t gambling became universal; it was in this time
that parents learned to think it an honour to see their daughters
winning favour as dancing girls, and it was in this time that the
samurai's noble contempt for money gave place to the omnipotence of
gold in military and civil circles alike.

THE IMPERIAL COURT. THE 113TH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR HIGASHIYAMA
(A.D. 1687-1710)

In 1687, the Emperor Reigen abdicated in favour of Higashiyama, then
a boy of thirteen, Reigen continuing to administer affairs from
behind the curtain as was usual. Tsunayoshi was then the shogun in
Yedo. He showed great consideration for the interests of the Imperial
Court. Thus, he increased his Majesty's allowance by ten thousand
koku of rice annually, and he granted an income of three thousand
koku to the ex-Emperor. Moreover, all the Court ceremonies, which had
been interrupted for want of funds, were resumed, and steps were
taken to repair or rebuild the sepulchres of the sovereigns
throughout the empire.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FEUDATORIES AND THE COURT NOBLES

According to a rule made in the beginning of the Tokugawa dynasty, a
lady of Tokugawa lineage was forbidden to marry a Court noble, but
the shogun himself was expected to take a consort from one of the
noble houses in the Imperial capital. From the days of Iemitsu this
latter custom was steadily maintained, and gradually the feudatories
came to follow the shogun's example, so that marriages between
military magnates and noble ladies of Kyoto Were frequent. To these
unions the Court nobles were impelled by financial reasons and the
military men by ambition. The result was the gradual formation of an
Imperial party and of a Bakufu party in Kyoto, and at times there
ensued sharp rivalry between the two cliques. In the days of the
seventh shogun, Ietsugu, the Emperor Reigen would have given his
daughter Yaso to be the shogun's consort for the purpose of restoring
real friendship between the two Courts, but the death of the shogun
in his boyhood interrupted the project.

THE 114TH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR NAKANOMIKADO (A.D. 1710-1735)

Higashiyama abdicated (1710) in favour of Nakanomikado, who reigned
for twenty-five years. This reign is remarkable for a change in the
system hitherto uniformly pursued, namely, that all Imperial princes
with the exception of the direct heir should become Buddhist priests
(ho-shinnd), and all princesses except those chosen as consorts of
the shoguns, shou