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Famous Japanese people: a poet, a playwright, a tea master, and a stowaway!

Zeami (1363-1443) created Japan's Noh theater.

This post covers four famous Japanese people:

Zeami (1363-1443) was a 14th century genius of many talents, comparable to Shakespeare (1564-1616). In addition to being a play director, he was also a producer, playwright and a star performer in his time.

Saigyo (1118-1190), the poet, retired from the world to a forest hermitage of his own construction. The great haiku poet Basho frequently quoted Saigyo, and praised him as a model man in life and art.

Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) gave the Japanese people a new tea ceremony aesthetic. Until Rikyu completely rewrote the book on tea, it was performed in the Chinese style using Korean and Chinese accessories. And until the new Japanese tea ceremony was born the Chinese version relied entirely on colorful imported tea bowls.

Joseph Hardy Neesima (1843-1890) was one of the first Japanese, if not the first, to attend an American university, Amherst. But to get there he had to smuggle himself on a ship and convince the captain not to send him back! When he did return to Japan he quickly founded Japan's first private university, Doshisha University, which is still closely connected with Amherst University. Learn more!

Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!

Saigyo: Poet of Sabi and Sakura

Saigyo (1118-90) was one of Japan's finest poets, the very prototype of the monastic sage who retires from the world into a forest hermitage of his own construction, embarks upon inspirational journeys, and emerges for moments of voracious social activity in the pursuit of poetry and religion. The great Basho frequently quoted Saigyo, taking him as a model in life and art.

Saigyo's work is a very particular product of uncommon life experiences, tumultuous times, and rare imagination. Born into a samurai family with links to the powerful Fujiwara clan, Saigyo's given name was Sato Norikiyo. After some military experience (in the palace guard) and success in the field of athletics, he took the tonsure at age twenty-three, receiving the Buddhist name En'i. At that very moment, the state was being plunged from a brilliant heraldic age into a period of strife, and the turmoil spurred him to literary pyrotechnics that went beyond anything written before. One of his first acts upon taking vows was the composition of 100 verses remarkable for their autobiographical candor. Thus purged, he set out on the first of a series of pilgrimages. His travel poetry reflects a spirit unburdened by worldly travails, and it earned him praise from even his more conventional contemporaries.

His poems, often reflections on the theme of sabi (lonely and austere beauty), are matters of record, but we are left with apocryphal accounts of the man himself. In the noh play, Saigyo-Zakura, a party of revelers comes to enjoy the sight of an ancient cherry tree near Saigyo's retreat. Saigyo composes a poem in which he blames the cherry tree for the disturbance. Later, as he sleeps, the spirit of the tree appears and expresses the rapture of the blossoms in a dance. In another play, Ugetsu, Saigyo lodges with an old couple in Sumiyoshi, and he helps them in their efforts to compose a poem. This was the Saigyo whom the 18th century fantasist, Ueda Akinari, revived and made narrator of one of the stories in his ghostly collection, Ugestu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain).

Scholars are undecided as to whether he turned to religion to salve the pain of unrequited love -- he is linked to a lady of the court, unreachably high in social standing -- or out of sympathy for the unhappiness and political misfortune of the abdicated emperors, Toba and Sutoku. At various times he lived at Ise, Yoshino, and Mount Koya. Long periods as a hermit were interrupted by month-long pilgrimages. His poems tended progressively towards contemplation and solitude. Roving and writing to the end, Saigyo traveled in old age to the far north of Japan to set up a series of poetry contests. One of his final projects was a collection of verses inspired by painted scenes of Buddhist hells. He foresaw his own death beneath the blossoming cherry trees, and, history notes with melancholic satisfaction, this was indeed how he left the world.

Ten years before he died at the ripe old age of 78, the poet Saigyo wrote:

“It is my deepest wish to die viewing cherry blossoms on a fullmoon night in February* just as the Buddha passed away.”

Because of the connection between full moon and the Buddha’s death, Japanese Buddhists attach special importance to this monthly event. Some even say that the Buddha was born on a full moon night. In places like Sri Lanka, full moon continues to be a time of celebration and prayer. Saigyo especially loved the full moon.

A one-time bodyguard for the emperor, Saigyo quit his duties as a policeman at the age of 23 to dedicate his life to poetry. He moved out of Kyoto and lived in a old, thatched roof country house (located in Higashiyama ward of present-day Kyoto City) by himself. And for much of the next 55 years, he wandered and wrote widely.

