Luis Frois: First Western Accounts of Japan's Gardens, Cities And

Luis Frois: First Western Accounts of Japan’s Gardens, Cities and Landscapes Cristina Castel-Branco • Guida Carvalho

Luis Frois: First Western Accounts of Japan’s Gardens, Cities and Landscapes Cristina Castel-Branco Guida Carvalho Landscape Architecture Professor; ACB Landscape Architecture Studio Department of Natural Resources and Landscape Architect, MLA University Landscape, School of Agronomy of Lisbon University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon, Portugal

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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Father Luís Frois and Sen no Rikyū met in Kyoto around 1580. Although their cultures and religions were almost opposite, they chose to listen to and learn from one another. The former expressed his feelings and impressions in literature, while the latter made his mark in garden art and the Japanese “way of tea”. Their followers, Father Graham McDonnell at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, and Soshu Sen, 14th President of Tea Ceremony, both in Kyoto, sought to keep their ancestors’ legacy of openness alive in the twentieth and twentieth-first century. To the four of them, we dedicate this book. Foreword

Seen from Europe, the islands of Japan lie at the eastern limit of the globe; in the United States, and even in California’s West Coast, we still refer to that part of Asia as the Far East—although it may, in fact, be closer to us than the European conti- nent. Even the Chinese people, who historically have referred to their land as the Middle or Central Kingdom, termed Japan the “Land of the Rising Sun”, acknowl- edging its position further east. Given the thousands of kilometres that separated Europe from Japan, in the sixteenth century, the four main islands and thousands of smaller islands that comprise today’s Japan might well have been part of another planet. Columbus’s fateful journey in 1492, despite his misdiagnosed landing point in Hispañola, helped popularize the perception of the Earth as a round sphere rather than a flat plane, although others like Pedro Nunes had reached a similar conclusion earlier on. During the Age of Discovery, landmark expeditions and circumnavigation followed suit. Portugal was to play a major role in the European “discovery” of lands both to the west and the east; discoveries begun during the reign of Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460). Vasco da Gama (1460s–1524) opened new vistas of geography and trade with his voyage to India, rounding Cape Horn—a first for European sailors—and arriving on the Indian subcontinent in 1498; a Portuguese settlement, Goa, was established thereafter. Those efforts were furthered by the Portuguese Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan, c.1480–1521) in his pio- neer circumnavigation of the globe—that is to say, his ship, the Victoria, completed the journey. Magalhães himself was killed in the Philippines, and the mission was completed under the direction of the Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano (or del Cano). With a base established in India in 1510, and knowledge that the world was indeed round, the Portuguese pushed beyond the Asian mainland to the Far East. In 1511, they subdued Malacca; in 1518, they constructed fortresses in Sri Lanka and Indonesia; and in 1521, Tomé Pires arrived in Peking as the Portuguese Ambassador to the Chinese Imperial court. From their thriving base in Macau, China, they con- tinually expanded their commercial routes, reaching Japan in 1543. For the Catholic kingdoms of Portugal and Spain, exploration always possessed two instigating motives: the acquisition of riches in precious metals and other rare commodities and the acquisition of souls for the Church. In some instances, the

vii viii Foreword force for exploration was religious, although the possibility for trade in commodities such as silk supported—at times financially—any efforts for religious evangeli- zation. Having learned that Japan might provide a substantial pool of converts from several Japanese who had accompanied the Portuguese on the return from their initial voyage, a second expedition was mounted 6 years later. Accompanying the sailors was the man who would later be canonized as St. Francis Xavier, who arrived in Kagoshima, on the southern island of Kyushu on 15 August 1549. Numerous publications have traced the rise and fall of Christianity in Japan during these early days, and there is no need to rehearse that story in detail. In summary, however, it could be said that the acceptance of Christianity was initially seen as a threat to neither the Japanese religious brotherhood nor the aristocracy. Shinto, the indigenous belief system of Japan, involves the worship of both animistic deities and the spirits of those who had once dwelled in human form—that is to say, one’s ancestors. The practice of Shinto did not proscribe the simultaneous holding of other beliefs, however. In 522 (an estimated date), Buddhism had been introduced to Japan; in the succeeding centuries, both religions would continue to thrive. Given this peaceful co-existence, perhaps those in power believed that Christianity consti- tuted no threat to the shogunate, the imperial court, or the Buddhist institution. Over time, however, as it became clear that the missionaries were not as accepting of indigenous religious practices as the Japanese were of Christianity, and the threat of allegiance to the Pope and the Church of Rome increased, this benign attitude of acceptance changed. Ultimately, Christianity in all forms was banned in 1614, with Japanese Catholics being forced to apostatize or practise their religion underground; the missionaries themselves were expelled, leaving the Dutch, who were restricted to Dejima, a small island in Nagasaki Bay, as virtually the only remaining Europeans to engage in commerce, while continuing to import Western knowledge first brought to Japan by the Portuguese, which brings us to the observations of Japan and its garden culture, primarily by four Portuguese Jesuits living in the Land of the Rising Sun in the mid-sixteenth to late sixteenth century. The four principal players in Cristina Castel-Branco and Guida Carvalho’s novel investigation of the history of the gardens and landscapes of Japan were Luis Almeida, who arrived in Japan in 1552, who was followed by Gaspar Vilela in 1556, Luis Frois in 1563 and João Rodrigues in 1577. That is to say, Almeida arrived some 70 years before the ban against Christianity was enacted, a freedom which allowed an extended stay in Japan and relatively free movement. Like the Portuguese traders and religious who had come before them, these four Jesuits landed, and were subse- quently based, on the southern island of Kyushu; with the support of influential Japanese lords, they were permitted to travel in central Japan. Vilela, described centuries later by a member of his Order “as strong, good-looking and of amiable man- ners”, arrived in November 1552 and soon began efforts to erect a church. His later protracted residence in Kyoto of almost (see pp. 42–43 in [1]) two years proved sufficient for him to purchase a modest house and erect a simple chapel; it was probably during this time that he sampled Kyoto’s wealth of temples and commented on their architectural features and gardens in his writings. Frois’ landing in Japan in 1563 was heartily welcomed by Vilela as this recent arrival provided him with Foreword ix much-needed moral and religious support for the small mission in Japan then less than two decades old. Frois seems to have shared Vilela’s interest in all things Japanese, including the island nation’s gardens. In some ways, the missionaries arrived in Japan at a fortuitous if tumultuous time, as the consolidation of the fiefs of the independent daimyo (lords) into a more centralized government based on the Osaka plain, which included Kyoto, had been long underway. Oda Nobunaga (1524–1582), the lord of Owari Province, nearly succeeded in bringing the country under his control, but his efforts were cut short by his assassination at the hands of one of his retainers. Oda Nobunaga was unusually forward-looking, traversing established codes when necessary to achieve his goals. He accepted gunpowder and firearms as advanced means necessary for victory despite their crossing of established samurai moral codes. He is also said to have enjoyed wine as much as any native alcoholic drink. These tendencies, whether due to curiosity, expedience or a general quest for knowledge, suggest why Nobunaga might have been receptive to the importation and use of foreign ideas and technology—for their military application, if for no other reason. To him, Christianity, it seems, was part of the package, and in all, he demonstrated considerable restraint in allowing the promulgation of Catholic doctrine. Through his at least tacit approval— with the support of other daimyo, some of whom had accepted Christianity—Vilela, Almeida and Frois conducted numerous visits to the city’s Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, visits and their subsequent recording that are the subjects of Cristina Castel-Branco and Guida Carvalho’s study. This book centres on the writings of Luis Frois—principally his Historia de Japam—which has provided us with the earliest and most comprehensive European description of Japanese culture and its built environment. As revealed in his description of the religious structures and gardens he witnessed first-hand, Frois seemed to have been unusually open-minded, less a Christian religious rendering judgement than an anthropologist or ethnographer trying to understand, and at times even appreciate, Japan’s “peculiar” culture and its constructions. For example, when commenting on the 1000 Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) sculptures in the thirteenth-century temple of Sanjusangen-do in Kyoto, he is remarkably approving of their beauty and quality rather than denying any aesthetic appeal based on a rejec- tion of the religion they represented. His summary judgement states: “All these figures are gilded from head to toe with very fine gold thickly applied; the faces are well-proportioned and beautiful […] such a large and astonishing quantity of figures represents something very noble” (see pp. 20–22 in [2]). Perhaps, it was Frois’ stay in Goa that introduced him to Indian Buddhist and Hindu art and iconography and his subsequent appreciation of them. In this and other of his descriptions, we rarely find any condemnations of works created by the “heathens”. Quite to the contrary, at times, he demonstrates a true appreciation of the beauty of a building or garden or a cultural trait such as the cleanliness of the Japanese people. “I cannot explain all there is to tell about each garden and the houses of these monasteries”, he confesses and in all honesty writes that “when suddenly faced with the beauty, ingenuity and cleanliness of these houses no one may look at them for the first time without being greatly enthralled” (see pp. 182–183 in [3]). x Foreword

