Voices of Early Modern Japan
Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life during the Age of the
Shoguns
Constantine Nomikos Vaporis
Copyright 2012 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos, 1957–
Voices of early modern Japan : contemporary accounts of daily life during the age of the shoguns / Constantine Nomikos
Vaporis.
p. cm. — (Voices of an era)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–313–39200–9 (hardcopy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–39201–6 (ebook)
1. Japan—History—Tokugawa period, 1600–1868—Sources. I. Title.
DS870.V65 2012
952′.025—dc23
2011042812
ISBN: 978–0–313–39200–9
EISBN: 978–0–313–39201–6
16 15 14 13 12
1 2 3 4 5
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For Martin C. Collcutt and James R. Bartholomew
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Shogun’s Japan
Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents
Timeline of Japanese History from the Mid-Sixteenth Century through the Tokugawa Period,
1543–1868
Documents of the Shogun’s Japan
The Domestic Sphere
1. Getting Married: “Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)
2. Obtaining a Divorce: An Appeal for Assistance (1850) and Letters of Divorce (1857,
undated)
3. The Consequences of Adultery: “The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned” (1686)
4. A Woman’s Place: Onna Daigaku (The Greater Learning for Women, 1716) and Tadano
Makuzu’s Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)
Material Life
5. Regulating Fashion and Consumption: Ihara Saikaku’s The Japanese Family Storehouse
(Nippon eitai gura, 1688); List of Prohibitions Concerning Clothing for Edo Townsmen
(1719)
6. Samurai Dress and Grooming Standards: Prohibitions of 1615 and 1645
7. Lunisolar Calendar: Calendar for Seventh Year of Kaei (1854): Samurai in Armor
8. Japanese Foodways and Diet: The Accounts of Joao Rodrigues (1620–1621), Yamakawa
Kikue (1943), and Edo hanjôki (1832–1836)
9. The Communal Bath: Shikitei Sanba’s “The Women’s Bath” (Ukiyoburo, 1810)
10. The Japanese Home: Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa Made
during the Years 1770 and 1779 (1791)
The Political Sphere
11. A Foreigner’s View of the Battle of Osaka: Richard Cocks’s Account of the Fall of Osaka
Castle (1615)
12. Forging Political Order: “Laws for the Military Houses” (1615, 1635)
13. The Emperor and the Kyoto Aristocracy: “Regulations for the Imperial Palace and the
Court Nobility” (1615)
14. Weapons Control in Japanese Society: Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s “Sword Hunt” (1588) and “A
Local Edo Ordinance Regarding Swords” (1648)
15. Self-Governance in Villages: Goningumi (Five-Household Group) Laws (1640)
16. Regulating Townspeople in Two Cities: City Code from Kanazawa (1642) and Notice
Board in Edo (1711)
Foreign Relations
17. Regulating Foreign Relations: The “Closed Country Edicts” (sakoku rei, 1635, 1639)
18. Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea: “The Diary of Shin Yu-han” (1719)
19. Leaving a Window Open to the Western World: Letter from a Nagasaki Official to the
Dutch Governor General (1642)
20. A Dutch Audience with the Shogun: Englebert Kaempfer’s The History of Japan (1692)
21. Sizing Up the Foreign Threat: Aizawa Seishisai’s Shinron (New Theses, 1825)
Social and Economic Life
22. The Social Estates: Yamaga Sokô on “The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
23. Trying to Get by on a Fixed Income: The Economic Problems Facing the Samurai, as Seen
in a Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu (1751) and a Statement from
Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
24. The Samurai and Death: An Account of Junshi from Francois Caron’s A True Description
of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636)
25. Private Vengeance among Samurai: “A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province
to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate” and “A Letter of Authorization” (1828)
26. Rules of Merchant Houses: “The Testament of Shimai Sôshitsu” (1610) and “The Code of
the Okaya House” (1836)
27. Dealing with Deviant Behavior: “A Letter of Apology” (1866)
28. Loans among the Peasantry: “Rice Borrowed” (1702)
29. Unrest in the Countryside: A Song in Memory of a Protest (1786) and Petition to the Lord
of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853)
30. Outcastes in Tokugawa Society: A Report from the Head of All Eta and Hinin (undated)
and an Inquiry by the Edo City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the
Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta Who Assumed the Status of a Commoner (1799)
Recreational Life
31. Advice to Travelers in the Edo Period: Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers, 1810)
32. Documentation for Travel: “Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706) and “A Passport” (1782)
33. Children and Their Amusements: The Journal of Francis Hall (1859)
34. The Tea Ceremony: Chikamatsu Shigenori’s Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804)
35. Archery and the Martial Arts: Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka’s Honchô Bugei Shôden (A
Short Tale of the Martial Arts in Our Country, 1714)
36. Courtesans and the Sex Trade: Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku
ichidai otoko, 1682) and Buyô Ishi’s An Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku,
1816)
37. A Hero for the Masses: The Kabuki Play Sukeroku: Flower of Edo (1713)
Religion and Morality
38. Preaching to the People: A Sermon by Hosoi Heishû (1783)
39. Anti-Christian Propaganda: Kirishitan monogatari (1639)
40. Controlling the Populace: Registers of Religious Affiliation (1804)
41. Religious Views of the Japanese: Sir Rutherford Alcock’s The Capital of the Tycoon
(1863)
42. The Teachings of Zen Buddhism: Suzuki Shôsan’s Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge, 1648)
and Hakuin Ekaku’s Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures
on the Records of Sokkô, 1740)
Appendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in Text
Appendix 2: Glossary of Terms Mentioned in Text
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life during the Age of the
Shoguns contains 60 documents dealing with the Tokugawa period, 1600–1868. Technically
speaking, three documents fall outside the range of these years, but are included because they
deal with topics that were either crucial to developments of the Tokugawa years—also known
as the Edo period—or are important reflections upon that time. Even though neither of the
shoguns (Tokugawa) Ieyasu nor Yoshinobu are household names in the United States or
Europe, the Tokugawa period and its immediate aftermath, more than any other period in
Japanese history, are the subject of great interest, as evidenced by the popularity of the
samurai, whether it be in the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, in anime (e.g., Samurai
Champloo) or in manga (e.g., Vagabond, Rurouni Kenshin). The Tokugawa period, however,
is noteworthy for more than just samurai. The Introduction that follows will explain the
importance and influence of the period, but much of what foreigners and Japanese alike
associate with traditional Japan—for example, sushi, sumo wrestling, woodblock prints,
kabuki theater, the tea ceremony—was either developed or achieved broadscale popularity
during these years. The continuing interest in, and relevance of, Tokugawa history and culture
is immediately evident walking into a bookstore or turning on a television in Japan. The
“boom” in Tokugawa-period culture in publishing has continued unabated since the 1980s, and
period-dramas remain a mainstay of Japanese television, as evidenced by Mito Kômon, the
long-running (since 1969!), historically based drama that draws from the life of the retired
daimyo, Mito Mitsukuni, who travels around the country in the guise of a wealthy merchant,
accompanied by two of his samurai retainers (also in disguise).
Primary Documents
Primary documents open a direct window onto the past, as they allow us to listen to the
people of a given time speak in their own voices. The document excerpts reproduced in this
volume provide the reader with a wide array of perspectives on the people of Tokugawa
Japan, their society, government, foreign relations, material and family life, religion and modes
of thought, and recreations. From these documents, we can see what kind of society Tokugawa
Japan’s rulers idealized and what the reality of it actually was; we can see how its rulers
interacted with, and tried to control, the outside world; we can begin to understand the views
and attitudes of the common people as they negotiated their lives around the laws and
regulations that the rulers established to order society.
Organization of Sections
The 60 documents are divided into 42 numbered sections, with some sections offering two
or three related documents. These sections are divided into seven topical categories, with four
sections relating to the domestic sphere, six to material life, six to the political sphere, five to
foreign relations, nine to social and economic life, eight to recreational life, and five to
religion and morality. It should be noted, however, that these categories are not hard and fast.
Some overlap, and in a number of cases, one might argue that a selection could also belong in a
different category. For example, while the tea ceremony and archery might, from one
perspective, be considered “recreation” (and hence fall under the category “Recreational
Life”), from another they might also fit in the category “Thought,” since both involved the
pursuit of a “way” (Japanese, dô), a spiritual and/or martial discipline. Similarly, the material
in “Material Life,” one might argue, could also belong in “Social and Economic History.”
Despite this flexibility, the categories chosen represent one way of organizing a vast array of
primary source material that the author hopes the reader will find beneficial.
The document selections include a wide variety of types—official government laws and
regulations, directives sent from one governing body to another, local ordinances, private
agreements (contracts), novels, kabuki plays, broadsheets, polemics (sermons, anti-Christian
propaganda, and moral instructional readers), letters, and descriptive narratives of everyday
life and events, some of which were written by foreign observers. Some of these documents
are well known and often excerpted, such as the “Laws for the Military Houses” issued by the
Tokugawa government, or shogunate; the “Sword Hunt” issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the
late sixteenth century, which did much to set the pattern of life during the succeeding centuries;
the so-called “Closed-Country Edicts” of the 1630s that resulted in the expulsion of all
Westerners in Japan except the Dutch; and, the idealistic educational tract The Greater
Learning for Women, which instructed women on morality and proper behavior. Others are less
well known, but offer a variety of different perspectives on Tokugawa life. For example,
paired with the document just mentioned, The Greater Learning for Women, are excerpts from
the essay “Solitary Thoughts,” written by a doctor’s daughter named Tadano Makuzu, who
offers a perspective on the relationship between men and women based on observation and
actual lived experience. Each of these documents offers the reader a window directly into the
age of the shoguns, providing an understanding of the life and times that cannot be had from
textbooks or monographs. All documents are presented in translation, in English, with the
occasional key Japanese term offered in romanized form, in the Hepburn style, in parentheses.
In some cases, the translation has been adapted for the benefit of the modern reader.
In addition to the 60 documents, each numbered section offers various tools to help you, the
reader, more fully understand the meaning, purpose, and significance of every document. These
tools include the following: an “Introduction” providing pertinent historical background for the
section; a “Keep in Mind as You Read” section that provides contextual information to help in
evaluating the document; an “Aftermath” section that relates the results and consequences that
flowed from the document; an “Ask Yourself” section that lists questions about the document
and life during the period, often relating both to the present; a “Topics and Activities to
Consider” section with several themes or ideas to explore in a paper, essay, online project, or
class presentation, offering other suggested resources, such as documents, books, films, and
web sites; and, a “Further Information” section listing important print and electronic
information resources in addition to any relevant films or Internet-based videos. Many of the
documents are also accompanied by a brief sidebar that further illuminates a topic or concept
related to the document, such as “Money,” “The Public Bath,” “The Status System,” “The First
American Trade with Japan,” “The Floating World” and “Japanese Names.”
Other Features
There are a number of other important features of Voices of Early Modern Japan. The first
is a general introduction that explores the major themes and developments of the Tokugawa
(Edo) period for users and also explains the significance of the times in the context of the span
of Japanese history. In addition, there is an appendix of brief biographical entries on the most
important individuals mentioned in the document sections, and a glossary of unfamiliar terms
encountered in the sections. All names and terms included in the glossary or appendix are
marked in small capital letters as cross-references upon their first mention in any section. Any
unfamiliar terms in the documents themselves are also highlighted; brief definitions of these are
offered after the document text to provide quick reference for the reader.
An “Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents” section provides readers with a
series of questions—Who wrote it? When and where was it written? Who was it written for?
Why was it written?—to assess the historical context of the document. It also advises users on
how to identify and define keywords and passages, the main thesis of the document, and the
assumptions the author brought to the document from his or her class, religious beliefs, and
economic circumstances. Users will also be urged to understand how the document was
produced and circulated and to compare it to other similar documents of the period.
Photographs of Tokugawa-era documents accompany the text, briefly explaining for students
and modern users familiar only with modern electronic document production how written
documents were produced during the period and by whom, and, where appropriate, the various
writing styles used.
Finally, the volume includes a chronology of Japanese history from the arrival of
Westerners in Japanese waters in the middle of the sixteenth century through the Tokugawa
period (1600–1868), listing important events in the life of the country and selected significant
dates in world history; a detailed and current bibliography of print materials and web sites,
divided by broad topic; and a detailed subject index to allow readers to access information in
the document sections easily and quickly.
Acknowledgments
Since this volume is meant for instructional purposes, I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the outstanding teachers that I have had during the course of my education. Although my
poor memory does not allow me to remember all of their names, their faces and passion for
teaching remain embedded in my consciousness. A few stand out above the rest and deserve
mention here. Mr. George Hand (Beaver Country Day School) made history fun before I even
thought about the possibility of a career in the field. My late father, Rev. Dr. Nomikos Michael
Vaporis, a Greek Orthodox priest and historian of Byzantine and Modern Greek Hellenism,
demonstrated a lifelong passion for learning, teaching, and service. He opened my eyes to the
wonders of Japan and its culture, and together we shared a love of Japanese film. Ms.
Yasuhara Taeko and Fr. George Tsongranis selflessly taught me the intricacies of the Japanese
language as a middle-schooler. This book is dedicated, though, to Martin C. Collcutt
(Princeton University) and James R. Bartholomew (Ohio State University), both inspiring
teachers and mentors who led me to pursue a career specifically in Japanese history.
Three other scholars generously reviewed this manuscript and made numerous suggestions,
for which I am immensely grateful: Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi (York University), K. N. (Kiri)
Paramore (Leiden University), and Anne Walthall (University of California, Irvine). Of course
all errors of fact and interpretation are mine alone.
The author would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the editors of the journal
Monumenta Nipponica and the director of publications for the Council on East Asian Studies,
Harvard University, for their generosity in allowing the extensive use of source material from
their respective publications here.
At ABC-CLIO, I would like to thank Mariah Gumpert for encouraging me to undertake this
project.
Finally, heartfelt thanks are in order to the family that has sustained me all these years: my
lovely wife and soulmate Maria, and my two wonderful children, Michaela and Aleydis; both
have become exceptional adults of whom I am exceedingly proud.
Introduction
The Shogun’s Japan
All the struggle and pain Lord Ieyasu endured was to bring peace to all Japan. Therefore, it is worthy of celebration
that bows and arrows are kept in bags and swords in wooden cases. That the shogun’s men keep their armor in
merchants’ storehouses means that Japan is now enjoying unprecedented peace. The ultimate wish of Tôshôgû [the
deified Ieyasu] has been realized. You should not be sorrowful that swords and bows rot in pawnshops.
(Tokugawa, 43)
In the quotation above, the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751), responded to
one of his retainers, whom he overheard deploring the fact that samurai were pawning their
armor. Yoshimune tells the retainer that he, and by implication all Japanese, should not be
unhappy but rather thankful for the peace, which by that point in time was more than a century
long. Many contemporary observers in Japan did in fact herald what they referred to as the
“realm at great peace” (tenka taihei). Indeed, under the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns, from
1603 to 1867, the warfare that had wracked the islands of Japan for much of the preceding
century ceased, the fractured political landscape was reconstructed, and Japan experienced
one of the longest periods of uninterrupted peace in world history. In comparison, by one
calculation, during the Tokugawa years, France was at war for 115 years; Great Britain, 125;
Spain, 160; Austria, 130; Prussia, 97; and Russia, 147.1 By the end of the seventeenth century,
Japan had become one of the most urbanized societies around the globe, its population and
agriculture-based economy experienced rapid growth, and its arts blossomed into what may
have been the world’s first popular (mass) culture. Much of what we today associate with
“traditional” Japan either originated with, or found a popular audience in, Tokugawa times: for
example, a stable pattern of bureaucratic rule, high rates of literacy, kabuki theater, the tea
ceremony, sumo wrestling, woodblock prints, and even sushi.
Perspectives on the Tokugawa Period
The Tokugawa period is often dated from 1603, when Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title
of shogun from the emperor and established a military government, known as the shogunate, in
Edo (now Tokyo), until 1867, when the 15th and final shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, resigned.
It is alternatively dated from 1600, when Ieyasu and his forces defeated his main rivals in the
Battle of Sekigahara, until 1868, when the Meiji Restoration, the coup d’état by a coalition of
southern domains that overthrew the shogunate and announced the reversion of power to the
emperor, took place. This volume has adopted the latter dates, since the former ones belie an
emperor-centered view of history. Using the starting date of 1603 implies that Tokugawa
Ieyasu did not take power—and the Tokugawa period did not begin—until the emperor
bestowed the title of shogun on him. While this was certainly an epoch-making event, one can
argue strongly, as I do here, that people living in those times did not attach as much importance
to the title itself as compared with the Tokugawa’s victory at Sekigahara three years earlier. It
is also possible to argue for beginning the Tokugawa period in 1615, the date of the conclusion
of the Battle of Osaka, when the last armed threat by those opposing the establishment of the
Tokugawa authority were defeated.
The issue of dividing history into blocks, or periods, of time—that is, periodization—also
involves designating names for those periods. Many historians, and particularly Japanese
historians, also refer to the “Tokugawa period” as the “Edo period,” which emphasizes the
importance of the shogun’s administrative center, the city of Edo. However, some historians
avoid the use of the term “Edo period” because it may be said to privilege the political center
of the Tokugawa government and thereby minimizes the political autonomy of the larger
domains. Similarly, Japanese literary historians largely eschew the term “Edo literature,”
arguing that it is misleading because much of the literature of the time was produced in the
cities of Kyoto and Osaka. Instead, they and some other historians prefer the term “early
modern” (kinsei), because it avoids many of the issues discussed above. However, the use of
the label early modern is in itself problematic in some ways in that it is a term created by
historians to refer to an era following the Middle Ages in Western history, meaning roughly the
years 1500–1800. Use of the term in the Japanese context, therefore, can be criticized as
Eurocentric or as an example of Western cultural imperialism—that is, by trying to fit Japanese
history into a Western framework of analysis. As the reader can deduce from the above, there
is a fair amount of subjectivity involved in choosing some years over others to date periods
(periodization). Dates are artificially constructed, and names selected (“Tokugawa” versus
“Edo” versus “early modern”) for a purpose and reflect the viewpoints and biases of
historians.
Given the positive assessment of the Tokugawa period presented at the beginning of this
Introduction, the reader might be surprised to learn that there have been criticial interpretations
of these years expressed by contemporaries and historians alike. History, of course, involves a
constant procession of revision and reevaluation. This revisionism arises mainly out of new
readings of old evidence, in the light of changing conditions by historians with new interests,
sensitivities, preoccupations, and historical methods. Put differently, views of the modern (the
present) largely determine the light we cast on the past.
Early in the Tokugawa period, Jesuit missionaries and Western traders wrote quite positive
accounts of Japanese government and society. The Jesuits’ reports may have been particularly
positive about Japan because of the warm reception they received initially from the country’s
samurai leaders for their missionary work to spread Christianity in Japan. In their firsthand
comparisons between early-seventeenth-century Japan and Europe, they concluded that Japan
was strictly but well governed. In their assessment, the military leaders—the shogun and the
daimyo under him—appeared to rule with no greater severity than the kings and princes of
Europe. While Westerners were all appalled by the Japanese practice of seppuku, or ritual
suicide, they found the laws of the land impartially and justly executed. For example, Will
Adams, the historical figure upon which the Blackthorne (“Anjin san”) character in the novel
and movie Shogun is based, wrote: “The people of this island of Japan are good of nature,
courteous above measure, and valiant in war: their justice is severely executed without any
partiality upon transgressors of the law. They are governed in great civility. I mean, not a land
better governed in the world by civil police.”2
By the end of the Tokugawa period, however, things looked quite differently. First, to
Westerners who visited Japan in the nineteenth century and observed the Tokugawa
government, or shogunate, in the last years before its demise, the admiration was notably
absent. Of course their perspective was blurred by the fact that their governments were trying
to force the shogunate to open up to Western-style diplomatic and trade relations, and they
themselves had to deal with considerable Japanese xenophobia. Many Westerners’
perspectives were also skewed by feelings of cultural superiority fed by the advances that the
Industrial Revolution had brought to Europe and the United States, especially in military
technology, while Japan was perceived as having remained frozen in time. They described the
Japan they saw as “feudal,” “remote”—meaning closed off for centuries—and reactionary.
