Japanese eras by year. A Brief History of Japan. major periods of Japanese history. Establishing control over the imperial family

A.N. Meshcheryakov

Japan: chronology and periodization

Published with the kind permission of the author

See History of Japan. T.I. From ancient times to 1868. M., 1998. S. 14-19

Network version 5. 05. 2005

chronology

H Throughout their history, the Japanese have used several dating systems for certain events. The earliest is the account of years, borrowed by them from China (and common for all countries of the Far East), according to the 60-year cycle, which was finally formed there by the beginning of the Late Han Dynasty (25-220).

According to this system, a combination of two hieroglyphs is used to designate each year. The first of them - one of the ten cyclic signs, the second - refers to a series of twelve signs of the zodiac.

Cyclic signs are called " jikkan» (十干 , letters. - "ten trunks"). According to the ancient Chinese natural-philosophical tradition, these include 5 basic elements, from which everything that exists is formed: ki (木 , « tree"), hee (火 , "fire"), tsuchi (土 , "Earth"), ka(short for kane 金 , "metal"), mizu (水 , « water"). Each of the "trunks", in turn, is divided into two - "big brother" ( uh) and "younger brother" ( That). When pronounced aloud, the "trunk" and its "branch" are connected to each other using the possessive indicator " But” (not indicated on the letter). It turns out that each element can act in two combinations. For example, cinema("tree" + " But"+"big brother") and kinoto("tree" + " But+ "younger brother"). Each of these combinations is written in one hieroglyph.

	cinema	"elder brother of the tree"
	kinoto	"little brother of the tree"
	quinoe	"big brother of fire"
	hinoto	"little brother of fire"
	tutinoe	"big brother of the earth"
	tsuchinoto	"little brother of the earth"
	canoe	"big brother of metal"
	canoto	"little brother of metal"
	mizunoe	"big brother of water"
	mizunoto	"little brother of water"

The common name for the signs of the zodiac is " ju:nishi» (十二支 , "twelve branches"). This:

	ne	"rat", "mouse"
	wuxi	"bull"
	Torah	"tiger"
	at	"hare"
	tatsu	"the Dragon"
	mi	"snake"
	crazy	"horse"
	hitsuji	"sheep"
	Sarah	"monkey"
	tory	"chicken"
	inu	"dog"
	And	"pig"

The year is marked by a combination of two hieroglyphs - "trunk" and "branches". Since there are naturally more branches, when the 11th sign of the zodiac (“dogs”) is mentioned, the count of “trunks” again begins with “ cinema". Thus, a new coincidence of the first "trunk" and the first "branch" occurs after 60 years. This is a complete 60-year cycle, according to which the years were counted in antiquity. At present, a small, 12-year cycle is often used - only by the names of the zodiac signs. In its most general form, this concept reflects the idea of ​​non-linear, repetitive, cyclic time and has certain inconveniences, since it is devoid of an absolute reference point.

Months were designated (and are still designated) by a serial number - from 1 to 12. "Insert" (or "additional") months (閏 , junor uruu), formed due to the discrepancy between the lunar year and the solar year, bear the number of the previous month. Three months corresponded to each season. With the onset of the 1st day of the 1st moon, spring began.

In addition, the signs of the zodiac were used to designate hours (or, as they say, "guardian") in the day. The duration of the Sino-Japanese "guard" is two hours. Each of them was assigned certain qualities ("achievement", "success", "mess", etc.), which correlated with the days counted, starting from the 1st day of the mouse of the 11th moon, 1st day the bull of the 12th moon, etc. - up to the 1st day of the boar of the 10th moon. This system, which also used data on the time of birth of a particular person, was widely used in divination. "Guardians", painted in a circle ("on the dial"), also served to indicate directions. For example, "mouse", corresponding to "guardian" "midnight", was also an indicator of the north direction.

Another system of chronology adopted in Japan is according to the years of the reign of one or another emperor. To designate the year, the name of the sovereign and the serial number from the time of the beginning of the reign are indicated. When using this system, it is necessary, of course, to know the sequence of succession to the throne by one or the sovereign.

It should be borne in mind that in the early Japanese written sources, the rulers were called differently than they are now. Then, either the name of the palace from which they ruled was used to designate them (each new emperor changed the location of his residence until the end of the 7th century), or their Japanese posthumous names (lifetime names were taboo) - very long, consisting of many components. Due to the inconvenience of using such names, it is now customary even in scientific literature to designate early Japanese rulers by their Chinese posthumous name (Jimmu, Saimei, etc.), which consists of only two characters, although this system was adopted only in the Heian period (794-1185 ), when these names were retroactively attributed to the rulers of antiquity.

The third system of chronology - according to the mottos of the board (年号 , nengō:) - was also borrowed from China. The first motto of the board is Taika (大化 , “Great Changes”) - was adopted in 645, however, this system was fully established, starting from 701. The motto of the board was intended to mark some outstanding event or a happy omen, magically ensure a successful board, get rid of misfortunes, and therefore only "happy" combinations of non-glyphs (usually two) were used for its name. If something worthy of special attention happened (favorable or not), then the motto of the board could change (sometimes several times) during the same board. The current practice of strict compliance with one nengō: one emperor was established only in 1868.

In traditional Japan, an absolute chronological scale was also developed (紀元 , Keegan). Its development is associated with the name of Miyoshi Kiyoyuki (847-918), who calculated that from the beginning of the reign of the first legendary emperor Jimmu (660 BC) to the 9th year of the reign of Suiko (601), 1260 years elapsed. This method of chronology did not find any wide application until 1872, when the concept of the "era of emperors" was introduced (皇紀 ko:ki) - mainly to show Europeans the "antiquity" of Japanese history. January 29 (subsequently - February 11) was recognized as the date of the "foundation of the country". This system of chronology was actively used for the purposes of nationalist propaganda. So, in 1940, a large-scale celebration of the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese state took place. In 1948, the holiday was canceled, but in 1966 it was restored again.

On January 1, 1873, the lunar calendar was officially replaced by the Gregorian one, and the European system of chronology was adopted. However, along with it, the system nengō: . In 1979, Parliament passed a law on the mandatory use of nengō: in official documents. The motto of the reign of the current emperor is Heisei (平成 "achieving peace").

Traditional dating nengō:(often - with a translation into the European system of chronology) is widely used in professional historical literature. However, it should be borne in mind that the onset of the lunar new year each time falls on different days. In addition, the decree proclaiming the new motto of the board can fall on any day of the year, and thus the translation of the chronology from nengō: in the Gregorian calendar is not mechanical. This gives rise to a rather common discrepancy in the dating of this or that event: for a correct translation into the European system of chronology, one should absolutely know exactly on which day the corresponding decree was proclaimed. Let's say the first year of Sho:wa昭和 was proclaimed on December 25, 1926 and therefore lasted only a week. Time to this day refers to the reign of the previous Emperor Taishō:大正 .

Pperiodization

From the end of XIX V . under the direct influence of European historical thought in Japan, operating with large time periods - periods (時代 , jidai).

The following is a listing of the main ones with brief historical and cultural characteristics. It should be borne in mind that along with them there are more fractional and alternative classifications (for some periods).

