"Carter's life of Ichijô Kaneyoshi opens a fascinating window for exploring a feudal society at a time of great stress. . . . Regent Redux is a superb piece of scholarship and makes fascinating reading. For the person with more than a passing interest in feudal Japan, it is indispensable."
--Donald Jones in Education About Asia

"Carter's study, beautifully presented and well researched, expands our knowledge of the complex interrelationships of court families, the imperial institution and the Ashikaga shogunate, providing valuable information on social and economic history of fifteenth-century Japan previously unavailable in English language scholarship."
--Eleanor Kerkham in The Journal of Asian Studies

"[Regent Redux] is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of medieval Japan and the economic and political dimensions of literary production, and addresses thoughtfully as well notions of selfhood in that time and culture."
--Roselee Bundy in Monumenta Nipponica

"Carter has established himself as our best translator of medieval poetry, and the numerous examples he provides in this book come up to his usual high standard. . . . Anyone interested in medieval Japan or the problems of biographical writing will want to read this valuable study."
--Robert Borgen in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

"A must book for those interested in this period."
--A. E. Tiedemann, Columbia University

This book tells the story of a remarkable man who, against his will and largely against his knowledge, lived through what we now regard as the final decline of the ancient nobility in Japan. It is as a scholar, especially of the Tale of Genji and other texts of the classical Japanese canon, that Ichijô Kaneyoshi (1402-81) is now remembered, when he is remembered at all. Yet in his own time he was much more than that: the heir of a venerable court lineage, a poet and patron of artists and literati, a master of esoteric lore and doctrine, and a statesman and politician very much engaged in the contests and discourses of his time.

Kaneyoshi was born into an era of relative prosperity for the court. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, one of the most courtly of shoguns, was in firm control of the government, in the Kyoto area at least, and Kaneyoshi's own father was serving as imperial regent. In succeeding years, however, the court and its families were severely tested by political, economic, and social exigencies beyond their control.

The response of some to the turbulence of the world around them was to withdraw into seculsion; Kaneyoshi, as the head of one of the five houses of the regency, seems never to have considered that option. Instead, he dedicated himself totally to the active maintenance of his heritage. In his early years, this meant competing for office with colleagues at court, providing for a large family, and supporting the cause of courtly art and ceremony with his position, his influence, and his resources, both literal and symbolic. Later, when the continued existence of the imperial court and its families was put in jeopardy by events such as the Onin War (1467-77), Kaneyoshi dedicated himself to a number of "conservative" tasks--from the writing of commentaries and handbooks to the instruction of the shogun in how to return the nation to order. Still, he remained active in political affairs, never losing hope in an eventual resurgence in the fortunes of the court.

Throughout, this story is told through reference to primary sources, most prominently Sino-Japanese (kanbun) journals left by Kaneyoshi's contemporaries and his own writings. Included here are some examples of his poems and excerpts from one of his most famous essays.