Father Gaspar Vilela shared a similar open mind about Japanese arts and their aesthetic judgement. In describing the porch of an unidentified temple in Kyoto, for example, he tells that it was made of “scented wooden planks kept scrupulously clean. […]I leave many things there are to tell, he confessed, but was forced to omit them so as to not cause boredom nor seem like an exaggeration; but [the temple garden] was so lovely and enjoyable that it seems unlikely that there are many places like this […] that are superior to this one” (see p. 321 in [4]). He understands the naturalism of many of the gardens he visits, gardens which differed consider- ably in design from the formal layouts and features common in Portuguese estates at that time. In all, Vilela understood that the intention behind their design was to produce the impression “as if they were nature’s work and not a human construction” (see p. 324 in [4]). Although Almeida’s, Frois’ and Vilela’s descriptions cited by the authors say little of the dry (kare-sansui) gardens, keen observations and evocative descriptions pepper the writings of these priests. Of their overall composition, for example, Vilela noted: “Each of the gardens is different from one another, and each one of them has something new in relation to the others, in accordance to its own taste”. While those Portuguese visiting Japan’s gardens at that time might have expected parterres, clipped hedges, basins and fountains in abundance, the friars encountered gardens whose stones and gravel were often their principal elements. “These gardens have a big diversity of stones”, Vilela recorded, “some are white, some are black, and some are greenish blue. They are not very big, but small and well- positioned between moss and greenery”. Commentary on vegetation also appears in the writings, and from them, Castel-Branco and Carvalho provide a new perspective on the role of plants and flowers in the Japanese gardens of the sixteenth century. “There are some small and twisted cypresses inserted in these stones, and also some small trees laden with flowers”. At that time, at least according to Frois, flowers and flowering shrubs played a larger part in the making of gardens than we might think. Today, flowers appear only to a limited degree within enclosed temple gardens, and even the azalea, a staple of the Japanese palette, has the majority of its blooms plucked by its gardeners to avoid being judged as too garish. The tsukubai, or stone often set adjacent to the veranda that serves as a water basin, was also new to the foreign visitors. “They have fountains and spouts, which are done with such artifice that the water seems to come out of the same stones” (see p. 324 in [4]). No doubt a dry garden like Ryoan-ji (of which there is no record, although Frois describes the temple’s pond) would probably have stymied the comprehension of the Portuguese religious as its form completely confronted their received ideas about what a garden should be—especially the reliance on stones and gravel as the garden’s prime materials. Still, the recorded observation (probably of the entry to Daisen-in, one of the sub-temples of Daitoku-ji) lacked any hint of condemnation. Alongside this corridor is a garden visible only after entering the veranda. It has nothing to see but some little mountains made by hand. They are made of stone [probably gravel] which is brought from afar, purposefully selected for this purpose. Over this collection of stones, [there were] countless small trees, paths, and bridges, […] through which the stones Foreword xi

are reached. The ground was in part of extremely white coarse sand and in part of black gravel. From it rose several rough stones between one- and-a-half and two covados high.1 Almeida, Vilela and Frois displayed a genuine interest in plants, perhaps not unusual given the scientific interests of many of the Jesuit missionaries posted abroad. Indeed, Castel-Branco and Carvalho tell that by the early seventeenth century, Japanese plants, mostly plants of the Camellia family, had already been introduced into Portugal; conversely, the Portuguese had introduced to Japan the grape, the quince and the fig. Frois noted that in one garden “there were many roses and flowers, appropriate to the seasons”, their selection intended to “insure that some species would be in bloom year round” (see p. 183 in [3]). Colour also seems to have been of greater concern to Japanese garden-makers than we normally believe, but our contemporary opinions are based primarily on the reduction that characterizes so many of the existing dry gardens. The friars also expressed an interest in pruning techniques and the shearing of shrubs into ornamental forms, “some green pines and other trees”, remarked Vilela, had their “crown[s] shaped by hand”; these accompanied “garden beds and ornaments that no doubt gladden the eyes of those who see them” (see p. 324 in [4]). While serious about his religious vocation, it is obvious that devotion did not prevent Vilela from appreciating the lighter side of garden design. His mention of sheared plant forms, as Castel-Branco and Carvalho write, indicates that the shaped forms of topiary (karikomi in Japanese) had been introduced to the garden almost a century before the Edo-period date we normally assign to its appropriation and development. (See p. 369 in [6].) Among the interesting observations this book’s authors have uncovered is that meat and fish were prohibited within the precincts of gardens such as Kinkaku-ji, their being regarded as “filthy things that contaminate [the] place” (see pp. 29–30 in [2]). This belief was so strongly held that guards were positioned to prevent the entrance of these banned foodstuffs. We also learn that the highest of the three floors of the Golden Pavilion at today’s Kinkaku-ji was entirely gilded, an observation that contradicts the accepted lore that until the pavilion’s reconstruction after a fire in the 1950s, only the ceiling of the upper floor had been gilded—and that the pavilion’s name was more metaphorical than a literal description of its surfaces. As noted above, the abundance of flowering plants inside some gardens is also surprising as reduction and absence are usually considered the hallmarks of the Japanese aesthetic tradition. In their writing, the authors skilfully integrate the observations of Gaspar Vilela and Luis Frois with the history, contemporary descriptions and discussions of the 17 gardens in Kyoto and the six gardens in Nara about which Frois reported. Their text flashes back to historical conditions and integrates them with factual information about the garden’s history and the authors’ own interpretations. It is a skilful bit of storytelling, and like a historical novel enfolds chronicle and narrative, although in the end this book is without question a scholarly work of today. Those of us involved with landscape history in the English-speaking world are indebted to Cristina

1 Castel-Branco explains that the côvado is an old Portuguese unit of length equivalent to 66 cm [5]. xii Foreword

Castel-Branco and Guida Carvalho for bringing to light this story of the first Portuguese accounts of the Japanese garden; her fellow Portuguese should be equally appreciative for the scope of their efforts and accomplishment.

Berkeley, CA, USA Marc Treib April 2019

References

1. Johannes Laures, S. J. (1954). The Catholic Church in Japan. Rutland: Tuttle. 2. Fróis, L. (1981). Historia de Japam: 2o v., 1565–1578 (ed: Wicki, J., Vol. II. V Vols.). Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional. 3. Fróis, L. (1598). Doutra do padre Luis Fróes do Miáco, pera os irmãos da India a.27.de Abril, de. 1565. In Cartas que os padres e irmãos da Companhia de Iesus escreuerão dos Reynos de Iapão & China aos da mesma Companhia da India, & Europa des do anno de 1549 atè o de 1580 (pp. 181–184). Evora: Manoel de Lyra. 4. Vilela, G. (1598). Carta do padre Gaſpar Vilela de couſas de Iapaõ, pera os padres do conuéto de Auis em Portugal, de Goa aos 6.de Outubro de 1571. In Cartas que os padres e irmãos da Companhia de Iesus escreuerão dos Reynos de Iapão & China aos da mesma Companhia da India, & Europa des do anno de 1549 atè o de 1580 (pp. 319–330). Evora: Manoel de Lyra. 5. Barroca, M. J. (1992). Medidas-Padrão Medievais Portuguesas. Porto. 6. Ono, K. (2005). The form and function of some gardens in Kyoto in 1565 that can be read from the description of history of Japan by Luis Frois. Journal of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture, 68: 369–372. https://doi. org/10.5632/jila.68.369. Preface