40000 -13000 BC	Paleolithic or Old Stone Age
13000 BC - III century. BC.	Jo period: mon 縄文 (approximately corresponds to the Neolithic)	It is named after the type of pottery with a rope ornament (“ jo:mon"). Jomon culture is spread throughout the archipelago (from Hokkaido: to Ryu: kyu:).
3rd century BC. - IV century. AD	Yayoi period 弥生 (Bronze-Iron Age).	Named after a specific type of pottery first discovered in Yayoi (Tokyo area). The main area of ​​distribution: north Kyu: shu:, Western and Central Japan.The time of the appearance of the Proto-Japanese and Proto-Japanese culture.
IV - VI centuries.	Kofun period 古墳 (barrow)	It is named after numerous burial mound-type structures. In connection with the formation of the tribal state of Yamato (倭 ) the second half of this period may be called the "Yamato period". During this period, the spread of Buddhism began, which later played the role of a nationwide ideology.
592-710	Asuka period 飛鳥	Named for the location of the residences of the Yamato kings in the Asuka region (near the current cities of Nara and Kyoto). The final formation of Japanese statehood. In 646, a long period of "Taika reforms" began, which aimed at turning Yamato into a "civilized" (in the Chinese manner) state.Proclamation of state ownership of land, the formation of an allotment system of land use.
710-794	Nara period 奈良	Named for the location of Japan's first permanent capital at Nara. The name of the country was changed to "Japan" ("Nihon"　日本 "Where the sun rises from." The active construction of a state of a centralized type in accordance with the legislative codes, in connection with which this period (and the beginning of the next one) is often referred to as " ritsuryo: cokka» 律令国家 (« state [based] on laws”). The appearance of written monuments - the mythological and chronicle codes "Kojiki" and "Nihon shoki".
794-1185	Heian period 平安	Named for the location of the new capital - Heian (literally, "the capital of peace and tranquility", modern Kyoto; formally remained the capital, i.e., the imperial residence until 1868). It is marked by trends in the decline of state power associated with the loss of the state monopoly on land, the collapse of the allotment system and the formation of sho:en - privately owned estates. The emergence of a brilliant aristocratic culture, the creation of numerous prose and poetic works. Political dominance of the Fujiwara clan藤原 (hence the end of this period is sometimes referred to as the "Fujiwara period").
1185-1333	Kamakura period 鎌倉 , shogunate minamoto 源 .	Named for the location of the headquarters of the military ruler (shogun), the first of which was Minamoto no Yoritomo. Establishment of the social and political dominance of the samurai warrior class. In the samurai environment - a period of classical feudalism with developed vassal relations.
1392-1568	Muromachi period 室町 , Ashikaga Shogunate 足利	Named for the location of the headquarters of the shoguns from the Ashikaga clan in Muromachi (Kyoto region). Often divided into two sub-periods: the southern and northern dynasties (南北朝 , Nambokucho:, 1336-1392), when there were two parallel and competing imperial courts, and the "period of the warring provinces" (戦国 , 1467-1568). Constant feudal internecine wars (especially in the second half of this period). At the end of the period - the growth of cities, accompanied by the development of urban secular culture.First contacts with Europeans.
1603-1867	Edo period 江戸 , Tokugawa shogunate 徳川	Named for the location of the rate from yo guns from the Tokugawa clan in Edo (modern Tokyo). The founder of this shogunate - Tokugawa Ieyasu - brought the country out of a permanent state of civil war and united it under his command. The expulsion of Europeans and the prohibition of Christianity was accompanied by a voluntary "closure" of the country, when all contacts with the outside world were reduced to a minimum. The rapid growth of cities, the development of urban culture, economy, a sharp increase in population. The total regulation of the life of all segments of the population finally formed the type of mentality that we call "Japanese".
1868-1911	Meiji period 明治	Named after the motto of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito - "bright reign". Unable to resist the growing military and political pressure of the Western powers, Japan was forced to carry out large-scale reforms aimed at creating a modern industrial state. The reforms, which were of a revolutionary nature, were clothed in the ideological shell of a return to traditional values, to the rule of law of antiquity, i.e. "restoration" of the power of the emperor, relegated to the background under the shoguns. Rapid industrial development, widespread borrowing of the achievements of Western civilization, in which, however, it was possible to preserve the national identity.Beginning of external expansion.

Since the Nara period, the boundaries between historical periods ( jidai) in traditional Japanese historiography are marked by important events related to political history. In this sense, the periodization adopted in Japan is quite convenient from a practical point of view (the initial "rough" chronological attribution of the event). If we talk about the internal content of a particular period, then the process of its comprehension will apparently continue as long as historical science exists.

7. Heian period (794-1185).

Named for the location of the new capital - Heian (lit. "the capital of peace and tranquility", modern Kyoto; formally remained the capital, that is, the imperial residence until 1868). Marked by trends in the decline of state power associated with the loss of the state monopoly on land, the collapse of the allotment system and education shoen - estates that were privately owned. The emergence of a brilliant aristocratic culture, the creation of numerous prose and poetic works. The political dominance of the Fujiwara family (which is why the end of this period is sometimes called the “Fujiwara period”).

Beginning of the 9th century Formation of the core of Kievan Rus.
915 Pecheneg campaign against Rus'.
945-969 Olga's reign.
988 Adoption of Christianity in Rus'.
1019-1054 The reign of Yaroslav the Wise.
11125-1132 The reign of Mstislav Vladimirovich in Kyiv.
1136 Uprising in Novgorod. Formation of separate Russian principalities.
1147 The first mention of Moscow.
1157 Death of Yuri Dolgoruky.
1170-1180 New Polovtsian onslaught on Rus'.
1185 Campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsy, campaign of Konchak and Gzak against Rus'.
1185 Creation of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".

8. Kamakura period, 1185-1333 (Minamoto shogunate).

Named for the location of the headquarters of the military ruler (shogun), the first of which was Minamoto no Yoritomo. Establishment of the social and political dominance of the samurai warrior class. In the samurai environment - a period of classical feudalism with developed vassal relations.

1206 Proclamation of Temujin as head of the Mongol state and adoption of the name of Genghis Khan
1219-1221 The conquest of Central Asia by the Tatar-Mongols.
1223 Battle of the Russians with the Tatar-Mongols on the river. Kalka.
1227 Death of Genghis Khan
1237-1238 Batu's invasion of North-Eastern Rus'
December 6, 1240 Capture of Kyiv by the Tatars
April 5, 1242 Battle on the Ice
About 1243 Formation of the Golden Horde
1259-1263 Great reign of Alexander Nevsky
1301 Joining Kolomna to Moscow
1302 Accession of the Principality of Pereyaslavl to Moscow
1303-1325 The reign of Yuri Danilovich in Moscow 1305 - Creation of an all-Russian chronicle in Tver
1328-1341 Great reign of Ivan Kalita in Moscow

9. Muromachi period, 1392-1568 (Ashikaga shogunate).

Named for the location of the headquarters of the shoguns from the Ashikaga clan in Muromachi (Kyoto region). Often divided into two sub-periods: the southern and northern dynasties (nambokucho, 1336-1392), when there were two parallel and competing imperial courts, and the "warring provinces period" (sengoku jidai, 1467-1568). Constant feudal internecine wars (especially in the second half of this period). At the end of the period - the growth of cities, accompanied by the development of urban secular culture. First contacts with Europeans.

1408 Invasion of Edigei
1425-1462 Great reign of Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark
1462-1505 Great reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich
1472 Marriage of Ivan III Vasilyevich with the Greek Princess Sophia Paleolog
1478 Annexation of Novgorod to the Muscovite state
1485 Annexation of the Principality of Tver to the Muscovite State
1485-1516 Construction of new Kremlin walls in Moscow 1494 Sudebnik of Ivan III
(I don’t have further data yet, but the era of Ivan the Terrible and the Romanovs is ahead) *

10. Edo period, 1603-1867 (Tokugawa shogunate).

Named after the headquarters of the Tokugawa shoguns in Edo (modern Tokyo). The founder of this shogunate - Tokugawa Ieyasu - brought the country out of a permanent state of civil war and united it under his command. The expulsion of Europeans and the prohibition of Christianity was accompanied by a voluntary "closure" of the country, when all contacts with the outside world were reduced to a minimum. The rapid growth of cities, the development of urban culture, economy, a sharp increase in population. The total regulation of the life of all segments of the population has finally formed the type of mentality that we call "Japanese".

