Culture
The earliest important urban entertainments of the commoner in Japan were secularized forms of Buddhist dance plays (ennen) and folk dances (yayako odori and kaka odori) that came to be called fūryū (“drifting on the wind”) dances.Noh became the exclusive theatre art of the warrior class, while bugaku continued as the chief performing art of the imperial court.
Momoyama culture is noted for the magnificent standing screens, fusuma, and wall paintings of a monumental nature that decorated the castles.
Momoyama culture is noted for the magnificent standing screens, fusuma, and wall paintings of a monumental nature that decorated the castles.
Dances
Noh and kyōgen were dance and theatre forms that had come to express the gravity and decorum of a rigidly formal samurai ruling class by the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1574–1600). Noh plays taught the folly of worldly power and position, that time destroys all living things. During the late 16th century, commoners began to perform dances that were lively, exciting, and at times morally licentious. They were meant to appeal to literate townsmen, well-to-do wives of merchants, workers, and the fops, wits, and dandies of the burgeoning cities.
Languages
Around the 14th century, a simple alphabet of 28 characters (17 consonants and 11 vowels) emerged from a careful study of the shape or form of the speech organs (i.e. the mouth, the tongue, the throat) and the shape they take during speaking.
During the early 17th century, the Portuguese brought Christianity, technology and linguistic changes to Japan. The Portuguese compiled the first-ever Japanese dictionary.
During the early 17th century, the Portuguese brought Christianity, technology and linguistic changes to Japan. The Portuguese compiled the first-ever Japanese dictionary.