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The Japanese Enigma

"The people whom we have met so far are the best who have as yet been discovered, and it seems to me that we shall never find among heathens another race to equal the Japanese. They are a people of very fine manners, good in general, not malicious. They are men of honor to a marvel, and prize honor above all else in the world. They are a poor people in general, but their poverty, whether among the gentry or those who are not so, is not considered a shame."

— Francis Xavier, in his first letter from Japan to superiors in Goa

A pair of wooden geto, slippers, at the venerable Tawaraya Inn, which has been operating for more than three centuries.

Snow falls on the Nijubashi bridge of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

If Westerners consider Japan to be exotic, other Asians usually consider it an enigma. In fact, there is a question as to whether Japan should be classified as a sub-unit of the East Asian cultural sphere or treated as a separate civilization in its own right. Complicating (he matter further, the Japanese frequently declare themselves to be unique, even while speaking of "we Asians" in contra-distinction to the West But in the eyes of many Asians, Japan seems in Asia but not of Asia. What then is Japan?

The first key to understanding Japan and the Japanese is recognition of its geographical circumstances. The country lies some 160 kilometers off the Asian continent; it comprises four main islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku) and over 1,000 small islands which, some 12,000 years ago, separated from the Asian mainland.

Climate, too, has been a critical factor in shaping the national character. Tokyo may be more southerly than Sicily but because of the workings of the monsoon system, Japan's climate can range from near tropical to sub-arctic, depending on location and season. The resulting diversity of scenery, flora and fauna is part of its attraction and never more so than in spring and autumn.

The austere elegance of the Daibutsu-den hall of the Todaiji in Nara, the world's largest wooden building and home to the Great Buddha.

The origins of the Japanese still remain unclear. Despite the relentless mantra declaring ethnic and cultural homogeneity, it is likely that the Japanese are of mixed ancestry. What is clear is that the earliest inhabitants were physically different from those in the 5th century, when Japan finally established a centralized state during its Kofun (Burial Mound) Period.

We do not know whether the original inhabitants were replaced by, or intermixed with, latecomers. Nevertheless, DNA testing makes it clear that the Japanese of historical times belong to a genetic pool that covers the Korean peninsula, much of north China and Mongolia, possibly originating in the Lake Baikal area.

The basic design of Japanese homes, however - wooden frames with thin removable walls - suggests southern origins. Okinawan culture offers hints about what core Japanese culture might have been like since the local religion and creation myths are similar to those in Japan.

By around AD 400 the Yamato dynasty, which may have originated in Kyushu, established a central government of sorts on the Nara Plain. This was a period of huge tumulus building. The largest were reserved for the emperors whose power even at this early stage seems to have been more symbolic and religious than political.

A bird's-eye view of the imposing Doibutsu, Great Buddha, in Kamakura accentuates its weathered patina. Its asymmetrical proportions make the view from about five meters back the most impressive.

School children on excursion amble beneath the giant, vermilion "floating torii" of Itsukushima Shrine, on Miyajima— one of Japan's "three supreme views."

In 552 Buddhism was formally introduced. It marked a turning point in the archipelago's history, sparking a cultural revolution and forcing growth of a scale seldom seen in the world.

Just as the Greeks had generously borrowed elements of their civilization from Egypt and the Orient, the Japanese learned eagerly from China and Korea and, through them, from India. There followed the Taika Reform of 645 that attempted to transplant a system of strict centralized government modeled on that of Tang China. All agricultural land was declared the properly of the Imperial House. The system never really worked yet the changes were still momentous.

In 710 construction began on the country's first permanent capital at Nara and the imposing 15 meter Daibutsu, Buddha, was built there a mere 40 years after advanced bronze-molding techniques had been introduced from the mainland.

The Heian period, named after the capital Heian-kyo, (todays Kyoto) followed from 794 to 1185 and was one of the high points of Japanese civilization.

It was also the most feminine of periods in history; the aristocrats, or "dwellers among clouds as they were referred to, gave themselves up to the sophisticated pursuit of love. A potential beau would be judged on his calligraphy, poetry or choice of scent. The reputation of a court lady could be made or broken by her choice of kimono for a particular function. The characteristically Japanese atmosphere of delicacy, grace, refinement and aesthetic understatement was already established by the reverence for such qualities.

Around the middle of the 12th century Japanese history took a major turn. Although cultivable land had been expanding the amount of taxable state land shrank, which led to the devolvement of power to feudal lords. Many of these drew support from local warriors, bushi or samurai (the latter derived from the word saburai or "to serve"), who had their own land holdings. The two most prominent warrior clans, both of which claimed Imperial descent and were widely dispersed throughout the country, were the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji). Soon after the court allowed the unruly samurai to get involved, the centuries-old ban on political violence was quickly abandoned and warriors from around the country flocked to the banners of one of the two predominant clans, frequently switching allegiances for financial gain.

"The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night. The mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind."—Heike Monogatari The shades of the vanquished Taira clan seem to flit among the night shadows of Itsukushima Shrine.

During festivals in the Takachiho region of Miyazaki Prefecture in southeastern Kyushu, dancers reenact Shinto creation stories. Local residents claim that many of the mythological doings of the gods in the Plain of High Heaven actually took place in this area.

