Japanese culture and arts only grew after absorbing Chinese traditions via Korea and China from 600 to 838 AD.
Absorption was the most during the Heian era (794 to 1185 AD), where the Tale of Genji was written by a court lady, Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote in a form of vernacular Japanese.
Why then were the Japanese able to achieve such a high level of sophistication in their culture and arts?
The answer lies in the peace that prevailed on Japanese soil over a long period of time.
During the Tokugawa (Edo) period, which lasted from 1603 to 1868, Japan had no major internal wars for about 265 years.
Thereafter, Japan only had the short 9 months Satsuma Rebellion from January to September 1877, also known as the Seinan War, which was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji era.
The next period of war did not affect Japanese art and culture, as war was not on Japanese soil when, in 1894, Japan invaded China and got stuck in a protracted war with China until its surrender in 1945 in Nanking.
LWH @ Geiranger fjord, Norway, 18 SEP 2025