According to the Englishman Rutherford Alcock, who was in Japan from 1858 to 1864, the
shogunate and daimyo domains represented “a feudal form of government and an
administration based on the most elaborate system of espionage ever attempted.”3 In other
words, to him, Japan was a repressive, police state. The British, Americans, and other
Westerners saw themselves as having a mission to “open up” Japan, to bring it enlightenment,
and of course, Christianity. Alcock, and others like him, measured Japan’s progress by its
willingness to reject its present and to embrace Western notions of progress.
For several decades, from the 1860s to the 1880s, many Japanese concurred with Western
assessments of their society. To contemporary Japanese, the long years of Tokugawa control
and the hostility to that government which arose after Japan came into contact with the West in
the mid-nineteenth century, turned opinion deeply negative. The Meiji Restoration of 1868
became much more than the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate—it became the Meiji
Revolution, an overturning or purging of what the Charter Oath, the first official document
issued by the new Meiji government in 1868, called the “base customs of former times.” The
Tokugawa years became like an “evil dream.” The Tokugawa samurai turned Meiji intellectual
Fukuzawa Yukichi wrote, “I hated feudalism like it was my father’s murderer,” meaning that he
despised the government and social system under the Tokugawa.4 The Charter Oath asserted a
clean break with the past. Tokugawa practices were judged obsolete, as if ages, not just a short
time, had passed. To the leaders of the new government all institutions and customs of the
Tokugawa past were deemed roadblocks on the country’s path to achieving modernity and
equality with the West—with nations that had forced Japan to open itself up to diplomatic and
trade relations with them in the guise of the “unequal treaties.”
While there was a conservative backlash in Japanese society from the late 1880s and early
1890s, fed by the perception that the embrace of the West had been too radical, too complete,
negative assessments of the Tokugawa years continued and were reinforced by Marxist theory,
which maintained a strong influence on historical interpretation in Japan for much of the period
from the late 1920s through the early 1960s. According to this perspective, the dominant view
of the Tokugawa state was that it was exploitative, and accordingly, the economic picture for
the masses was bleak. At the village level, “parasitic” landlords joined with samurai
administrators to squeeze the peasants like sesame seeds—in other words, to extract whatever
surplus might remain after the peasants had paid their annual land tax. Conditions became so
bad that, over time, peasants had to resort to wide-scale infanticide and turned to protest and
rebellion to express their considerable grievances. Marxist historians also put the blame for
Japan’s militaristic course of the twentieth century, leading to the Pacific War with the United
States, on the Tokugawa period. According to them, the contradictions and tensions inherent in
Japan during these years provided the motivation for the Meiji Restoration, but the backward
conditions of Tokugawa society prevented the social revolution from succeeding. As a result,
they argued, Japan experienced a failed revolution and remained retarded in development in
comparison to England and France. The influence of this school of historical thought could be
seen among Western historians as well. For example, Ernest Clement wrote that Japan went to
sleep and would not awaken until the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his “black
ships” in 1853. Similarly, Sir George Sansom’s influential history of Japan, first published in
1932 but still widely used decades after the end of the war, held that the Tokugawa was an era
of oppressive “feudal” rule, in which samurai maintained strict social order, used their swords
to cut down offensive commoners, and kept the peasants at a bare subsistence level. The
shogunate shut out the rest of the world, which “arrested the cultural development of Japan.”5
Important changes in interpretations of the Tokugawa period took place, however, in the
postwar period, at the popular level. Japanese historians, however, were slower to abandon
their harsh critique of Tokugawa life. But, with World War II and the Allied occupation of
Japan (1945–1952) a memory, popular imagination in Japan turned back to the Tokugawa and
the wars of unification that preceded it with a new curiosity and a critical evenhandedness.
The larger-than-life historical figures known as the “three unifiers”—Oda Nobunaga (1534–
1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598), and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616)—became the
subject of popular novels and television shows. In the 1950s and 1960s, Tokugawa-period
castles that were bombed during World War II were rebuilt at great national expense.
Similarly, many Western historians began to see the Tokugawa experience in more positive
terms when they began to examine it in light of Japan’s successful postwar modernization
experience. They tended to downplay the arguments about social rigidity and the Tokugawa’s
allegedly regressive policies that “froze” society. Instead, they highlighted new evidence of
dynamic growth and structural change within the Tokugawa economy and society, not to
mention the flexibility and resiliency of the shogunate, which was able to maintain a peaceful
and vibrant society for more than two and a half centuries. This new perspective was also
supported by more sophisticated economic analysis of taxation, substantial evidence of both
agricultural and commercial revolutions in the seventeenth century, and reinterpretations of
peasant unrest based on a close examination of contemporary literature on peasant protests. As
a result, first Western, and then subsequently Japanese, historians found dynamic elements in
Tokugawa society that were sources of, or preconditions for, Japan’s modernity. They noted,
for example: a steady improvement in farm technology, which moved agriculture from a
subsistence basis to commercial farming; the spread of literacy; and wide-scale urbanization.
Accordingly, the term “early modern” was applied increasingly to the Tokugawa years, thus
aligning Japan and the West’s paths of historical development.
In Japan, postwar interest in the Tokugawa period began to surge in the 1980s, the
beginning of what is referred to popularly as the “Edo boom”—a boom for which one still sees
strong evidence for today. This phenomenon is in part related to a surge in nationalism in Japan
since the late 1980s, but it can also be explained in terms of a growing sense of nostalgia, as
evidence of the search by many Japanese today for a sense of identity in a period of Japanese
history before the intrusion of the imperialistic West in the mid-nineteenth century.
Political Life
The Tokugawa shogunate represented a new form of military government that established a
degree of centralized control and stability previously unknown in Japanese history. During the
Warring States period (1467–1568), the country had fractured into its most decentralized form,
with neither the imperial court nor the Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1573) able to exercise
effective authority. Political power passed into the hands of hundreds of major and minor local
lords who controlled their own territories, and communal political organizations, known as
ikkô ikki, which were often religious-based and rose up against samurai rule in the late
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The lords fought a battle of attrition amongst themselves, and
by the last quarter of the sixteenth century, there were approximately a dozen major contenders
for power trying to reunify the country. Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) was able to rise above the
others and, through strategic alliances and sheer military force, including effective use of the
newly imported Western gun technology, brought roughly a third of the country under his
control, including the ikkô ikki.
The Warring States period was characterized by contemporaries as a time of the
overthrowing of authority by subordinates (gekokujô), and in spectacular fashion, an
unsuspecting Nobunaga was betrayed and killed by a vassal named Akechi Mitsuhide.
Nobunaga’s son died with him, but his shrewd and able general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–
1598), avenged Nobunaga and was able to build on the progress that Nobunaga had made and
complete the unification of the country by 1590. Hideyoshi’s two, failed, attempts to invade
Korea and China were evidence of his megalomania, and his early death in 1598 meant that his
only son, Hideyori, just an infant, was entrusted to a group of five allies who swore to protect
him and the Toyotomi legacy. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) was one of the five. Just three
years after his lord’s death, in 1600, Ieyasu rose up from his power base in the eastern Kantô
plain, where his headquarters of Edo (now Tokyo) was situated, and defeated the forces
aligned with the Toyotomi in the Battle of Sekigahara. Again three years later, in 1603, Ieyasu
established a new shogunate in the Tokugawa’s name. In theory the shogun was invested in his
authority as sei-i-tai shogun (barbarian-quelling general), or shogun, by the emperor; but in
reality, the shogun wielded almost all political power. The appointment as shogun conferred
upon Ieyasu the legitimacy for his de facto power. However, one last major source of
opposition remained, centered around Toyotomi Hideyori. The Tokugawa faced Hideyori and
his allies in two campaigns at Osaka, in 1614 and 1615, effectively wiping them out. Hideyori
himself perished in the flames as the castle burned. Thereafter the Tokugawa remained
hegemons of Japan without resort to battle until the end of their reign, in 1868.
The shogunate under Ieyasu, his son Hidetada (1578–1632), and grandson Iemitsu (1604–
1651) established an impressive range of powers over the other daimyo during the first half of
the seventeenth century that far exceeded those of the two previous shogunates established,
during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and the Ashikaga or Muromachi period (1333–
1568). The Tokugawa shoguante took control over the largest private domain, nearly onequarter of the agricultural lands—and among the richest lands in the realm, concentrated
largely in the rich Kantô plain, in the east, and the Kinai plain, centrally located in the KyotoOsaka region. The early shoguns redesigned much of the political map of Japan to their
strategic advantage by confiscating the lands of their defeated enemies, distributing that land to
win allegiances, and by reassigning or transferring daimyo to different domains, in part to
isolate those whose loyalties were suspect. The Tokugawa assumed control of the key cities of
Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto, where the shogunate constructed, with the forced assistance of many of
the domains, imposing castle complexes; it further compelled the other daimyo to tear down all
auxiliary castles, leaving but one castle per domain. It took control of the major gold and silver
mines in the country, assumed authority over the minting of currency, and created and
controlled a national highway system.
The list of the Tokugawa’s powers did not end there. The shoguns assembled the largest
army in the realm, one that included 80,000 retainers and sub-retainers provided by its allied
daimyo and relatives. They compelled the daimyo to travel every other year to Edo on the
sankin kôtai, or alternate attendance, to wait on them as part of the daimyo’s feudal duty to the
shogun as the sovereign power. The requirements of travel to and from the home domain, the
costs of formal attendance at the shogun’s court, and the expense of maintaining residences and
support staff in Edo, made it a burdensome though informal tax. After stipends paid to
retainers, alternate attendance-related expenses consumed the largest amount in daimyo
budgets and thus limited the lords’ ability to act independently to challenge Tokugawa
authority. The subordinate position of the daimyo was further magnified in the “Laws for the
Military Houses,” first issued in 1615, which was meant to regulate their activities and
behavior.
Apropos their formal title “barbarian-quelling general,” the Tokugawa shoguns took
control of most aspects of Japan’s foreign relations, resulting in the exclusion of the Portuguese
and Spanish traders and missionaries in 1639, a determined and violent campaign to
exterminate Christianity, and the restriction of most foreign trade to Nagasaki, a Tokugawacontrolled port in the southern island of Kyushu. As a result of these efforts to eliminate the
meddlesome influence of the Portuguese and Spanish, whose religious campaign in Japan
threatened to disrupt the Tokugawa’s efforts to exert effective centralized control over the
country, Japan’s relations with the outside world after 1639 were limited primarily to contact
with its neighbors, China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands. Relations with Korea were carried
on through a Japanese intermediary, Tsushima, an island domain located between Japan and
Korea, while relations with Ryukyu were conducted through Satsuma, Tokugawa Japan’s
southernmost domain, in Kyushu. The shogunate carefully managed these foreign relations to
further cement the legitimacy of the Tokugawa by parading missions from Korea and Ryukyu up
the central highway network to Edo, as evidence that its prestige extended abroad to foreign
lands. Of the Europeans, only the Dutch were allowed to remain, their small trade mission
sequestered on the manmade island of Deshima in Nagasaki harbor. Thus began a period of
firm control over external relations, which also entailed relative national seclusion vis-à-vis
the West.
Historians have also debated the nature of the polity created by the Tokugawa and have
characterized it by a number of different terms. The oxymoron “centralized feudalism” was a
term often used by Western historians from the mid-1950s to describe what some saw as the
hybrid nature of the political system, with its balance of Tokugawa authority and daimyo
autonomy. This was closely related to the term bakuhan seido, or “system of the bakufu
(shogunate) and domains,” favored by Japanese historians. More recently, other Western
historians have described it as an “integrated yet decentralized state structure” or a “compound
state,” the latter term emphasizing the autonomy of the daimyo commanding large domains in
the peripheries of Japan. Other scholars prefer the term “Tokugawa state” to emphasize that the
shogunate was the state and that its power and authority was analogous to the “absolute states”
of early modern Europe, such as France and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. James White, in particular, has argued that the Tokugawa state grew in “stateness,”
maintaining a monopoly on the exercise of legitimate force, meaning that the shogunate
maintained an exclusive right to use force against the daimyo. The lords, however, could not
use force among themselves, nor could they do so at will against their own people.
While it is true that the daimyo faced no regular exactions other than the alternate
attendance, and had great latitude in ruling the domains under their control—as long as they
followed the laws of Edo—their positions remained conditional on Tokugawa authority. As
noted above, the total range of controls the Tokugawa exercised over the daimyo was quite
impressive, and even the largest and most distant domains obeyed Tokugawa demands to
contribute to costly riparian works, such as the construction of river dikes, to compile at the
shogunate’s demand an annual census and survey of religious sectarian affiliation (shûmon
aratame chô), to provide information to the shogunate for the compilation of national maps, not
to mention to perform faithfully the alternate attendance. The central highway network, the
Gokaidô, was maintained at daimyo expense, but was Tokugawa territory and under its control,
regardless of the domain through which the roads coursed. In short, the Tokugawa remained the
sovereign authority in Japan, even if its capacity to rule declined in effectiveness, particularly
during the nineteenth century. It was, however, the shogun’s inability to fulfill his mandate to
protect Japan from the barbarian Westerners in the 1850s that worked most to undermine his
government’s authority and led to its overthrow in 1868.
Social and Economic Life
Given that warfare had wracked Japan for so long, the Tokugawa rulers placed a high
priority on establishing and maintaining political and social order. They found attractive a
body of thought called Neo-Confucianism, which had supported imperial rule in China for
nearly half a millennium. Under this doctrine, emphasis was placed on a hereditary-based,
four-tiered system of status groups or “estates” (mibunsei). In applying it to Tokugawa Japan,
the samurai, Japan’s counterpart to China’s scholar-officials, occupied the highest rung. They
were to act as the political leaders and role models for the rest of society. They were to
eschew trade and to pursue the “twin ways” of martial skills and the literary arts, particularly
Neo-Confucian studies. In this hierarchy of “estates” or occupations, the peasants came next,
followed by the artisans (craftsmen) and merchants, in that order. This hierarchy reflected the
ruling samurai’s perspective; hence, peasants, who tilled the earth, producing the crops that fed
the population, came second. Artisans were third because they produced goods of utility for the
people. Merchants found themselves at the bottom of this idealized vision of society because,
while necessary for the circulation of goods, they pursued profit, which was held in disdain
according to Confucian morality. In numerical terms, samurai made up roughly 6 percent of the
population, with the peasantry comprising about 85 percent, and merchants and artisans,
another 9 percent.
According to the ideology that undergirded the status system, it was the ruler’s
responsibility to act with humanity and benevolence toward the people; to create a just society
in which the people could live in comfort. At the same time, the lower three estates were to
follow faithfully those above them in rank. There were also familistic overtones to this
ideology, with the rulers fulfilling the role of parents and the samurai and other status groups
that of the family members.
The status system was reinforced by the various policies of the unifiers, particularly those
of Hideyoshi, in what amounted to a “sixteenth-century revolution.” The sword hunt (1588)
largely took weapons out of the hands of the peasantry; together with the daimyo’s efforts to
draw the samurai off the land and into the castle towns—heinô bunri, or the “separation of
farmer and warrior”—this resulted in the physical and functional separation of samurai from
the peasantry. Farming and the military service became exclusive occupations. Peasants were
not to take up arms. Also, according to Hideyoshi’s edicts of 1591, peasants were not to
abandon their fields and go into trade or wage labor, and samurai were not to return to the
land, thus “freezing” the social order.
This idealized conception of a social order based on a hierarchy of estates and natural
order, however, was in many ways inconsistent with social realities. To begin with, while
there were four status groups, the basic division in Tokugawa society was between samurai
and non-samurai. For most purposes, peasants, artisans, and merchants were considered a
single status group of commoners. In village population registers, for example, no distinctions
were made between those who were strictly farmers and others who were merchants or
artisans. The line between samurai and commoner was also sometimes blurred, as there was
some limited mobility across the dividing line, particularly late in the Tokugawa period. Also,
each status category encompassed a wide range of socioeconomic stratification. For example a
daimyo’s upper-ranking vassal and a low-ranking vassal both belonged to the samurai status
group, but a largely unbridgeable social gulf separated the two. The wealthy head of the Mitsui
family and a street peddler were both merchants, but again had little in common with one
another. One other problem with the status system was that large numbers of people did not fit,
or fit neatly, into any of these four categories—the emperor and court nobility, the Shinto and
Buddhist clergy, physicians and scholars, actors, prostitutes, itinerant entertainers, sumo
wrestlers, and outcastes.
Moreover, status reflected a politically constructed ordering of society, and over time, it
grew increasingly out of sync with economic power. As a result, the low-ranking vassal
mentioned above might have more in common with a townsman than with a higher-ranking
samurai. Accordingly, during the latter half of the Tokugawa period, the social pretensions of
many samurai seemed out of line with their difficult economic position, which declined in
overall terms relative to the other social groups. The samurai were handicapped by
prohibitions on their engaging in trade or farming and by their rulers’ fixed notion of the ideal
economy as an agrarian-based one. Since samurai had the prerogative of wearing the two
swords, one would imagine that as a group, they would be able to improve their economic lot
by demanding more taxes from the peasantry. On the contrary, we find that the samurai as the
ruling class were not able, or willing to try, to extract more taxes from the countryside from
about the early eighteenth century, perhaps to avoid fomenting social unrest. As a result,
commoners but not samurai benefitted from increased agricultural production and commercial
trade. Most samurai experienced economic difficulties, as their daimyo attempted to cope with
the increasing costs of alternate attendance by taking a percentage of their stipends. In short, the
uneven distribution of economic growth contributed to an inversion of status and economic
power, one result being the creation of an increasingly wealthy and educated commoner
population.
Japan’s economy grew rapidly during the seventeenth century, stimulated by conditions of
peace, a more stable population, and the dynamics of the alternate attendance system, which
created a regular pattern of elite movement between the domains and Edo and a rising demands
for goods, services, and revenues. The population increased from an estimated 12 million at
the beginning of the period to the more reliable figure of about 31 million, based on a
nationwide census in 1720, when it leveled off. Roughly 10 percent of the population came to
live in the castle towns that were constructed at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the
seventeenth centuries, as the daimyo consolidated their control over their domains and drew
their retainers off the land to live by their side. The settlement of the samurai in the castle
towns induced wide-ranging economic change, as merchants and artisans followed the samurai
to cater to their needs and, as the cities grew, to meet the growing needs of other commoners as
well. These processes amounted to an urban revolution without parallel in world history, with
nearly half of today’s largest cities in Japan coming into existence as castle towns during a
brief span, from 1580 to 1610. Roughly 140 castle towns maintained populations of at least
5,000 people, and these domain capitals were linked by good roads, along which smallermarket towns and settlements developed. The populations of Kanazawa (the castle town of
Kaga domain) and Nagoya (the castle town of one of the Tokugawa branch families) topped
100,000. At the apex of the urban hierarchy, above the castle towns, stood the so-called “three
metropolises,” Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, all of which were directly administered by the
shogunate. Osaka, known as the “country’s kitchen,” was also a major manufacturing, shipping,
and distribution center. It was primarily a commoner city, with a small samurai population, and
the major rice market for western and central Japan. It reached a peak in population of
450,000–500,000 by the end of the eighteenth century. Kyoto, the old imperial capital and
handicraft center, was likewise primarily a commoner city; its population peaked in the midseventeenth century at 400,000, before leveling off at 350,000. The capital of Edo, whose
growth was fed by the headquartering of the shogunate there and the regularization of alternate
attendance, likely reached over a half million by 1657 and well over a million mark by 1720
(with roughly half of the population being of samurai status), making it arguably the world’s
largest urban center at that time. In total, some 5–7 percent of all Japanese lived in large cities
with more than 100,000 residents, compared with a figure of 2 percent in Europe, making
Japan one of the most urbanized societies in the world.
