These are my (unedited) research notes, for those who want additional information. I keep adding to them as I do more research, of course. I really don't know how interesting they are by themselves?
PEASANTS:
* bloody little information in general. Ack!
* in a sense, property? They were inherited with estates.
* clothing (pictures at http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/index.htm)
- guy: unbleached, outer robe; unbleached bakama
- girl: unbleached kosode, thinner tie and collar. Since one layer, would be pretty transparent.
- Houses: earth, dung, rice-straw and bamboo.
SEASONAL REFERENCES:
* NB for poetry, so work into my prose!
* autumn plants: morning glory, chrysanthemums, maples, cedars, most fruit like apples and pears . . . etc . . .
* autumn animals: migrating geese, cicada and crickets, dragonfly, rice sparrows, shrike, wagtail etc . . .
* tanabata: at end of story, Takeru will tell Hikari the story of the weaver and the hunter and their bridge of wings, so cylical structure (research actual story at japanese.about.com). Story runs from autumn to autumn?
* o-bon: although I doubt I'll use this?
* others @ http://renku.home.att.net/500ESWd.html if I need them
(The below is summarised from www.taleofmurasaki.com)
COSMETICS
* hair
- longer than woman
- washed twice a year with water in which rice had been soaked (shiromizu)
- daily: combing, applying camellia-nut or almond oil. Sometimes, draped over burning incense.
combing popular activity for women co-habiting.
* soap: ground, red beans.
* powder: rice flour, lead-based powder.
* eyebrows tweezed, pencilled in high on forehead.
* lips painted with beni (from safflower.)
* teeth blackened with oxidised iron filings steeped in acid.
CLOTHING (pictures at http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/index.htm)
* clothes means of showing taste, because stuck out from behind screens-of-state!
* twelve-robes or more, but only one transparent one in Kyoto summer
* underrobe (kosode) + loose trousers (nagabakama) tied at waist. Then,
unlined, wide-sleeved robe (hitoe) and
layered gowns (kinu) - usually five layers, but as many as thirty on occasion. Informal settings, top layer was a gown called a ko-uchigi. Formal, uwagi and boxy jacket (karaginu). Finally, train-like garment tied around waist.
FOOD
* little mention of food in texts: vulgar!
* drank sake from unglazed, ceramic cups.
* plain ingredients with minimum of cooking and maximum of presentation.
* plain food, but piquant sauces.
* rice: in form of gruel
* noodles of barley flour
* ice: shaved with liana-vine (azamura) syrup.
MUSIC
* women = accomplished musicians
* biwa: strong and steadfast
* so: gentle, feminine
* wagon: difficult, fluid and indefinite
* kin no koto: difficult and subtle!
* essential to court ritual and public ceremony
* trained by Bureau of Music
ARCHITECTURE
* sprawling, single-storied mansions
* walkways to subsidary buildings
* garden: walled 'courtyard', ponds and little streams. island in pond, reachable by bridge.
* shinden: faced south, staircase opened onto garden and pond
* behind shinden, northern hall reserved for main wife.
* fishing pavilion over pond, streams built to flow under walkways.
* buildings: roofed in cypress bark.
* shinden: four to nine 'rooms' (seperated by blinds and stands). Central = moya. Outer = hisashi (where serving ladies slept).
MIYAKO (MODERN KYOTO)
* imperial center of Japan between 793-1868!
* planned on a symmetrical, rectangular grid
* great rivers: E, W. mountains: N. marsh: S
* problems: climate and drainage appalling!
* theoretically, surrounded by wall with gates at crucial points. Reality, wall broken and gates for show!
* palace: designed to give chinese air, but probably slightly kitsch to real chinese people? ;)
* east side flourished and west languished.
CALENDER:
* complex, seasonal
* http://www.taleofmurasaki.com/seasonspage.htm
PETS:
* Chinese cats: pampered pets
* Dogs: lowly status! Ran wild in packs or watchdogs.
GAMES:
* Go: called Othello now?
* Sukeroku: simpler, exciting! Uses dice.
* Cockfighting. :P
* Kemari: keep hollow ball of deerskin in air, field marked with four trees (willow, cherry, pine, maple.) Taichi should play this!!!!
* 'Matching of things': shells in particular, matching subtle variations on outside as much as painted scenes on the inside.
HOMOSEXUALITY:
* male homosexuality: common, blase acceptance?
* female homosexuality: love poetry = metaphorical? probably not, given similar ones between women and men. women lived in close quarters, no moral injunction against it.
FLOWERS:
* wisteria: courtly elegance
* plum: scholars
* cherry blossom: evanescent beauty
* yamabuki (kerria rose\mountain kerria): freshness and innocence.
