ness
How did Kyoto and Tokyo foster artistic development?
-Cultural development
Geisha Girl (2005) — BBC Documentary
-Yukina felt as becoming a Geisha was her personal dream — rather than people that are
often forced to become one for money means
-Geisha is often a family business stemming from Kyoto, rather than Yukina who is from an
outside city who dreams to become a traditional performer
-Geisha is often very difficult to leave once within it
Geisha are a part of Kyoto
-Technically anyone can be a geisha as long as you are accepted
4 Largest Cities: Tokyo (Kanto region), Kyoto, Osaka and Nara (Kansai/ Kinki Region)
-Hokkaido is in the north, has lowest population density
-Kyushu
-Shikoku is the smallest island, closely connected with Kyoto
-Tokyo is always in the centre of the Kanto region — there are many conflicts between
Kanto and Kansai regions
Kyoto History
-Before 600: Kyoto area known as Yamashiro, the Hata claan settled in the west and carried
out flood control
-794: Heian-Kyo (city of peace and tranquility) was founded by Emperor Kammu
-876: Gion festival first held in Kyoto
-1467-1477: the Onin War
-15th century Kyoto had a civil war (only civil war) devastated Kyoto and it didn’t recover
until the mid 16th century
-Has not seen such destructive damage, since it was spared during WWII (the cities
damaged during WWII destroyed many ancient buildings and artifacts that were spared
within Kyoto as a city
-Most of Kyoto’s treasures were lost in the Onin War, although the damage isn’t comparable
to the damage that occurred roughly 50 years ago in WWII
-1868: Emperor Meiji moves residence from Kyoto to Tokyo (people don’t believe Tokyo is rich
in history — merely has a couple hundred years of history)
-Kyoto remained the capitol of Japan for thousands of years
-Many buildings remain in Kyoto
Kyoto — City of Regions
-1670 Buddhist temples, more than 400 Shinto shrines, and 90 Christian churches
-East Hongan Temple, Heian Shrine built in 1894 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary
of Kyoto’s founding — Kyoto people love to speak about how old their buildings and their
history is
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Yukina felt as becoming a geisha was her personal dream rather than people that are often forced to become one for money means. Geisha is often a family business stemming from kyoto, rather than yukina who is from an outside city who dreams to become a traditional performer. Geisha is often very dif cult to leave once within it. Technically anyone can be a geisha as long as you are accepted. 4 largest cities: tokyo (kanto region), kyoto, osaka and nara (kansai/ kinki region) Hokkaido is in the north, has lowest population density. Shikoku is the smallest island, closely connected with kyoto. Tokyo is always in the centre of the kanto region there are many con icts between. Before 600: kyoto area known as yamashiro, the hata claan settled in the west and carried out ood control. 794: heian-kyo (city of peace and tranquility) was founded by emperor kammu. 876: gion festival rst held in kyoto.