One day, on one of his journeys, he told some people:

“Flowers, birds, moon, snow . . . these are all the spirit and body of the Buddha. And every time I finish a poem, I feel like I have created a statue of the Buddha”.

Saigyo died exactly has he had wished to: gazing at cherry blossoms on a full moon night in February. News of his death reached Kyoto almost immediately. Many of his poet friends were surprised to hear of his death, yet happy to hear that his wish came true. Many poems were written in his honor then and in the centuries to come. Eventually, he became a legend. A major Noh play was even written about him.

*Note: February in the old Japanese lunar calendar, is equivalent to March. And in warmer parts of Japanese, cherries often begin to bloom in March.

Zeami the Japanese Shakespere and many other talents

Zeami (1363-1443), the founder and author of much of the Japanese Noh theater’s plays, was a 14th century genius of many talents, comparable in many ways to Shakespeare (1564-1616). In addition to being a play director, he was also a producer, playwright and a star performer in his time.

Eastern and Western drama differs in the way people enjoy the subtle aspects of the play. In the West, the emphasis is often on the plot and the players (the actors and the roles they play). In Japan, the audience enjoys both the story of the play, and the play’s “fuzei” or the refined flavor or elegance of the drama.

In Noh, the masks are also extremely important. Though the quintessential mask may appear to be expressionless, it actually functions to express any of the wide range of human emotions–joy, anger, sorrow or pleasure–common to Japanese dramas. Worn with a downward tilt, the mask is said to express sorrow. Tilted upward, the mask conversely is interpreted to express joy and laughter.

Music is also a key element of Noh. The rhythm of the drum expresses the tension or degree of relaxation the primary mask wearer is experiencing or trying to express. In fact, the way the drum is played in many ways determines how the actor will express his lines.

Zeami used the Japanese word for flower (hana) to determine the feeling each actor expresses in the play. Hana also means the degree of light, as opposed to darkness, that the actor or musician is trying to convey to the audience in the context of the play.

Bearing these subtle but important points in mind, the Westerner too should be able to more deeply appreciate the magic of the Noh drama that Zeami founded and largely created.

Sen no Rikyu, Chojiro, and the roots of Japanese Tea

Japan's greatest tea master, Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) served as a special counsellor to both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, two of the greatest warlords ever seen here. However, while giving sage advice to his busy and powerful masters, Rikyu was in the process of revolutionizing the tea ceremony in Japan. Until Rikyu completely rewrote the book on tea, it was performed in the Chinese style using Korean and Chinese accessories. The finest tea bowls, prized possessions even then, were all imported.

But Rikyu had something else in mind, something entirely Japanese. He

envisioned a tea ceremony that was quiet and simple, in a setting that was completely Japanese and natural. Naturally, his new style of tea ceremony called for a new kind of tea ceremony bowl.

To help him, Rikyu went to Chojiro, a creative tile maker in Kyoto. Together, they worked hard at coming up with a new kind of tea bowl, a bowl that would fit perfectly in a natural setting, a bowl that was distinctly Japanese. When they were finally successful, after much effort and failure, they developed a tea bowl fired at low temperatures that was light to carry, stayed warm for a long time, and which was unpretentious yet deeply beautiful at the same time.

This tea bowl tradition is still carried on today by the Raku family (see page 18 for museum details), the new name Chojiro took after becoming a potter. For more than 400 years, Raku tea bowls have been the most prized in Japan.

Joseph Hardy Neesima (1843-1890): Founder of Japan's first private university

During the late 19th century, Japan experienced perhaps the most the most dramatic historical change in its over 1000 year history. It all began on June 3rd, 1853, when Commodore Perry, American messenger of the president of the United States, arrived in Uraga, Japan with his terrifying steam driven warships and formally requested Japan to open itself to the world and put an end to nearly 250 years of enforced isolation. A year later, the Japan-American Peace Treaty thrust Japan into the world; similar deals soon followed with Holland, Russia, England and France. The distrust of Japan’s powerful daimyo (feudal lords) towards the Tokugawa government in the wake of the confusion of this abrupt change grew rapidly. These new reformists soon terrified the Tokugawa government to give up power. In 1867, only 13 years after Commodore Perry’s arrival, the shogun handed its power back to the emperor, and the new government of reformists assumed political power over a new Japan. The Meiji Restoration had begun.