Though I was aware of the Portuguese presence in Japan beginning in 1543 and the subsequent efforts among Jesuits to introduce Christianity to the island nation during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was only during my first visit to Japan in 2007—and the research I undertook to gain a deeper understanding of the com- plex meaning of Japanese gardens—that I first took notice of Father Luis Frois. Ever since that first sojourn of 2 months in Japan for an intensive course in Kyoto at the Research Centre for Japanese Garden Art and Historical Heritage, I have been charmed by Japanese gardens and how they express the aesthetics of Nature while evidencing mastery of long-refined design techniques that support natural processes. However, during subsequent visits to the island nation, and bolstered by related research conducted in Portugal, I learned more about Japanese garden art and became increasingly informed about the Portuguese presence in Japan during the sixteenth century. Their compelling relationship with the Japanese lasted almost 100 years and left a legacy that can still be perceived in present-day words, recipes, paintings and other vestiges of a remarkable period in history. For instance, while I knew about the introduction of the teppo (rifle) in 1543, I was unaware that the Portuguese had taught geographical and cartographic sciences to the Japanese, had conveyed new nautical building techniques and had planted on their islands the first vines, olive trees, quince, peach and fig trees. Only then was I able to understand how momentous those early social, economic and cultural contacts had been for Japanese historical events and the passage to modern times. When I was taught the history of Portugal and the country’s far-flung impact during the Age of Discovery, it was largely in terms of major political and social events. Now, many decades later as a Landscape Architect and Garden Art Historian who has studied and worked in various countries, I have benefited tremendously from an enhanced understanding and appreciation of those early globalization efforts and the diverse range of cultural exchanges that occurred during the “Christian Century” in Japan. I was surprised but very proud that along with Italians, the Portuguese Jesuits had introduced new painting techniques with pigment, oil and egg white (tempera), as well as classical music and its instruments, and the first letterpress printing machine in Japan. I was happy to discover that a long period of mutual

xiii xiv Preface interest and peaceful exchange had, in fact, preceded a much sadder period of Christian persecution (since 1597) and growing mistrust that resulted in the banish- ment of all Portuguese from the island in 1639, so poignantly brought to life in Martin Scorsese’s film of the period, Silence. As the first well-documented instance of globalization, the sixteenth-century incursion of Europeans in Japan opened the door to a broad spectrum of conse- quences that continue to be explored by historians, archaeologists, sociologists and others. For my own part, I decided that my next research venture would build on those early contacts and my own professional interests through an examination of Japanese garden design and urbanism. As my investigations unfolded, I was very sorry to realize that this period of posi- tive encounters and toleration between Portugal and Japan had not been a subject taught at school when I learned the history of Portugal. Even now, it is still almost unknown at an international level. Moreover, I discerned that very few people (including me) knew the names, let alone the work, of the two Portuguese men from that epoch who had dedicated their lives to Japan and had left a vast written opus about that country. The first chronicler was Luis Frois who completed his life work, Historia de Japam, in 1591; his shorter Treaty on Contradictions discusses the hundreds of intriguing differences between the European and Japanese cultures. The second writer is João Rodrigues (the “Interpreter” as he was known in Japan at that time), who wrote the first grammar of the Japanese language, Arte da Lingoa de Iapam and the Historia da Igreja no Japão in 1610. Although a university professor and researcher, my ignorance of these men and their contributions to the historical record must be excused. Their written treasures, communicating for the first time what existed in Japan during the final four decades of the sixteenth century, remained unpublished until the end of the twentieth century—and could have remained unpublished in English, the lingua franca of our time, were it not for the dedication of a handful of individuals. This worldwide ignorance, therefore, is understandable. Of all the Portuguese in sixteenth-century Japan, Luis Frois is the most important, and this book will explain why. In any epoch, Frois would have been considered a gifted and insightful journalist. His descriptions approach the visual in their portrayal of the first encounters with the sixteenth-century Japanese and his interpretation of the impact of these Nanban-jin (Southern Barbarians, as the Portuguese were called) on the Land of the Rising Sun. Accordingly, Frois deserves a fuller rendering of the man and his impact. We know that he was born in 1532 and joined the “Society of Jesus” (the Jesuits) when he was just 16—the same age he left Portugal for India, where he spent 12 years working and studying with the Jesuits mostly in Goa and in Bassein. It was in India where he studied to become a priest with eminent professors, some of whom have documented the personal qualities that will become important for his success in Japan and his capacity to write such a large and discerning work about his experiences there. According to his superiors, Frois is good-natured and intelligent, but not reli- giously dogmatic—which helps us understand why he was so open to studying and Preface xv understanding Buddhism and Shintoism. Frois is reported to have had a great sense of humour, which as we know today is a timeless quality that contributes to enhanced social acceptance and the ability to endure adversity. Available documentation also indicates that during his youth in Portugal, he was raised in the King’s court and interacted with the nobility and upper classes of his time. Thus, he knew from a young age how to behave in that milieu—knowledge that he later used well when interacting with Japanese warlords, nobles and aristocrats. Finally, those who wrote of him all seemed to agree that Frois was perceptively shrewd and judicious. Indeed, his authenticated attributes afford him the profile of a lawyer, capable of solving problems, facilitating solutions and demonstrating a good capacity for writing, as he was described as skilful at expediting any kind of paper work. In short, Luis Frois was a true “Renaissance Man” with enviable cosmopolitan experience and an unparalleled curiosity about the world. By the age of 30, he had already travelled to three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia. He was an international scholar, bolstered by a classical education that included Greek and Roman reference points. All through his texts, Frois compares Japanese places, buildings and culture to a range of other sources and locales (Portugal, India, Malaca, Macau and the Western classical world), giving his reporting a lively tone of a well- travelled reporter. A big surprise for those early chroniclers like Frois, who had little or no exposure to, or understanding of, garden art and traditions, is the fact that gardens served as an important artistic and cultural treasure, praised for their immaculate beauty and proudly displayed by the Japanese during Frois’ time. In fact, when Frois arrived in Japan in 1563, gardens in Portugal were rare. We can single out the Viceroys’ gardens of Quinta da Bacalhoa and Penha Verde, built in the mid-sixteenth century, and the Nuncio garden in Penha Longa in Sintra where the first Japanese embassy of four young nobles visited the Cardinal representing Felipe II (the King of Spain and Portugal) in 1584. According to his writings, Frois met with the renowned Master of Tea and advi- sor of the powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga, Sen no Rikyū, who was an excellent garden designer and knew how to use stones, plants and their setting to intentionally create an atmosphere of unaffected naturalness and ordinariness. We know that Frois visited Sen no Rikyū’s gardens and tea house at the Daitoku-ji Temple com- plex in Kyoto, indicating the high regard the Japanese had for Frois. Given that the tea house was a setting for important meetings where the influential gathered to connect and engage in decision-making, these gardens acquire tremendous value in that they speak to their tea masters’ high prestige. In Kyoto, 13 of the 17 gardens Frois described can still be visited; moreover, some of them have become UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In Nara, all but two of the six gardens that Frois described are now favoured destinations for pilgrimage and tourism. This book focuses on all these gardens that Frois endeavoured to com- municate to a European audience—and which Guida Carvalho and I were fortunate to visit, study and record some 450 years after Luis Frois visited them and documented their wonders. xvi Preface

Creating a garden that endures in both memory and time requires not only imagi- nation, experience and wisdom but also knowledge of Nature and its processes. Understanding the landscape and accommodating the interplay of light, water, soil, plants and sky are essential for designing a place for human enjoyment and aesthetic emotion. In the Western world, the Romans called this capacity to induce natural beauty and harmony in a place ars cooperative naturae, and landscape architecture professionals nowadays are increasingly emboldened to collaborate with Nature in creating gardens and landscapes that engage visitors on a more meaningful level. The Japanese garden, which has changed little over the four-and-half centuries since it was first described by Europeans, has long been considered as an exquisite cultural and artistic expression of man’s collaboration with Nature. Primarily, these gardens were used for peaceful meditation, social gatherings and religious ceremo- nies. Furthermore, the specialized gardens designed by masters of the tea ceremony are particularly known for their harmonious composition featuring just the right selection of plants, the correct placement of water and the judicious use of stones and voids in space—all intended to reflect refined and elegant simplicity. All the Portuguese whose written records of their first encounters with Japanese gardens are captured in this book—Gaspar Vilela, Luis Almeida, Luis Frois and João Rodrigues—were clearly impressed and report in their letters to Portugal the incomparable beauty of these Japanese temples and palace gardens. Frois records his impressions of urban locations as well, and we selected nine of the most relevant locales to describe herein. As a generality, we were astonished by the care with which these heritage places have been maintained. I leave the reader to discover Frois’ texts about Japanese gardens and cities in Chaps. 3, 4 and 5, but I share here my engagement with a particular garden that is almost exactly as Rodrigues described nearly four centuries ago. Rodrigues writes about a new art: the “way of tea” and its seminal interconnec- tion with garden art and design. He tries to describe the qualities needed to be a Master of Suky (now known as Suki, which is a style of tea practice devoted to orderliness, simplicity and aesthetic appreciation) that was introduced during the period we studied (1543–1597) by Tea Master and Garden Designer Sen no Rikyū. Here, I attempt to translate the old Portuguese terms into English: “This Master, the head of Suky […] must have complete wisdom and an eye for proportion, a vision for the right things that are fit for each place and time, and the particular circum- stances that make the same thing be fit now and not then”. Here, we see that the “way of tea” and garden design both require an eye, a vision and much wisdom in preserving traditional settings and creating new places with enduring value. As Rodrigues described all those centuries ago, we came upon the same implements and the same age-old routines that he would have enjoyed then. As an example of this timelessness, in the Mushanokoji Senke school and the tea- room Kankyuan, we experienced and were taught these ritualized tea gestures with great precision—so much so that those who witnessed it 450 years ago would find the experience exactly the same today. Preface xvii

