午夜剧场

My original research theme was to elucidate the essence of the power of the "Muromachi-dono"—the holder of unified power who controlled the Imperial Court while serving as the Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate—through an analysis of rituals. That research could not progress without answering the question: "How did the rituals of the Kamakura Shogunate prepare the way for the rituals of the Muromachi Shogunate?" This question ultimately led to the inquiry: "How did the court rituals performed within the Imperial Court and the rituals of local warrior societies outside the court prepare the way for the Kamakura Shogunate rituals?" This converged on the problem of "whether warriors were born in the capital's Imperial Court or in the outlying provinces." The result of my own reflections on this issue was my previous book, "Unraveling the Origins of the Samurai: The Hybrid Ancient Period and the Emergent Middle Ages" (Chikuma Shinsho, 2018).

However, in my previous book, I ended the narrative at the moment of the establishment of the samurai (around the time of Taira no Masakado's Rebellion). Compared to the time of the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate two and a half centuries later, there is still a significant developmental gap. This current book is the sequel I wrote to fill that void. Furthermore, I am preparing another volume focusing on those who did not stand at the pinnacle of the warrior class, which will bring my theory on the establishment of the samurai to a close.

That said, court culture flowed into parts of warrior culture, and court culture itself contained a mixture of Japan's unique traditional elements and elements of foreign origin. In particular, the ideology of "Li" (ritual/propriety) rooted in Confucianism entered from China. The ideology of "Li" itself has historical stages, and information regarding which stage was introduced to Japan, when, by whom, and for what motive is essential for elucidating Japanese ritual culture.

I must trace the "path taken by Li" back to its origins, following the development of the ideology of "Li" in ancient China chronologically and tracking how it passed through the Korean Peninsula. To do so, I must reconstruct the geography of the ancient Korean Peninsula, for which no established theories exist (such as the locations of the four commanderies directly ruled by the Former Han Dynasty, and the locations of the territories and capitals of Goguryeo and Baekje). After establishing a chronologically traceable path—from ancient China to the ancient Korean Peninsula, then to the ancient Japanese Imperial Court, and finally to the Kamakura Shogunate—I wish to discuss the rituals of the "Muromachi-dono" and the society, culture, and power surrounding them.

This book represents the point where I currently stand within that long-term plan. It is a race against time, but I believe it is a project of just the right scale for my life's work.

Yuichiro Momosaki

Chikuma Shinsho

368 pages, 1,320 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.