Kitagawa Utamaro Beauty Hanazuma of the Hyogo-ya House 1794

11. Meiji period (1868-1911).

It is named after the motto of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito - “bright rule”. Unable to resist the growing military and political pressure of the Western powers, Japan was forced to carry out large-scale reforms aimed at creating a modern industrial state. The reforms, which were revolutionary in nature, were clothed in the ideological shell of a return to traditional values, to the rule of law of antiquity, that is, the “restoration” of the power of the emperor, relegated to the background under the shoguns. Rapid industrial development, widespread borrowing of the achievements of Western civilization, in which, however, it was possible to preserve the national identity. Beginning of external expansion.

Netsuke is a Kabuki actor. Master Gekumin 18th century

1. Japan and mainland civilization

Japan, the peculiar culture of its people, has long aroused the interest not only of its immediate neighbors - China and Korea, but also of Europe, where by the 13th century. there was an idea of ​​​​Japan (Ji-pangu, Chipingu) as a beautiful and fabulously rich country, where there is a great abundance of gold and pearls and where a courteous and beautiful people live. N.A. Iofan claims in the book “The Culture of Ancient Japan” that such an idea of ​​Japan was preserved in Europe as early as the 17th-18th centuries.
Interest in Japan, its art, culture was reflected in many sources. So, “Notes of the fleet of Captain Golovkin about his stay in captivity by the Japanese. With the addition of his remarks about the Japanese state and people "; "Ethnic history of Japan at the turn of our era" S. Arutyunov; "Japanese Art of the 6th-16th Centuries" V, Brodsky; “Western East” and “Japanese Theater” by N.I. Konrad; "Essays on the History of Japan" by V. Kostylev provide rich information about the origin and development of Japanese civilization. For students of creative universities, the works of S.B. Lupinos may be of the greatest interest: “The Canon in Musical Art and the Traditional Model of the World”, “Modern Thinking of the Japanese”, “Musical Heritage of Japan: Traditional Model of the World and Musical Thinking”, etc. . With the entry of Russia into the Asia-Pacific region, the experience of modern highly developed Japan at the beginning of the 21st century was studied by L.A. Moiseeva in the monograph “Innovations during the transition to the market: problems and solutions” .
Thus, interest in Japanese civilization, art, literature, and technology continues unabated. Noble simplicity and restraint, harmony and expediency, beauty and conciseness, sharp characterization of Japanese art still have a beneficial effect on the culture of many nations.
Japan itself, throughout almost the entire historical period known to us, has realized itself as a periphery of the civilized world and has never, with the exception of the last one and a half centuries, not claimed the role of a cultural, political and military center. Until very recently, the flows of information from the continent to Japan and from Japan to the outside world were not comparable: Japan has always acted as a recipient, not as a donor. The outside world also perceived Japan as a periphery.
Japan only twice really faced the threat of foreign invasion: XIII century. (Mongols) and XIX century. (West).
Japan has made extensive use of the achievements of continental civilization throughout its history. It is difficult to find anything in Japanese civilization and culture that its Far Eastern neighbors would be deprived of: the famous Japanese swords, dry rock gardens, bonsai, Zen Buddhism, and the tea ceremony find their continental prototypes... And that's all However, Japan has always had that originality of culture in the nature of the connections between “phenomena” and “things”, on which the dominants of Japanese culture grew.
Japan is a very special country. Historical isolationism has led to the preservation of the peculiarities of the local mentality and lifestyle, developing a strong belief in a certain peculiarity of Japan, its culture and historical path, the uniqueness of the Japanese language, the unique beauty of the Japanese landscape.
Let us dwell on the periodization of the development of Japanese civilization before moving on to the essence of the problem under consideration.

2. Periodization of the development of Japanese civilization

Data from Chinese written sources, archeology, and cultural monuments testify to the presence of several centers of the emergence of Japanese civilization, including Kansai (with the center of Osaka-Kyoto), Pa Kyushu (Yamageti), and the Kanto region (with the center in present-day Tokyo). Let's try to understand this by highlighting the following periods in the development of Japanese civilization.

1. Paleolithic(40,000-13,000 years ago). The anthropological composition of the population is unclear. A few Paleolithic monuments, discovered only in the post-war period, also raise many questions.
2. Neolithic - Jomon(13,000 years BC - III century BC). The bulk of the population is concentrated in the northeastern part of Honshu. The Jomon culture (the period is named after the type of pottery with a rope ornament) is distributed from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu.
3. Bronze Age - Yayoi(III century BC - III century AD) is named after the type of ceramics discovered in Yayoi - Tokyo area. During this period, there is a large migration from the mainland (through the Korean Peninsula) of the tribes of the Altai language group, who brought with them the experience of land rice cultivation, sericulture, bronze and iron production technology. Mixing with the local population of Austronesian origin led to the emergence of proto-Japanese.
4. Kurgan period - kofun(III-VI centuries). It is named after the numerous burial mound-type structures. There is a formation of the proto-Japanese state, whose name is Yamato.
5. Asuka period(552 - 646). It is named after the location of the residence of the Yamato kings in the Asuka region (Central Japan). This period is characterized by the emergence of Buddhism and the formation of statehood.
6. Early Nara(646 - 710) - a period of large-scale borrowing from China of writing, official structure, theory and practice of management. In 646, a period of reforms begins with the aim of turning Yamato into a “civilized” (according to the Chinese model) state: the creation of the first legislative codes, a system of state ownership of land and an allotment system of land use.
7. Nara(710 - 794) - the period is defined as the name of the first permanent capital of Japan - the city of Nara. Changed the name of the country to "Nihon" ("where the sun rises"). The first written monuments appeared - the annalistic mythological codes "Kojiki" and "Nihongi". The struggle between the service nobility, immigrants from China and Korea, and the tribal aristocracy is intensifying, which weakened Buddhism and strengthened Shinto, which is actively developing itself.

Heian period(794 - 1185), named after the location of the new capital - Heian (modern Kyoto). Formally, Heian remains the capital - the residence of the "Son of Heaven" - the emperor until 1868. During this period, the state monopoly on land was lost and "seep" - estates, private estates of aristocrats were formed. Contacts with China and Korea are interrupted. With the creation of the syllabary, many poetic and prose works appeared, which led to the development of a brilliant aristocratic culture. During this period, the Fujiwara clan is strengthened.
9. PeriodKamakura(1185-1333) - Minomoto shogunate. It is named so at the rate of the military ruler (shogun), the first of which was Minamoto Yoritomo. The samurai established their social dominance, but the emperor always remains the high priest of Shinto. In the XIII century. There were two unsuccessful attempts to invade Japan by the Mongols, which became a powerful impetus to the self-awareness of the Japanese ethnic group. The religion of the samurai is Zen Buddhism, which has spread widely throughout the country.