The removal of samurai from the land and their resettlement in castle towns resulted in a
profound transformation of the group, from a feudal military class with close ties to the land to
an economically dependent, urban-based, underemployed elite. Due to the large size of the
samurai status group (5–7% of the population), the vast majority of samurai held no
bureaucratic posts, but government service remained highly desirable and much sought after.
Accordingly, a formal, Confucian-based education became essential, such that by the end of the
seventeenth century, an illiterate samurai was the subject of ridicule. While warrior traditions
were kept alive, the daily life of a Tokugawa samurai would have seemed quite odd to his
predecessor in the Warring States period. Residing in castle towns and paid largely in rice
from the daimyo’s warehouses, a samurai was unlikely to have had much opportunity to
interact with peasants. In fact, samurai had to have official permission just to travel to the
countryside. His life in the city became subject to rules that regulated his behavior and work.
As part of a daimyo’s retainer band, samurai became part of a stratified and elaborate civil
administrative body that ran the machinery of government for urban, rural, temple and shrine,
financial, and social affairs. Under conditions of peace, loyalty to the lord came to be defined
as bureaucratic service rather than bravery on the battlefield.
The Great Peace for samurai created tensions between a long and proud martial tradition
and the newfound reality of bureaucratic service. They were urged by legal codes and
Confucian scholars to follow the twin ways (ryôdô) of military training (bu) and book learning
(bun). In the long run, however, military training suffered, despite the periodic reforms
undertaken by the shogunate and domain governments to improve military skills. Samurai could
hone their martial skills in practice halls, but their right to use their swords was highly
circumscribed by legal code. These tensions between samurai as military men and as a civil
administrative elite came to a head in the famous Akô Incident, when, in 1702, 47 masterless
samurai followed the unwritten code of the warrior in avenging the death of their lord, but in
doing so broke shogunal law. After lengthy debate among Tokugawa officials, an
accommodation was reached: the law of the land was upheld by punishing the men with
seppuku, or ritual disembowelment; yet their loyalty to their lord was also validated, as they
were allowed to die as samurai (rather than to have suffered beheading, as commoners), and
they were buried near their lord at Sengakuji temple in Edo.
In the countryside from which the samurai were withdrawn, self-sufficient, cooperative
farming prevailed at the beginning of the Tokugawa period. By the eighteenth century, however,
rural life had changed remarkably. A doubling of the acreage under cultivation over the course
of the Tokugawa period meant that, given the stable population after 1720, material life and
general socioeconomic conditions improved markedly. Commercial farming spread widely, for
farmers did not hold fast to the samurai ruler’s agronomist views of the economy. As urban
demand for goods increased, farmers grew profitable cash crops for the market, such as
vegetables, tobacco, cotton, and rapeseed (for lighting oil), among others. The use of money
thus penetrated the countryside and became a common feature of rural life. Moreover, as a
result of the increasing involvement of rural families in craft production, processing industries
and trade, the idealized Confucian status system no longer reflected a reality in the countryside
where peasants worked as merchants and artisans, either as forms of by-employment or as
exclusive occupations, or as wage laborers. By the nineteenth century, much of this wage labor
stayed close by in the countryside rather than migrating, temporarily or permanently, to the
cities.
The increasing monetization of the economy during the Tokugawa period greatly affected
the lives of both townsmen and samurai. The samurai were particularly impacted, as most
were paid in kind, in bales of rice, the majority of which needed to be converted to cash to pay
for household goods and the salaries of their servants, if they could afford them. Domainal
samurai were hard hit by the forced paybacks to the lord, and many had to resort to handicraft
production—making sun parasols, cricket cages (used mainly by children to hold insects like
crickets whose chirping was prized), or toothpicks, for example—and to a greater reliance on
urban merchants for loans. Even the shogun’s direct vassals (housemen and bannermen) had a
difficult time. While their incomes remained stable, their consumer wants increased, driving
them into chronic debt. The higher-ranking bannermen were prohibited from engaging in such
labor, but many were known to act as landlords to other samurai and townsmen alike by
building tenement housing on the plots of land they were allotted by the shogun as part of their
feudal relationship.
Cultural Life
By the end of the seventeenth century, conditions were ripe for the development of popular
culture in Japan. This was made possible by improving economic conditions that resulted in
widely held surplus wealth; the concentration of population in urban centers; a well-developed
transport network; rising rates of literacy; social attitudes that encouraged the wide
dissemination of knowledge; and improvements in printing technology that made it physically
possible. In particular, printed books (with woodblocks rather than with movable type presses)
and woodblock prints revolutionized access to information.
Assessing popular literacy is difficult, as there was considerable variation by social status,
by geographic region, and by gender, but there is ample evidence that by the end of the
seventeenth century, literacy and learning were, comparatively, quite widespread. According
to one estimate, by the late Tokugawa period, on average roughly 43 percent of boys and 10–
15 percent of girls received some schooling and achieved basic literacy. A high level of
education became nearly universal among samurai, but literacy also became common among
village officials, and wealthy townsmen and women. As literacy spread the number of
publishers, booksellers, and lending libraries increased, greatly expanding access to
information across society. While the largest number of publisher-booksellers were
concentrated in Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, other important regional centers developed in a
number of castle towns as well.
Long-lasting peace and modest economic growth created conditions in which literacy
spread widely and greatly impacted Tokugawa society and culture. Commoners, at urban and
rural temple schools, were taught basic reading and writing skills, but might also learn
calculation using the abacus, history, and geography; girls could also receive instruction in
sewing, tea ceremony, flower arrangement or an instrument, like the three-stringed shaminsen,
or dance. Most samurai across Japan gained an education in the Confucian classics, which
assumed the equivalent importance of the Greek and Roman classics for men in Elizabethan
England. Both samurai and commoners could also find more advanced instruction in a variety
of disciplines in private schools and academies. At those institutions they could take up
additional study of Confucian scholarship, Nativist scholarship (which focused on ancient texts
that were studied to gain an understanding of an essential Japanese culture), Western
scholarship (yôgaku), military training (heigaku) and military learning (gungaku), not to
mention a variety of arts, such as the tea ceremony, Noh chanting, poetry writing, calendar
making, or the study of a musical instrument.
Increased commercialization, the monetization of the economy, and rising literacy all
resulted in the creation of a group of consumers who sought after the various products of
popular literature, such as novels, stories of the floating world, poetry, illustrated guidebooks
and instruction manuals, and the arts, particularly woodblock prints. Urban consumers also
sought entertainment in the “floating world” entertainment districts of licensed brothels,
theaters, teahouses, and restaurants. These were particularly famous in the three metropolises
of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, but smaller-scale versions could be found in the major castle towns
as well.
Expanding commercial networks also brought culture to the peripheries of Japan. Traveling
acting troupes, monks and poets “brought new forms of entertainment and religious expression
to the peasants.”6 They made religious pilgrimages to famous temples and shrines to worship
the buddhas and kami (gods), stopping along their route at cities, where they could absorb
urban fashion and culture, or new ideas, and bring them back with them to the countryside.
Theirs, however, was not just a passive reception of urban culture, as peasants in the
countryside in the latter half of the Tokugawa period engaged in cultural pursuits themselves,
writing poetry, acting in kabuki plays, and practicing sword fighting. The example of kabuki is
particularly instructive. At first traveling troupes from urban areas introduced it to the
countryside to make money by staging performances at village festivals, but gradually peasants
in the countryside made it their own by staging their own performances. Members of youth
associations (wakamonogumi) played an important role as actors in the theatrical
performances and more generally as organizers of festivals, which could also include dancing
(particularly kagura, a type of Shinto theatrical dancing), puppet theater, kabuki and comic
theater, sumo wrestling and fireworks. According to one postwar survey, some 700–1,000
stages and theaters still remained in the countryside, all dating from the second half of the
Tokugawa period, an indication of how widely theatrical forms of culture had spread in the
countryside.
Conclusion
The Tokugawa years were sandwiched between two periods of intense contact with the
West. With the exception of the Dutch, the European missionaries and traders either left or
were expelled from the country by 1639 and did not resist the Tokugawa. More than 200 years
later, however, the situation was quite different. The Western powers were more persistent,
and the superiority of their military technology undeniable. The intrusion of Western gunships
in Japanese waters turned the political system upside down and revealed the weakness of the
shogun, who was unable to protect Japan from the barbarians. The emperor was drawn back
into politics by loyalist samurai who championed his cause and whose slogan “Revere the
Emperor and Expel the Barbarian” was a call to overthrow the Tokugawa. Indeed the
shogunate fell within 15 years of the arrival of Commodore Perry, at the hands of a coalition of
samurai from a small group of southern domains. The opposition forces overthrew the samuraibased shogunate, creating in effect an “aristocratic revolution,” an unusual occurrence in world
history. The collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate after 265 years of existence should not,
however, detract from its considerable achievements in forging a stable, long-lasting, vibrant,
and culturally rich society.
Notes
1. Reinhard Bendix, Kings or People: Power and the Mandate to Rule (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978),
440.
2. Michael Cooper, They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543–1640 (London: Thames
and Hudson, 1965), 16.
3. Sir Rutherford Alcock, The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of Three Years’ Residence in Japan, vol. 2 (London:
Blackwood, 1860), 250.
4. Fukuzawa Yukichi, The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi, trans. Eiichi Kiyooka (New York: Columbia University
Press, 2007), 20.
5. George Sansom, A History of Japan, 1615–1867 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1963), 457.
6. Anne Walthall, “Peripheries: Rural Culture in Tokugawa Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica 39, no. 4 (1984): 371.
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Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos. Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Council
on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1994.
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Evaluating and Interpreting Primary
Documents
Documents are the raw material of history. They come in a variety of forms and types, such as
government documents, letters, diaries, personal memoirs, polemics, graffiti, play scripts,
novels, songs, poems and other literary forms, paintings, woodblock prints, maps, architectural
plans, photographs, even material objects. They are the primary, meaning original, source
materials that historians use to create their studies, in article or book form. A modern textbook
of Japanese history; a modern biography like Conrad Totman’s Tokugawa Ieyasu. Shogun; or a
modern monograph like Richard Rubinger’s study of literacy in early modern Japan may be
helpful in explaining the Tokugawa period and its people to readers today, but they are all
secondary descriptions—interpretations—based on the firsthand accounts created by persons
actually living at the time and preserved in primary source documents.
Primary sources in written form, as illustrated by the document selections included in
Voices of Early Modern Japan, were generally written by a single author (though some have
been created by multiple authors), at a particular historical moment and for a particular
purpose. Some sources were written for personal reasons or as personal records without any
expectation that others would read them, while others were written conscious of a larger
audience or with the expectation that they would be published. Some documents were intended
to inform, to persuade, or perhaps to entertain. They can reflect, or are the product of, poor or
selective, memories, mistaken information, or a desire to mislead or deceive the reader
intentionally. Regardless of these challenges in using primary source materials, historians must
carefully evaluate and test them to determine their reliability and usefulness.
How to Read Primary Documents
The poet W. H. Auden famously wrote that history is the study of questions. Accordingly,
when evaluating primary sources, historians ask the following:
1. Who wrote or produced it? What do we know about his/her life or career and how might
this have influenced the nature of the document (i.e., the question of bias)?
2. When and where was the source written or produced? How close or far from the date of
the events described was it? If a long time had passed, how might that have affected the
source?
3. Where was the source written or produced? In what country or region? How might the
cultural values and religious views of the author or producer have affected the document?
What phrases in the document signal or inform the reader about these values and views?
4. How was the source written or produced? What form did it take originally?
5. Why was the source written or produced? What was its creator’s intention or purpose?
What is the overall tone of the source?
6. For whom was the source written or produced (the intended audience)? Who was the
audience, and what do we know about it? How was the document used, and how widely
distributed or read was it?
7. Overall, how can we evaluate the content of the source? How reliable does it appear to
be? What might the author have left out, intentionally or not?
Readers of the documents in Voices of Early Modern Japan should apply these questions
to each of the selections in the volume. The “Introduction,” “Keep in Mind as You Read,” and
“Aftermath” sections provided will assist you in reflecting on these questions.
When analyzing a primary document, historians also try to identify the keywords, phrases,
and passages used by the author and try to understand what the author meant by them. These
phrases tell the reader about the values of the writer of which even he or she may not have
been fully conscious. The values by which we, today, read a document are not likely the values
of the people who lived then. Accordingly, the key is trying to understand the cultural values of
the time period in question so we can better interpret the original writings of the time.
Historians also seek to summarize the main thesis or theses of the source to understand what
point or overall argument the author was trying to make. Once the thesis is clear, then the
historian can evaluate the evidence presented and determine whether, or to what extent, the
evidence supports the author’s conclusions.
An important part of the historian’s craft is to examine sources within the context of their
time—in other words, to ask whether it is similar to others from the same time period and how
it might compare in terms of tone and content. By comparing one document with another on the
same topic, historians can determine if a given author agrees or disagrees with other
contemporary authors and whether or not a document supports what he or she already knows
from other sources.
It is also important for historians to consider how widely a document is circulated and in
what form. The last question is particularly important, for example, when considering the case
of The Greater Learning for Women (Section 4). This moral or educational tract for women,
which emphasizes the submissive nature of women, was published as part of a larger work
entitled A Treasure Chest of Greater Learning for Women, the latter of which contains, among
other things, a variety of essays of practical matters of daily life, items related to women’s
training in literature and the arts, and illustrations of a large number of occupations performed
by women. However, The Greater Learning for Women was often reproduced by itself; as a
result, the reader is prone to misinterpreting its meaning and significance. Indeed, at least since
the nineteenth century, many observers, both foreign and Japanese, have misunderstood The
Greater Learning for Women by reading it in isolation, as a putative example of the
subordination of women, instead of within the context of the larger work, A Treasure Chest of
Greater Learning for Women, of which it was a part.
Primary documents such as A Treasure Chest of Greater Learning for Women open for us
today a window into the past by offering the actual words of the people who lived then and
who experienced the particular events that were described in the sources. They offer us much
more than simply information about the past; they also provide insight into the time period, the
source’s author, and the society of which he or she was a part. In contrast, secondary sources,
like textbooks and monographs, offer an interpretation of a historical person or events by
writers who did not know the person or directly experience the actual events. By reading
primary sources—and by asking the questions listed above when doing so—we can evaluate
for ourselves what historians have written and come to our own conclusions about the past. By
doing so, the modern reader can be aware that all history is subjective—that is, based on the
individual’s interpretation of evidence and reflective of the interpreter’s opinions and biases.
Thus, by reading the primary sources in this volume and using the tools provided to help
interpret them, you the reader will be in a position to make informed statements about—in fact,
to write a history of—the Tokugawa past.
Edo-Period Primary Documents
The Edo period is one of the most heavily documented periods in premodern world history.
The political system of more than 260 domains and thousands of villages, the latter which
exercised a degree of self-rule, the nationwide implementation of Registers of Religious
Investigation (see #40), not to mention the high degree of literacy in society, meant that vast
amounts of documentation were generated on a daily basis. Immense numbers of documents
from the Edo period remain today, in spite of the intense saturation of aerial bombing that large
numbers of Japanese cities suffered during World War II.
Documents of the Edo period were written with brush and ink, most often on mulberry
paper, but sometimes, in the case of public notices, on wooden signboards. When stored, the
paper is highly subject to insects (paper worms), which eat holes of varying shapes in the
paper. (Modern scholars need to be wary of this when using xeroxed copies of documents so
as not to mistake the hole patterns for writing!) To help ward away the insects, some
individuals applied a thick layer of persimmon juice with a brush on the outside cover of
books, giving it a slight orange-brown hue.
During the Edo period, all official government-related documents were in a formal,
epistolary, writing style called sôrôbun. The term is derived from its two constituent parts,
sôrô (a polite auxiliary verb meaning “to be”) and bun (in this context, meaning “writing” or
“style”). It is a formal style of writing based on the grammatical structure of classical
Japanese, and it continued to be used after the Tokugawa period until shortly after the end of
World War II in 1945. It is also a hybrid form of writing, meaning that although its grammar
was based on classical Japanese it also used many Chinese characters (kanji), generally
omitted the use of the native Japanese syllabic characters (kana) as particles and verb suffixes,
and often placed words in Chinese rather than Japanese word order; reading documents in this
writing style required a fair level of education, since Japanese is quite a different language
from Chinese (they are not even in the same language family). Lastly, sôrôbun also generally
omitted punctuation marks, which means that the reader mentally had to insert commas and
periods as he or she followed the text.
Since the Japanese had no native system of their own, writing, along with many other forms
of culture, was imported from China in the sixth or seventh century. Not surprisingly, Japanese
calligraphy, called shodô, or “the way of writing,” was heavily influenced by Chinese styles.
In Japan, though, three basic writing styles developed. In kaisho (lit. “correct writing”), the
strokes for each character are made in a clear and deliberate manner, quite similar to the way
the character looks in a printed version. The second style of calligraphy, called gyôsho (lit.
“traveling writing”), is done in a semi-cursive fashion, and therefore has a more flowing and
artistic appearance. This is the style that was used for many official documents and personal
diarists. The third style, sôsho (lit. “grass writing”), is a fully cursive style, written in such a
manner that the brush rarely leaves the paper. Accordingly, it is the most difficult of the three to
read. This style had much appeal for copyists (personnel whose job it was to make copies of
official documents), since it was possible to write more quickly in it than in the other two.
Figure 1 The Laws for the Military Houses (buke shohatto), 1683. Note to reader: This five-page document is presented in its
original order (although in its original form it would have consisted of one long piece of paper). To read this document as a
Japanese person of the Tokugawa period you should read it beginning on p. xxxviii and then proceed in reverse numerical order:
i.e., p. xxxvii, p. xxxvi, p. xxxv, and p. xxxiv. Also please remember that Japanese is read from top to bottom and right to left.
(By permission of Okayama University Library.)
In general, laws in Tokugawa Japan were not made public. However, manuals on laws, and
particularly on precedents for dealing with them, were distributed by the shogunate and the
domains to their respective officials. Some basic prohibitions and ordinances were made
public through notice-boards (see Section 16) and by having them read aloud. The latter was
true of the “Laws for the Military Houses” (Section 12), a collection of edicts issued by the
Tokugawa shogunate to regulate the responsibilities and activities of the daimyo. The
document, a copy of which is reproduced here (Figure 1), was first read to the assembled
daimyo by the retired shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, at Fushimi castle, in 1615, before it was
promulgated by the reigning shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada. It was written with brush in gyôsho
(lit. “traveling writing”), the semi-cursive fashion. Each successive shogun formally reissued
the laws, and while there were some stylistic changes, only relatively minor changes in
substance were seen in its various reissues. In the version from 1682, there were 15 articles,
the beginning of each being indicated by a horizontal line at the top of the page. (It is important
to recognize here that Japanese, like Chinese and Korean, traditionally is read from top to
bottom, right to left.) The first two articles read as follows:
Article. The study of the literature and the practice of the martial arts must be cultivated diligently. Ceremonial
decorum and rectitude should be correctly observed.
Article. The schedule for alternate attendance must be followed faithfully. The number of retainers and attendants
accompanying the lords must not be large.
Government documents issued by one administrative body (e.g., the shogunate) and meant
for a specific official (e.g., the Nagasaki magistrate, who was in charge of the port through
which foreign trade was conducted for most of the Tokugawa period) or to the daimyo, as in
the Laws for the Military Houses, were copied for distribution in manuscript form. Other
documents, such as personal diaries or essays, Tadano Makuzu’s “Solitary Thoughts” (see
Section 4) being a case of the latter, often remained in manuscript form. In Tadano’s case her
essay was published posthumously. Mori Masana’s voluminous diaries (see Figure 2) never
were. Other works that gained some notoriety would often be made more widely available in
printed form—the rise of commercial printing and publishing was one of the hallmarks of the
Edo period. In printing, publishers used engraved woodblocks, which were carved by artisans,
rather than printing presses using movable type. Although the printing press had been
introduced to Japan from Korea in the late sixteenth century, for economic and aesthetic
reasons it was not as suited to the Japanese, and publishers continued to use the traditional
method of printing with woodblocks.