Everything in the tea house—the dimensions, materials and routines—seeks to achieve the aesthetics of simplicity: “[…] everything used in the Suky is rough, the path of rough stone, water basin to wash the hands in the same rough stone, small barren trees and a moss-covered thicket (like velvet) and all other things rough and lacking any glamour”. On the path leading to the tea house, Rodrigues describes a garden that, while we cannot unequivocally identify it, is a prototype of a garden of the Muromachi (1336–1573) and Azuchi-Momoyama (1573–1603) periods. We know this because it is a garden that reveals a deep cooperation with Nature and a profound knowledge and respect for its processes. In this light, Japan can teach the world a lesson in how to create enduring and sustainable places. This “Rodrigues’ garden” brought to mind a similar image as I experienced in Saihoji (Fig. 1) in Kyoto, the moss garden and temple I visited during the red foliage season of 2009. The origin of Saihoji, which is now known as Kokedera (Moss Temple), goes back to Nara period (710–784). In 1339, Muso Kokushi, one of the most highly respected Zen priests at that time, revived the temple and renovated the garden. I almost floated with emotion as I strolled barefoot along the pond, completely losing all sense of time after writing my sutra in silence. (Every visitor to Kokedera is asked to contribute to the observances, copying Buddhist scriptures known as sutra.) Walking silently down the stone paths flanked by green mosses of varying hues and the brilliant red foliage, it was easy to recall Rodrigues’ descriptions: the moss-covered thicket, the teahouse hidden in the wood, the entrance porch leading to unfamiliar woods and the proper stones “fit for each place and time”. Kokedera is truly a celebration of enchanted spaces, a timeless and spectacular xviii Preface locale created by artists and lovingly maintained over the centuries so that succes- sive generations can continue to experience it, each in her or his own way. After this aesthetic experience—certainly one of the most extraordinary moments of my “gardenist life”—I felt compelled to bring to light the old Portuguese texts about gardens so that the world would have access to the first European descriptions of Japanese gardens. While this book uses a number of Portuguese texts (and authors) in an attempt to portray the experiences of those early missionaries in a land so entirely unfamiliar, Luis Frois is the true hero of this book. Not only was he the first to describe Japan at length; he dedicated his entire adult life to travelling through much of the country in order to capture and record with freedom and truth his prescient observations. For us, the authors of this book, Frois represents the one who really loved Japan and its treasures most fervently.

Lisbon, Portugal Cristina Castel-Branco July 2019 Notes on Japanese Names and Spelling

1. The Romanized versions of Japanese proper nouns (mountains, rivers, temples and shrines, etc.) in this book adhere, in principle, to the latest instructions from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan: Chimei nado no eigo hyoki kitei (March 2016) http://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000138865.pdf Hence, long vowels in romaji are not indicated by macrons. 2. With regard to the Romanized Japanese spelling pioneered by Luis Frois and other Jesuits in the sixteenth century, we sometimes used their original spellings for Japanese words exactly as they wrote them. These include but are not limited to: Miaco (Miyako) Quambacudono (Kampaku-dono) beobu (byōbu) Quiomizu (Kiyomizu) Faxiba Chicugendono (Hashiba Chikuzen-dono) Cubo (Kubo) Vomi (Omi) Fosocavandono (Hosokawa-dono) Yamaxiro (Yamashiro) Tenca (Tenka) Quemneji (Kennin-ji) Fingaxiyama (Higashiyama) Quannon (Kannon) Xaca (Shaka) Minno (Mino) Voari (Owari) Vatadono (Wada-dono)

xix xx Notes on Japanese Names and Spelling

tenxu (tenshu) Mirocubosar (Miroku Bosatsu) Combodaxi (Kobo-daishi) 3. Japanese names. In this book, modern Japanese names are written in Western style, i.e. a first name followed by a family name, while the names of historical persons are written in reverse order, e.g. Oda Nobunaga. Acknowledgements

Our understanding of the sixteenth-century Japanese-Portuguese relationship owes much to Professor João Paulo Oliveira e Costa,1 Director of the Centre for the Humanities (CHAM, translated as “Centre for the Study of Overseas History”) at the New University of Lisbon, scholar on the early Portuguese-Japanese relationship and companion on our travels in Japan. We are also indebted to Dr. Pedro Canavarro in Portugal,2 who inspired this book through his enduring devotion to Japan and his insightful body of scholarship on its history. His late colleagues, Diego Pacheco, Kiichi Matsuda, José Wicki, Armando Martins Janeira and Yoshitomo Okamoto, whom we never met, also bring much to this work for having kept alive the flames of this rich and historic Portuguese-Japanese relationship. They compiled their scholarly research and published at a time when most of Frois’ treasures were still largely unpublished. The faculty members at universities in Kyoto, Tokyo, Lisbon, Berkeley and Paris shared their wealth of knowledge about Japanese garden history. In particular, we single out Prof. Makoto Nakamura, who in 2007 opened for us a universe on Japanese gardens with his intensive Japanese Gardens Seminar; he remained ever available to clarify the intricacies of themes related to Japanese gardens. Prof. Wybe Kuitert, a dedicated teacher and researcher at the Center for Japanese Garden Art in Kyoto University, presented to us historical data from sixteenth-century Portuguese chroniclers of Japanese gardens. Since 2009, Mikiko Ishikawa, Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo now at Chuo University, has contributed to our understanding of Japanese landscapes and urban design; she is an exacting scholar to whom I owe much in learning about the quest for perfection that Japanese apply to

1 João Paulo Oliveira e Costa received in 2015 the distinction of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon delivered by Ambassador Hiroshi Azuma in representation of his Excellence the Emperor of Japan. 2 Nominated in 1988 as Nagasaki Friendship Citizen by the Mayor of Nagasaki for having founded the Portuguese Japanese Friendship Association, Canavarro received in 2003 a Merit Award from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and received in 2006 the distinction of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon delivered by Ambassador Satoshi Hara in representation of his Excellence the Emperor of Japan.

xxi xxii Acknowledgements their lives and their diligent work. We are also deeply indebted to Prof. Marc Treib from the University of California, Berkeley, a scholar on Japanese gardens with whom we discussed the core of this book while visiting Kyoto and Berkeley. We also thank him for writing the Foreword of this book. With the support of Nagasaki Bank and the Embassy of Portugal in Japan, in 2010, Cristina Castel-Branco visited five of the principal cities where the sixteenth- century Portuguese lived, Nagasaki, Omura, Yokoseura, Kuchinotsu and Unzen, and is thankful to both. In Yokoseura during visits to Frois’ statue and museum, Dr. Katsuro Suwa, from Saikai, was very helpful in explaining the landscape that once had received and now celebrates Luis Frois in Japan. She also acknowledges the contributions of Ambassador Satoshi Hara and his wife, Michiko, for having shown her Koyasan in 2010, a place where Buddhism is treasured, and for inviting her to her first tea ceremony in Kyoto. A second visit to Koyasan with Kazushige Watanuki, his wife Lamyaa, and Noriko Matsuyama further strengthened her understanding of Frois’ texts, which was essential for this undertaking. Prof. Michihiro Konishi (Kyoto University) taught Cristina Castel-Branco how to paint with pigments in the byobu painting technique. Konishi sensei and his wife, Eiko, showed her Osaka City and explained the relationship of its canals to the ocean. Cristina Castel-Branco is also grateful to Philip de Souza, the Honorary Consul of Portugal in Kobe, who was a priceless guide while visiting the treasures of the Kobe Museum. To Mr. Jason Albaker, who welcomed her and hosted her in Osaka and Kobe, she is so thankful. When Cristina Castel-Branco was invited in 2015 by the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo under the support of a Kajima Fellowship, she confirmed a number of Japanese sources with scholars in the institute. Dr. Mihoko Oka and Dr. Shigeo Fujiwara kindly corroborated the Portuguese texts and later made available images from byobus that showed some of the lost palaces and temples of Kyoto. Dr. Shigeo Fujiwara was instrumental in that work and the translation help afforded by Kyoko Shikanai is very much appreciated. Local experts at the gardens of Kyoto and Nara enriched our understanding of these sites—the point at which Guida Carvalho joined the project. Our visits to Kyoto temples and our growing knowledge of these incomparable places were made possible through the help of Ms. Yasuko Ota, who belongs to an old family in Kyoto—she kindly escorted us to the many locations once described by Frois with the invaluable translation assis- tance of Kyoko Shikanai. While in Japan in 2015, we also met with academics from different universities—all of whom were instrumental in helping us compare those centuries-old descriptions with their present-day appearance and usage. Accordingly, we acknowledge the contributions of the following scholars to whom we presented and discussed the ideas in this book: Yoshio Nakamura, Makoto Suzuki, Satoshi Hara, Wataru Ono and Shintaro Sugio and his wife, Kunie Sugio, all from Tokyo, Nicolas Fiévé from Paris and Kyoto, Kenji Wako from Osaka, Kenkichi Ono from Nara and Keita Yamaguchi from Kyoto. From them, we received important insights and encouragements to proceed for publication. Acknowledgements xxiii

