poet of the time wrote that
"every breeze coming thence wafted the perfume of tea." The pastimes
of "listening to incense," of floral arrangement, of the dramatic
mime, and of the parlour farce were all practised with a zest which
provoked the astonishment even of contemporary annalists.

ENGRAVING: A PICNIC DURING THE FLOWER SEASON IN THE ASHIKAGA PERIOD

All this contributed materially to educate the nation's artistic
faculties, but the cost was enormous and the burden of taxation
correspondingly heavy. It was under this financial pressure that
Yoshimasa approached the Ming emperor seeking pecuniary aid. Thrice
the shogun's applications were successful, and the amounts thus
obtained are said to have totalled three hundred thousand strings of
cash (equivalent of L450,000, or $2,200,000). His requests are said
to have assumed the guise of appeals in behalf of famine-stricken
people, but there is no evidence that any of the presents were
devoted to that purpose. Partial apologists for Yoshimasa's
infatuation are not wanting. Thus, it is alleged that he was weary of
failure to reform the administration; that the corruption and
confusion of society induced him to seek consolation in art; that
outside the precincts of his palace he was restrained by the
provincial magnates, and inside he had to obey the dictation of his
wife, Tomi, of her brother, Katsumitsu, and of his own favourite
page, Ise Sadachika, so that only in his tea reunions and his private
theatricals could a semblance of independence be obtained; that his
orders were not obeyed or his injunctions respected by any save the
artists he had gathered around him, and that in gratifying his
luxurious tastes, he followed the example of his grandfather,
Yoshimitsu. But such exculpations amount to saying that he was an
essentially weak man, the slave of his surroundings.

THE KWANTO TUMULT

The lawlessness of the time and the indifference with which the
shogun's mandates were treated find illustration in the story of the
Kwanto. When (1439) Mochiuji perished, the only member of his family
that survived was his five-year-old son, Shigeuji. This child placed
himself under the protection of Muromachi. It will be remembered that
Uesugi Norizane, lamenting his unwilling share in Mochiuji's
destruction, had entered religion. His son, Noritada, was then
appointed to act as manager (shitsuji) to Shigeuji, his colleague
being Uesugi Akifusa (Ogigayatsu Uesugi). But the Yuki