1. Muromachi period(1392-1568) - Ashikaga shogunate. It is called so at the rate of the shoguns from the Ashikaga clan in Muromachi (Kyoto region). The growth of cities with the development of urban culture is noted, the first contacts are established with Europeans through missionaries.
2. Edo period(1603-1867) - Tokugawa shogunate. It was named after the headquarters of the Tokugawa shoguns in Edo (modern Tokyo). The founder of this shogunate - Tokugawa Izyasu - brought Japan out of a state of civil war, united the country under his command, expelled the Europeans with their Christianity and cut off all the country's contacts with the outside world. The rapid growth of the economy, cities, and population begins, for which Neo-Ko-Fucianism (Zhuxi-anism) became the official religion. The Japanese mentality is finally shaped by the all-round regulation of the life of all segments of the population.
3. Meiji period(1868-1911), named after the motto of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito - "bright reign". Japan is carrying out large-scale reforms under pressure from the West under the idea of ​​returning to the rule of law of antiquity, that is, "restoring" the power of the emperor, weakened under the shoguns. Rapid industrial development while maintaining national authenticity is accompanied by military expansion into China and Korea.

Modern Japan is a country formed by four thousand islands, the largest of which are four - Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. Unlike Northern Europe and North America, Japan did not experience global icing during the ice age that ended approximately 10,000 years ago. Here the flora only retreated to the south and, with the end of icing, gradually began its movement to the north. So Japan has an extremely diverse flora, including endemics of the pre-Quaternary period.
Since warm and cold sea currents are found in the immediate vicinity of Japan, this creates very favorable conditions for the reproduction of plankton and the reproduction of seafood: at present, 3,492 species of fish, shellfish and marine animals live in the coastal waters of the archipelago (in the Mediterranean Sea - 1,322, off the western coast of North America - 1,744). The influence of fishing, of course, also affected the peculiarities of the organization of the social life of the Japanese: fishing in economic life throughout the history of the country served as one of the constraints that did not allow for excessive property stratification, which, in turn, is a powerful source of social tension. The history of Japan knows very few peasant movements in comparison with Russia and Europe.
The abundance of short rivers and streams, the ruggedness of the relief excluded the construction of giant irrigation systems, as in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, Northern China, which required authoritarian forms of despotic rule. Japan escaped this fate as well.
Long periods of autarkic and semi-autarkic existence (reduction of ties with the mainland in the 9th-12th centuries and almost complete self-isolation under the Takugawa shogunate from the first half of the 17th century until 1867) prove that the territory of Japan is large enough, and its resources are rich enough for ensuring a closed pre-industrial development cycle. And the fact that the population of Japan rose from 1 million in the Jōmon period to 35 million in 1872 confirms that Japan could be defined as an original civilization of a small mainland capable of generating a highly developed culture.
A. Toynbee noted that it would be a mistake for any nation to try to create "a national culture absolutely free from any foreign influence." The Japanese are sure that they are a very special people, separated from the rest of the world. Indeed, they grew up on the basis of the unprecedented isolation in which Japan found itself since the 17th century - the Tokugawa period, when all travel abroad was prohibited under pain of death and even Japanese fishermen who were wrecked and rescued by foreigners were not accepted. Japan lived as a recluse for more than two centuries - until 1853, when Commander Matthew Perry approached the shores of Japan in seven black ships and, at gunpoint, demanded that Japan open its ports to trade with the outside world. The Japanese still feel uncomfortable around foreigners, calling them "geijin" - "outside people", having not yet become a country with a developed international thinking and organization.
Japan opened its doors to the world, but always maintained its homogeneity - cultural, national, spiritual. Even today, nationally, Japan remains one of the most "clean" countries, although it has received a small number of refugees from Vietnam. About 85% of "foreigners" in Japan are Koreans, three-quarters of whom were born there. However, many companies will not hire or promote Koreans. Foreign businessmen talk about the difficulty of being accepted in Japanese society.
Constantly adapting to the changing conditions of the world market, being in a state of innovation pipeline, changing technologies - this is an amazing ability of the Japanese, their great advantage.
Another important quality of the Japanese is their determination. It is difficult to define purposefulness in the world market, it is very difficult to express its essence in words. When it comes to the Japanese, then through their behavior as competitors, their purposefulness is simply visible. They look at the markets as a battlefield: “They “attack” the markets, viewing competitors as worthy opponents, who, however, must be unconditionally and unequivocally defeated. They try to get information from everywhere, ask countless questions, come to all meetings and negotiations in huge numbers, give out mountains of numbers, analyze hundreds of possible options, stay late at work ... and the next day they work in full force.
The human "material" of Japan is a consequence of the way of life of the Japanese and their education system: success does not depend on ability, but on diligence in achieving goals, despite obstacles and failures.
Relationships within firms, between the state and the private sector, just between people, are less conflicting. Of course, disagreements exist in Japan as well, the difference is how they are resolved. For example, in the United States, they prefer to resolve conflicts based on rights protected by a system of laws and judicial procedure, which is, as it were, a continuation of the contract system in business, where every word is carefully thought out. Two-thirds of all lawyers in the world are concentrated in the USA, there are 2.5 times more of them than in the UK, 5 times more than in Germany. There are only 12,000 of them in Japan, that is, one lawyer serves 25 times more residents than his counterpart in the United States.
Among business people in Japan, personal relationships and mutual obligations are of great importance. Japanese companies view the contract not as a legal instrument, but as a basis for building relationships. A businessman feels uncomfortable with a long, detailed contract: it does not allow flexibility, interferes with the ability to take into account changing conditions, and puts people in a conflicting relationship.
Between such functional services as marketing, sales, R&D, conflicts are inevitable, but the Japanese are more puzzled by the development of consent, rather than wasting time on departmental showdowns, especially in court.
On a large scale, firms practice collaborative R&D. The Japanese believe that it is possible to compete and cooperate at the same time (“both-and”), while the Americans believe that competition and cooperation are not compatible (“either-or”).
Part of the philosophy, part of the way of life of the Japanese is quality and efficiency: "Quality is a state of mind, productivity is a way of virtuous behavior." These philosophies have been beautifully embodied through the coordinating management innovation of the Japan Productivity Center (JPC) and the Deming Quality Award.
Japanese business and government leaders realized the need to organize an all-Japan movement to increase the productivity of Japanese industry. By decision of the Parliament, in March 1955, the Japan Productivity Center (JPC) was established in the private sector with the participation of the government, employers and trade unions. The US government provided him with $6.4 million in technical assistance [R]. The JCP operates on the basis of the following principles:
“We believe that increased productivity naturally leads to more opportunities. To minimize the risk of unemployment, one should, if possible, go for a temporary redundancy of labor in the firm.
"We believe that concrete measures to improve productivity should be developed in conjunction with trade unions and company management."
"We believe that the benefits of increased productivity should be fairly shared among management, workers and consumers."
Jackson Grayson, Jr. and Carla O'Dell, who studied the problem solving of innovation in Japan, noted: "These three principles, embodied in the practice of lifelong employment, joint consultation in labor relations, and the distribution of the effect among all participants, made Japan the country with the most egalitarian distribution system income among developed countries".
The YACP began its activities with the training of specialists: more than 25,000 Japanese from various walks of life studied abroad, hundreds of foreign specialists lectured in Japan. The main divisions of the YACP are located in Tokyo, and nine regional centers cover almost the entire country, in addition, branches operate in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Washington. The countries of the Asia-Pacific region owe the organization to the productivity of the JCP, which has become a symbol of the contribution of business to productivity. The explosive growth in manufacturing in Japan since 1950 is unparalleled in history.
Until the 1950s, "Made in Japan" meant inferior quality to buyers around the world. And the attempt to sell the first Toyota cars in the USA failed. Japanese leaders realized that if they did not improve the quality of their products, they would not be able to become full-fledged partners in the world market. And Japan has launched a national quality improvement program. Dr. Edward Deming from the USA was invited to give a series of lectures on quality improvement to a group of 340 Japanese engineers, plant managers and researchers, and senior management from 50 leading firms were invited to a special session.
Edward Deming said that it would take at least two years for the ideas of quality, accuracy, unification to be accepted by the Japanese, another five years are needed for these ideas to be realized everywhere. And to destroy the bad reputation of Japanese products, much more time will pass.
Today Japan is a recognized quality leader. The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers established the Deming Prize, which is awarded an average of 4 times a year to corporations, factories, and individuals for outstanding achievements in the field of quality.
Japanese firms have relocated (and continue to do so) production facilities to other countries to withstand fierce competition, and in their own country they are working even harder to increase productivity and quality at existing facilities - “squeezing the dry towel again,” as the Japanese say.
However, the newly industrialized countries of the Asia-Pacific region (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore) have become serious competitors to Japan. The Japanese are rebuilding in time. Thus, the production of synthetic fibers and ferrous metallurgy curtailed their capacities and reoriented themselves to the production of science-intensive products, which required new organizational, managerial, and technical innovations.
At the end of the last century, American President Theodore Roosevelt predicted the onset of the “Pacific era”. Almost a hundred years later, the forecast is coming true: eight of the ten most developing countries in the world are washed by Pacific waters. The Forecast Center of the French economic magazine "Expansion" confirmed the forecast of T. Roosevelt: the Pacific Ocean basin is gradually taking away from the West the role of the locomotive of the world economy, the center of development and prosperity. This process may be completed between 2000 and 2010. Western Europe is on the verge of another recession. Of the "seven" most developed industrial powers, only the United States has a satisfactory rate of economic growth.
The advancing development of computer and communication technologies played a very important role in this case. The widespread use of electronics made it possible to form a new global division of labor. With the birth of the information society, the achievements of one country will inevitably become the property of the whole world, having a huge impact on the entire world community.
After the Second World War, "Fordism" acquired the character of a universal and most economically efficient form and existed until the 80s. Production was built according to the principles of "Fordism" in the collapsed USSR, where the ideologists-apologists of "real socialism" attributed to this "socialism" and the organization of production characteristic of it such features that were not characteristic of them, such as the decisive role of workers in the management of production, the systematic improvement of working conditions and life, democratic collectivism, humanity, etc. .
At the same time, in the late 40s and early 50s, a significantly different concept appeared in Japan and gained momentum, the practical significance of which began to be realized by the West only in the 80s. The inconsistency, irrationality and limitations of the philosophy and practice of Fordism became apparent when Japanese enterprises became highly competitive and the quality of their products increased dramatically.
The new concept of the enterprise, the new sociotechnical form, became known as "Toyotism" (after the name of the Toyota firm where it was originally introduced). But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology proposed another name that has become more common - lean manufacturing. The term "lean production" is also used. When translating these terms, it sounds like “thin”, “tight”, “slim” production.
Toyotaism is a new form of production culture as a system of enterprise goals, programs and methods for achieving them. The goal of this system is to constantly improve the quality of the product, labor and increase productivity based on:
- involvement of the labor collective in decision-making and in the search for ways to integrate the interests of the collective and the enterprise, resolving conflict situations;