Japan has a rich tradition of diary literature; during the Tokugawa period many Japanese of
varying social status—samurai, peasant (usually the village leadership class), artisan and
merchant—were avid diarists and have left us a rich body of accounts of daily life. For
example, the samurai family Mori of Tosa domain maintained such a tradition for about 100
years. Mori Masana, his father Yoshiki and his grandfather Hirosada, all kept impressive,
extensive diaries. Masana maintained a diary about his life in his castle town of Kôchi but also
wrote extensively—10 volumes in total—about his five trips to Edo, over the years 1828–
1856, and his periods of residence there in the shogun’s capital of Edo. He, too, like many
diarists, wrote in semi-cursive (gyôsho), but had a very idiosyncratic writing style. In Figure
2, an excerpt from Volume 1 of his untitled Edo diary (later anonymously given the title Mori
Masana Edo nikki, or Mori Masana’s Edo Diary), he writes of his arrival in Edo after a trip
of more than a month. The entry for this day begins with the fourth line from the right and is
indented (down) about two spaces. For special effect, he brushed circles to the right of certain
words, much as English speakers might underline or italicize words (as has been done in the
translated excerpt below):
Same (month, i.e., Fifth Month), Second Day. The rain has stopped.
The procession was scheduled for a 4 a.m. departure, and accordingly shortly before 4 we set out. We arrived at
the main domain compound in Edo at Kajibashi a little past ten a.m. Then I went to report my arrival to the officials
Koyagi Chôzô, Mori Nakaemon, and Seki Konpei. . . . [Later] I went to the residence of [Mori] Okiemon [a relative],
together with my brother [Yoshie], Seto Yasuei and Sakai Genjirô, where we were treated to soup and tea over rice
(chazuke). We each bathed, and then from there we went to my brother’s residence, which is located in the barracks
in the northern perimeter building of the domain compound.
Figure 2 Mori Masana Edo nikki (Mori Masana’s Edo Diary), volume 1.
(By permission of Kôchi Prefectural Museum of History.)
Other forms of documents combined images with written text, as in illustrated books but
also in the case of kawaraban (lit. “tile printing”), which were inexpensively printed
broadsheets or news-sheets made illegally, that is without official permission, from clay
printing blocks. We might think of them as an early modern version of a newspaper.
Kawaraban contained news of major fires, earthquakes and other disasters, revenge tales (see
#26), double suicides (typically by courtesans of the pleasure quarters and their lovers) and
other topics of interest to townspeople. Those that dealt with political matters were often
censored or prohibited, and as a result most did not include the publisher’s name.
One of the earliest broadsheets of the Tokugawa period (Figure 3) informs the reader of the
events surrounding the fall of Osaka Castle in 1615, which had been in the hands of the forces
loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori, to the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate. In the top right, Osaka
Castle is burning. Below the castle, and within the enclosure, are written the names of the
generals who died along with Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother Yodogimi. Depicted to the
left of the castle, within the enclosure, are women offering their outer garments and begging for
their lives. Below the enclosure we see the forces of the Eastern Army (Tokugawa forces)
battling the Toyotomi forces. At the bottom of the print are listed the names of the generals
serving under the shogun, Hidetada, and the retired shogun, Ieyasu. Later in the Tokugawa
period, a daimyo named Matsura Seizan (1760–1841) reported that this print had been sold in
the Osaka area after the battle and had even been purchased by members of the Tokugawa
forces, perhaps like a souvenir of the event.
Figure 3 The Battle of Abeno, Seige of Osaka Castle, 1615 (Ôsaka Abeno gassen no zu).
(By permission of Waseda University Library, Tokyo, Japan.)
Timeline of Japanese History from the MidSixteenth Century through the Tokugawa
Period, 1543–1868
(*with significant dates in world history)
1543
Matchlock muskets are said to have been introduced to Japan by the
Portuguese.
1549
Francisco Xavier lands in Japan, establishes first Christian mission in
Japan at Kagoshima.
1568
Oda Nobunaga enters Kyoto, installs Askikaga Yoshiaki as shogun.
1570
Nagasaki Harbor is opened for trade.
*1571 Spain founds Manilla (Philippines).
1575
Battle of Nagashino: the forces of Oda Nobunaga, employing volley fire
for the first time, defeat rival Takeda Katsuyori.
1580
Ômura Sumitada cedes jurisdiction over Nagasaki to the Society of
Jesus.
1588
Toyotomi Hideyoshi exerts direct control over Nagasaki; Hideyoshi
issues edict prohibiting possession of weapons by commoners (Sword
Hunt).
1590
Toyotomi Hideyoshi destroys the Hôjô family, completing pacification of
Japan.
1592
Toyotomi Hideyoshi launches the first of two invasions of Korea.
1597
Second invasion of Korea; Hideyoshi orders crucifixion of 26 Japanese
and foreign Christians at Nagasaki.
1598
Hideyoshi dies, and Japanese armies retreat from Korea with Korean
potters (who establish Arita, Hagi, and Satsuma wares).
Tokugawa Period, 1600–1868
1600
Battle of Sekigahara: Tokugawa Ieyasu establishes military hegemony
over Japan; first Dutch ship (Liefde) arrives, with Englishman Will
Adams as pilot.
*1600 British East India Company incorporated by royal charter.
1601 (Keichô 6)
Tokugawa Ieyasu begins to issue licenses for the vermillion seal ship
trade.
1602 (Keichô 7)
Spanish galleon Espiritu Santo blown off course to Japan; Tokugawa
Ieyasu, seeking trade with Spain, releases crew.
*1602 Dutch government grants Dutch East India Company a monopoly
on trade in the East Indies.
1603 (Keichô 8)
Tokugawa Ieyasu is appointed sei-i-tai shogun (2/12), founds the
Tokugawa shogunate; Ieyasu orders daimyo to supply labor and materials
to expand castle and city; Izumo no Okuni stages successful dance
dramas in Kyoto, marking the beginning of kabuki theater.
1604 (Keichô 9)
Shogunate confirms right of Matsumae daimyo to trade with the Ainu in
Ezo.
1605 (Keichô 10)
Ieyasu retires as shogun, is succeeded by son Hidetada (4/16), but
continues to rule as Retired Shogun (ogosho sama).
1607 (Keichô 12)
Ieyasu normalizes relations with Korea—first embassy from Yi dynasty
arrives in Edo; donjon is completed at Edo Castle (Ninth Month); Izumo
no Okuni is reported to have performed kabuki dances in Edo Castle.
*1607 English settlement established in North America at Jamestown,
Virginia.
1609 (Keichô 14)
Dutch trade station established at Hirado, and Dutch trade in Japan
begins; Satsuma domain forces, with Tokugawa approval, invade the
Ryûkyû Islands, making them a vassal state of Satsuma in 1611.
1610 (Keichô 15)
Kyoto merchant Tanaka Shôsuke accompanies Rodrigo Vivero y Velasco
on his return to New Spain (Mexico).
1611 (Keichô 16)
Dominicans begin missionary activities; Dutch factory established at
Hirado; Sebastian Viscaino (Viceroy of New Spain) granted audience
with retired shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and shogun Tokugawa Hidetada.
1612 (Keichô 17)
Shogunate decrees ban on Christianity in Tokugawa territory.
1613 (Keichô 18)
John Saris arrives in Japan with credentials from England’s King James
I; receives permission for English to trade in Japan.
Date Masamune (daimyo of Sendai) dispatches embassy led by Hasekura
Tsunenaga to Spain to petition Philip III (unsuccessfully) to establish
trade with New Spain (Mexico).
1614 (Keichô 19)
First Osaka campaign (Winter war); ban on Christianity extended
nationwide by Tokugawa Ieyasu; Ieyasu also limits foreign trade to
Hirado and Nagasaki.
1615 (Genna 1)
Defeat of Toyotomi forces and fall of Osaka Castle: Hideyoshi’s son and
appointed heir Hideyori commits seppuku; Shogunate issues first set of
Laws for the Military Houses (Buke shohatto), Regulations Concerning
the Emperor and the Nobility (Kinchû narabi ni kuge shohatto), also
issues order limiting castles to one per domain (ikkoku ichijô rei).
1616 (Genna 2)
Death of Tokugawa Ieyasu; Europeans’ trade confined to Hirado and
Nagasaki.
*1616 William Shakespeare dies.
1617 (Genna 3)
Ieyasu’s remains interred at Nikkô shrine; he is deified as Tôshô
Daigongen, “Iluminator of the East, August Avatar of Buddha” (2/21);
construction of mausoleum at Nikkô for Tokugawa Ieyasu (Third Month).
*1619 Dutch transport first African slaves to North America; Dutch
establish factory at Batavia; it becomes headquarters of Dutch East India
Company.
1620 (Genna 6)
Death of William Adams, first Englishman in Japan.
*1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock.
1622 (Genna 8)
Shogunate’s persecution of Christians begins with the execution of 55
believers at the southern city of Nagasaki (Fifth Month).
1623 (Genna 9)
Hidetada retires as shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu becomes third shogun
(7/27); first senior councilors (rôjû) appointed; shogunate decrees that
masterless samurai, merchants, and artisans may not live on daimyo
estates (2/15).
1624 (Kan’ei 1)
English factory in Hirado closes due to poor business; Spanish ships
prohibited from calling at Japanese ports; persecution of Christians
intensifies.
1626 (Kan’ei 3)
Yoshiwara pleasure-quarters opens; contracts for prostitutes limited to
10 years (Tenth Month).
1629 (Kan’ei 6)
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s granddaughter ascends to the imperial throne as the
sovereign Meishô; shogunate bans women’s kabuki (Tenth Month).
1632 (Kan’ei 9)
Tokugawa Iemitsu constructs Taitokuin mausoleum for his predecessor,
Hidetada (died on 1/24).
First so-called sakoku edict, overseas travel prohibited, foreign ships
1633 (Kan’ei 10)
permitted entry only at Nagasaki.
*1633 Spanish Inquisition begins.
1634 (Kan’ei 11)
Iemitsu begins to reconstruct Nikkô Shrine, Ieyasu’s mausoleum;
construction of Dejima begins; second sakoku edict issued; Shogun
Hidetada visits Kyoto with a large force.
1635 (Kan’ei 12)
Revision of the “Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto), 6/21;
system of alternate attendance enforced for outside lords (tozama
daimyo); Tokugawa shoguns adopt the title of taikun (Great Prince);
third sakoku edict issued, prohibiting overseas travel by Japanese;
Japanese residents abroad prohibited from returning to Japan; capacity
of newly constructed ships limited to 500 koku (49 gross tons); all
foreign shipping restricted to Nagasaki but Dutch factory remains in
operation in Hirado.
1636 (Kan’ei 13)
Fourth sakoku edict issued; construction of buildings on Deshima is
completed and Portuguese, who had lived freely in Nagasaki since 1571,
restricted to it.
1637 (Kan’ei 14)
Shimabara Uprising (1637–1638) mounted by overtaxed peasants.
1639 (Kan’ei 16)
Fifth sakoku edict issued; Portuguese ships banned from Japan and
Portuguese merchants expelled from Deshima; all Westerners except
Dutch prohibited from entering Japan.
1640 (Kan’ei 17)
Four Portuguese envoys, trying to reestablish trade, put to death (Macao
Mission) at Nagasaki.
1641 (Kan’ei 18)
Dutch trading post moved from Hirado to Deshima, an artificial island in
Nagasaki harbor.
*1641 Dutch capture Malacca from the Portuguese.
1643 (Kan’ei 20)
First printed guide to commoners’ food is published as Ryôri
monogatari (“Tales of Cooking”).
*1644 Ming dynasty collapses; Manchus establish Qing dynasty (1644–
1912) in China.
1648 (Keian 1)
Shogunate issues major legal code for Edo commoners.
1649 (Keian 2)
The shogunate issues the “Instructions of the Keian Era.”
1651 (Keian 4)
Tokugwa Ietsuna (Iemitsu’s eldest son) becomes shogun at age ten; Yui
Shôsetsu plots unsuccessful uprising against the Tokugawa shogunate.
1652 (Jôô 1)
Young man’s kabuki is banned (6/27).
1656 (Meireki 2)
1657 (Meireki 3)
Yamaga Sokô writes on the “way of the warrior” in his Bukyô yôroku
(“Essentials of the Warrior Code”).
“Meireki Fire” ravages Edo for three days, killing more than 100,000
and burning roughly half of the city; compilation of national history Dai
Nihonshi (“History of Great Japan”) begun at direction of daimyo
Tokugawa Mitsukuni (not completed until 1906).
*1657 Great Fire of London.
1658 (Manji 1)
Shogunate organizes four samurai firefighting squads for Edo (9/8).
1661 (Kanbun 1)
Asai Ryoi publishes Tôkaidô meishoki (“Account of Famous Places on
the Tôkaidô Highway”).
1662 (Kanbun 2)
Asai Ryoi publishes Edo meishoki (“Account of Famous Places in
Edo”).
1665 (Kanbun 5)
Registers of Religious Investigation (shûmon aratame) implemented:
shogunate requires daimyo to conduct yearly inquisition of religious
affiliation to eradicate Christianity.
1669 (Kanbun 9)
Ainu leader Shakushain leads an attack on Japanese settlements in Ezo
territory.
1672
12)
(Kanbun Kawamura Zuiken completes development of coastal shipping routes
around Japan.
1673 (Enpô 1)
Mitsui family opens Echigoya, a dry goods store, in Edo (Eighth Month);
the English ship Return enters Nagasaki harbor but shogunal officials
refuse requests for trade.
1680 (Enpô 8)
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (fourth son of Iemitsu) becomes fifth shogun,
nicknamed the “dog shogun.”
1682 (Tenna 2)
Ihara Saikaku publishes Kôshoku ichidai otoko (The Life of an Amorous
Man), first of new genre ukiyô-zoshi (“tale of the floating world”),
combining images with written text.
*1683 Vienna under siege by Ottoman Turks.
1685 (Jôkyô 2)
Shogunate sets limits on previously unrestricted trade from Nagasaki;
limits set on amount of silver for export; copper becomes primary
export; first of shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s Edicts on Compassion for
Living Things (shôrui awaremi no rei).
1688
1)
Beginning of Genroku period, widely viewed as a cultural highpoint of
Tokugawa era, first flowering of urban culture; Chinese Residence (tôjin
yashiki) built in Nagasaki for Chinese traders.
(Genroku
*1688 Peter the Great attempts to westernize Russia.
1689
2)
(Genroku Bashô completes his collection of haikai poetry Oku no hosomichi (The
Narrow Road to the Deep North).
*1689 English Bill of Rights enacted.
1690
3)
(Genroku
1693
6)
(Genroku
German physician Englebert Kaempfer arrives on Deshima, stays two
years and visits Edo twice; later, he writes History of Japan (published
posthumously, 1727).
Author Ihara Saikaku dies.
1694
7)
Haiku poet Matsuo Basho dies; merchants in Edo form the “organization
(Genroku of ten associations of wholesalers” (tokumidoiya); in Osaka, merchants
form “organization of twenty-four associations of wholesalers”
(nijûshikumidoiya).
1695
8)
(Genroku Shogunate completes census of Edo’s commoner population (353,588
persons).
1697
10)
(Genroku
Dojima Rice Exchange founded in Osaka.
*1699 Chinese permit English to trade at Guangzhou.
1701
14)
(Genroku Lord Asano of Akô wounds shogunal official Kira Yoshinaka in Edo
castle; by this date, Edo is probably the largest city in the world.
1702
15)
Former retainers of Akô domain carry out revenge killing of Kira
(Genroku Yoshinaka (known as Akô Incident or Forty-Seven Rônin Incident;
Twelfth Month).
1703
16)
(Genroku
Over 200,000 perish in large earthquake in southern Kantô region.
*1703 Czar Peter I of Russia founds St. Petersburg.
*1704 First newspaper in the American colonies published.
1707 (Hôei 4)
Last eruption of Mount Fuji.
1708 (Hôei 5)
Jesuit missionary Giovanni Sidotti arrives in Japan, but is arrested,
transported to Edo, and interrogated by Confucian scholar Arai
Hakuseki.
1709 (Hôei 6)
Tokugawa Ienobu succeeds brothers Tsunayoshi (#5) and Ietsuna (#4) as
sixth shogun; Arai Hakuseki becomes a key adviser to shogun.
1713 (Shôtoku 3)
Tokugawa Ietsugu becomes shogun as minor (age four), rules only three
years.
1714 (Shôtoku 4)
Hakuseki attempts to stop Tsushima’s export of silver to Korea, fails;
Neo-Confucian scholar Kaibara Ekiken dies.
1715 (Shôtoku 5)
New regulations issued limiting trade with Dutch and Chinese to stem
outflow of copper; Dutch limited to two ships and Chinese to 30 ships
annually.
1716 (Kyôhô 1)
Tokugawa Yoshimune, great grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, member of
Kii branch of Tokugawa family, becomes eighth shogun; Kyôhô Reforms
(1716–1745) launched; Onna daigaku (The Greater Learning for
Women) is published; Yamamoto Tsunetomo completes Hagakure (“In
the Shadow of Leaves”); Ogata Korin (1658–1716), famous for rinpa
style art, dies.
1718 (Kyôhô 3)
Fire brigades of townsmen (machi hikeshi) formed in Edo.
1720 (Kyôhô 5)
Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune lifts ban on imported Western books;
shogunate creates commoner firefighter units.
1721 (Kyôhô 6)
Suggestion box (meyasu bako) posted in Edo to receive commoners’
appeals to the shogun.
1722 (Kyôhô 7)
Shogunate lifts ban on importing Western books, except those dealing
with Christianity.
1723 (Kyôhô 8)
Rash of love suicides (shinjû) leads to shogunate’s attempts to
discourage them.
1724 (Kyôhô 9)
Playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon dies.
1729 (Kyôhô 14)
Ishida Baigan begins public lectures on Shingaku (Learning from the
Heart).
1732 (Kyôhô 17)
Kyôhô Famine (1632–1633) begins (first of three great famines of Edo
period).
1733 (Kyôhô 18)
Commoners in Edo riot for first time (1/26).
1736 (Gembun 1)
Chinese trade ships limited to 25 vessels annually to reduce the flow of
copper out of Japan.
1742 (Kanpô 2)
Shogunate compiles the kujikata osadamegaki, a codification of its legal
codes (Fourth Month).
1745 (Enkyô 2)
Tokugawa Ieshige becomes ninth shogun, but Yoshimune continues to
rule for two additional years.
1748 (Kan’en 1)
First performance of the puppet play (jôruri) drama Kanadehon
chûshingura (Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), based on
the Akô Incident of 1702.
1753 (Hôreki 3)
Ukiyoe artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1808) is born.
*1754 Beginning of Seven Years’ War (1754–1762).
*1756 Mozart is born in Austria.
1760 (Hôreki 10)
Tokugawa Ieharu (Tokugawa Ieshige’s eldest son) becomes 10th shogun
(rules 1760–1786).
1767 (Meiwa 3)
Tanuma Okitsugu becomes Grand Chamberlain (soba yônin), attempts to
increase the shogunate’s income through expansion of commerce; he falls
from power in 1786; peasant unrest (hyakushô ikki) and disturbances in
urban areas (uchikowashi) occur with increasing frequency.
1772 (An’ei 1)
The great Kôjinzaka Fire destroys large parts of Edo (2/19).
1774 (An’ei 3)
Kaitai shinsho (New Book of Anatomy), a Japanese translation of a
Dutch text on anatomy, is published by Sugita Genpaku and Maeno
Ryôtaku—the first complete Japanese translation of a Western medical
text.
