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.
