Fujiwara jidai 藤原時代

Fujiwara period. A period of approximately two hundred years corresponding to the Middle Heian period (Heian chūki 平安中期; 894-1086). So called because the prosperous Fujiwara clan dominated the political life of the period. During this period, the lack of foreign influence brought about a flowering of native Japanese culture, *kokufū bunka 国風文化. 894 is the year of the last embassy to Tang China, kentōshi 遣唐使, and 1086 marks the first year of cloistered rule, Insei 院政, by the ex-emperor Shirakawa, Shirakawa Jōkō 白河上皇. Especially in art history, the term Fujiwara jidai is sometimes used to describe the entire period from 894 until the end of the Heian period (1185), in which case it is also called Late Heian period (Heian kōki 平安後期).