1775 (An’ei 4)
Swede Carl Peter Thunberg begins his term as physician on Deshima as
part of Dutch East India Company.
1776 (An’ei 5)
Ueda Akinari publishes Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and
Rain), a collection of tales of the supernatural.
*1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence issued by Continental Congress.
1779 (An’ei 8)
Dutch surgeon Isaac Titsingh begins first tour of duty as head of Dutch
factory (opperhoofd).
1782 (Tenmei 2)
Tenmei famine (1782–1787) begins, with national death toll estimated
between 200,000 and one million, reports of cannibalism in northern
Japan.
1783 (Tenmei 3)
Mount Asama erupts, killing an estimated 20,000, exacerbates Tenmei
famine.
1787 (Tenmei 7)
Tokugawa Ienari becomes 11th shogun, rules for 50 years, longest of any
shogun, fathers 55 children by 40 consorts; Matsudaira Sadanobu
becomes senior councilor; Kansei Reforms (1787–1793) initiated; riots
spread across Edo (5/20–24).
1789 (Kansei 1)
Debt moratorium declared to assist shogunal retainers.
*1789 George Washington becomes first president of the United States;
French Revolution begins.
1791 (Kansei 3)
First American ship reaches Japan under hire by Dutch East India
Company during Napoleonic Wars; shogunate bans communal bathing of
men and women in public bathhouses in Edo.
1792 (Kansei 4)
Russian ship led by Adam Laxman and sent by Catherine the Great to
establish trade with Japan lands in Ezochi (now Hokkaido); crew
allowed to spend winter but trade not permitted.
1791 (Kansei 3)
Ukiyoe artist Kitagawa Utamaro gains popularity for his prints of
beautiful women.
1793 (Kansei 5)
Matsudaira Sadanobu, author of Kansei reforms, is removed from office
(Seventh Month).
*1793 King Louis XVI of France executed four years after beginning of
French Revolution.
1795 (Kansei 7)
Artist Maruyama Ôkyo (1733–1795) dies.
1797 (Kansei 9)
Famous ukiyoe landscape artist Andô Hiroshige is born.
1799 (Kansei 11)
Takataya Kahei establishes shipping route to Etorofu; Tokugawa
shogunate establishes new position of Hakodate bugyô (Commissioner
of Hakodate) and assumes direct control over lands in southern part of
Ezochi.
*1799 Dutch East India Company dissolved; metric system instituted in
France.
1800 (Kansei 12)
Ino Tadataka begins his cartographic survey of all Japan; completed in
1816.
1802 (Kyôwa 2)
Jippensha Ikku begins the serialized publication of Tôkai dôchû
hizakurige (On Shank’s Mare).
1804 (Bunka 1)
Russian expedition led by Nicolai Petrovich Rezanov unsuccessfully
attempts to establish trade relations; rebuffed, Russians raid Japanese
communities in Kuriles on return home; ukiyoe artist Kitagawa Utamaro
jailed, prohibited from painting, for print deemed offensive by
shogunate.
*1804 Napoleon crowns himself emperor of France.
1806 (Bunka 3)
Woodblock print artist Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753–1806) dies.
*1807 Robert Fulton begins steamboat service on Hudson River.
1808 (Bunka 5)
British warship Phaeton enters Nagasaki harbor under Dutch flag, taking
Dutch traders temporarily hostage; releases Dutch in exchange for
provisions (Phaeton Incident).
1811 (Bunka 8)
Captain Vasili Golovnin of Russia captured and imprisoned by Japanese
while surveying the Kuril Islands (released in 1813); in 1816 publishes
account of his imprisonment, Narrative of My Captivity in Japan,
during the Years 1811, 1812, and 1813.
1812 (Bunka 9)
Takataya Kahei taken captive by Russians in Kuril Islands; freed in
1813, he helps negotiate release of Russian Captain Vasili Golovnin.
1814 (Bunka 11)
Kurozumi Munetada founds the religious sect Kurozumikyô.
*1815 Napoleon defeated at Waterloo.
*1819 British found Singapore.
*1821 Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
1823 (Bunsei 6)
German Philipp Franz von Siebold arrives in Japan to serve as physician
for Dutch East India Company on Deshima.
*1823 U.S. president James Monroe proclaims Monroe Doctrine.
1825 (Bunsei 8)
Shogunate issues Ikokusen uchiharai rei (Order for the Repelling of
Foreign Ships, known popularly as the “Don’t Think Twice” edict) in
response to upsurge in foreign ships intruding in Japanese waters.
1829 (Bunsei 12)
Dr. Philipp Franz von Siebold placed under house arrest at Deshima for
taking into possession maps of Japan from Takahashi Kageyasu; later,
Seibold is banished from Japan.
1831 (Tenpô 2)
Andô Hiroshige begins work on series of woodblock prints entitled
“Famous Places in Edo”; Katsushika Hokusai’s series “Thirty-six Views
of Mt. Fuji” begins to appear.
1833 (Tenpô 4)
Andô Hiroshige travels Tôkaidô Road with shogun’s retinue, begins
work on very successful series of prints, “Fifty-three Stages of the
Tôkaidô”; Tenpô famine (1833–1836) begins, with estimated 200,000–
300,000 deaths.
1837 (Tenpô 8)
U.S. merchant ship Morrison fired upon and forced to leave Japanese
waters; first of many unsuccessful attempts by American ships to
reestablish trade; Tokugawa Ieyoshi becomes 12th shogun; failed
Rebellion of Ôshio Heihachirô.
*1837 Victoria becomes Queen of England (1837–1901).
1838 (Tenpô 9)
Nakayama Miki founds the religious sect Tenrikyô.
1839 (Tenpô 10)
Crackdown (imprisonment/execution) of scholars of Western learning
(Bansha no goku) by shogunate; by this date, at least 300 private
academies and 3,000 temple schools are in operation.
*1839 Opium War begins in China.
*1841 United Provinces of Canada come into being.
1841 (Tenpô 12)
Tenpô Reforms (1841–1843) initiated by Mizuno Tadakuni, senior
shogunal councilor; Tosa fisherman Nakahama Manjirô shipwrecked,
rescued by American whaler and taken to the United States.
1842 (Tenpô 13)
Shogunate employs Ninomiya Sontoku to plan several village
revitalization projects; 1825 Order for the Repelling Foreign Ships
revoked, replaced by shogunal orders for provisioning of food, water
and firewood to foreign ships.
*1842 Treaty of Nanking ends Opium War, China cedes Hong Kong to
Britain.
1844 (Kôka 1)
British and French ships enter Nagasaki harbor and request commercial
relations with Japan, which is denied; letter from king of Netherlands
delivered to shogunate advising it to open Japan to trade; the following
year, shogunate sends a letter of refusal; military garrison and battery
established at Hakodate in Ezochi; garrison established on Kunashiri in
Kurile Islands.
*1844 Telegraph line links Washington and Baltimore.
*1848 Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto.
1849 (Ka’ei 2)
Artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) dies.
*1850 Taiping Rebellion against Manchus in China begins.
*1851 Herman Melville writes Moby Dick.
1853 (Ka’ei 6)
Tokugawa Iesada becomes 13th shogun (1853–1858); squadron of four
American warships headed by Commodore Matthew C. Perry enters
Uraga Bay and presents demands for treaty relations.
1854 (An’sei 1)
American fleet of seven naval vessels, headed by Commodore Matthew
C. Perry, returns to Japan, anchors in Edo Bay; Treaty of Peace and
Amity between the United States and the Empire of Japan is signed.
1855 (An’sei 2)
Ansei earthquake strikes; more than 7,000 die in Edo; Kaigun denshûjo
(Naval-officer Training School) opens in Nagasaki.
U.S. consul general Townsend Harris arrives at port of Shimoda to begin
negotiations with shogunate on commercial treaty; Banshô shirabesho
1856 (Ansei 3)
(Institute for the Investigation of Barbarian Books) established by
shogunate for the study of the West; Yoshida Shôin establishes private
school Shôka sonjuku.
*1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857 (India’s First War of Independence).
1858 (Ansei 5)
Harris Treaty/Ansei commercial treaties are concluded between the
shogunate and the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain,
and France; Tokugawa Iemochi becomes 14th shogun at age 12 (rules
1858–1867), becomes first shogun since Iemitsu (in 1634) to travel to
Kyoto; Ii Naosuke becomes senior adviser to the shogun (tairô);
beginning of Ansei Purge (1858–1860) of opponents to the shogunate’s
opening to the Western powers.
*1858 China signs Treaties of Tianjin with Great Britain, France, Russia,
and the United States; Government of India Act formally transfers control
over India to Britain.
1859 (Ansei 6)
British counsul general Rutherford Alcock arrives in Japan; publishes
The Capital of the Tycoon, based on his experiences in Japan, in 1863;
British merchant Thomas Glover arrives in Japan and his company
supplies arms to Satsuma and Chôshû domains; ports of Yokohama,
Nagasaki, Hakodate opened to foreign trade.
*1859 French forces occupy Saigon; construction of Suez canal begins
(completed in 1869); Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of
Species.
1860 (Man’en 1)
Assassination of shogunal regent Ii Naosuke (Sakurada Gate Incident);
shogunal mission dispatched to the United States to ratify the Harris
(commercial) Treaty.
*1861 Civil War begins in the United States (1861–1865); unification of
Italy.
1862 (Bunkyû 2)
Shogun Iemochi ends requirement of alternate attendance; British
merchant murdered by retainers from Satsuma (known as the Richardson
Affair or Namamugi Incident); shogunate dispatches first students (Nishi
Amane and Tsuda Mamichi) overseas, to the Netherlands; British
warships attack Satsuma domain in retaliation for the Namamugi
Incident; radical pro-imperial samurai from Chôshû driven from Kyoto.
*1863 Cambodia made a protectorate of France.
Mito Civil War; Ikedaya Incident—clash between pro-imperial samurai
and shogunal police known as Shinsengumi at Ikedaya Inn (Kyoto);
Kimmon Incident—pro-imperial forces from Chôshû domain attempt to
1864 (Genji 1)
force their way into Kyoto; imperial court orders shogunate to mount a
punitive expedition against Chôshû (the first of two Chôshû Expeditions);
Fleet of the Western powers bombard Chôshû domain in retaliation for
attacks on Western ships passing through Straits of Shimonoseki.
1865 (Keiô 1)
British minister Sir Harry Parkes arrives in Japan; Ernest Satow and
William George Aston, both later renowned Japan scholars, serve as his
interpreters.
1866 (Keiô 2)
Satsuma and Chôshû form alliance against the shogunate; Shogunate
launches Second Chôshû Expedition, a failure that damages its prestige.
1867 (Keiô 3)
Tokugawa Yoshinobu appointed the 15th and final shogun at age 30; he
resigns his position and “returns” political authority to the emperor
(taisei hôkan); assassination of Sakamoto Ryôma and Nakaoka Shintarô
in Kyoto.
1868 (Meiji 1)
Shogun’s forces lose Battle of Fushimi-Toba: the end of Tokugawa rule;
restoration of imperial rule (Meiji Restoration) declared; Charter Oath
pledged by Emperor Meiji; Edo is renamed Tokyo; shogunate loyalist
forces lose Boshin Civil War (1868–1869) in series of battles.
The Domestic Sphere
1
Getting Married
“Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)
Introduction
Dating from 1815, this agreement was made between the families of a bride and groom,
both of whom were of peasant status, regarding a dowry. More specifically, the document is an
acknowledgment by the father of the groom of the receipt of a sum of money (see “Money”),
and it is addressed to the bride’s younger brother. It is not clear why the bride’s younger
brother is the addressee, but presumably he was the head of the household and thus responsible
for family affairs. The bride’s father could either have been deceased, divorced or separated
from the family, or simply have relinquished the family headship to his son due to his own
advanced age or possibly due to illness. The various parties involved lived in the village of
Shimo-Ujiie, in Echizen province (present-day Fukui prefecture), which faces the Sea of Japan
in central Japan.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. In a Japanese official document or even a personal letter, the date, addressor, and
addressee come at the end of the text, not at the beginning, as you might expect.
2. The dowry of a woman in Tokugawa times usually consisted of clothing, which the bride,
or the bride and any sisters, made by hand, as well as furniture. It could also include land.
3. In some parts of Japan, the dowry (money, land) was not transferred until the marriage
proved stable and, in some cases, until a child was born.
4. Upon marriage, typically, the couple did not establish a new household, but rather lived
with the family of the groom. (In cases where there was an agreement that the groom would
be adopted by the bride’s family as successor to the househead as well as becoming their
daughter’s husband, the couple went to live with the bride’s family.)
Document: “Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)
Delivered Document
[Amount:] 10 koku equivalent: 28 ryô
Considering that my son Tsurumatsu has received your elder sister, Shizu, as a bride, I
hereby certify receipt of the gold coins written above as the price for furnishing her
necessary household goods. Also I promise to return all of the above coin with the girl
you entrusted to me, if it is an unsuccessful marriage. In such case we will not then raise a
word of protest if there are various arguments, regardless of what the complaints may
be. . . .
Introducer: The go-between or intermediary, who presumably held a copy of the
document for safe-keeping.
ryô: Unit of money, gold coin (see “Money”).
Year of the Boar: According to the Chinese sexegenary calendar, which was also
used in Japan, 1815 was the Year of the Boar. This is indicated by a Chinese
character for “boar” which is listed after the year and before the month when
writing the date.
Date: 1815 (Year of the Boar) Twelfth Month [no day given]
[From:] Ichibei, of the village of Shimo-Ujie
Introducer: Gonzaemon
[To:] Jôemon [younger brother of the bride, Shizu]
Source: Translation adapted from Dan Fenno Henderson, Village “Contracts” in Tokugawa Japan (Seattle and
London: University of Washington Press, 1978), 141.
Aftermath
Unfortunately, there is no further historical documentation on Tsurumatsu and Shizu, so we
have no way of knowing whether they remained married or divorced at some later point.
Ask Yourself
1. Why do you think that in this case the dowry consisted of money rather than clothing and
furniture, as was more typical?
2. What does the principle of dowry return—meaning that the dowry would be returned to the
natal (bride’s) family upon divorce—tell us about marriage in Tokugawa Japan? (There is
an old proverb in Japan: “Where there is a dowry the bride is attached.” How is this
relevant to the question above?)
3. Why do you think a document such as this was created in the first place? And why was it
necessary for the father to assure the bride’s brother that his family would not protest if
there were arguments related to a divorce and return of the dowry?
4. European and American visitors to Japan in the mid-to-late nineteenth century often
remarked about the small size of a bride’s dowry in comparison with the practices in their
own countries. What is the significance of this for the bride/wife? What impact might it
have had on marriage and divorce (and remarriage)?
Topics to Consider
• Research the history of dowry and bride price. What is the earliest evidence of the practice
of dowry? What is the relationship between dowry and bride price? (In what countries
were both practiced together?) Has the purpose of the practices changed over time and
place?
• Consider the issue of dowry today. Where does it still exist, and how is it practiced? Are
practices different today than in the seventeenth or nineteenth centuries? Is there a
relationship between economic development and dowries? (Why has the practice of dowry
stopped in some places and become more prevalent in others?)
Further Information
Goody, Jack. “Bridewealth and Dowry in Africa and Eurasia.” In Bridewealth and Dowry, edited by Jack Goody, and Stanley
J. Tambiah, 1–58. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
Lindsey, William R. Fertility and Pleasure: Ritual and Sexual Values in Tokugawa Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i
Press, 2007.
Ocko, Jonathan K. “Women, Property, and Law in the People’s Republic of China.” In Marriage and Inequality in Chinese
Society, edited by Rubie S. Watson and Patricia Buckley Ebrey, 313–46. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Walthall, Anne. “The Life Cycle of Farm Women in Tokugawa Japan.” In Recreating Japanese Women, 1600–1945, edited
by Gail Lee Bernstein. 42–70. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Wolf, Arthur P., and Chiehshan Huang. Marriage and Adoption in China, 1845–1945. Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 1980.
Web Sites
Anderson, Siwan. “The Economy of Dowry an Bride Price.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 21, no. 4 (2007): 151–74.
http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/asiwan/siwan-jep.pdf (accessed August 13, 2011).
“Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE.” Ancient History Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.html
(accessed June 10, 2010).
“The Dowry Prohibition Act (India), 1961.” Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development.
http://wcd.nic.in/dowryprohibitionact.htm (accessed June 10, 2010).
“The Imperial Family.” Japan Zone. http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/imperial_family_members.shtml (accessed September
11, 2010). On dowry practice in the Japanese imperial family.
Money
A tri-metallic system of coinage existed in Tokugawa Japan. As a result of frequent
recoinage and changes in the value of money, gold, silver and copper were usually
exchanged by weight. Early in the seventeenth century the rate was fixed at 1 ryô gold =
50 monme silver = 4 kanme copper. Rates were stable until late in the period, when
conversion rates generally were in the range of 1 ryô gold = 50–80 monme silver =
4,000 mon copper. Copper currency was used throughout the country and was suitable for
most everyday transactions. Measured in mon, copper coins had square holes in the
middle and were strung together in groups of 100 (actually, 96) and 1,000 (actually, 960).
Silver, measured in monme, was the basis for larger transactions in the Kyoto-Osaka
region, while gold, measured in ryô, served as the basis for currency in the capital of
Edo. In the early nineteenth century a basic lunch of mushrooms, pickles, rice, and soup
cost about 100 copper mon. An adult could go to the public bath for about 10 mon, and a
night’s lodging in a decent inn would cost about 200–300 mon. A skilled worker such as
a carpenter could earn about 420–450 mon a day. (For a look at what Japanese coinage
looked like, go to: http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/roberts/coins/
Japancash.html.)
2
Obtaining a Divorce
An Appeal for Assistance (1850) and Letters of Divorce (1857, undated)
Introduction
The first selection is an untitled appeal by an Edo townswoman by the name of Kane
addressed to officials at Tôkeiji convent (temple) in nearby Kamakura. Unable to convince her
husband to grant her a divorce, she likely wrote this letter of appeal to the temple’s officials to
help her to obtain one; or, if she was unable to write herself, she had her father or some other
person write it for her.
The second and third selections consist of two examples of writs or letters of divorce
(rienjô). Both types are known as mikudari-han (lit. three-and-a-half lines) because that is
precisely the length of the main body of the document of divorce. The first of the letters was a
type that any male commoner could write to end his marriage. This particular one was written
by a commoner from Katashina village, located in Kôzuke province (present-day Gunma
prefecture), named Heisuke, to his wife Kin, in 1857. The second is the body of a standard
type of letter of divorce that a mediating temple such as Mantokuji, also located in Kôzuke
province, helped a couple to produce and dates from sometime during the second half of the
Tokugawa period.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. In legal terms, a woman in Tokugawa Japan had no rights to initiate a divorce, nor could
she refuse a husband’s demand for one. However, she could ask her husband for a divorce
or seek the assistance of an outside authority (a temple, in this case) to convince the
husband to grant her one. Sometimes the family of the woman seeking a divorce would pay
compensation (a fee) to the husband to agree to dissolve the marriage.
2. A woman unhappy with her marriage could return to her parents’ home, but a husband had
the right to reclaim her. If a husband did not reclaim his wife within three years of
separation, he forfeited that right.
3. A husband had the right to divorce his wife provided that he returned her dowry, both
goods (typically, the woman’s clothing, and sometimes furniture) and money.
4. Tôkeiji was one of a very few temples popularly known as “Enkiridera” (Temple for
Severing Ties) and Kakekomidera (Temple into which One Runs for Refuge), stateapproved sanctuaries for women of commoner status whose husbands would not grant them
a divorce. During the last half of the Tokugawa period, Tôkeiji and one other temple,
Mantokuji, both located in eastern Japan, appear to have been the only two with this
function.