Throughout this period of rapid and revolutionary change, Japanese officials journeyed to the West regularly on the behalf of both the old and new governments. Simultaneously, Christian missionaries and journalists arrived from the West. Along with political and economic exchange with the West, academic and cultural level exchanges also began. In many quarters, it didn’t take long before the strong anti-foreigner sentiment gave way to an intense desire to learn from the West. However, without government permission, study abroad was an impossibility for the common man and the West remained largely a place viewed with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Some individuals, despite the difficulties, overcame all obstacles and made it to the West. One such man was Shimeta Neesima (pronounced Nijima), a strong individualist with a passion to learn and follow his belief in the Protestant religion.

Joseph Hardy Neesima (1843-1890) was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) as the son of a lowly samurai. As a teenager, he was both an enthusiastic student of Dutch studies and the Holy Bible. Desperate to learn more and barely 21 years of age, he stowed away abroad an American commercial ship. Though he was breaking the law, Neesima was convinced that there was something out there for him — something which he could not find in feudal Japanese society. On board the ship he received his new name Joe from the Captain and it is this name upon which his fame firmly rests.

By this time his ship docked in Boston Joe Neesima had been out of Japan a full year, a changed young man. In the beginning, Neesima remained on the ship, with no idea of how to begin his journey into America. He even began to regret his reckless behavior, in a wave of uncertainly. His encounter with the ship owner Alpheus Hardy changed all this. Hardy, recognizing the young man's ambition, motivation and brilliance, took him home and arranged to send him to the Philips Academy to get an American high school education. Meeting Hardy's expectations, Neesima was admitted to Amherst College, in less than two years, and completed a Bachelor of Science degree after 3 years of study. Following this, Neesima continued his Christian studies at the Andover Theological Seminary. Upon completion of these studies, his initial 9-year stay in the US came to an end. In this time he had fulfilled all the dreams ambitions that had initially fueled his reckless departure from Japan. During his stay in America, Hardy gave limitless emotional and financial support to Neesima. Without this support he could never have accomplished the great work that lay before him in Japan. With his arrival in Japan in 1874, the Neesima legend began in earnest. By as early as 1875, Neesima had founded the forerunner of the Doshisha education empire — ‘Doshisha English School' — in Kyoto. However, this achievement was no easy task.

When the capital moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1868, Kyoto industry was facing serious problems and the prefecture was having a hard time creating and maintaining a stable school system. When Ogaku-sha, a school of Western education, folded, the need for a private school devoted to English and Western education in Kyoto became clear. Asked by Kyoto officials, Neesima petitioned to open a Christian School of English in Kyoto, however when the powerful Buddhist association learned of the idea they protested fiercely. The foundation of the Neesima’s school was allowed under the condition that no religious matter of a Christian nature be introduced at the school. However, despite this restriction, Neesima still taught Christianity in an extra school curriculum. In 1876 he and others founded Kyoto's first Christian church — Kyoto Dai-ni Kokai. In the last years of his life Neesima devoted himself to education and spreading his message through lecture tours. Neejima died in 1890 at the age of 47, a victim of acute peritonitis.

From the beginning the Doshisha schools (Doshisha University, Doshisha Women's College, and the Doshisha high schools) took on the responsibility of educating Japan's representatives in the international society. And today the name Doshisha symbolizes the highest and most prestigious level of private education in Japan. And because of Neesima’s loyalty and gratitude to Amherst College, there has always been a strong connection between Doshisha and Amherst. At Amherst College, you can still see the portrait of Joe Neesima proudly displayed in Johnson Chapel. During World War II, Doshisha was ordered by the government to remove Neesima’s portrait from the Doshisha’s main campus, because he was a man with unfailing loyalty to America. However, in total respect of Neesima’s noble international spirit, his portrait at the Amherst campus has never been removed.

The legacy of Neesima’s achievements can still be seen clearly in the classical, idealistic architecture of Doshisha’s main campus, across the street from the northeast corner of Kyoto's Old Imperial Palace. And on Teramachi Street, north of Marutamachi (opposite the southeast corner of the Old Imperial Palace) Neesima's magnificently preserved residence — a stunning blend of Japanese and Western style — stands open to public. Next door is the church that he founded.

Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!