To round out our knowledge database and attempt to tie each place to its philosophical meaning and historical evolution, we also relied on Japanese garden books and in particular teaching materials from the Centre for Garden Art at Kyoto University. It was at this institution where the author, Cristina Castel-Branco, after 20 years of teaching the History of Garden Art at the Higher Institute of Agronomy at the University of Lisbon, first received a deeper philosophical knowledge of Japanese gardens art, which was then augmented by many hands-on field trips detailing gardens, temples and cityscapes. Cristina Castel-Branco is also thankful to Prof. Mihoko Oka for the invitation to participate in an insightful conference on the “Christian Century and World Cultural Heritage” in 2015, at the General Development Center of Ikitsuki, Hirado, organized by the city of Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture and Ikitsuki Museum Shima no Yakata. Finally, she had the opportunity to visit the Gifu and Mino regions, which Oda Nobunaga conquered and Luis Frois visited and well documented. We note with pride that the Prefecture continues to celebrate its association with Frois. On the walls of the castle museum, there are both Japanese and Portuguese language versions of Frois’ descriptions of the palace and garden; additionally, objects introduced as presents from Portugal are displayed in the windows. Indeed, we praise the Japanese people at the municipality of Gifu for having maintained their heritage so meticulously. We thank Mr. Wataru Ono for the visit to Gifu; he also arranged a marvellous boat trip for Photographer António Sacchetti and Writer Cristina Castel-Branco to view cormorant fishing, a sport that Nobunaga embraced as fashionable recreation. Also important for this book was a visit to Kamakura, where Mr. Gengiro Ito not only showed Cristina Castel-Branco the temples and the big Buddha statue at Kamakura but also shared his deep research work into the sixteenth-century Portuguese-Japanese relationship. Mount Azuchi provided the site for an unforget- table visit there—principally because Frois’ description was extremely detailed when he visited Nobunaga, the powerful warlord who during the 1570s supervised the construction of his castle there. This visit, organized by João Paulo Oliveira e Costa and Mihoko Oka, was made even more memorable with Frois’ writings in hand—an experience that we hope the reader can now have with this book. We are also thankful to the Azuchi Jokaku Museum where a miniature replica of Nobunaga’s lost tenshu was built based on Frois’ detailed descriptions. The experience of visiting that museum further confirmed the potential usefulness of writing and publish- ing in English Frois reports. Takatsuki, a city with a deep association to “The Christian Century” located between Osaka and Kyoto, has remained since the time of Takayama Ukon (a Japanese daimyo and samurai and one of the early Japanese converts to Christianity). Father Adelino Ascenso served as the Portuguese Priest of the Catholic Church there from 2009 to 2015 and for his PhD research examined Shusaku Endo’s quest to understand the Christian presence in Japan. Cristina Castel-Branco is most thankful to him for his ongoing support and discerning suggestions for that section of the book. He also showed her (along with the “Silence group” led by Dr. Pedro Cardigos) the places of the kakure kiristan (hidden Christians), who remained faithful and xxiv Acknowledgements worshipped in secret in that region for almost 350 years. With him, the group jour- neyed down to the Western part of Kyushu (Sotome, Tabira, Hirado, Ikitsuki) in search of Endo’s Silence landscapes. Cristina Castel-Branco was able to accompany them on this trip and thus could witness and enjoy the waterfront landscape that would have greeted Portuguese ships so long ago. In Rome, Cristina Castel-Branco was allowed to explore the holdings of the Vatican Library for more information on this remarkable period and its players. She is grateful to the Most Reverend Monsignor José Tolentino de Mendonça, whose life and work have been an inspiration for her. Similarly, Castel-Branco was also given access to the Pontificia Università Gregoriana, where Rector Nuno da Silva Gonçalves S.J. received her and provided valuable insights for her research investigations. Also, her thanks are extended to Dr. Dario Scarinci from the Archivum Romanum, Societatis Iesu, where the manuscripts of the sixteenth-century Jesuits are maintained. In Paris, we often visited the library of Musée Guimet in order to utilize its rich Japanese assets. In Lisbon, we are thankful to Biblioteca Nacional da Ajuda and Bibliotaca da Academia das Ciências and their directors Cristina Pinto Basto and Salomé Pais, who are so knowledgeable and supportive. In Coimbra, we thank the Biblioteca Geral and the archives and our Japanese teacher Ayano Shinzato for her translations and help in Japanese concepts as well as Margarida Paes for her transcriptions. We returned to Japan several times during the preparation of this book to revisit some of the locations described herein based on the information from those early Europeans so we confirmed present-day status and visitors’ interest—and we have many people to acknowledge for assisting us along the way. We thank Photographers Madalena Machado, Alice Mattirollo and Antonio Sachetti for many of the images included in this book. We are also indebted to three local guides for their insights and knowledge: Yoko Takagi in Nara, Noriko Matsuyama in Koyasan and Miyuki Ogawa in Kyushu. We would be remiss if we did not express our gratitude to our good friends in Japan—Kyoko Shikanai, Father Graham MacDonell and his assis- tant Tomiko, Ambassador Satoshi Hara and Michiko Hara, Ambassador Francisco Xavier Esteves and his wife Ilda, Hirosuke Watanuki, Muhoan Idehara, Minoru Inui, Ryo Inui, Sakurako Shigemura and Masaru Shigemura, Nakamura Takeshi and Hironobu Kanai and his wife from Goshoboh at Arima Onsen—who welcomed us warmly during visits to Japan. They enlightened us on many essential cultural nuances, and their lively conversations encouraged us along this lengthy journey towards publication. Guida Carvalho, who recently completed her master’s degree in Landscape Architecture at the Higher Institute of Agronomy at University of Lisbon (2015– 2018), joined this project later in its evolution. Given that she wanted her work more widely disseminated in English, she acknowledges with heartfelt gratitude Mrs. Brenda Mulhall as the first reader of her master’s thesis for her very valuable English revisions and unconditional support. Also, she would like to thank Dr. Ana Fernandes Pinto for her insightful supervision and continuous encouragement. We are also thankful to the Japanese Embassy staff in Lisbon, namely, Ambassador Niimi Jun and Dr. Chiho Komuro who helped and supported us. Acknowledgements xxv

Similarly, we are grateful for the revisions, help and encouragement of Mrs. Ingrid Martins Janeira. As we expanded our research findings, Maria José Sá da Bandeira undertook the translation of Frois’ texts describing the selected gardens for this book. Thankfully, translating old (but essential!) sixteenth-century Portuguese texts into contemporary English was a challenge to which Sá da Bandeira was able to respond with great skill—and we are incredibly grateful to her. Also, this book would have been impossible without the dedicated and meticulous editorial work of Ms. Laurie Good who in far-away Blacksburg, Virginia (USA), helped coalesce the English text, sending her thoughtful recommendations about essential problems. Her unwavering support was essential for us, and we are most thankful to her efforts. Thus, we are delighted to note that this book represents the contributions from individuals working on three continents! Finally, we are deeply grateful for the privilege of receiving advice and useful corrections on the historical and geographical descriptions from the following temples and shrines: Daisen-in Temple, Enryaku-ji Temple, Iwashimizu- Hachimangu Shrine, Kasuga-taisha Shrine, Kennin-ji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple, Kongobu-ji Temple, Oubai-in Temple, Sanjusangendo Temple, Todai-ji Temple and Zuiho-in Temple. Our correspon- dents at these shrines and temples very kindly, on our request, devoted valuable time to looking at our English manuscript and reported the errors that they noticed. The authors are solely responsible for any remaining mistakes. We would be greatly appreciative of any further comments and corrections communicated by our readers.