5. Tôkeiji and Mantokuji were only for commoners. Government permission was required for
both marriage and divorce among samurai. (See Section 12, Laws for the Military Houses,
on the shogun’s institution of a system of supervising marriages among his retainers.)
6. Very few divorces were settled by officials (magistrates, who also functioned as judges) of
the shogunate or the domains.
7. Commoners typically did not have officially recognized surnames (family names); hence,
the author is known to us only as Kane.
8. Foreign observers in Japan at the end of the sixteenth century and the middle of the
nineteenth century remarked on how easily marriages were dissolved. Limited statistical
evidence also suggests that divorce rates were high in Tokugawa Japan, perhaps as high as
20 percent in the eighteenth century. Most divorces occurred in the earliest years of
marriage.
9. The household was terribly important in Tokugawa society. Senior members—that is,
parents and in-laws—in households had the power to force spouses to divorce, even if they
were both determined to remain married to each other.
Document 1: Untitled Woman’s Appeal to Temple for
Assistance with Divorce (1850)
“Eight years ago when I was fourteen, I was adopted by the landlord, Shichibei, of 2chôme, Kanda, [Edo]. Four years later I became Kanjirô’s wife, through the help of
Kanematsu, a tenant of Tauemon of Renjaku-chô; and we moved to the house owned by
Tauemon.
Kanjirô, my husband, would frequent houses of prostitution and seldom came home.
Our household became so destitute that I appealed to my own father, Kinbei, of 4-chôme,
Hongô, who kindly gave me some rice. I pawned my clothes. When my husband ordered
me to ask my father for more money and I objected, he became furious and struck me on
the head with a geta until I was badly hurt. I knew that he was short-tempered, so I
endured these abuses.
Then Kanjirô wanted me to become a prostitute, but I told him it was out of the
question. He became very disagreeable, refused to earn a livelihood, and often would not
come home for three days.
Having become helpless, I left Kanjirô this year in the Fifth Month. With only the
summer dress I had on, I went to my mother’s native home to live with Uncle Sôemon at
Neriki-mura in Kazusa Province. In the hope of leaving Kanjirô, I sent Kanematsu an
envelope containing a lock of my hair and combs for my husband, together with a letter
requesting that a divorce be arranged. But Kanjirô only caused trouble, and the mediator
was unable to bring about the divorce.
Finally I decided to seek refuge in your honorable temple. I have not violated my
integrity as a woman. But there is little left to me except to throw myself into the sea or a
river if my plea is not heard. I beg you to graciously arrange a divorce for me.
2-chôme, Kanda: A (numbered) section of the Kanda area of Edo.
geta: Wooden-soled footwear.
Neriki-mura: The village of Neriki, in Kazusa province (present-day Chiba
prefecture).
Kaei 3 (1850),
the twenty-first day of the Tenth Month
4-chôme, Hongô
Landlord Kimbei
Daughter Kane (Seal)
Source: Kaneko Sachiko and Robert E. Morrell, “Sanctuary: Kamakura’s Tôkeiji Convent,” Japanese Journal of
Religious Studies 10, no. 2–3 (1983): 219–20.
Document 2: Letter of Divorce (1857)
Writ of Divorce
Article. At this time both parties agree to sever our relations. Therefore, should you
decide to remarry in the future, there will be no objections on my part. This document
serves as our writ of divorce.
1857/Second Month
[From:] Heisuke
[To:] Kin
Source: Igarashi Tomio, Kakekomidera (Tokyo: Hanawa shobô, 1989), 169–70.
Document 3: Letter of Divorce (undated)
Our karmic ties have weakened,
karmic ties: Refers to the ties from previous lives; karma is a Buddhist concept that
connotes the total effects of a person’s actions and conduct during the cycle of
rebirth.
And so should you someday remarry,
There will not be a single word of objection [from me].
Source: Igarashi Tomio, Kakekomidera (Tokyo: Hanawa shobô, 1989), 169–70.
Aftermath
Once Kane (Document 1) submitted her list of grievances and was granted sanctuary at the
temple, officials there issued a summons to her husband and his family. Ordinarily, the temple,
for a fee, acted as an intermediary—a kind of divorce broker—between the wife’s parents and
her husband and put the considerable weight of its authority behind the effort to convince the
husband to terminate the marriage (see “Marriage”) by issuing a writ of divorce. In the case of
a husband of peasant status, sometimes the temple would send its representatives to speak with
the village officials where the husband lived and those representatives remained there until
they convinced the husband to grant the divorce. However, in this instance, the husband,
Kanjirô, had already filed a petition with the town magistrate to recover his wife. Then he
filed a countersuit with the local magistrate, denying her claims and, moreover, accusing her of
having an affair. Unfortunately the documentation in the case of Kane and Kanjirô ends there. It
certainly appeared as if negotiations would have been fruitless, and therefore that Kane would
have had to take the other option open to her. In this case, if the temple accepted her petition
and she remained there for a period of three years, by custom, the bonds between her and her
husband would have been broken. During this time, her family would have been required to
make payments to the temple for Kane’s upkeep. If her husband had still resisted writing a
letter of divorce after the three-year period, temple officials would have appealed to the
magistrate to order him to do so.
Kane was one of more than 2,000 women who sought divorces through Tôkeiji temple
during the period from roughly the 1730s to the 1860s. It is unclear, however, how many of
these suits were successful, as information is available only for 387 cases during the years
1711–1873. Tôkeiji and Mantokuji, both temples located in eastern Japan, drew women mainly
from the provinces around Edo and did not act as a national magnet. Statistically, the number of
temple divorces must have accounted only for a very small percentage of all divorces.
The conventional view of the Tokugawa period as the low point of Japanese women’s
history in large part rests on the perception that women had few legal, economic, and marital
rights. In terms of marriage, it is argued that women had no safeguards against divorce.
According to this view, the ease with which a man could obtain a divorce, simply by writing a
three-and-a-half-line document, reflected her low social status. In turn, women were limited in
their ability to initiate a divorce themselves.
However, looking at the available evidence from a different perspective, the frequency
with which divorce occurred can be interpreted more positively—a kind of “no-fault
divorce”—in that it offered women flexibility and freedom from an unhappy marriage. Women
who were productive workers could be taken back into their natal (birth) families and remarry
at a later date. There was no religious or social stigma attached to marriage for a second or
even third time, nor was virginity or chastity highly valued. Moreover, the dowry system
favored women in that the goods and money brought into the marriage had to be returned to the
natal family upon divorce. Seen in this light, women do not appear to have been as oppressed
and subjugated as the conventional view presumes.
Ask Yourself
1. What reasons did Kane give for seeking a divorce?
2. What does the temple-mediated divorce process reveal about gender relations during that
time? How difficult is it for women today to obtain divorces in various parts of the globe?
3. How might the high divorce rate actually have benefited women? In what sense was
divorce a “remarriage permit”?
4. It has been argued that in Japan, the family ideal centered on lineage rather than marriage,
and that marriage therefore was for the purpose of continuing the lineage. How might this
affect a society’s views toward divorce?
5. What differences do you notice in the two types of divorce letters? In what sense does each
of the letters consist of two parts?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider procedures for divorce in several countries from different parts of the world
during the mid-nineteenth century. (How accessible was divorce in Tokugawa Japan
compared to China or England, or the United States?) Compare the physical makeup of the
documents in countries where divorce was permitted, and consider the degree of difficulty
that women had in obtaining a divorce in these countries.
• Consider the impact that religion (and the concept of divorce as sin) might have had on
divorce in Christian versus non-Christian countries.
• There is an image of Japan today as a fairly stable society with a low divorce rate. Is this
true? Have divorce rates changed since the Tokugawa period, and if so, how might we
account for this?
Further Information
Ackroyd, Joyce. “Women in Feudal Japan.” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 3rd ser., 7 (1959): 31–68.
Cornell, Laurel L. “Peasant Women and Divorce in Early Modern Japan.” Signs 15, no. 4 (1990): 710–32.
Fuess, Harald. Divorce in Japan. Family, Gender, and the State, 1600–2000. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press,
2004.
Sachiko, Kaneko, and Robert E. Morrell. “Sanctuary: Kamakura’s Tôkeiji Convent.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
10, no. 2–3 (1983): 195–227.
Walthall, Anne. “The Life Cycle of Farm Women in Tokugawa Japan.” In Recreating Japanese Women, 1600–1945, edited
by Gail Lee Bernstein, 42–70. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Wright, Diane E. “Severing the Karmic Ties That Bind: The ‘Divorce Temple’ Mantokuji.” Monumenta Nipponica 52, no. 3
(1997): 357–80.
Marriage
Marriage has been defined differently around the globe and involved the sanction of
political authorities or the state to varying degrees. In Tokugawa Japan, state institutions
were not involved in marriage. The formal, religious (before a priest or rabbi, for
example), or state-sanctioned (before a justice of the peace) types of marriage
ceremonies that existed in many places around the world were not found in Tokugawa
Japan. Marriages were also not state-sanctioned in that there was no system of legal
registration required. Population registers (see Section 40), unlike parish registers in
Europe, did not also serve as certificates of marriage. While daimyo required shogunal
permission and samurai were required to petition their overlords for permission before a
marriage, commoners often chose mates based on personal choice and mutual consent.
Commoners often lived together as man and wife, a “common law” marriage, only
sometimes holding a small ceremony in which some simple food and sake was consumed
to mark the occasion. Wealthier families, though, might hold more elaborate weddings.
Generally, virginity was not a requirement for women for marriage, and in fact, in
some villages, premarital sex, or “night play,” was expected as part of the normal
process of development for young men and women.
There were certain cultural markers, however, that indicated that a marriage had
taken place. For example, upon marriage, a woman usually blackened her teeth and wore
a kimono with shortened sleeves (only unmarried women were to wear trailing sleeves
[furisode]).
3
The Consequences of Adultery
“The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned” (1686)
Introduction
This document is an excerpt from the story “The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned,”
from the merchant writer IHARA SAIKAKU’s Five Women Who Loved Love (Koshoku gonin
onna; see also Section 5), which was first published in 1686. In the story, the wife of an
almanac maker has run off with a servant. The excerpt relates what happens once the husband
learns of their whereabouts.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. In legal terms, a wife’s body belonged to her husband. Accordingly, adultery by a wife was
considered a crime.
2. A husband could have sex with an unmarried woman or prostitute without censure; only sex
with another man’s wife was considered a crime.
3. A husband was allowed to kill his adulterous wife and lover; this was referred to as
megataki-uchi, or “wife-revenge killing.”
Document: Excerpt from the Story “The Eavesdropper
Whose Ears Were Burned”
Men take their misfortunes to heart and keep them there. A gambler does not talk about his
losses; the frequenter of brothels, who finds his favorite engaged by another, pretends to
be just as well off without her; the professional street-brawler is quiet about the fights he
has lost; and a merchant who speculates in goods will conceal the losses he may suffer.
They are all like “the man who steps on dog dung in the dark.”
But of them all the one who has a wanton, mischievous wife will feel his misfortune
most, convinced that there is no more heartless creature in the world than she. To the outer
world Osan’s husband treated her as a closed issue: she was dead, and nothing could be
said or done about her. . . .
In the quarter with which he [Moemon] was so familiar, because his former master
lived there, he took up eavesdropping to learn the state of things. He heard about the
inquiry which was to be made into the overdue payment from Edo, and about the latest
styles in hairdress, . . . When these topics of conversation were exhausted, sure enough
they fell to talking about Moemon.
Awadaguchi [Awataguchi]: The execution grounds outside of Kyoto.
Ise: A town located in present-day Mie prefecture, which was (and still is) the
location of Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shinto shrine.
“That rascal Moemon, stealing a woman more beautiful than all the others! Even
though he paid with his worthless life for it, he certainly got the best of the bargain—a
memory worth dying with!”
But a man of more discernment upheld morality against Moemon. “He’s nobody to
raise up in public. He’d stink in the breeze. I can’t imagine anyone worse than a man
who’d cheat both his master and a husband at once.”
Overhearing this, . . . Moemon gnashed his teeth and stood up in a rage. Still, there
was nothing a man hiding from the world could do about the insults offered him, and
while he suppressed his outraged feelings another man started to speak.
“Moemon’s not dead. He’s living with Mistress Osan somewhere around Ise, they
say, having a wonderful time.” . . .
Osan’s husband sent someone to check up on what he had heard. Learning that Osan
and Moemon were indeed alive, he gathered together a good number of his own people,
who went and arrested them.
There was no room for mercy in view of their crime. When the judicial inquiry was
duly concluded, the lovers, together with a maidservant named Tama who had been their
go-between earlier, were paraded as an example before the crowds along the way to
Awadaguchi [Awataguchi], where they died like dewdrops falling from a blade of grass.
Thus they met their end on the morning on September twenty-second, with, it should
be remarked, a touching acquiescence in their fate. Their story spread everywhere, and
today the name of Osan still brings to mind her beautiful figure, clothed in the pale-blue
slip which she wore to her execution.
Source: Ihara Saikaku, Five Women Who Loved Love, trans. William Theodore de Bary (Tokyo and Rutland, VT: Tuttle
Books, 1956), 151–56.
Aftermath
In Saikaku’s story, the husband gathered a group of men to capture the lovers. The couple
was led by a crowd of people to the Awataguchi Execution Ground, where they were put to
death. Although this action was legal, and there were actual cases where this happened—an
adulterous woman and her lover put to death—there are more cases in which the eloped lovers
were forgiven once the wife returned to her home and assumed her customary social role. To a
large extent, whether or not the law was enforced depended on the question of whether or not
the crime became public knowledge. Did the husband want to risk his reputation by drawing
more attention to the fact that he could not control his wife? Similarly the law had to find
acceptance at the local level. In the story a crowd of people participated in punishing the
adulterers, but to what extent this might actually have happened in real life is uncertain.
Ask Yourself
1. Why do you think the fictional character Osan was put to death in the story by Saikaku
when the evidence shows that most women were forgiven or the matter was resolved by
the wife’s family with financial compensation to the husband? What purposes were served
by fixing, at least officially, a harsh penalty for adultery?
2. What is Saikaku perhaps hinting at in the first paragraph of the story? If a gambler does not
talk about his losses, what should a cuckolded husband do?
3. Why was Moemon’s crime deemed particularly heinous? (What was his position in the
household?)
Topics to Consider
• Research how adultery was treated in other parts of the world at this time. To what extent
did laws of adultery and customary practice differ? What do your findings suggest about
the position of women in Tokugawa Japan relative to elsewhere? How did the laws on
adultery affect the position of the male authority figure in the household?
Further Information
Chikamatsu Monzaemon. “The Drum of the Waves of Horikawa,” translated by Donald Keene. In Keene, Four Major Plays
of Chikamatsu, 57–90. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. A puppet play, based on actual events around 1700,
about a samurai who returns to Tottori after serving in Edo on alternate attendance, and discovers his wife had an affair
with a drum teacher.
Stanley, Amy. “Adultery, Punishment, and Reconciliation in Tokugawa Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 33, no. 2 (2007):
309–35.
Film
“Gonza the Spearman” (Yari no Gonza), dir. Shinoda Masahiro, 1986. The story of the wife-revenge killing by a samurai teamaster, based on the play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The text of the play has been translated by Donald Keene in his
Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), 170–208.
4
A Woman’s Place
Onna Daigaku (The Greater Learning for Women, 1716) and Tadano
Makuzu’s Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)
Introduction
The following two selections offer contrasting views of the place of women in Tokugawa
society. The first document is from Onna daigaku, an educational tract for women that focused
on morality and proper behavior that was published in 1716. It was widely read in the late Edo
period and was subsequently translated by BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN (1850–1935), a leading
scholar of Japan in the late nineteenth century. Until recently, its authorship usually has been
attributed to Kaibara Ekken (1630–1714), a NEO-CONFUCIAN scholar who served the daimyo of
Fukuoka domain. However, some scholars now argue that it was not Ekken himself, but rather
his wife who wrote the text. More recently, scholars have posited that it is an anonymous work
by an author who posed fraudulently as Ekken to take advantage of the latter’s fame. In this text
the author outlines a strict code of behavior for women.
The second document offers a different perspective on women. The excerpt below is
drawn from the essay Hitori kangae (Solitary Thoughts), written by TADANO MAKUZU (1763–
1825), the daughter of a doctor in the employ of the daimyo of Sendai domain who was at
different times in her life married to two samurai, both from Sendai. Makuzu wrote this essay
toward the end of her life, at the age of 55, primarily in order to maintain the family name and
to serve as a model for women. She wrote at a time when Japanese intellectuals and political
leaders began to grow concerned over the increasing presence of Western ships in Japanese
waters and concerns about possible Russian encroachment in Ezo (Hokkaido). In her essay, she
took up a wide array of topics and took aim at a number of social ills that she saw, particularly
the inability of the samurai status group, of which she was a member, to understand the moneydominated culture of the time. She also put her brush to work to analyze the state of relations
between men and women, which is the focus of the excerpt below in Document 2. Although
unpublished in the author’s lifetime, it was deemed of sufficient intellectual and literary merit
to have been preserved by a contemporary male author, Takizawa Bakin (1767–1848), who
later wrote about Makuzu in two separate works.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. As the title of Onna daigaku indicated (the word “Learning” referred to the Chinese
classic Da Xue, or Great Learning), the text offered a Confucian perspective on a woman’s
position in society. In other words, it is very much in harmony with Neo-Confucian thought,
derived from China, which was the intellectual orthodoxy for much of the Tokugawa
period. In line with this philosophy, women and men were often thought about in terms of
opposite forces, or yin (female, dark, passive, etc.) and yang (male, light, active, etc.).
2. Onna daigaku is the most famous educational or moralistic text for women in the
Tokugawa period, but it was hardly the only one. There was in fact a large body of books
for educating women that were published around the same time in the three major cities of
Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
3. The economy in the mid-eighteenth century was an increasingly commercialized one.
According to some encyclopedias of occupations from the time, there were about 100 types
for women (compared with more than 400 types for men).
4. Just because late-nineteenth-century Westerners might have found the views of women
expressed in this document to be demeaning does not mean that women at the time saw it
that way.
5. The Kojikiden to which Tadano Makuzu refers is a commentary, written by Motoori
Norinaga (1730–1801), on the age of kami (gods) and early history in Japan, as contained
in the ancient text Kojiki (712). In the reference, she alludes to the relationship between
Izanagi and Izanami, two deities, male and female, who in Japanese mythology are
recognized as the creators of Japan and its kami.
Document 1: Excerpts from The Greater Learning for
Women (Onna daigaku), 1716
Seeing that it is a girl’s destiny, on reaching womanhood, to go to a new home, and live in
submission to her father-in-law and mother-in-law, it is even more incumbent upon her
than it is on a boy to receive with all reverence her parents’ instructions. Should her
parents, through excess of tenderness, allow her to grow up self-willed, she will without
fail show herself impulsive in her husband’s house, and thus alienate his affection, while,
if her father-in-law be a man of correct principles, the girl will find the yoke of these
principles intolerable. . . .
More precious in a woman is a virtuous heart than a face of beauty. The vicious
woman’s heart is ever excited; she glares wildly around her, she vents her anger on
others, her words are harsh and her accent vulgar. When she speaks it is to set herself
above others, to upbraid others, to envy others, to be puffed up with individual pride, to
jeer at others, to outdo others,—all things at variance with the “Way” in which a woman
should walk. The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity, mercy,
and quietness.
From her earliest youth, a girl should observe the line separating women from men;
and never, even for an instant, should she be allowed to see or hear the slightest
impropriety. The ancient customs did not allow men and women to sit in the same
apartment, to keep their wearing-apparel in the same place, to bathe in the same place or
to transmit to each other anything directly from hand to hand. . . .
