The priest Eri and Asukabe Tsunenori are believed to have been great masters of painting of this epoch. The priest Eshin, one of the promoters of the "Pure Land" doctrine,* mostly painted pictures of Amitabha Buddha, welcoming the devotees who come to his Para dise (Amida-raiko), his style being purely Japanese. The picture of Amitabha and the 25 Bodhisattvas, still preserved in Koyasan, is a great piece of work attributed to his brush. (Consult 'Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. IV; 'Kok kwa,> Vols. LXXXII and CCXXXII). Takuma Tamenari is celebrated for his pictures on the walls and on the panels of the doors of the Howodo, Uji. (Consult Taikwan,' Vol. IV• Vol. III; Siryo,' Vols. VII, 5, and III, 2). Takumino-lcami Fujiwara Motomitsu, a great master of painting, is looked on as the founder of the Kasuga school. One *- Pure Land." (Jock)) Sanskrit "Sukhavati," the Para dise of the worshippers of Atnisab.ba.
of the greatest in the early part of this period is the painting of °Amida Sanzon still in the Hokkaji, Yamato (consult Taikwan,' Vol. VII; (Koldcwa,) Vol. CLXVII; Siryo,' Vol. IV, 3) and the points of its nobleness and elegance are, indeed, the king of the religious painting in Japan. Sculp ture came to develop a native style and greatly improved in due time, leaving at present the image of °Juichimen Kwannon° (Eleven Faces Goddess of Mercy) in the Hokkeji (consult Taikwan,' Vol. II ; (Kokkwa,) Vols. CXXI and CLXXXIV; (Shobi Siryo,' Vol. III, 5), and that of °Jizobosatsu° in the Shore yin of the Horyuji, as the representatives in the early part of this period. This brand of art culminated in the work of the celebrated Jocho who introduced elegance, gracefulness and refinement in and improved the character istic features of this period. The image of Amitabha in the Byodoin, Yamashiro (con sult (Kokkwa,) Vol. CLXXII; tShobi Siryo,) Vol. IV, 5) is believed to have been a produc tion of the later part of his life. His son Kakujo and pupil Chosei succeeded him, each founding an atelier for religious sculpture.
Architecture also developed a• new native style; temples were built in such a way as to present an elegant and graceful appearance on the outside, while the inside was superbly dec orated with mother-of-pearl lacquer work and gold-lacquered work.• Of the specimens of the architecture of this period the monastery Hos shoji constructed by the order of Fujiwara Michinaga is the most magnificent and the finest, built on a grand scale. Howodo in Uji and the Konjikido (Golden Hall), in the Chusonji, Hiraizumi, Rikuchu province, both of which are still preserved, though built on a very small scale, yet reflect something of the general style of architecture prevalent in this era. The mansions of noblemen were built after
what was termed the °Shinden-tsukuri° (Sleep ing-chamber-style), a grand and imposing style of architecture, and in the construction of the Imperial palace arose the °Satodairi° (Village court), an informal and much simpler style than the °Dai-dairi° (Court). A native style began to stamp itself in dresses and furniture of all descriptions, affecting their shape and decoration not a little.
Lacquer works, textile fabrics and metal works abounded in elegance and tastefulness, and were free from conventionality, breathing loftiness; design became richer and more in genious; workmanship and technique were car ried to a high degree of elaboration and re finement; and not a few specimens of the work stamped with these noble qualities have come down to the present age.
The Era of the Regency of customs and manners which had been formed and had reached ma turity in the preceding era attained a still greater development in this. Things were, on one hand, getting effeminate and conventional; while, on the other, reaction having already set in with the changes of the times, a lively and vigorous style began to assert itself. The power of the Fujiwara family had, indeed, been on the wane; but the Taira family, who had taken their place, having succeeded to their luxury and extravagance as well as to the po litical ascendancy, and having devoted their energies to the cultivation of belles-lettres, fine arts and technical industries did not show any sign of decline, and demand for arts-objects did not decrease in the least. In pictorial art Fujiwara Takayoshi originated a new style characterized by elegance and delicacy. The Genji-Monogatari-Emaki* is the existing speci men of his work. (Consult Vol. I; Vols. XVII, XVIII, CLXX)l` and CLXXXII). He was followed by his son Takachika, and it was in the time of Tosa-no Gonnokami Tsunetaka that the school bore the family name Tosa. Kakuyu or the °Bishop of Toba," as he was popularly called, had already started a new style, and painted a number of caricatures with a masterly cali graphic touch. His work Choju-giga-no maid (a collection of burlesque sketches of birds and beasts) is very well known. (Consult Taikwan,' Vols. I-IV; Vol. CXXXIII). Mitsunaga is famous for his marvelously powerful brushwork, and has left us the Bandainagon-Emaki (a pictorial scroll representing the life of the courtier Ban). (Con sult Tallman,' Vol. XIV; Vols.•', CLXXXII and CCV). Takanobu was a master of portrait painting. The foundation of the old Tosa school, representative of pure Japanese painting, is to -be ascribed to these great artists.