Under their leader, Kiyomori, the Taira had the advantage at first and in fact took over the court, marrying into the Imperial family so that Kiyomori's own grandson, aged two, became Emperor Antoku in 1180. However, the autocracy and arrogance of the Taira had already alienated much of the samurai class and with Kiyomori's death the following year all hell broke loose.

Hounded by rugged eastern warriors raised by a wily Minamoto survivor, Yorimoto, and his half-brother Yoshitsune, the Taira met their end in 1185 at the sea battle of Dannoura. Yoritomo then eliminated all potential rivals, and founded a bakufu ("tent government") at Kamakura, south of today's Tokyo.

This became the de facto government of Japan for the next 150 years. Yoritomo, however, soon died in a fall from his horse and relatives of his indomitable wife, Masako, of the Hojo clan (ironically of Taira blood) directed puppet shoguns - who in turn controlled the emperors.

Most of the Hojo regents proved to be highly capable, and if it were not for the cool courage of the young Tokimune, who was in charge during the two invasions by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan in 1274 and 1281, Japan might have been just one more tally in the long list of Mongol conquests.

Flowers bloom outside the Atomic Bomb Memorial Dome in Hiroshima. In the immediate aftermath of the A-bombing, it was feared that nothing would ever grow here again.

Visiting school children seem oblivious to the significance of the Nagasaki Peace Statue in the city's Heiwa Koen. Peace Park.

Three Ages of the Japanese Woman—a girl from Matsushima, a bride wearing the elaborate kimono and headpiece for the Shinto ceremony, and an old woman in Nikko,

In the 1330s Emperor Go Daigo staged an Imperial Restoration that eliminated the Hojo but led to nearly a century of civil war. In the meantime another shogunate, led by the Ashikaga clan, established itself in Kyoto and exercised nominal control over the warrior class. From then until 1600 Japan was almost constantly torn by civil war.

This was the period of gekokujo, "the inferior deposing the superior," during which many a man of humble origin rose to the top by doing away with his lord. Brother slaughtered brother; son drove out father. Of the approximately 260 great feudal houses known before the Onin War (1467-1477) barely a dozen survived to see the dawn of the 17th century.

It was late in the 16th century that a trio of warlord giants appeared - Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu - and with fire, sword and wile proceeded to unite the country, a land which, behind the curtain of political chaos and warfare, had been undergoing tremendous social, cultural and economic development. By the time Ieyasu won the mandate at Sekigahara in 1600, it could compete in terms of power with the Europeans and Chinese. Trade was flourishing nationwide and barter had largely been supplanted by the use of money

The first westerners to appear on Japanese shores, were Portuguese traders around the year 1543. Missionaries soon followed and over the next few decades the ranks of Christian converts in Japan swelled to perhaps 300,000 people, before the Tokugawa authorities decided in earnest to root them out -partly for fear of foreign invasion. Christians were subjected to fiendish tortures, and those who refused to apostatize died under horrible conditions.

The vast majority of Japanese consider themselves adherents of both Buddhism and Shinto. Here a priest of the Nichiren sect beats a drum at Myorenji, a temple famed for its 17th-century raked rock garden located in the Nishijin textile artisan district of Kyoto.

Bathing outdoors in rotenburo, natural hot springs, such as this one at the Takaragawa Onsen, is a hedonistic pleasure all can enjoy.

From the early 1600s until 1853, when Commodore Matthew C. Perry came knocking at Japan's door with his "black ships," the shogunate's seclusion policy kept foreigners out and Japanese in. Yet the sankin-kotai system that forced the feudal lords throughout the country to visit Edo helped integrate the nation's transportation network and develop the economy. During the Edo period (1600-1867) Japan achieved such a high degree of economic integration that the foundation was in place for its rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration of 1868,

The young samurai from peripheral feudal domains who overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate, quickly shifted gears and pushed through an institutional and psychological revolution designed to make Japan strong, independent and respected throughout the world.

By the time Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Japan was a world power with an empire of its own. But the Meiji modernization process that had made possible impressive triumphs on battlefields and global markets also contained the seeds of destruction that were to bear bitter fruit at Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.

Whether in the city or countryside. Japanese bathhouses have always been centers for community interaction. This one is at the Hoshi Onsen in Gumma Prefecture.

Scenes from the Tawaraya Inn in Kyoto. Service at such a first-class, traditional ryokan is fit for royalty and is designed to pamper all the senses while appealing to aesthetic sensibilities.

Japanese love to eat. but denizens of Osaka are especially famed for their lusty appetites. In the Dotombori entertainment district, a chef at the Wadoka Fish Restaurant prepares a tasty treat. Diners slurp down ramen noodles, ubiquitous throughout the country. A couple enjoys a cup of java at a café in the trendy Daikanyama district of Tokyo. A dedicated staff is an absolute necessity for such an establishment as the Tawaraya Inn in Kyoto.

The semi-traditional garden of the Adachi Museum in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, This quiet town was for many years home to the famous writer Lafcadio Hearn, whose Japanese name was Koizumi Yakumo.