It is the chief duty of a girl living in the parental house to practice filial piety towards
her father and mother. But after marriage, her chief duty is to honor her father-in-law—to
honor them beyond her own father and mother—to love and reverence them with all
ardor, and to tend them with every practice of filial piety. . . .
ardor: Passion, love, enthusiasm.
castigation: Criticism or censure.
dissolute: Degenerate or depraved.
filial piety: Respect for parents and ancestors; one of the key Confucian values.
ill: Badly.
indocility: The quality of being difficult to discipline or instruct.
intractable: Stubborn or difficult.
remonstrate: To say or plead in complaint or reproof.
the “Way”: To act according to the Confucian—i.e., moral—teachings.
A woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her lord, and must
serve him with all worship and reverence, not despising or thinking lightly of him. The
great life-long duty of a woman is obedience. In her dealings with her husband, both her
facial expression and her manner of speaking should be courteous, humble and
conciliatory, never irritable and intractable, never rude and arrogant:—that should be a
woman’s first and principal care. . . . Should her husband be roused at any time to anger,
she must obey him with fear and trembling, and not set herself up against him in anger and
forwardness. A woman should look on her husband as if he were Heaven itself, and never
weary of thinking how she may yield to him, and thus escape celestial castigation.
Let her never even dream of jealousy. If her husband be dissolute, she must
remonstrate with him, but never either nurse or vent her anger. If her jealousy be
extreme, it will render her countenance frightful and her accents repulsive, and can only
result in completely alienating her husband from her, and making her intolerable in his
eyes. Should her husband act ill and unreasonably, she must compose her countenance and
soften her voice to remonstrate with him; and if he be angry and listen not to the
remonstrance, she must wait over a season, and then remonstrate with him again when his
heart is softened. Never set yourself up against your husband with harsh features and a
boisterous voice! . . .
A woman must be ever on the alert, and keep a strict watch over her own conduct. In
the morning she must rise early, and at night go late to rest. Instead of sleeping in the
middle of the day, she must be intent on the duties of her household, and must not weary of
weaving, sewing, and spinning. Of tea and wine she must not drink in excess, nor must she
feed her eyes and ears with theatrical performances [such as kabuki or jôruri], ditties,
and ballads. To temples (Shinto or Buddhist) and other places where crowds gather, she
should go but sparingly till she has reached the age of forty. . . .
In her capacity of wife, she must keep her husband’s household in proper order. If the
wife be evil and extravagant, the house will be ruined. In everything she must avoid
extravagance, and both with regard to food and clothing, she must act according to her
station in life, and never give in to luxury and pride.
The five worst maladies that afflict the female mind are: indocility, discontent,
slander, jealousy, and silliness. Without any doubt, these five maladies infest seven or
eight out of every ten women, and it is from these that arises the inferiority of women to
men. A woman should cure them by self-inspection and self-reproach. The worst of them
all, and the parent of the other four, is silliness.
Woman’s nature is passive. This passiveness, being of the nature of the night, is dark.
Hence, as viewed from the standard of man’s nature, the foolishness of woman fails to
understand the duties that lie before her very eyes, perceives not the actions that will
bring down blame upon her own head, and comprehends not even the things that will
bring down calamities on the heads of her husband and children. Neither when she blames
and accuses and curses innocent persons, nor when, in her jealousy of others, she thinks to
set up herself alone, does she see that she is her own enemy. . . . Again, in the education of
her children, her blind affection induces an erroneous system. Such is the stupidity of her
character that it is incumbent on her, in every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her
husband. . . .
Parents! Teach the foregoing maxims to your daughters from their tenderest years!
Copy them out from time to time, that they may read and never forget them! . . .
Source: “Onna daigaku,” as translated, adapted, and revised from Basil Hall Chamberlain, “Educational Literature for
Women,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 10 (1878): 325–43.
Document 2: Excerpts from Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori
Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)
I have written this entire text without any sense of modesty or concern about being unduly
outspoken. . . . I have written it lamenting the crazed behavior I see all around. Each
person in our country strives to enrich him or herself alone without thinking of the foreign
threat or begrudging the cost to the country. Mired in strife, people throw goods away and
fight over money that comes and goes. With this in mind, I feel neither pain nor irritation
at being criticized by others. Please read this with that understanding.
Twelfth month, Bunsei 1 [1818] Makuzu in the far north
The Behavior of Female Characters in the Theater
It is usually said that a woman should keep everything in her heart, say little, and be
modest. Women [depicted] on the stage and in the puppet theater are completely different,
though. Whether these characters are princesses or daughters raised with the utmost care,
they inevitably go beyond the norms for women and make sexual advances to men. If an
ordinary person had such a flirtatious daughter, would anyone think it was good?
Nonetheless, no one censures theatrical characters. How strange! If I ask why female
characters in plays behave so shamefully, people make nothing of it. “It’s just a play,” they
say. But in my own mind I am not convinced. As the verse goes, “The paw that beckons
from the shadows belongs to the tomcat.” It seems to me that what is portrayed on the
stage differs too much from human feelings.”
...
Lowly Women Make Trouble for Households
. . . About the time I was forty-five or forty-six, I by chance encountered a work called
Kojikiden. In it I read that when human beings were first born in to this world, those who,
upon examining their bodies, realized that they had a surplus were men, and those who
believed they had a lack were women. My long-standing puzzlement as to why the
relations between men and women are so disagreeable was all at once resolved.
Women exist for the sake of men; men do not exist for the sake of women. It would be
a mistake to think of them as equal. Even if she is the more intelligent, how can a woman
who thinks she is lacking something triumph over a man who always thinks of himself as
having a surplus? Because it is with the help of men that women survive in this world,
they can live comfortably if men do not find them disagreeable. Realizing that the male
body differs from her own, a woman should humble herself in her dealings with men, not
only with the man on whom she depends, but also those who have some business with the
household, and even the servants she employs. If a woman correctly examines why men
find her disagreeable, she will inevitably discover that it is because she is disrespectful.
For a woman who ought to obey men to look down on them is contrary to the norms of
proper behavior. It is for that reason that she is disliked.
Knowing that it will suffice for women to learn this one lesson, I hope that in the end I
will be able to achieve the goal I set at the age of nine, to become a model for women.
But since I am not in a position to expound these points to the world at large, I fear my
solitary thoughts may be in vain.
Let me try to discuss the differences between the feelings of men and women. A
woman who hears that a Zen monk has castrated himself simply thinks of it as a splendid
act of determination. She thinks this way because his body is not her kind of body. The
story of a snake entering a woman’s vagina, on the other hand, so horrifies women,
whether young or old, that their hair stands on end. Because his body is different from a
woman’s, a man who hears such a story thinks nothing of it, but tales of castration must
strike straight at his heart.
Even though an onnagata in the theater has a woman’s appearance, since he has a
man’s body, in his heart he harbors abusive feelings towards women. As he performs he
thus in fact takes pleasure in what should be a pitiable scene. I finally came to realize that
is why he performs in ways that appeal to the men in his audience. Women, on the other
hand, take no pleasure in a villain’s capturing a beautiful young woman and doing with
her what he wishes.
In that in examining our bodies, we become aware of a surplus or a lack, it is clear
that human feelings are rooted in the genitals and spread from there throughout our bodies.
When men and women make love, they battle for superiority by rubbing their genitals
together. For a husband and wife who are one this may not be an issue. In cases of
romance, though, a man may be thrown by a weak woman. The two reproach each other as
to whose love is greater because at the bottom of their hearts neither wants to be the loser,
neither wants the other’s love to be weaker than his or her own. In the pleasure quarters,
there may be rigorous rules regarding such interactions but I leave this writing for women
brought up in warrior [samurai] houses who have difficulty in dealing with the lower
classes. . . .
castration: Removal of some part or all of a male’s sex organs.
Kojikiden: Book by Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801).
onnagata: A male actor playing a female role in the kabuki theater.
Source: Tadano Makuzu, “Solitary Thoughts: A Translation of Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori kangae,” trans. Janet R.
Goodwin, Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Elizabeth A. Leicester, Yuki Terazawa, and Anne Walthall, Monumenta Nipponica 56,
no. 1 (2001): 21–26.
Aftermath
It was commonly held that the Tokugawa period represented the low point in the history of
Japanese women, and The Greater Learning for Women was often cited as supporting evidence
for that view. The text was widely circulated in Japan during the second half of the period and
in the West from the late nineteenth century. To many Western observers, it seemed to confirm
their views of Japanese women as being of low status and subjected to a repressive form of
education; but to a large extent, this reflected their own cultural biases. While Japanese women
did not socialize with men in public in Japan in the way they did in the United States and
Europe, they were able to walk freely (for women belonging to the samurai status group,
usually with a male companion or a manservant) in Edo and other cities.
Of particular relevance here, it should be noted that The Greater Learning for Women has
been taken out of its original context; that is, it was first published as one section of a much
longer work, A Treasure Chest of Greater Learning for Women (Onna daigaku takara bako),
1716, which contained various items related to women’s training in literature and the arts,
biographies of filial children in China, essays on practical matters such as the proper care of
clothing, medical advice, and illustrations of a variety of occupations performed by women,
including prostitution. In other words, the text actually recognized the variety of work that
woman performed rather than negated the value of female labor. Subsequently, however, just
The Greater Learning for Women portion of A Treasure House of Greater Learning for Women
took on a life of its own, particularly in foreign hands.
Ask Yourself
1. According to the author, what are the most important values that an ideal woman should
cultivate? What does she or he mean by “the ‘Way’ in which a woman should walk”? What
does the author mean by “silliness”?
2. What gender roles are defined here? (What kind of gendered division of labor do you
find?) What are a mother’s primary duties? (Is it motherhood? If not, what?) How does the
definition of a woman’s role in this document compare to that of American women, say, in
the 1950s and today? What was the main aim of marriage in Tokugawa Japan?
3. Do you think that most women in Tokugawa Japan would have followed the teachings
outlined in this text? According to the author, what are the consequences of failing to
follow them? Another way to approach this question is to consider the observation that
there is often a large gap between discourse or ideology (the way things should be,
according to some body of thought or some individual’s view) and practice (the way things
actually are). How might this idea apply to The Greater Learning for Women?
4. What does the text not say about women? To what extent might this text be a reaction to the
real power that women held?
5. Might this text best apply to women of a particular status (such as samurai, peasant, artisan,
or merchant)? If so, which one(s), and why?
6. How might the point made above (#3 in the section “Keep in Mind as You Read”) about the
commercializing economy affect the way we interpret this document? How might these
instructions for moral behavior have offered working women some protection or defense
against exploitation in an increasingly commercialized economy?
7. Why might Tadano Makuzu have felt that she would be criticized?
8. What is Makuzu’s view about the relationship between men and women? How does she
account for the differences between them?
9. How would you compare the advice that Tadano Makuzu and the author of Onna daigaku
give women? How can we reconcile their respective views of a woman’s place in
Tokugawa society? How do you think Makuzu would have reacted to Onna daigaku?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Compare codes of behavior for women in Tokugawa Japan with those from other countries,
such as England during the Victorian era (1837–1901), the United States during the same
time, or perhaps Korea during the latter part of the Choson period (1392–1910). How
much freedom of movement did women, of different social classes in these different
societies, have?
• More generally, compare women’s rights in several countries during the years that spanned
the Tokugawa dynasty, 1603–1868. Consider in particular the availability of education,
treatment before the law, marriage, divorce, and property rights.
• Investigate the development of the onnagata role in kabuki theater. How did men train to
play the female roles? What were the main characteristics of women as portrayed by
onnagata?
Further Information
Bernstein, Gail Lee, ed. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Gramlich-Oka, Bettina. “Tadano Makuzu and Her Hitori Kangae.” Monumenta Nipponica 56, no. 1 (2001): 1–20.
Gramlich-Oka, Bettina. Thinking Like a Man: Tadano Makuzu (1763–1825). Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Hisako, Hata. “Servants of the Inner Quarters: The Women of the Shogun’s Great Interior.” In Servants of the Dynasty:
Palace Women in World History, edited by Anne Walthall, 172–90. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
Kominz, Laurence R. The Stars Who Created Kabuki. Tokyo and New York: Kodansha, 1997. See especially “Yoshizawa
Ayame: Patron Saint of Kabuki’s Onnagata,” 181–223.
Makuzu, Tadano. “Solitary Thoughts: A Translation of Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori kangae,” translated by Janet R. Goodwin,
Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Elizabeth A. Leicester, Yuki Terazawa, and Anne Walthall. Part 1, Monumenta Nipponica 56, no. 1
(2001): 21–38; part 2, Monumenta Nipponica 56, no. 2 (2001): 173–95.
Yokota, Fuyuhiko (Mariko Asano Tamanoi, trans.), “Imagining Working Women in Early Modern Japan,” translated by Mariko
Asano Tamanoi. In Women and Class in Japanese History, edited by Hitomi Tonomura, Anne Walthall and Wakita
Haruko, 153–67. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 1999.
Film
“Portrait of an Onnagata.” Films for the Humanities & Science, 30 minutes, 1990.
Web Site
“Onnagata.” World News Network. http://wn.com/onnagata (accessed November 26, 2010).
Material Life
5
Regulating Fashion and Consumption
Ihara Saikaku’s The Japanese Family Storehouse (Nippon eitai gura, 1688);
List of Prohibitions Concerning Clothing for Edo Townsmen (1719)
Introduction
Clothing was an important part of Tokugawa life. Other than food, it comprised the largest
portion of most households’ expenses. Given its significance, it is no surprise that clothing, and
fashion in general, was a subject of popular fiction, nor that its use came under the scrutiny and
regulation of government (see Sumptuary Laws). The first excerpt, below, comes from the
novel written by the merchant IHARA SAIKAKU (1642–1693) in 1688, the first year of the
GENROKU era (1688–1703), during which time the shogun TOKUGAWA TSUNAYOSHI (1649–1709)
ruled. His reign marked perhaps the most vibrant cultural period during the Tokugawa years, a
time when the townsmen (merchants and artisans) began to thrive. The theme of the book from
which the first excerpt is taken, The Japanese Family Storehouse, is about merchants and how
they made or squandered great wealth. The second excerpt is a list of prohibitions dating from
1719 regulating the fashion of townsmen in the city of Edo.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Saikaku’s home was Osaka, where townsmen comprised the overwhelming majority of the
population, one of the three metropolises (the other two being Edo and Kyoto) that grew
rapidly during the seventeenth century with the increase in agricultural productivity and the
development of the commercial economy. By Saikaku’s time, Osaka was a central market
for rice and a number of other commodities and an important processing center as well.
2. By the time of the second document, Edo was the largest city in Tokugawa Japan and likely
the world. Its population of about one million roughly consisted of half samurai and half
townsmen (merchants and artisans).
3. Although the townsmen benefited a lot from the expanding economy, Tokugawa society was
highly status-conscious, and fashion was terribly important in delineating one status group
from another. Attempts to dress in a manner inappropriate to one’s social station were
looked down upon and subject to the law (see “Sumptuary Laws”).
Document 1: Excerpt on Fashion from Ihara Saikaku’s The
Japanese Family Storehouse (1688)
Ancient simplicity is gone. With the growth of pretence [sic] the people of today are
satisfied with nothing but finery, with nothing but what is beyond their station or purse.
You have only to look at the way our citizens’ wives and daughters dress. They can hardly
go further. To forget one’s proper place is to invite the wrath of heaven. Even the august
nobility are satisfied with clothes of nothing more splendid than Kyôto habutae silk, and
in the military class the formal black dress of five crests is considered ill-suited to
none, from minor retainers to the greatest daimyo. But of recent years, even since some
ingenious Kyôto creatures started the fashion, every variety of splendid material has been
used for men’s and women’s clothes, and the drapers’ sample-books have blossomed in a
riot of colour. What with delicate ukiyo stencil-patterns, multi-coloured “Imperial”
designs, and dappled motifs in wash-graded tints, man must now seek in other worlds for
an exotic effect, for every device on earth has been exhausted. Paying for his wife’s
wardrobe, or his daughter’s wedding trousseau, has lightened the pocket of many a
merchant, and blighted his hopes in business. A courtesan’s daily parade of splendour is
made in the cause of earning a living. Amateur beauties—when they are not blossomviewing in spring, maple-viewing in autumn, or being married—can manage well enough
without dressing in layers of conspicuous silks.
Change of Clothes: The custom of changing from winter (padded) to summer
(unpadded) clothing on the first day of the Fourth Month (first day of summer).
Clothing Edicts: Laws regulating the types of materials the people of the various
status groups were permitted to wear.
formal black dress of five crests: The most formal type of kimono that samurai
wore, with the standard five family crests, positioned one on each sleeve, one on
each lapel and one on the back.
homespun: Clothing made by hand at home.
“Imperial” designs: A type of multicolored design for kimono that was first made
popular by the women of the imperial court in Kyoto.
imported Chinese silks: This more likely is a reference to silks woven in a
Chinese-style rather than imported silk, which made use of expensive materials such
as gold thread.
Kyôto habutae silk: A type of smooth, strong silk, woven in the Nishijin district of
Kyoto, the main center of the weaving industry.
military class: I.e., the samurai status group.
Mount Machikane: A fictional mountain (literally, “cannot-wait-mountain”) often
used in poetry; it is associated with the cuckoo bird, a symbol of longing.
Mount of Clothes: Kinukake-yama in Japanese, a hill in the northwest part of
Kyoto; the nickname originates from a story of an emperor who ordered that the
mountain’s summit be draped in white cloth one summer to simulate a snow-covered
crest.
Muromachi Street: A center for drapery business and wealthy merchants in Kyoto.
neck-pieces: Eri, a collar or neckband of traditional clothing (kimono).
nobility: Members of the court aristocracy.
Ukiyo stencil-patterns: Stencil-cut patterns or designs made for clothing, usually
consisting of fine white lines, either straight or curved, on a colored background.
Not long ago, in a tailor’s shop set back a little from Muromachi [S]treet, and
displaying on its curtains the crest of a fragrant citron, there was a craftsman who tailored
stylish clothes with even more than the usual Kyôto dexterity. Such piles of silk materials
and cotton wadding were deposited with him that the enjoyed a constant prospect of the
“Mount of Clothes” without stirring a step from his shop. Though it was always a rush to
remove the tacking stitches and apply the smoothing iron in time, each year on the first day
of the fourth moon, in readiness for the season’s “Change of Clothes”—even as the
impatient cuckoo sounded its first notes in the skies above Mount Machikane—he had
ready in his shop a fresh array of splendidly coloured summer kimono. Among them one
might have seen garments of three distinct layers—scarlet crepe enclosed within
translucent walls of delicate white silk—and garments with sleeves and neck-pieces
stiffened with padding. Such things had been unheard of in former days. One step further
and we might have been wearing imported Chinese silks as working clothes. The recent
Clothing Edicts were truly for the good of every one of us, in every province in the land;
and, on second thoughts, we are grateful. A merchant wearing fine silks is an ugly sight.
Homespun is not only more suited to his station, but he looks smarter in it.
Source: Ihara Saikaku, The Japanese Family Storehouse. Or the Millionaires’ Gospel Modernised, trans. G. W.
Sargeant (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959), 26–27.
Document 2: List of Prohibitions Concerning Clothing for
Edo Townsmen (1719)
1. Servants of chônin should not wear silk.
2. Chônin should not wear wool capes.
chônin: Refers to townsmen (meaning merchants and artisans).
cruppers: A leather strap looped under a horse’s tail and attached to a saddle to
keep it from slipping forward.
pongee: Soft, thin silk cloth.
3. Entertainment by chônin should not be elaborate
4. Chônin should not have household articles with gold lacquer decorations.
5. Chônin should not use gold and silver leaf in their building.
6. Three-story houses should not be built.
7. Chônin should not have gold lacquer on their riding saddles or braided-thread
cruppers.
8. Saddle cushions should not be made of materials other than pongee, cotton, and wool
blankets.
9. Weddings of chônin should not be elaborate.
10. Chônin should not wear long swords or large short swords. [See also Section 14]
11. Chônin should not dress in an outlandish fashion.
Source: Donald H. Shively, “Sumptuary Regulation and Status in Early Tokugawa Japan,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies 25 (1964–1965): 129.