Lisbon, Portugal Cristina Castel-Branco Lisbon, Portugal Guida Carvalho July 2019 About the Book

This book focuses on Luis Frois, a sixteenth-century Portuguese Jesuit and Chronicler, who recorded his impressions of Japanese gardens, cities and building practices, tea-drinking rituals, Japan’s unification efforts, cultural traditions and the many differences between Europe and Japan in remarkable manuscripts almost lost to time. This research also draws on other Portuguese descriptions from contemporary sources spanning the years 1543–1597, later validated by Japanese history and iconography. Importantly, Explorer Jorge Alvares recorded his experiences of discovery, prompting St. Francis Xavier to visit Japan in 1549, thus ushering in the “Christian Century” in Japan. During this long period of accord and reciprocal curiosity, the Portuguese wrote in excess of 1500 pages of letters to European Jesuits that detail their impressions of the island nation—not to mention their observations of powerful public figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Sen no Rikyū. In addition to examining these letters, we translated and researched early descriptions of 23 gardens in Kyoto and Nara and 9 important cities—some later visited, sketched, photographed and compared with the imagery painted on sixteenth-century Japanese screens. However, the data gathered for this project was found mainly within five large volumes of Frois’ História do Japão (2500 pages) and his Treaty on Contradictions— two incomparable anthropological works that were unpublished until the mid- twentieth century for reasons we detail herein. His volumes continue to be explored for their insightful observations of places, cultural practices and the formidable historical figures with whom he interacted. Thus, this book examines the world’s first globalization efforts that resulted in profitable commerce, the introduction of Portuguese firearms that changed Japan’s history, scientific advances, religious expansion and many artistic exchanges that have endured the centuries.

xxvii Contents

1 Introduction: Japanese-Portuguese Sixteenth-Century Encounter �� 1 1.1 The Extraordinary Men Who Took Part in the First Encounter �� 1 1.2 Luis Frois: The First Chronicler of Japan �� 3 1.3 The Method Used to Research the Gardens and Cities that Frois Visited and Described �� 5 1.4 The Passage of Time and Changes in Japanese Gardens �� 8 1.5 The Structure of This Book �� 10 References �� 12 2 Portuguese Presence in Japan (1543–1600) �� 15 2.1 Tracing Back What the Portuguese Brought from Japan �� 20 2.2 The Portuguese Influence on Sixteenth-Century Japanese Culture �� 30 2.3 Nagasaki: A Sixteenth-Century City Designed by Two Cultures �� 42 References �� 54 3 Seventeen Kyoto Gardens Described by Frois and Vilela �� 59 3.1 Kiyomizu-dera Temple �� 65 3.2 To-ji Temple �� 68 3.3 Kyoto Imperial Palace �� 69 3.4 Tofuku-ji Temple �� 73 3.5 Daitoku-ji Temple �� 77 3.5.1 Daisen-in Sub-temple (the Great Hermit Temple) �� 82 3.5.2 Korin-in Sub-temple �� 82 3.5.3 Oubai-in Sub-temple �� 83 3.5.4 Ryogen-in Sub-temple �� 84 3.5.5 Zuiho-in Sub-temple �� 85 3.6 Kinkaku-ji �� 86 3.7 Ryoan-ji Temple �� 90

xxix xxx Contents

3.8 Enryaku-ji Temple: Mount Hiei �� 93 3.9 Honkoku-ji Temple �� 97 3.10 Palace of Hosokawa Harumoto �� 100 3.11 Nijo Gosho Palace �� 102 3.12 Jurakudai Palace �� 108 3.13 Kennin-ji Temple �� 113 3.14 Ginkaku-ji Temple �� 115 3.15 Senbon Enma-do Temple �� 121 3.16 Sanjusangen-do Temple �� 122 3.17 Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine (Near Kyoto) �� 125 References �� 129 4 Six Gardens in Nara Described by Frois and Others �� 133 4.1 Kofuku-ji Temple �� 135 4.2 Kasuga Taisha Shrine �� 138 4.3 Tamukeyama Hachimangu Shrine �� 141 4.4 Todai-ji Temple �� 143 4.5 Unidentified Temple in Nara �� 148 4.6 Tamon-jo Castle �� 150 References �� 154 5 Nine Cities and Landscapes Described by Frois and Others �� 157 5.1 Gifu �� 157 5.2 Mount Azuchi �� 162 5.3 Takatsuki �� 170 5.4 Osaka �� 173 5.5 Sakai �� 177 5.6 Koyasan �� 182 5.7 Hirado �� 186 5.8 Yokoseura �� 189 5.9 Unzen �� 192 References �� 196 6 The Forgotten Treaty on Contradictions and the Unpublished Historia de Japam �� 199 6.1 Frois’ Character and How the Treaty on Contradictions Appeared and Disappeared �� 200 6.2 The Treaty on Contradictions; Europe and Japan: So Different in Their Customs! �� 203 6.3 Frois the Anthropologist and the Initial Globalisation Efforts �� 213 References �� 221 Contents xxxi

7 Chronologies of Luis Frois, João Rodrigues, Gaspar Vilela and Luis de Almeida �� 223 7.1 Luis Frois (1532–1597) �� 223 7.2 João Rodrigues (1561–1633) �� 227 7.3 Gaspar Vilela (1526–1572) �� 229 7.4 Luís de Almeida (1525–1583) �� 230 References �� 232 8 Closing Thoughts �� 235

Appendix: Luis Frois Main Publications �� 239 About the Authors

The authors, Cristina Castel-Branco (left) and Guida Carvalho (right), at Saiho-ji Temple in 2015

Cristina Castel-Branco is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Lisbon since 1989. She received her MLA from the University of Massachusetts and her PhD in 1993. She has also taught master’s level courses at universities throughout the world (Spain, the UK, Japan, the USA, Italy and France). From 1993 to 1998, she led the consulting team on Landscape Architecture for EXPO ’98, which was held in Lisbon, and was Director of the Botanical Garden of Ajuda in Lisbon until 2000. Since 1991, she has founded ACB Ltd., a landscape design practice in Lisbon specialized in incorporating sustainable heritage solutions into contemporary gardens design. ACB won the first Portuguese National Award for Landscape Architecture in 2005 and in 2008. She is the Author and Editor of dozen books which are widely published in journals. She is a Member of the ICOMOS

xxxiii xxxiv About the Authors

(UNESCO) for Cultural Landscapes since 2006 and Scientific Council President of the Institut Européen des Jardins et Paysages in France where she was awarded the Order of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture in 2013. In 2017, she became a Correspondent Member of the Brazilian Academy of Art and the National Academy of Arts.

Guida Carvalho was born in Leiria, Portugal, in 1990. In 2009, she won a University of Lisbon Merit Award for Scholar Achievements. In 2014, she was granted a Darmasiswa Scholarship by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture and studied 1 year at Semarang State University, where she learned traditional Indonesian language, art and culture. In 2015, she joined the project of gardens and landscapes described by Jesuits and started her master’s dissertation under the theme “16th Century Images of Japanese Garden Art: Analysis of the Jesuits’ Texts Published in Portugal” at University of Lisbon, where she graduated in 2018. Since 2017, she has been working at ACB Ltd., a landscape architecture studio where recurring to AutoCAD and GIS technology she works with green space and spatial planning at regional, municipal and local levels. She also works with envi- ronmental impact assessment, collaborating with other professionals to find the best way to conserve or restore natural resources. List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Nanban screen depicting Jesuits engaged in their main activities: teaching, evangelizing and facilitating trade between Japanese and Portuguese merchants. Kano Naizen Nanban Screens, Kano Naizen, Kobe City Museum. (©Kobe City Museum/DNPartcom) �� 2 Fig. 2.1 The comparable geographic locations of Portugal and Japan in terms of their similar latitudes �� 17 Fig. 2.2 Nanban screen depicting the arrival of the Kurofune and the unloading of merchandise from China, India, and Europe. Biombo Nanban (1593–1601), Kano Naizen. (Courtesy Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, Direção-Geral do Património Cultural/Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica (DGPC/ADF), 2015) �� 22 Fig. 2.3 Japan, late sixteenth-century box (cofre) lacquered in black (urushi), decorated with gold lacquer (maquiye), and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. (Private Collection in Portugal, ©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 24 Fig. 2.4 Nanban screen detail, depicting four Portuguese carracks surrounding the globe. (Courtesy The Nanban Bunkakan Museum in Osaka, Japan) �� 33 Fig. 2.5 Detail of a folding Screen, illustrating Nagasaki bay, the Portuguese ship and the sea routes of the Nanban-jin to the south. (Courtesy Osaka Castle Museum) �� 34 Fig. 2.6 Early city map of Nagasaki Bay, seventeenth century. (Courtesy Museu de Marinha in Lisbon, Portugal) �� 44 Fig. 2.7 Lisbon city represented in the Japanese folding screen Four Large Cities in the World, Kobe City Museum. (©Kobe City Museum/DNPartcom) �� 45