1. continuous saving of resources, reduction of marriage, alterations in the production process and losses;
2. increasing the operational capacity of equipment, reducing the “path” of the product in the production process due to changes in the placement of equipment within the enterprise;
3. changes in relations between the workers themselves, creating conditions for the group organization of labor.

The enterprise, according to the concept of "Toyotism", is guided by goals that justify its existence for society. Toyotaism is a more humane concept of the enterprise: firstly, the emphasis is on the production of products of a definitely high quality, on a flexible response to changing consumer demands; secondly, the rejection of the former system of internal socio-economic organization of the enterprise, the core of which was strict administration, in favor of the largest possible expansion of the circle of active participants in intra-production management.
This new concept is clearly distinguished by a significantly different approach to the formation of information flows in the enterprise - the constant emergence, discussion of organizational, managerial and production and technical ideas and specific solutions at all levels of the structural organization of the enterprise, the constant exchange of information between different levels: the movement of information is not only " top-down”, but also “bottom-up” and within each level, collective discussion and decision-making, exchange of experience between employees of the same level. This is the essence of team integration. With enterprise.
Japanese entrepreneurs use a system of lifetime employment, so the search for specific ways to continuously improve products is carried out on the basis of involving everyone who knows the process of its manufacture "from the inside", i.e. not only specialists, but also workers, whose opinion is taken seriously. Another important consequence of their involvement in specific problems that arise in the workplace is the accumulation of managerial experience by workers: the worker realizes his value as a person. Joint discussion of production problems and joint decision-making allow workers to realize the degree of commonality of their interests. Such experiences and such changes in self-awareness lead to the social activity of workers.
The followers of "Toyotism" usually start from simple ways to activate workers (holding a referendum on the color of work clothes at the enterprise) to Searching for unconventional ways to get the enterprise out of a difficult financial situation, having previously taught the workers the basics of accounting. This is what R. Somler did at his Ssmko enterprise.
An integral element of the concept and practice of "Toyotism" is the participation of workers in the distribution of profits. The condition of personal income is the achievement of a jointly set goal - the growth of total profit. Different enterprises have their specific forms of profit distribution.
As a new stage in the development of industrial culture, "Toyotism" was born on a technical and technological basis and, in essence, paves the way for the humanization of production and labor. The tendency to overcome the worker's alienation from the production process and its results develops a new attitude of the worker to the organization of production, to the rationalization of labor. This is first. Secondly, participation in decision-making at the grass-roots level is a “scale” that allows employees to realize the importance of their social function and control professional managers. Thirdly, participation in the distribution of profits, the income of the enterprise is the most important element in the development of a production culture leading to a comprehensive and sustainable democratization of society.
In one area after another - semiconductor industry, solar energy, optical communication lines, new metals and alloys, ceramics, video and stereo equipment, factory automation and robotics - Japan overtakes Western countries. Japanese researchers are beginning to work in areas where Western scientists have rarely "climbed": these are optical computers, biochips, underwater robots, etc. They use new approaches unknown in the West in scientific research, are studying the possibility of creating the next generation of computers - a biocomputer that will have a developed memory and speed of the human brain. By proclaiming the Technopolis project, a bold plan to create a network of cities of science across the country, the Japanese are shifting the focus of their national policy from industrial development to encouraging creativity and innovation.
As Sh. Tatsuno emphasizes, technopolises will combine science, technology, traditional Japanese culture on the basis of creating a new community of creative and comprehensively developed people. According to special programs, people moving from overcrowded cities to Technopolis will have to undergo retraining. Located in the untouched corners of the countryside, technopolises will have spacious houses, recreation areas, lifelong learning centers, shops. Databanks will allow researchers to keep abreast of all the latest advances in science. “It's like a light at the end of a tunnel. So many people associate their expectations with this, that we cannot fail to succeed,” Sh. Tatsuno quoted one of the technopolis designers as saying. .
Sh.Tatsuno notes that the zones of technopolises consist of three interconnected areas: the industrial zone, where factories, distribution centers and offices are located; science campus of universities, government research institutes and corporate R&D laboratories; residential areas for researchers and their families.
Although a general technopolis planning scheme is established, each region has its own approach. Nagaoka City is emulating Silicon Valley by concentrating its businesses in the new "Shinako Tech Valley". Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Miyazaki prefectures are building new science towns modeled on the science city of Tsukuba. Hamamatsu, Toyama and Ube are expanding the science and engineering departments of their local universities. Most technopolises are creating "frontier technology" centers and "techno centers" that will serve as an incubator for joint research and venture capital.
The "heart" of a technopolis is a "soft" infrastructure of people, information, finance and services. A wide variety of regional strategies are being formed to develop these resources.
Industrial and regional development will depend on people. Students of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions, students of elementary schools must master computer thinking and receive training that meets the requirements of computer science trends and internationalization.
What can technopolises teach us? The Technopolis program is admired in the world because it shows how new ideas can be put to the service of man. Focusing on industrial parks and R&D projects, prefectural governments attach importance to cultural, sports, and social development programs to educate modern citizens. This is an opportunity to breathe life into declining industries with the help of high technology. Instead of curtailing old industries and laying off workers, programs are being implemented to rejuvenate these industries with the help of technical innovations.
For example, the Kagoshima Ceramics Collaborative Research Project, covering centuries of pottery dynasties, and Yamaguchi's research on robotics, new alloys, and marine technologies are all about solving problems together.
The experience of implementing innovations in a developed state located near the Russian Far East deserves attention and study. This is also important because the orientation of the further development of our society involves the intensive expansion of international relations, the removal of obstacles to scientific, technical and economic exchange; interaction and cooperation with all international organizations of regional and international scale, acting from the standpoint of historical responsibility for the future of mankind.
Although the word "technopolis" did not enter the Japanese lexicon until 1980, the program, designed to stimulate local creative innovation initiative, has its own backstory.
The Japanese government in the early 60s put forward the concept of new industrial cities, and in the 70s - the concept of new information cities. But both projects ended in vain: a large amount of work, high cost, the energy crisis that erupted in the 70s - all this did not allow the government's ideas to be realized.
The third project, which ran from 1963 to 1980, was the Tsukuba Science City project. Two universities, about 50 state research institutes have been focused on this work. The Technopolis program is Japan's new approach to regional development. As noted above, its essence is in shifting the center of gravity to the formation of a “soft” infrastructure: a combination of human (qualified specialists), information and financial factors (funds for the implementation of new innovative and research projects) with the participation of private banks and industrial companies in the program.
It is interesting that the state initiated the Technopolis program, and the practical implementation was the task of local authorities.
Technopolises had to meet the following criteria:

