E-awase explained

was a pastime popular among Japanese nobles during the Kamakura period,^[1] although its history dates back to the Heian.^[2]

In an e-awase contest, participants were divided into two teams, and created paintings on a predetermined topic, which were then judged by their peers,^[3] as in the older uta-awase poetry contests.^[4] It was a popular entertainment at parties and social gatherings.^[5] An e-awase contest of this type appears in The Tale of Genji, forming the central theme of chapter 17.^[6]

An alternative version of the picture contest was simpler, with players matching or associating pre-painted images.^[7] This was a development of an older game known as (Japanese: 貝合 "shell matching"). Matching scenes would be painted on the inner surfaces of a number of clam shells; these would then be spread on the floor, image side down, and turned over by competitors who would attempt to match the corresponding images.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Book: Louis Frédéric. Japan Encyclopedia. 11 May 2012. 2002. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-01753-5.
2. Book: Allen Hockley. Koryūsai Isoda. The Prints of Isoda Koryūsai: Floating World Culture and Its Consumers in Eighteenth-century Japan. 29 May 2012. 2003. University of Washington Press. 978-0-295-98301-1. 50.
3. Book: Samuel L. Leiter. A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance. 11 May 2012. 2002. M.E. Sharpe. 978-0-7656-0704-1. 122.
4. Book: Miyeko Murase. New York Public Library. Tales of Japan: scrolls and prints from the New York Public Library. registration. 11 May 2012. 1986. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-504020-3. 57.
5. Book: Jacob Raz. Audience and Actors: A Study of Their Interaction in the Japanese Traditional Theatre. 11 May 2012. 1983. Brill Archive. 978-90-04-06886-5. 67.
6. Book: Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji. 11 May 2012. 24 April 2003. Penguin Books Limited. 978-0-14-192796-1. 561.
7. Book: Mary Flanagan. Critical Play: Radical Game Design. 29 May 2012. 30 September 2009. MIT Press. 978-0-262-06268-8. 74.
8. Book: Asahi Shinbunsha. Japan quarterly. 29 May 2012. 1996. Asahi Shimbun. 73.