xxxv xxxvi List of Figures

Fig. 2.8 Aerial photographs of identical features in Lisbon (top) and Nagasaki (bottom) bays. (©Bulletin of Japanese/Portuguese studies (pp. 96–97 [56]) �� 49 Fig. 2.9 The name of Luis Frois was given to a street in the old Nagasaki area, as a tribute to the sixteenth century Portuguese presence. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 50 Fig. 2.10 View of Nagasaki city and bay where, unlike other Japanese cities, construction spreads on the slopes and roads access the hilltops. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 52 Fig. 2.11 Streetscape in Nagasaki where urbanized hillsides are seen from the flat area of the old sixteenth century city built by Japanese and Portuguese. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 54 Fig. 3.1 Map of contemporary Kyoto with the location of the 17 gardens/ temples described by Frois and other Portuguese chroniclers. (©Guida Carvalho, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 60 Fig. 3.2 Sixteenth-century fan representing the Jesuits’ church and school for boys and girls. Painting of Nanbanji in Kyoto, Kano Soshu, Kobe City Museum. (©Kobe City Museum/DNPartcom) �� 61 Fig. 3.3 Kyoto, traditional wooden house façade in the Gion district. The construction details and materials are similar to those from late-sixteenth century. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 64 Fig. 3.4 Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Otowa Waterfall, Kyoto. Frois visited the temple and mentions fountains of excellent waters. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 67 Fig. 3.5 To-ji Temple described by Frois as a Kyoto landmark. In his letters Vilela refers To-ji gardens and lots of water. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 70 Fig. 3.6 Courtyard, south of the ceremonial hall at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. (Wikimedia Commons, https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kyoto-gosho_Shishinden_zenkei-3.jpg) �� 71 Fig. 3.7 Tofuku-ji’s Sanmon Gate described by Vilela as a very beautiful wooden tower […] there I saw many books and antiques they keep there, and there were sixteen wooden statues of human size […]. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 74 Fig. 3.8 Tsutenkyo Bridge over the river at Tofuku-ji Temple, nowadays a special spot to enjoy the red autumn foliage. Frois refers [it] has a little river, very fresh in summer, surrounded by woods of very graceful trees. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 75 List of Figures xxxvii

Fig. 3.9 Illustrated impression of the Daisen-in sub-temple garden at Daitoku-ji, not intended to be a faithful rendering but rather Cristina Castel-Branco’s artistic interpretation of the site. Pen and ink sketch. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 82 Fig. 3.10 Stone bridge at Korin-in sub-temple garden at Daitoku-ji. In Daitoku-ji, Frois describes a very similar scene: Over this collection of stones, [there were] countless small trees, paths and bridges a span and a half wide, through which the stones are reached. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 83 Fig. 3.11 Illustrated impression of the Oubai-in sub-temple garden and teahouse at Daitoku-ji, not intended to be a faithful rendering, but rather Cristina Castel-Branco’s artistic interpretation of the site. Watercolour. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 84 Fig. 3.12 Ryogen-in sub-temple garden at Daitoku-ji. According to Marc Treib the garden was refurbished in the 1980s with forms stronger in definition and profile than those executed in a more historical manner (p. 69 in [13]). (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 85 Fig. 3.13 Zuiho-in sub-temple garden at Daitoku-ji. Garden redesigned by Mirei Shigemori (twentieth century) celebrating the Christian founder Otomo Sorin. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 86 Fig. 3.14 Kinkaku-ji Temple Golden Pavilion, pond and cascade, referred by Frois in 1565. Detail of Uesugi screens (sixteenth century) from Kano Eitoku. (Courtesy Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum) �� 87 Fig. 3.15 The famous Karesansui (dry landscape garden) at Ryoan-ji Temple. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2007. All Rights Reserved) �� 91 Fig. 3.16 Oshidoridera pond at Ryoan-ji Temple, waterlilies described by Vilela in a letter dated 1571 as roses floating on the water. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 92 Fig. 3.17 View from the top of Mount Hiei, near Kyoto, looking east towards Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, old Omi Province. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 94 Fig. 3.18 Bell Tower (reconstruction) at Enryaku-ji Temple at Mount Hiei. The temple was visited by Gaspar Vilela in 1559, 12 years before Nobunaga ordered its entire destruction. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 95 Fig. 3.19 Honkoku-ji Temple (now lost). Vilela described this temple in a letter dated 1571. Detail of Uesugi screens (sixteenth century) from Kano Eitoku. (Courtesy Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum) �� 100 xxxviii List of Figures

Fig. 3.20 Hosokawa Harumoto’s Palace and Garden (now lost) but referred by Frois. Detail of Uesugi screens (sixteenth century) from Kano Eitoku. (Courtesy Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum) �� 102 Fig. 3.21 Nijo-jo Castle external moat and walls, built in 1603. These features are identical to Nobunaga’s Palace (Nijo Gosho) built in 1569 and later destroyed, which Frois described. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2007. All Rights Reserved) �� 108 Fig. 3.22 Illustrated impression, not intended to be a faithful rendering of Kennin-ji Temple’s garden but rather Cristina Castel-Branco’s pen and ink sketch artistic interpretation. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2007. All Rights Reserved) �� 114 Fig. 3.23 Kennin-ji Temple garden. Frois refers to Kennin-ji: these temples being very clean and sparsely adorned with things made for the contentment of the body. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 115 Fig. 3.24 Ginkaku-ji Temple garden, white sand sculpted into the shape of a truncated cone. Both sand banks were a later Edo period addition to the garden. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2009. All Rights Reserved) �� 116 Fig. 3.25 Ginkaku-ji Silver Pavilion and pond. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2009. All Rights Reserved) 118 Fig. 3.26 An overview of Ginkaku-ji Temple from the forest path looking onto the Silver Pavilion, the “silver sand open sea” area, the Main Hall, the Togudo and Kyoto. (©Guida Carvalho, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 120 Fig. 3.27 Enma-do Temple frequented by visitors as noted by Frois. Detail of Uesugi screens (sixteenth century) from Kano Eitoku. (Courtesy Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum) �� 122 Fig. 3.28 The 1001 statues of Thousand-armed Kannon in Sanjusangen-do Temple. Frois describes All these figures are gilded from head to toe with very fine gold thickly applied; the faces are well-proportioned and beautiful […] such a large and astonishing quantity of figures represents something very noble. (Wikimedia Commons https://commons.Wikime dia.org/wiki/File: Sanjusangendo_1979.1.55P01B.jpg) �� 123 Fig. 3.29 Basu Sennin, a Buddhist deity at Sanjusangen-do Temple. It looked as a beggar statue to Frois, but he praises it as the most artful, inventive and coherent one. (Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Twenty- Eight_Attendants_%28Basu_Sennin%29_Sanjusangendo.jpg) �� 125 Fig. 3.30 View from Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine level towards Kyoto. Three rivers meet at a junction referred by Vilela, which crossing must be made in a boat because there are no bridges. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 126 List of Figures xxxix