1. convenient communication with the cities of Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya with a small distance from a large city with a population of at least 200 thousand inhabitants;
2. development of the communication structure;
3. the complexity of the development of the territory, taking into account the location of industrial zones, residential areas, institutions;
4. stakeholder-driven development, etc.

Using direct and indirect leverage, the Japanese government provided financial assistance: it subsidized about a third of all capital investments for joint R&D with local industrial laboratories. The Japan Development Bank and the State Finance Corporation of Hokkaido and Tohoku provided soft loans for the introduction of new technologies, energy saving measures and pollution control measures. The Agency for Industrial Science and Technology financed the creation and implementation of the most promising technologies. In addition, accelerated depreciation was provided for equipment (30% for the first year of operation), as well as for buildings and structures (15%) on the territory of technopolises.
Prefectures and city authorities took over the main work on the design and construction of technopolises. Through local taxes and contributions, corporations formed "technopolis funds" from which the construction was financed. Through technopolis fairs, extensive advertising and propaganda campaigns, foreign and national firms, scientists and qualified specialists were attracted to technopolises. Coordination of the actions of chambers of commerce, universities, regional testing laboratories of the MVTP, industrial associations was carried out by special departments of technopolises. The deadline for completion of construction works has been moved from the beginning of the 1990s to 2000 due to numerous difficulties.

