The Japanese practiced both Shinto and Buddhism, with Buddhism somewhat more popular among the nobility and Shinto the ancient native faith of the imperial family and the peasants. The two religions coexisted peaceably, sometimes even in the same temple or shrine complex and during the same festival. Shinto involves the veneration of kami, representations of ancestral spirits and of nature, and the practice of ritual purification. It is responsible for many taboos, among them those involving death. Buddhism came to Japan from China via Korea and teaches concepts of personal salvation. Funerals were handled by the Buddhist clergy and normally involved cremation. The cemetery and cremation ground for the capital lay outside the city, and funerals were generally conducted after dark, but in times of catastrophe corpses might be abandoned in the streets and on the banks of the Kamo River. It was believed that the soul of the deceased remained near its home for forty-nine days after death.

For readers familiar with Samurai literature, it should be pointed out that daily customs of the Heian Age differ in some respects from those of later periods. Tea was known, but expensive, and consumed primarily for medicinal purposes. Rice wine was the preferred drink. Foods were simple, consisting of rice, other grains, beans, vegetables, fish and—as hunting was not yet forbidden—fowl and venison. Men did not shave their heads unless they were monks, and women of the upper classes let their hair grow very long and wore many-layered gowns of colored silks or brocade. Although there are references to cotton clothing, cotton was not known at the time, and the material used instead was hemp.

In the eleventh century, the martial arts were more at home among the provincial nobility, who maintained small armies to defend their lands; however, the court nobles also practiced with swords and bows and arrows. Swordsmiths performed a specially honored craft, working both in government service and independently. It was during the Heian period that sword construction first reached the level of perfection for which Japanese swords are admired. Swords were thought to be imbued with a divine spirit and Shinto rituals accompanied the work of the smith.

I have generally followed R.A.B. Ponsonby-Fane’s description of Heian-kyo (Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869). It is old, but still the most complete account available. In the absence of proof to the contrary and because of the habit and ease of rapid reconstruction after disasters, the general plan of the city and most of the important buildings described by Ponsonby-Fane are assumed to have existed in the early eleventh century. The information about smallpox is taken from Population, Disease, and Land in Early Japan, 645-900 by Wayne Farris.