Flourishing arts in the Heian period
The Heian period (794 – 1185 CE) is an era of Japanese history known for the sophistication of its classical court culture. It is closely associated with Japan’s former imperial capital city Kyoto, once called Heian-kyō, the ‘Capital of Peace’. It was a time of the flourishing of the arts, especially poetry and literature, and the spread of Buddhism throughout Japan. The beauty and elegance of the refined sensibility of the Heian court is known as miyabi. It was during this period that kasane – the art of layering colours – developed. Long after this classical period of Japanese history ended, its artistic influences can be seen in the works of artists and poets in the subsequent centuries.