3. Features of Japanese cool b tours

The tightness of voluntary living (the bulk of the population lives in a giant metropolis on the east coast of the country) contributes to the formation of a specific view of the world. Indeed, the population of the first capital of Japan - Nara - was 200,000 people (VIII century); Kyoto had a population of 580,000 in 1681; in Edo (modern Tokyo) in the 18th century. With a population of over 1 million, it was in all likelihood the largest city in the world. The tightness of living has determined the general trend towards miniaturization, which is present in all areas of life, ranging from the art of growing bonsai trees - "bonsai" to the poetic forms of "tanka" and "haiku".
If you characterize Japanese culture through the visual code, then it can be called "myopic", in contrast to the "farsightedness" of the lowland peoples, Russians, for example. Japanese culture, as it were, always looks down: philosophical, abstract thinking is not the business of the Japanese.
The Japanese cultural space is rather a “shrinking” space, with no tendency to expand. Hence, having excellent commanders (Toyotomi Hideyoshi, for example) and very disciplined and courageous soldiers, Japan was unable to expand its territory: they turned out to be powerless when they got into a world with other spatial and cultural dimensions. The biggest strategic failure awaited Japan when it entered World War II, when the fatal decision was made to attack Pearl Harbor. The Japanese army is bogged down in vast China. The fact is that the country's leadership turned out to be literally "short-sighted", due to the inability to operate on a scale unprecedented for the Japanese so far.
The ease with which the Japanese mastered the civilized achievements of the West is also explained by the fact that they have a measurement scale with a surprisingly small division price. Borrowing this scale from the Chinese, they made it an integral part of their culture. Accuracy gave rise to the world-famous perfectionism of the Japanese: 1 mo = 0.0333 mm, and 1 rin = 0.037 g.
An accurate eye, the ability to operate in a small space, to bring it into a highly ordered state, contributed to the rapid assimilation of high technologies.
The most important prerequisite for cultural homogeneity was a high population density, where the propagation of an information signal occurs with a minimum of distortion and at a high speed. The population of Japan is also homogeneous in terms of ethnic, linguistic, religious, property and social. This was facilitated by the complete absence of an influx of settlers since the 7th century.
Shintoism has always been the basis of the Japanese mentality. Possessing an extremely high average level of education, developed and cultivated individual reflection, the Japanese are still known in the West and in Russia for their collective forms of behavior: for centuries a mode of behavior has been developed in a critically overpopulated space. In other words, we are talking about the free and conscious choice of the Japanese in the rejection of individual freedom for the sake of public goals and interests. The current population of Japan is about 130 million people, which is comparable to the population of Russia, whose area is 40 times the area of ​​Japan.
Without any psychological barriers in terms of assimilation of scientific and technical information, the Japanese strongly defend the "spirit of Yamato", which makes the Japanese Japanese. It is Shinto that predetermines this protective mechanism.
Shinto(literally "the way of the gods") - a religious system that was formed in the VIII century. Its essence is in two components: firstly, a developed cult of ancestors; secondly, the cults of natural deities.
When studying Japanese art, one must keep in mind that from the very beginning of the penetration of Buddhism into Japan, samples of Buddhist iconography were imported in finished form. Information about the numerous facts of the importation of Buddhist shrines to Japan is contained in Japanese, Chinese and Korean sources.
The delivery of Buddhist images to Japan is explained, firstly, by the difficulties of making them on the spot (the difficulty of casting, the high cost of bronze), and secondly, by the desire of customers to have shrines taken directly from some place revered by Buddhists.
Samples of iconography imported to Japan at different times belong to different Buddhist beliefs. Simplistically, they can be reduced to two main areas of Buddhism - Hinayana (the idea of ​​saving a person through asceticism, asceticism) and Mahayana (the idea of ​​joint salvation thanks to the Buddha Amitabha, in Japan - Amida).
The image of Avalokitesvara came to Japan through China and here it turned into a female deity - Kannon, revered as an intercessor goddess. The cult of Maitreya in Japan developed under the influence of the Iranian myth of the savior - Saoshanta.
The Buddhist pantheon in Japan is diverse, which is reflected both in the plastic image, and in the picturesque and graphic.
In Japanese art in the 7th and 8th centuries. stories about Shukhavati - "Happy Country", "Western Paradise" - appear in sculpture, painting and graphics under a complex influence coming from the south - from India and from the north-west - from the countries of the "Western Territory", i.e. East Turkestan and Central Asia.
Gradually, the sculpture acquires more earthly features, which indicates the manifestation of interest in the beauty of the human body. Unlike the Indian and Hellenistic sculptors, the masters of the Far East abandoned the depiction of the naked body. Human beauty is conceived by them in terms of passive-contemplative and sublime calmness, femininity and refinement. Hence the elongated proportions, light and smooth lines of the body, a calm pose.
In the 80s of the VII century. after the Taika reforms, architects, sculptors and artists began to study in Japan. So, in 661-672. Gabu is created - the department of fine arts - it included 64 people: 4 masters and 60 students. The temple archives of Horyuji mention two sculptor brothers - immigrants from China: Qi Peng-hui and Qi Gu-hong, who taught the Japanese their skills.
The painters were divided into primers, sketchers, and contour painters. Therefore, the authorship of ancient paintings is difficult to establish.
Temples Horyuji, Yakushiji, Kofukuji, Todaiji are the main treasures of ancient Buddhist art. The interiors of these temples are a kind of museum exposition of sculpture, painting, and handicrafts.
In 606, under the leadership of Tori Busshi, the famous Triad of gilded bronze was installed in the Gangoji temple: the height of the Shaka-Nyorai Buddha is 84.5 cm, the height of two bodhisat is about 90 cm. The triad has a common large halo - ikko-sanzon.
The Tori Bussi triad became the most revered shrine, a deity endowed with supernatural features. On Japanese soil, in completely new conditions, the tradition imported from China continues.
In the 8th century in many temples their own Triads appeared, where there were other characters next to the Buddha. So, the Triad from the Yakushiji kondo has in the center the Yakushi Nyorai Buddha, 2.5 m high, which sits on a high, about 0.5 m, bronze plinth, and the wooden and gilded Gakko and Nikko stand on lotus flowers to the right and left of it. The authorship of the Yakushiji Triad is attributed to a Chinese master.
From the point of view of the formation of the Japanese artistic style, the most interesting monuments include the so-called portrait sculpture: Gyoshin, Gien, Ganjin - three saints. The beauty of spiritual achievement is the main content of Japanese sculptures.
As you know, Far Eastern painting is fundamentally different from Western. She is completely unaware of the technique of oil painting. Far Eastern painting, as a rule, is done either in monochrome ink, or in a combination of black ink and tempera - pure or with the addition of wax paint or ink with water-based paints (mineral).
The only tool of the painter or draftsman was the brush. They wrote on paper of various thicknesses and densities and on silk.
In Chinese painting, the main role is played not by volume, but by line, contour, almost complete absence of chiaroscuro, flatness. Not only technique was borrowed from China, but also the type itself, plot, color, composition.
Buddhism gave Japan access to the treasures of world culture. Very soon, having overcome the provincial isolation, the Japanese create magnificent monuments that are not inferior to the masterpieces of world art. Developing their own style, Japanese masters form the foundations of national art.
The origin of Japanese theater dates back to the 7th-8th centuries. Rooted in antiquity, the theater and the beginning of the XXI century. retains intact kagura mysteries, gigaku dance dramas, elements of dengaku (peasant songs), bugaku (cult performances), and sarugaku (a form of folk farce).
The oldest Japanese performance is kagura: the myth of the goddess Ame no Uzume, who, with her unusual dance, summoned the sun goddess Amaterasu from the cave into which she hid, angry at her younger brother, Susanoo. The plot in kagura is conveyed by means of dance and music.
Gigaku is a dance drama that originated in India and was performed as a ritual dance in front of the Buddha. From India, these dances were brought to the southern Chinese kingdom of Wu (in Japanese, Go), and from there to Korea. In the VI century. dance drama also appears in Japan - simultaneously with theatrical masks.
Now in Japan, the collection of ancient theatrical masks has no equal in the whole world. Made of precious wood (Japanese cypress), they are painted in different colors. Some masks are made of fabric and lacquer and then painted: black means virtue, red means joy and heroism, green means happiness, and so on. The combination of colors gives a kind of psychological characteristics of the character.
The unusually large dimensions of the gigaku (more than half a meter) covered the entire head of the actor. Gigaku masks include deities incarnated as people, birds, and animals. On Japanese soil in the 8th century. the dance performance turns into a court theater, gradually acquiring the character of a secular performance.
There was another form of theatrical performance - bugaku (literally "both dance and music").
The Taika reform (649) created a department - Jibusho, which was in charge of all ceremonies - marriage, mourning, genealogy and the inheritance of emperors, the reception of foreigners, theater and music.
The origins of Japanese folk music are very interesting. Japanese musicologists (Iba Takashi, Yamane Ginji, and others) believe that the musical mode of the ancient Japanese is related to the musical mode of the Ainu, Tungus, and other peoples of the Far East.
Shiba Sukehiro (1898-1967) - a famous composer and music historian - deciphered, and then recorded and published scores of the 8th-11th centuries in European notation.
Ancient musical instruments are kept in Session: various drums and gongs, wind instruments such as flute and oboe made of bamboo, zither and lute.
In the 7th and 8th centuries Chinese and Korean musicians are increasingly invited to Japan. As in China, the theory of Chineseized music in Japan is based on the principle of the determining role of a single sound, i.e. sound taken separately. This is the fundamental difference between the theory of music of the countries of the Far East and ancient Europe, in which the main role is assigned to the ratio of sounds.
According to the classical Chinese theory of music of antiquity and the Middle Ages, each individual sound of the pentatonic scale denoted some element, color or philosophical substance. The twelve-step scale of the lu system corresponded to the twelve moons of the year, which appeared in the form of animals: a tiger, a hare, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a ram, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, a pig, a rat and a bull.
In addition to the lu system with its specific scale in the 8th century. In Japanese ritual music, gagaku appears (through the countries of Southeast Asia - Vietnam and Cambodia) and Indian music based on the so-called raga scale.
In 736, several Buddhist scholars arrived in Japan from Vietnam. They began to teach their dances and music. According to Japanese sources, in 763, during a court festival in Nara, the music of South Vietnam (Champa) was first performed, the musical style of which was later, after about 400 years, also assimilated by the Chinese style.
In shaping the character of Japanese polyphony, no doubt, the same principle played a significant role as in the bugaku dances - the opposition of the so-called "right" and "left" music. "Right" music included an orchestral part borrowed or composed in the style of Bohai music and the music of Korea; "leftist" music included parties of Indian and Chinese origin.
In addition to the instruments common to both parts of the orchestra - biwa, koto, taiko, shoko and hitiriki - the komabue flute and the small drum san no tsutsumi solo in the "right" part; in the "left" - oteki flute and sho. In "left" music, the flute and oboe chitiriki play in unison, accompanied by sho chords; in the "right" - the parts of the flute and chitirika are also given in the form of counterpoint. The character of the music accompanying the bugaku dances was influenced by the Indian tala rhythm.
Imported from the mainland, the core of the gagaku has been improved. In Japan, the conditions for this were more favorable than on the mainland. The Japanese musicologist Ushiyama Mitsuru believes that in developing the structure of a musical work, the theorists of gagaku were far ahead of the European ones and about eight centuries before Philipp Emmanuel Bach, Jan Vaclav Stamitz, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart approached the sonata form. You can learn more about this from N.A. Iofan’s book “Culture of Ancient Japan” (pp. 234-235).
According to Japanese scientists, the Japanese are divided into two types: the Tohoku type from the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and the Kinai type. The first type has common features with the Ainu, the second with the Koreans. The variety of structural principles of the musical heritage of the Japanese Islands, manifested, according to S.B. Lupinos, at different levels of musical thinking (in the system of timbres, texture, metro-rhythm, compositional structure, the system of fixing intonation processes) reflects the many forms of functioning of intersecting models of the world of the Japanese and Ainu . This has led to the fact that none of the subsystems of the musical heritage has become self-sufficient and determines the tendency for their contamination in the conditions of the 20th century.
Landscape deities in Japan are numerous: a pond, a grove, a mountain, etc. and have their own patron deity. It is not uncommon for the ancestor deity and the landscape deity to appear in the same person.
Love for nature is poured into all Japanese poetry. Harmonious relations between man and nature are the basis for influencing natural forces. Poetry itself is of ritual origin. The Japanese poetic text is draft-free. The fact is that poems must first be read out in a team or at a tournament, in competitions in the art of finding a successful continuation of the poetic replica of rivals, and only after the etiquette reading was the poem written down.
Without drafts, prose works are also created on the basis of common inspiration. Thus, the world-famous “Notes at the Headboard” of Sei-shonagon or “Notes from Boredom” of Kenko-hoshi amaze Europeans with their brevity. At the same time, the gaze of Japanese authors is directed not to the outside world, but to the inside of oneself - the near world.
Buddhism played an important role in the development of a high degree of Japanese reflection (prose and mentality). Despite the fact that Shinto, supplemented by neo-Confucianism, comes to the fore under the Tokugawa shogunate, the “folding space” of Japanese culture was brought to its limit by Buddhist thinkers. The concepts of "gaze into oneself", "inner gaze" were introduced into Japanese cultural circulation by the Zen monk Hakuin (1685-1768), as steps to achieve enlightenment.
And today, despite the economic realities of the beginning of the 21st century, the national Japanese culture has powerful mechanisms of self-preservation.

