The Sesonji 世尊寺 school of calligraphy, transmitted by successive heads of the Sesonji family established by Fujiwara no Yukinari 藤原行成, came to an end with the death of Fujiwara no Yukisue 藤原行季 in 1529. Jimyoin Motoharu 持明院基春 (1457-1535), who had mastered the secret teachings of the Sesonji school, took over from Yukisue as court calligrapher, and this resulted in the establishment of the Jimyoin school. It is said that thereafter, throughout the Edo period, this school of calligraphy passed down in the Jimyoin family was active and respected in and around the imperial court as a lineage of skilled calligraphers carrying on the traditions going back to Yukinari. But although there have been various studies of this school by earlier scholars, much regarding the true nature of the Jimyoin school remains unclear.
  In this article, I first take a look at the history of the Jimyoin family and then, having analyzed the content of works transmitting the traditions of the Jimyoin school such as the Jimyoin-dono gokaden 持明院殿御家傳, I point out that two major characteristics of this school are the fact that it regarded format as all-important and disregarded skill and the absence of a distinctive calligraphic style. The absence of a distinctive style I demonstrate visually by reproducing examples of the calligraphy of twelve heads of the Jimyoin family. In addition, taking the example of banners inscribed with the word banzai 萬歳 that were used at the emperor's coronation ceremony, I show that the Jimyoin school was not active in all areas of the imperial court.
  On the basis of the above findings, I conclude that the Jimyoin school fundamentally differed from schools such as the Shoren'in 青蓮院 (Oie 御家) school and Daishi 大師 school, which possess a style that serves as their standard, and that if one focuses on the Jimyoin school's characteristic of placing greater importance on format than on skill in calligraphy, its essence should perhaps be understood as a form of knowledge of ancient court practices for writing poems on strips of paper and so on at the court.

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The Sesonji-ke, who traditionally served as clerks of the Imperial Court, are recognized as a family of nosho. The style of calligraphy from the founder Yukinari Fujiwara to the 17th and last head Yukisue, is recognized as Sesonji-ryu. Before passing it down to other schools such as Jimyoin-ryu and Shorenin-ryu, successive heads of Sesonji-ke had left a number of Jubokudo Denshos as kakis. Among them, Yakaku Teikinsho by the 6th head Koreyuki and Saiyosho, a kuden of Norinaga Fujiwara written by the 7th head Koretsune, are well known. A list of these denshos is included in Jubokudo Densho Mokuroku written by Tadaaki Mori.

  Tadaaki Mori served the Edo bakufu as a yuhitsu and wrote many books on calligraphy, including Shodokun. Jubokudo Densho Mokuroku, in which Tadaaki sorted the “hishos” of Jubokudo that his great-great-grandfather Noriaki had handed down from Motosada Jimyoin, listed the titles of 124 Jimyoin-ke denshos and 47 Sesonji-ke denshos. Though many of these denshos are believed to be lost, a certain number of them have been preserved as Kokubungaku Kenkyushiryokan Denpanbunko (old Tayasu Tokugawa-ke documents). While these documents are transcribed versions made during and after the mid-Edo period, many of their titles are identical to those listed in the Mokuroku, making it possible to obtain details of the written instruction material of the time. However, the titles listed in Jubokudo Densho Mokuroku are somewhat confusing and include duplications. For this reason, the author sorts and categorizes the contents before comparing them with relevant material existing in various places in order to uncover the changes in contents of instructions. At the same time, since the Mokuroku is included in Nihonshogaen, edited by Kokushokankokai, which allows for correction of errors in transcription and typography as well, the Mokuroku has been reprinted with variorums.

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