Fig. 3.31 Entrance road of Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine flanked by hundreds of stone lanterns. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 127 Fig. 3.32 Orange tree (tachibana) in Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine courtyard. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 128 Fig. 4.1 Sarusawa-ike pond south of Kofuku-ji Temple compound. Just like in Frois time Koi carp are still protected here: there is a pond […] which is brimming with fish that no one dares to fish. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 137 Fig. 4.2 Stone lanterns and sacred deer at Kasuga-taisha Shrine. Vilela refers in a letter dated 1571 that In the middle of each pillar, there are carved, with golden letters, the names of the ones who ordered the lanterns to be made. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 139 Fig. 4.3 Kasuga-taisha Shrine. The sacred giant Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) impresses by its age and size. In a letter dated 1571 Vilela wrote that The perimeter of many of these cedars is as large as five braças [~11 m], so wide that they seemed to have been enlarged in a potter’s wheel. This illustrated impression is not intended to be a faithful rendering, but rather Cristina Castel-Branco’s pen and ink interpretation. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2007. All Rights Reserved) �� 140 Fig. 4.4 Tamukeyama Hachimangu Shrine. Luis de Almeida wrote There is a courtyard in here, where many orange trees of similar size were lined, and between them there were rocks of [~66 cm] around and [~44 cm] high. In 2015 only one orange tree remained in the grounds. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 143 Fig. 4.5 Todai-ji Temple, burnt down in 1567 and rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Frois writes that This yard and cloister are one of the beautiful things I saw in as much as a well finished construction, strong and agreeable to behold. In its centre stands the temple. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 146 Fig. 4.6 Bell tower described by Frois at Todai-ji Temple. According to Frois, Outside the temple’s enclosure there is a very strong wooden tower […] where the main bell is located […] this bell, being so extraordinary, measured [4.4 m] […] Its sound is very smooth and travels a great distance. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 147 xl List of Figures

Fig. 4.7 Map of contemporary Nara with the location of the 5 identified gardens/temples described by Frois and other Portuguese chroniclers. (© Guida Carvalho, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 153 Fig. 5.1 Map with the location of the six cities/landscapes between Osaka and Gifu described by Luis Frois and other Portuguese chroniclers. (© Guida Carvalho, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 158 Fig. 5.2 Map of contemporary Kyushu with the location of the three cities/landscapes described by Frois and other Portuguese chroniclers. (© Guida Carvalho, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 159 Fig. 5.3 Gifu Castle rebuilt in the twentieth century at the top of Mount Kinka and the Nagara River at its base. The original castle described by Luis Frois was rebuilt by Oda Nobunaga after the 1567 conquest. Frois refers from there he [Oda Nobunaga] showed me a great part of the Mînno and Voári Kingdoms, those being flatlands within the fortress sight. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 160 Fig. 5.4 Water channel and cascade in the garden of the recently excavated Gifu Palace at the foot of Mount Kinka. Frois reports: From the same mountain sprouts a cascade of excellent water, which is dammed and distributed into channels, in some chambers used as fountains, in others to wash the hands, in other places for the palace service. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 162 Fig. 5.5 The archaeological excavations of Nobunaga’s palace described by Frois in Gifu. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 163 Fig. 5.6 View over Lake Sainoko, from Mount Azuchi, where Oda Nobunaga’s castle once stood. Frois reports: In the Vomi reign, 14 leagues from Miaco town, he [Nobunaga] built a new city, fortress and palaces, in Anzuchiyama with seven levels, the most superb and resplendent thing so far built in Japan, the whole founded on very tall and thick stone walls. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 163 Fig. 5.7 Stone path and steps leading up to Azuchi Castle ruins. Both sides of the path are flanked by terraces sustained by stone walls where palaces once stood, described by Frois in 1569. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2015. All Rights Reserved) �� 166 Fig. 5.8 Statue of the Takayama Ukon in Takatsuki, in a public garden where once Takatsuki Castle and a church stood. According to Frois [Takayama Zusho] built there a very large wooden church, […] Next to the church, he ordered the construction of an independent chamber to provide shelter to the priests […] In front of this chamber he ordered the construction of something that looks like a garden. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2009. All Rights Reserved) �� 171 List of Figures xli

Fig. 5.9 Osaka castle grounds. Stones carved with the symbols of the families involved in the construction of Hideyoshi’s new castle. Frois in 1586 reported: most surprising […] was the enormous quantity of collected stones, […] some so large that they required […] thousand men to carry them, as was the case with one brought by Justo Ucondono [Takayama Ukon], one league by land and three by sea, which amazed everyone in Vozaca […]. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 174 Fig. 5.10 The imposing stone walls and adjoining moat of Osaka Castle, rebuilt in the 1620s by Tokugawa Hidetada. Quoting Frois […] And just the town of Sacay, obeying very precise orders, was due to send two hundred ships with stones every day. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 175 Fig. 5.11 Sakai’s waterfront. Hand-coloured photograph, late-nineteenth century. Vilela reports: Sacay is a wealthy and populated town and a good sea harbour where I spent a couple of years. [It] is governed by the consuls like Venice �� 178 Fig. 5.12 A two-story pagoda (saito) at the sacred Danjo Garan site founded by Kobo Daishi. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 184 Fig. 5.13 Okunoin Cemetery in Koyasan. Buddhist monks carrying a sedan to Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum in which food is placed for him as a special ceremony repeated twice a day. He is believed to be in eternal meditation which Frois interpreted in the following way: Some seven hundred years ago a man was buried there alive, claiming upon his burial that he was going to slumber […] Conbodaxî [Kobo Daishi] further said that no one should dare to wake him up or touch his tomb. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 185 Fig. 5.14 Pagoda-shaped tombstones representing the basic elements: earth (chirin), water (suirin), fire (karin), wind (fuurin) and space (kuurin) in Okunoin Cemetery, Koyasan. Frois refers that it is a custom in all Japan kingdoms that upon the death of a noble man or woman who can afford it, to send their bodies to Coya, after the cremation. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 186 Fig. 5.15 View from Hirado Castle over the bay and inlet. Luis de Almeida describes in 1562 that on both banks there are many villages, and harbours, very good for ships […] and in its entrance there is a tall and rounded islet with a beautiful cross on top, visible from far away. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 188 xlii List of Figures

Fig. 5.16 Yanoko Island, also known as St. Paulo Island, at Yokoseura. Frois refers that A church was built in Yokoseura and a cross raised facing it on the small Yanoko Island, which was later destroyed but nowadays stands erect again. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 190 Fig. 5.17 Yokoseura Village sitting on a natural inlet facing south, where the Portuguese ships once anchored. Frois reports that He [Omura Sumitada] would offer the aforesaid Yocoxiura [Yokoseura] harbour to the Church, to raise a large Christian settlement in which the houses of Portuguese merchants could be safely sheltered. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 192 Fig. 5.18 Luis Frois statue at Yokoseura. Frois is celebrated here as a hero and his statue faces a steep slope planted with Cycas revoluta, common near many Jesuit houses. (©Madalena Machado, 2009. All Rights Reserved) �� 193 Fig. 5.19 Unzen Hot Springs and Unzen Hell. Frois wrote in c.1582 there are some concavities that continuously emanate strong streams of hot sulfuric water … [the] temples being dedicated to an idol called Ungen, and due to this reverence was that land of Tacau greatly renowned and famous in Japan. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 195 Fig. 5.20 View from Literary Sotome Museum celebrating renowned writer Shusaku Endo. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 196 Fig. 6.1 Frois’ signature as it evolved over time, 1559–1596 �� 201 Fig. 6.2 Mill stone in Shuntoku-ji Temple garden, site of the former Todos os Santos Church. Mill stones were different in Europe and in Japan as referred by Frois: We have windmills, watermills, and beast-driven mills; in Japan all grinding is done with a hand-mill, using manual force. (©Cristina Castel-Branco, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 208 Fig. 6.3 The reading room at Ajuda Nacional Library in Lisbon. Some copies of the Frois and Rodrigues manuscripts on Japan are conserved here, BNA, Lisbon. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 213 Fig. 6.4 Noble Hall, Academia das Ciências in Lisbon, Portugal. Some copies of the Frois and Rodrigues manuscripts on Japan are conserved here. (Courtesy of ACAD, Lisbon, 2018) �� 214 Fig. 6.5 Keiran somen, a local delicacy of Fukuoka, which is similar to Palha de Abrantes. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 217 Fig. 6.6 Palha de Abrantes, a Portuguese delicacy that may have inspired Keiran somen. It is made from fios de ovos which are made with egg yolks and sugar. (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 218 List of Figures xliii

Fig. 6.7 An old Portuguese sugary candy, Confeito was introduced in Japan in the sixteenth century (left). Today, Kompeito is Japan’s interpretation of this Portuguese treat (right). (©António Sacchetti, 2010. All Rights Reserved) �� 218 Fig. 6.8 Nanban lectern, brought from Japan, conserved at the Jesuits church of St. Roque in Lisbon. It uses traditional Japanese lacquered techniques (uruxi). (©António Sacchetti, 2010. All Rights Reserved) �� 220 Fig. 7.1 Luis Frois statue at Yokoseura park (detail). (©António Sacchetti, 2018. All Rights Reserved) �� 224 Fig. 7.2 Luis de Almeida Statue in Oita, where he built the first hospital. (Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/7/78/LuisdeAlmeida.jpg) �� 231