Kanei-bunka (Kanei culture) (寛永文化)
Kanei-bunka means the culture that prospered during the first half of the 17th century (the early Edo period), namely the culture sandwiched between Momoyama-bunka of the latter half of the 16th century and Genroku-bunka of the latter half of the 17th century. It refers to the culture that prospered during the period of about 80 years from Keicho/Genna era to Kanei era.
The center of Kanei-bunka was Kyoto, and people of merchant class who inherited the tradition of medieval times and those of Imperial Court who gathered around the Emperor Gomizunoo created classical Japanese arts/culture against the Edo bakufu, which strived to strengthen the feudal system. Later, culture based on Confucianism and samurai class was created in Edo, and such cultural structure that has two centers in Edo and Kyoto spread to local cities including Kanazawa City.
During the initial stage, 'kabuki' culture, which was influenced by Momoyama-bunka and represented by Izumo no okuni and Shigenari FURUTA, became very popular. After Genna-Enbu (peace after Genna era), however, various salons were created among the people of various classes.
Famous persons are SEN no Sotan/Sowa KANAMORI/Enshu KOBOI of tea ceremony, the Emperor Gomizunoo/Senko IKENOBO of flower arrangement, Sakuden ANRAKUAN/Tameharu MIURA/Teitoku MATSUNAGA/Mitsuhiro KARASUMARU of literature, Jozan ISHIKAWA/Razan HAYASHI/Seii HORI of Confucianism study, Soho TAKUAN/Monju ISSHI/Shosan SUZUKI of Zen, Nobutada KONOE/Shojo SHOKADO/Koetsu HONNAMI of Kanei no sanpitsu (the three masters of calligraphy in Kanei era), Soan SUMINOKURA/Nobuhiro KONOE of calligraphy, Sotatsu TAWARAYA/Tanyu KANO of paintings and Ninsei NONOMURA of ceramic art. As for the buildings at the time, Katsura Imperial Villa constructed by Imperial Prince Tomohito, Shugakuin Imperial Villa constructed by the Emperor Gomizunoo and Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine constructed by Iemitsu TOKUGAWA are well-known.
In addition to the implementation of strict caste system, economy in Kyoto became stagnant since it was an inland city and couldn't utilize water transportation network. Instead, Genroku-bunka prospered in Osaka which became the center of economy in kamigata (Kyoto and Osaka area).