-building enterprises
on the part of Japanese rulers were not prompted wholly by religious
motives.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

The frugal austerity of life under the rule of the Hojo was changed
to lavish extravagance under the Ashikaga. Yet things should have
been otherwise, for in Takauji's time there was enacted and
promulgated the code of regulations already referred to as the Kemmu
Shikimoku, wherein were strictly forbidden basara, debauchery,
gambling, reunions for tea drinking and couplet composing, lotteries,
and other excesses. Basara is a Sanskrit term for costly luxuries of
every description, and the compilers of the code were doubtless
sincere in their desire to popularize frugality. But the Ashikaga
rulers themselves did not confirm their precepts by example. They
seemed, indeed, to live principally for sensuous indulgence.

A Japanese writer of the fifteenth century, in a rhapsodical account
of the Kyoto of his day, dwells on the wonderful majesty of the
"sky-piercing roofs" and "cloud-topping balconies" of the Imperial
palace. And he points with evident pride to the fact that this
splendor--a splendor only a little less--was to be found besides in
many other elegant residences which displayed their owners' taste and
wealth. The chronicler notes that even those who were not noble,
including some who had made their money by fortune-telling or by the
practice of medicine, were sometimes able to make such display, to
live in pretentious houses and have many servants. So could the
provincial nobles, who it seems did not in other periods make much of
a showing at the capital.

The dwellers in these mansions lived up to their environment. The
degree of their refinement may be inferred from the fact that cooking
became a science; they had two principal academies and numerous rules
to determine the sizes and shapes of every implement and utensil, as
well as the exact manner of manipulating them. The nomenclature was
not less elaborate. In short, to become a master of polite
accomplishments and the cuisine in the military era of Japan demanded
patient and industrious study.

MODE OF TRAVELLING

The fashions of the Heian epoch in the manner of travelling underwent
little change during the military age. The principal conveyance
continued to be an ox-carriage or a palanquin. The only notable
addition made was the kago, a kind of palanquin slung on a single
pole instead of on two shafts. The kago accommodated one p