Autumn Special Exhibition
[MIYABI: The Courtly Elegance of Classical Japan] The Flowering of Imperial Court Culture

CHAPTER 1: Literature of the Nobility
Among the nobility of the Heian period (794-1185), the idea that "literature is a necessary discipline for governing the state" was a commonly held belief based on the Chinese concept of governance. In order to integrate Chinese studies into Japanese learning, nobles actively sought to master disciplines such as Chinese literature and Chinese poetry.
At the same time, from the mid-Heian period onward, the culture of kana, a Japanese writing system adapted from the sounds and forms of Chinese characters, gradually matured. With the development of kana, waka poetry, which until then had been mainly an invention created for private composition, became elevated to a status on par with Chinese poetry, and came to be used in the public realm as well.
Armed with this new tool of kana, the aristocrats of Heian-period Japan were able to launch a host of new literary works, from waka poems to narratives, building on the knowledge of Chinese literary traditions that they had acquired.

CHAPTER 2: Ritual and Costume: The Way of Court Service
The most important part of the nobles' duties at court was their participation in various ceremonies, large and small, in which their respective roles were defined according to their rank and office. According to the Nenjū gyōji goshōji mon, a listing of annual court events, 284 annual events and nine regular monthly events were being observed during the mid-Heian period. The court nobles' attire served to decorate these ceremonial occasions, where the rules for dress were governed by the season and location.

CHAPTER 3: The Vibrancy of Court Life
The lives of the nobles, who were busy day and night with ceremonies and political affairs, were enriched by an array of games and play. For them, games were not merely a form of personal pleasure, they were also a way of building relationships with others, and sometimes took the form of contests of refinement and culture. Among the many indoor and outdoor pastimes of the court nobility, this section highlights the outdoor sport of kemari football, the practice of blending fragrance known as takimono, and courtly performing arts such as bugaku court dance and kangen instrumental music on flute and strings.

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