A Sense of Place: The Political Landscape in Late Medieval Japan by David Spafford (review)
A Sense of Placedefiesexpectations.� Thebook'sprimarysubjectsare� thelandandwarriorsofeasternJapanduringthemedievalage,�astory� thatreadersmightimaginewouldrevolvearoundbattlefieldtactics,� politicalintrigue,� andchangeinspiredbysocialfragmentation.� The� authorinsteaddeliversabeguilingstudyofattachmenttoplace,� of� movement,� ofpoetryinmotion,� andofakindofpoliticalinertia—all� ofwhichSpaffordlabels� "thepersistentmedieval."� Themonographis� wide-rangingbutboundedalwaysbytheKantō, progressingfromthe� grassesofMusashinotothelexiconofwordsdescribingboundaries,� andfromthepartitioningofeasternestatestotheregularrelocation� ofwarriorencampments.� Witty,� complex,� andattimesambiguous,� the� writingcanbefrustrating,� butreaderlyperseverancepaysoff.� Thebook� endsupbeingthemostcompellingEnglish-languagestudyinthefield� ofmedievalJapanesehistoryinmanyyears. � Chapter� 1,�"TheGrassesofMusashino,"� setsthetonefortheentire� studybyforegroundingeasternJapanthroughitsrepresentationby� travelingpoets,� authorswho,� havingbeenforcedoutofKyotobythe� firesofcivilwar,� broughtacapital-centricgazeandcourtlylexiconto� bearontheirwanderingsthroughtheKantō.� Particularlypowerfulis� Spafford'sexplorationofthepoetryoftheMusashiplainanditsmost� commonimage,� thegrassesthatmarkedtheotherwise� (ostensibly)� emptyfieldsoftheeast.� Gradually,� asmorepoetsspentmoretimein� thesegrassymeadows,� andindeedindialecticalpoeticexchangeswith� the� "rustic"� locals,� the� "stockportrayal"� (p.� 55)�gavewaytoanincreas - inglynuancedrepresentationoftheregion;� asSpaffordputsit,� "We� canseesomeoftheunrulinessofactualexperience—oratleastthe