Literature
Iofan N.A. Culture of ancient Japan. - M., 1974.
Konrad N.I. Essay on the history of culture of medieval Japan. - M., 1980.
Lupinos S.B. Musical heritage of Japan: traditional model of the world and musical thinking//Ethnos and culture. Sat. scientific works. - Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 1994.
Meshcheryakov A.N. Heroes, creators and keepers of Japanese antiquity. -M., 1988.
Moiseeva L.A. Innovations in the period of transition to the market: problems and solutions. — Vladivostok, 1998.

Issues for discussion

1. How did the features of Japanese civilization develop and what do they consist of?
2. What are the causes of Japan's economic "miracle" in the 20th century?
3. Why can the cultural space of the Japanese be called "collapsing" and what is the attitude of the Japanese towards "external" and "internal"?
4. What is the peculiarity of the Japanese mentality?

Period Iwajuku(about 40 thousand years BC - 13 thousand years BC):
The beginning of the settlement of the islands. Paleolithic.

Period Jomon(about 13 thousand years BC - 300 BC):
early Japanese. Hunting, fishing, gathering.

Period Yayoi(300 BC - 250 AD):
The introduction of agriculture (rice crops) caused the development of a social hierarchy, and hundreds of small tribes began to unite into larger ones.

Period Yamato (300 — 710):
300 – The united state of Japan is established.
538-552 - The arrival of Buddhism in Japan.
604 Proclamation of the "Code of the Seventeen Articles" of the Prince Shotoku Taishi.
645 — Taika reforms. "Star Rises" clan Fujiwara.

Period Nara (710 — 784):
710 – City Nara Japan's first permanent capital.
784 - Capital moved to city Nagaoka.

Period heian (794 — 1185):
794 - Capital moved to heian(now Kyoto).
1016 — Fujiwara Michinaga becomes regent.
1159 - clan tayra under the direction of Taira Kiyomori gaining momentum after the war Heiji.
1175 - The emergence of the Buddhist school Jodo- Pure Land.
1180-1185 - During the war Gempei clan Minamoto draws a line under clan rule tayra.

Period Kamakura (1185 — 1333):
1191 - The emergence of the Buddhist school Zen.
1192 — Minamoto Yoritomo becomes shogun and establishes shogunate (military government) Kamakura.
1221 - Troubles jokyu put an end to the opposition of the emperor Gotoba and the shogunate Minamoto. Hojo Masako, widow Minamoto Yoritomo, becomes a regent - the beginning of the reign of the regents of the clan Hojo.
1232 - Acceptance Joei Shikimoku- Code of Laws.
1274, 1281 - The Mongols twice tried to conquer Japan, but both times they were prevented by weather conditions.
1333 - End of the shogunate Kamakura.

Period Muromachi (1338 — 1537):
1334 — Restoration of Kemmu The emperor regained his influence over Japan.
1336 — Ashikaga Takauji captured Kyoto.
1337 - The Emperor fled and founded the "Southern Court" in Yoshino.
1338 — Takauji founded the shogunate Muromachi and confirmed the second emperor in Kyoto ("Northern Court").
1392 - Unification of the Northern and Southern courts.
1467-1477 — Onin War.
1542 - Portuguese missionaries brought firearms and Christianity to Japan.
1568 — Oh yeahNobunaga entered Kyoto.
1573 - End of the shogunate Muromachi.

Period Azuchi Momoyama (1573 — 1603):
1575 - Clan Takeda won the battle of Nagashino.
1582 — Nobunaga killed, becomes shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
1588 — Hideyoshi confiscates all weapons from peasants and monks. This action was called "Hunt for swords".
1590 - Defeat of the clan Hojo in the battle of Odawara. The final unification of Japan.
1592-98 - Unsuccessful intervention in Korea.
1598 - Death Hideyoshi.
1600 — Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats its competitors in the battle of Sekigahara.

Period edo (1603 — 1867):
1603 — Ieyasu becomes shogun and establishes Tokugawa shogunate. The capital of the shogunate is moved to edo(now Tokyo).
1614 — Ieyasu intensifies the persecution of Christianity.
1615 - Clan Toyotomi destroyed after Ieyasu captured their castle in Osaka.
1639 - Almost complete isolation of Japan from the rest of the world.
1688-1703 - Era Genroku: The rising popularity of ink painting.
1792 - The Russians unsuccessfully try to establish trade relations with Japan.
1854 - Commander Matthew Perry requires Japan to open several ports for the development of trade.

Period Meiji (1868 — 1912):
1868 - Beginning Meiji restoration- the return of power to the emperor. Europeanization of Japan.
1872 - First railroad between Tokyo and Yokohama.
1889 - Proclaimed Meiji constitution.
1894-95 - War with China.
1904-05 - War with Russia.
1910 - Accession of Korea.
1912 - Death of the Emperor Meiji.

Period Taisho (1912 — 1926):
1914-18 - Japan joins the Allies during World War I.
1923 - Earthquake in the area Kanto destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama.

Period Showa (1926 — 1989):
1931 - Incident in Manchuria.
1937 - Beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
1941 - The beginning of the Pacific War.
1945 - Japan capitulated after the atomic bombing of cities Hiroshima And Nagasaki.
1946 - Proclamation of the new Constitution.
1952 - Allied occupation of Japan ends.
1956 - Japan is a member of the UN.
1972 - Normalization of relations with China.
1973 - Fuel crisis.

Period Heisei(from 1989 to present):
1993 - The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan lost a majority of seats in parliament in an election.
1995 - Earthquake in Hansine damaged the city Kobe. sect members "Aum Shinrikyo" used poison gas sarin in the Tokyo subway.