The Heian period (797-1185) is named after its capital city, Heian-kyo, now called Kyoto. Japan’s capital had moved frequently before the Heian period, but now settled in one place until Tokyo was made the formal capital in 1868. During this era, Chinese cultural influences were absorbed and transformed into a recognizably Japanese culture. The period saw the flowering of aristocratic culture which remained a major model of civilization thereafter. Politically, the period is easily divided into two or more epochs with at least the second half seeing the decay of the central government and rise of provincial power centers controlled by military families. The imperial court was, in theory, controlled by the imperial family working through a bureaucracy modeled after the Chinese institution, but the Fujiwara family controlled and manipulated politics to a large extent. Early in the Heian period there were great achievements in literature, both poetry (written by men and, to a lesser degree, women) and novels written by women. The most famous novel from this period is ‘The Tale of Genji’ by Murasaki Shikibu.
