ABSTRACT
In modern Japan divination, both at Shinto shrines and elsewhere, often draws on the Book of Changes, but this is a relatively recent phenomenon. Other methods were preferred, partly because of their greater simplicity, and partly because there was a belief that misfortune would befall those who studied the Book of Changes before the age of sixty.68
However, during the Muromachi period (1338-1573) Zen monks, in particular, increased knowledge of the Book of Changes in Japan. As the country descended into war, this text became important as a basis for military theory (heiho¯), and many daimyo¯ employed specialists in its use as military advisers. Many such specialists were educated at the Ashikaga academy, which flourished from the mid-fifteenth century onwards. This laid the foundation for the spread of knowledge of the Book of Changes in the Edo period and beyond.
