In popular culture medieval Japan often figures as an era of unremitting warfare, in which only samurai mattered. This course offers more balanced view of what many historians regard as the most volatile, yet also most creative, era in Japanese history. The course examines the era from 1100-1500 with an eye to understanding the place of warriors, but also to explaining the incredible cultural advances of the period, which gave rise to many of the arts for which Japanese culture is renowned.