The Azuchi-Momoyama period

The brief span of time during which first Oda Nobunaga (1534–82) and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536/37–1598) began the process of unifying the warring provincial leaders under a central government is referred to as the Azuchi-Momoyama, or Momoyama, period.

The dating of the period is, like the name, somewhat relative. The initial date is often given as that of Nobunaga’s entry into Kyōto in 1568 or as that of the expulsion of the last Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiaki, from Kyōto in 1573. The end of the period is sometimes dated to 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at Sekigahara established his hegemony; to 1603, when he became shogun; or to 1615, when he destroyed the Toyotomi family. It should be noted that the rigid application of an essentially political chronology to developments in the arts can be deceptive. Many important cultural figures were active not only during the Momoyama period but in the preceding Muromachi or succeeding Edo period as well. Similarly, artistic styles did not necessarily change with each change in political system.

In any case, Nobunaga’s rise is the referent event for the start of the period. He selected Azuchi, a town on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, a few miles to the east of Kyōto, as the site of his new government. It was there that a purportedly magnificent castle (now known only through records) was constructed between 1576 and 1579 and destroyed shortly after Nobunaga’s death. A product of military necessity as well as an extension of the bold and outsize personality of its resident, this innovative structure presented enormous decorative challenges and opportunities to Kanō Eitoku (1543–90), the premier painter of the period.

Nobunaga’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was, of the three hegemons of the period, perhaps the one most enthusiastically involved with the arts. He constructed several castles, including one at Momoyama, just to the south of Kyōto. The name Momoyama has since become associated, as has Azuchi, with the lavish and bold symbolizations of political power characteristic of the period.

The fact that the two castle sites lend their names to the era seems especially appropriate artistically because the castle was the single most important crucible for experimentation in the visual arts in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The development of the castle also points up several salient features of the age: a display of massive power held by provincial warriors not previously noted for high cultural aspirations, growing confidence in national stability, and the conscription of artists to articulate the new mood.

The Japanese castle was a totally indigenous architectural form that developed in the 16th and early 17th centuries, a by-product of the hostile military conditions that existed in Japan from the time of the Ōnin War and in the following 100 years. Before that time military architecture had primarily consisted of small wooden fortresses; the earliest stone structure was probably constructed in the 1530s. Castle architecture experienced its florescence and most imaginative expression in the period from 1600 to 1615. In fact, most of the extant castles are products of that period. By 1615, however, each domain was allowed only one castle, and all other castles were ordered destroyed. Indeed, further castle building by the domain lords, or daimyo, was later banned. Continuing need for fortification would have implied either hostile intention or impending instability. Either suggestion was unacceptable to the Tokugawa rulers.

The general castle layout consisted of a donjon, or reinforced tower, called the tenshu, around which were arranged gardens, parks, and fortified buildings used for both official and private purposes. The whole was surrounded by deep moats and massive stone walls. Castle interiors presented a new dimension of decorative challenges. Large, generally dark spaces were subdivided by sliding panels (fusuma) and folding screens (byōbu). These two elements provided the format, depending on the wealth and predilection of the patron daimyo, for extensive painting programs. While architectural and religious iconographic needs of previous eras required paintings of considerable scale, the quantity, stylistic bravura, and thematic innovations of the Azuchi-Momoyama period are singular in the burst of confident national energy that they represent.

The shoin style noted first in the Muromachi period continued to be refined. A veranda linked the interior of most structures with the carefully arranged, highly cultivated exterior gardens. An interior room with shelving and a tokonoma (alcove) for the display of a hanging scroll of painting or calligraphy continued to be the primary showroom for fine arts, although fusuma and byōbu decorated with large-scale paintings could be found throughout the structure. The main room was often divided into two levels, the slightly raised one, which was backed by the tokonoma and fronted by decorative wood carving, being reserved for the highest-ranking person present. Unlike the shinden style, which used curtains and folding screens to partition small areas of a single large room, shoin-style structures were divided into several rooms by fixed walls and sliding doors. With variations in scale, this was also true for the architecture of religious establishments.