Aftermath
Saikaku referred to “recent Clothing Edicts” and indeed during the five years preceding the
publication of his novel (1688) an unprecedented number were issued by the Tokugawa
government under Shogun Tsunayoshi. Numerous edicts followed periodically as well. The
years around 1688 mark the first time that the government showed such a great deal of concern
with townsmen’s clothing. The edicts reflect the desire of the government to maintain status
boundaries in the face of improving economic conditions for townsmen and the greater
availability of more expensive clothing, particularly with the spread of more elaborate
weaving techniques. In general, sumptuary laws in Japan were quite detailed, more so than in
Europe, and continued to be issued throughout the Tokugawa period.
Ask Yourself
1. Given that Saikaku himself belonged to the merchant status group, why would he write “A
merchant wearing fine silks is an ugly sight”? What four reasons does he give to discourage
merchants and townsartisans from doing so?
2. What do these two documents suggest about the relationship between status (that is,
whether one is a samurai, peasant, artisan or merchant) and appearance?
3. If you were a merchant who did not like to be dictated to in terms of clothing, how might
you go about bending the rules without drawing the attention of government officials?
4. What evidence do you see of growing affluence in terms of the clothing described here?
5. From what you read, according to Saikaku, what was the reputation of Kyoto?
6. What types of material culture other than clothing were regulated by government?
(Document 2)
7. Why would the Tokugawa government have wanted to prohibit the specific materials or
items mentioned in Document 2? For example, why would wool capes be on the list?
(Hint: the Japanese used the Portuguese loan words rasha [Portuguese, raxa] and kappa
[Portuguese, capa] for cape to describe them.)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Make a list of the types of goods whose consumption is discouraged in our society through
taxes or legislation (laws).
• Research sumptuary laws in England or France: Make a list of the types of fashion and
other goods covered in the laws and compare them with the list in Document 2. What kind
of gendered assumptions about the spending habits of men and women are present in them?
• Research the development of sumptuary laws in England or France: When did they first
come into use? When did they cease? What conclusions can you make about the appearance
of sumptuary laws in the development of a society and its economy?
• Search on the Internet or in books for images of clothing, for both men and women, similar
to those described by Saikaku. Draw up a list of the distinguishing features of men and
women’s clothing. Compile a similar list for eighteenth-century America and/or England
and compare them. What do you make of the differences?
Further Information
Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997.
Munsterberg, Hugo. The Japanese Kimono. Hong Kong and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Shively, Donald H. “Sumptuary Regulation and Status in Early Tokugawa Japan.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 25
(1964–1965): 123–64.
Web Sites
“The Edo Period,” http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/kosode/index.htm, part of the Costume Museum site:
http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/index.htm, official web site of the Costume Museum, Kyoto Japan (accessed November 14,
2010).
“Japanese Style,” http://www.japanesekimono.com/ (accessed September 12, 2010). For material on kimono, kimono fabric and
Japanese clothing.
Sumptuary Laws
Japanese sumptuary laws restricted the consumption of certain goods and the level of
consumption with regard to entertainment, ceremonies, or other types of social and
religious customs, particularly weddings and funerals. They restricted certain types,
qualities, and colors of clothing and apparel to certain status groups. The laws were also
applied to architecture—to the number of stories, the type of entranceway, style of
construction, even the type of roof tiles permitted.
Sumptuary laws aimed to maintain status distinctions in the face of economic change,
which threatened to upset the social hierarchy by revealing the gap between status and
wealth. (Imagine, after all, how you would have felt as a samurai to see merchants or
artisans flaunting wealth.) Sumptuary laws did not arise out of religious concerns, as they
did elsewhere, nor did they target foreign goods that might hurt domestic markets (foreign
trade was highly regulated in Tokugawa Japan—see Section 17).
Punishments for violations of the various laws varied greatly. There were cases in
which someone was fined or jailed for wearing a prohibited article of clothing; and there
was the rare case of an ostentatious merchant family (e.g., the Yodoya family, in 1705)
having their wealth confiscated. However, the fact that sumptuary statutes were reissued
regularly suggests that they were not enforced with any vigor or that they were frequently
ignored. It also suggests that they were a form of exhortation or moral guidance directed
at the people by the Tokugawa and domain governments.
6
Samurai Dress and Grooming Standards
Prohibitions of 1615 and 1645
Introduction
This selection comes from two sets of regulations (prohibitions) issued by the Tokugawa
shogunate for samurai under its jurisdiction, the first from 1615 and the second from 1645.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. During the preceding Warring States period and early Tokugawa period, it was customary
for warriors to have facial hair—even the first three Tokugawa shoguns, as depicted in
formal portraits of the time, had it.
2. Regulations for samurai dress and grooming were only issued during the seventeenth
century, in contrast to general sumptuary laws, which were issued throughout the Tokugawa
period.
3. The hairstyle prescribed by the shogunate—the topknot—was very conservative in nature,
dating back to the thirteenth century.
4. Typically, commoners were only permitted to wear a single, short, sword (see Section 14),
which was wielded with just one hand. Exceptions to this rule occurred, however, more
commonly in the nineteenth century. Sometimes commoners received permission to wear
the two swords, as a reward for loans made to a domain, and this was often accompanied
as well by permission to use a surname.
5. The Tokugawa encouraged samurai to wear longer swords by prescribing sword lengths.
The longer swords required two hands and more skill to wield properly.
6. During the first decades of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa worked hard to solidify
its position as the sovereign power in Japan, with authority over the more than 250 daimyo.
It also sought to control closely those under its direct authority, its retainers, and to bring
peace and order to society.
Document 1: “Prohibitions of 1615”
1. Shaving far too much of the hair off the top of the head;
2. Wearing one’s hair slicked back with oil or having the sideburns meet as a mustache;
3. Wearing beards or facial hair on the cheeks;
4. Wearing unnaturally long swords;
5. Wearing unnaturally long short swords;
6. Wearing scabbards which have been lacquered red;
7. Wearing unnaturally large swordguards and large square swordguards.
Source: John Michael Rogers, “The Development of the Military Profession in Tokugawa Japan” (PhD thesis, Harvard
University, September 1998), 53–54. Original source: Jômoku, Genna 1 (1615)/5/15, edict no. 2219, in Tokugawa
kinreikô, ed. Ishii Ryôsuke, vol. 4 (Tokyo: Sôbunsha, 1961).
Document 2: Excerpts from “Prohibitions of 1645”
1. Wearing long swords in excess of 2.9 shaku [34.8 inches] in length.
scabbard: A sheath for a sword or dagger.
swordguard (tsuba): A round or occasionally squarish guard made of metal at the
end of the grip of a sword; it is meant to protect the hand from the blade.
2. Wearing unnaturally long short swords in excess of 1.8 shaku [21.5 inches] in length.
...
3. Wearing one’s hair slicked back with oil instead of arranged as a top-knot.
4. Wearing excessively long mustaches, beards, or sideburns.
5. Shaving the entire top of one’s head, and having the sideburns meet as a mustache.
...
6. Wearing scabbards which have been lacquered yellow.
Source: John Michael Rogers, “The Development of the Military Profession in Tokugawa Japan” (PhD thesis, Harvard
University, September 1998), 55. Original can be found in Oboegaki, Shôhô 2 (1645)/7/18, edict no. 2220, in Tokugawa
kinreikô, ed. Ishii Ryôsuke, vol. 4 (Tokyo: Sôbunsha, 1961).
Aftermath
A final set of regulations on grooming standards was issued in 1670, which basically
repeated many of the previous two sets of provisions. The codes were enforced by law, even
for samurai off duty. Punishment could be temporary removal from duty or imprisonment for a
designated number of days. A retainer’s overlord was also subject to punishment, which tells
us that he bore a great deal of responsibility in making sure that the men under his authority
followed the provisions. While these various regulations were issued by the Tokugawa for its
retainers, local domains tended to follow its lead in terms of grooming standards, as they did
in many areas of legislation, and issued laws that were in line with those issued by the
shogunate.
In 1871, three years after the fall of the Tokugawa, the new Meiji government ordered all
samurai to cut off their topknots, meaning that all male members of Japanese society were to
have a uniform hairstyle.
Ask Yourself
1. How did the prohibitions of 1645 add to or clarify the earlier regulations from 1615?
2. Why would the shogunate designate a distinctive hairstyle for samurai? What effect do you
imagine it might have had on samurai? (Think about institutions in the United States that
regulate hairstyle.)
3. What purpose was served by the various regulations on facial hair? The shogunate never
explained why mustaches were allowed but not beards. Why do you think it made this
distinction?
4. Why would the shogunate be concerned with mandating the proper length of swords?
5. Why might lacquered red or yellow scabbards be the subject of prohibition? Similarly,
why the concern about the size of sword guards?
6. What is the significance of the fact that commoners could wear a single short sword, but
samurai could wear a long sword (a full foot longer than a commoners’) as well as a short
one?
7. It later became a stock expression that “the sword was the soul of the samurai.” How might
this relate to the regulation of swords?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the printed source listed below, consider the relationship between political authority
and hair. Research the ways and reasons why political powers have sought to regulate
hairstyles. What was the general reaction in the United States in the 1960s to youths such as
the proverbial hippies who had what were perceived to be deviant hairstyles?
• How have elite social groups in different societies physically distinguished themselves?
Select two countries to research and draw up a list of physical markers that would
immediately distinguish the elite or aristocratic group in those societies from other nonelite
or aristocratic groups.
Further Information
Hiltebeitel, Alf, and Barbara D. Miller, eds. Hair: Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1998.
7
Lunisolar Calendar
Calendar for Seventh Year of Kaei (1854): Samurai in Armor
Introduction
This selection is an example of an abbreviated form of calendar (ryakureki), 13 cm by 9
cm in size, one that likely would have been adhered to an interior pillar of a house or place of
business (see Figure 4). Calendars came in several different forms other than the type
presented here, such as pocket ones, that could be easily carried, and booklet-length ones, with
a single page for each month. The single-sheet version showed only the order of the long and
short months (referred to as daishô reki, or “long-short calendars,” or just simply daishô), as
is the case with the visual document reproduced here. The artist is unknown, likely an amateur.
This type of calendar was often given as a New Year’s gift or exchanged among friends with
similar interests. This particular one was made in 1854, the year after Commodore Matthew C.
Perry and his steam-powered Black Ships arrived in Japanese waters and forced the
Tokugawa shogunate to accept a Western-style diplomatic treaty, thereby reversing its foreign
policy of no formal relations with any Western country.
Keep in Mind as You Examine the Document
1. The Japanese used a modified lunar (or lunisolar) calendar for official purposes during the
Tokugawa period. Each month was adjusted to the cycle of the moon, which orbits the earth
in about 29.5 days. Accordingly, months were made either 29 days (i.e., “short months”) or
30 days (i.e., “long months”) in length. However, because the earth orbits around the sun in
365.25 days, there is a discrepancy between the natural year and the official (civil), lunar
calendar. To compensate for the difference, an intercalary or “leap” month was inserted
every few years (so in a given year, there might be a Third Month and an intercalary Third
Month), thereby producing a year with 13 months and synchronizing the lunar calendar with
the solar year.
2. The order of the longer and shorter months changed from year to year, so knowing this
information was very important and helps to account for the need for calendars. This was
particularly true for merchants, who collected payments at the end of the month.
3. A solar calendar was also used by farmers as a kind of unofficial calendar; since it
followed the seasons of the natural year, it was important to their agricultural work.
Figure 4 “Seventh Year of Kaei (1854) daishoreki [Samurai in Armor].”
(By permission of the National Diet Library.)
4. Following the Chinese method, the Japanese did not put intercalary months after a fixed
month of the year, as was the case with the ancient Babylonian and Jewish calendars, in
which the intercalary month always came at the end of the year. The Chinese and Japanese
did this because it allowed them to tie the lunar calendar more easily to regular points in
the solar calendar.
5. Dates on the calendar represented the day, month, and year. There were several ways by
which years were marked, by era name (nengo—see sidebar, “Era Names”) or by
sexegenary calendar cycle. The latter refers to a system borrowed from China consisting of
two series of characters: (1) the 10 stems (i.e., the five elements of wood, fire, earth,
metal, and water); and (2) the 12 branches (i.e., the 12 animals: mouse, ox, tiger, hare,
dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar). The two series of characters,
combined together, produce 60 different combinations, and these are used to indicate years.
6. During the Tokugawa period, numbers from 1 to 12 were normally used for the months, and
these were written in Chinese characters. Every month also had a name, but these were
used almost exclusively in poetry.
7. In this calendar, the long months (Second Month, Fourth Month, Sixth Month, Seventh
Month, Eighth Month, Tenth Month, Twelfth Month) are indicated in the writing that
comprises the top half, while the short months (First Month, Third Month, Fifth Month,
Intercalary Seventh Month, Ninth Month, Eleventh Month) are hidden in the design of the
samurai’s clothing.
Aftermath
This type of calendar was quite popular, judging by the number of examples that exist, the
fact that many noted artists produced them, and the custom of giving them as gifts or trading
them. There were various types of calendar prints, however, including ones that contained
illustrations of the animal of the year and scenes from popular plays from the kabuki theater.
This calendar was produced at a very volatile time politically because of the arrival of
Commodore Perry and the diplomatic treaty that he forced on the Tokugawa shogunate. There
were considerable political forces within Japan that opposed any attempt to enter into any kind
of formal relations with the West. The inability of the Tokugawa shogun and his government to
protect Japan from the Westerners resulted in some political satire, which, like this calendar,
still had to be subtle or disguised to avoid official censorship.
In January 1, 1873, five years after the end of the Tokugawa period, the Meiji government
switched to the Gregorian calendar, and with it the custom of daishô calendars ended.
The use of the two (lunisolar and solar) systems makes it difficult to convert dates to the
Gregorian calendar. To do so one must consult a conversion calculator such as
http://web.me.com/meyer.eva/www.yukikurete.de/nengo_calc.htm.
Ask Yourself
1. Why do you think the fixing of the calendar was considered so important during the
Tokugawa period that it was placed under the control of the imperial court and later in the
period under the shogunate?
2. Why do you think calendars such as the one reproduced here would have been popular?
(What do you look for when you shop for a calendar?)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Research the origins of the calendar in Japan. When was it first introduced? From where
did it originate?
• In what countries in the early modern or premodern world was a lunar or lunisolar
calendar used? Did all of these countries convert to a Western calendar (Julian or
Gregorian), and if so, when? Research, in books or on the Internet, the reasons for the
conversions or the arguments against conversion.
• After studying the example presented above, see if you can figure out the riddles in the
examples
of
the
calendar
prints
on
the
following
web
site:
http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/unriddling/01_bsall.html. Try to determine the subject of
the picture or sentence in each image. Remember that the type of animal in an image may
help you to find the year for which the calendar was made. Try to figure out if the name of
the month is hidden anywhere. (Hint: Chinese ideograms may be inserted in the face of a
person or his/her kimono. In other cases the characters for dai [for “long month”] or shô
[for “short month”] may be hidden or in symbolic form. The character indicating the
intercalary month is , but it was often abbreviated with the outer part
of the
character.)
• Using the Internet, research the variety of types and visual forms that calendars from around
the globe can take. Are there any equivalent forms of calendars similar to the ryakureki (of
the samurai) above?
Further Information
Sugimoto, Masayoshi, and David L. Swain. Science and Culture in Traditional Japan. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978.
Web Sites
“(Japanese) Calendar History.” National Diet Library, Japan Gallery, http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/history/02_index1.html
(accessed June 1, 2010).
“Countries’ Calendar Reform.” Calendars through the Ages. http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/year-countries.html
(accessed September 12, 2010).
“Year Date.” Samurai Archives SamuraiWiki, http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Year_dates (accessed June 1,
2010). For information on Japanese dating systems.
Era Names or Year Periods (nengô)
Era or year-period names have been used in Japan since 645, when the Japanese court
adopted the Chinese system, and proclaimed it the Taika
(“Great Change”) era. The
imperial court controlled the system and determined when the era name should be
changed. A change might be made in response to a natural disaster, or some auspicious
sign occurrence, or after the ascension of a new emperor. The year-period changed more
than 40 times during the Tokugawa era, but some of them are well known even today,
such as the Genroku (1688–1703), Kyôhô (1716–1735), and Tenpô (1830–1843)
periods. The year-period names also did not directly correspond with political change.
Neither the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, for example, nor the
ascension of new shoguns resulted in a new era name. Some era names, with the date of
designation are as follows: Genna, 1615; Kan’ei, 1624; Meireki, 1655; Genroku, 1688;
Tenpô, 1830; and, Keiô, 1865.
This system continues in use today, although since the beginning of the Meiji period in
1868 the only reason for a change in era name is the reign of a new emperor. The Heisei
era of Emperor Akihito began in 1989; hence, the year 2012 is known as Heisei 24 or the
24th Year of Heisei. Japanese newspapers continue to print both the Western dates and
year-period names. From Meiji times, emperors are known posthumously by the name of
the era in which they reigned; hence Akihito’s father, Hirohito, is known as the Emperor
Shôwa.
8
Japanese Foodways and Diet
The Accounts of Joao Rodrigues (1620–1621), Yamakawa Kikue (1943),
and Edo hanjôki (1832–1836)
Introduction
Much is known about Japanese cuisine today, thanks in large part to the popularity of sushi,
sashimi, and Japanese sake (rice wine). The three documents date from both ends of the
Tokugawa period and inform us about foodways and the diet of the people. The first document
consists of excerpts from the Portuguese Jesuit priest and interpreter JOAO RODRIGUES’s History
of the Church in Japan (1620–1621), which was based largely on the research he completed
while residing in Japan from 1577 to 1610. The second document is based on the oral
information that YAMAKAWA KIKUE (1890–1980), collected from her mother and published in
1943 as Women of the Mito Domain. Kikue was descended, on her mother’s side, from one of
the 3,500 retainers of Mito, a domain whose castle town of the same name lay some 120
kilometers northeast of Edo. Kikue’s mother, Aoyama Chise, was from a family of respected
scholars and lived in Mito until 1872. The third document is from Edo hanjôki (An Account of
the Prosperity of Edo, 1832–1836), a satirical account of the shogun’s capital brushed by
TEREKADA SEIKEN (1796–1868). The excerpt is taken from one of 60 segments in the book, in a
section in which the author recounts the bustling activity in the parts of town where used
clothing was sold, and where restaurants (see “Dining Out”) and markets, such as the fish
market at Nihonbashi, provided food for purchase.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Rice was the preferred staple food (the word for “cooked rice” in Japanese, gohan, also
means “meal”), but not enough was produced to allow all social groups to eat it as such.
Most people in the cities were eating rice, but farmers in the countryside ate it mixed with
other grains. Foods eaten other than rice or another grain were considered side dishes.
2. Chicken was not considered meat—that term generally indicated the flesh of a four-legged
animal. Meat, not to mention onions (and other similar vegetables) and alcohol, were
prohibited to devout Buddhists.
3. Rodrigues mentions whale oil but not whale meat. Indeed, whale meat was eaten in coastal
areas of Japan—and still is in some parts of Japan today.
4. Many Mito samurai households, like those across the country during the second half of the
Tokugawa period, had to take up a variety of side jobs—for example, making sun
umbrellas, cricket cages, or bamboo skewers; weaving, for wives and daughters; and in
some domains, farming—to survive financially. Generally, only lower samurai were
allowed to take on this kind of manual labor.
5. The Japanese sweet potato produced a very high yield of calories per unit of land, more
than almost any other crop; accordingly, it was very important in maintaining a dense
population in Japan and in combating famine. Sweet potatoes known as “Satsuma potatos”
(Satsuma imo) originated in the New World and arrived in Japan via the Ryûkyû Islands in
the early seventeenth century. Street venders selling roasted sweet potatoes appeared in
Edo in the 1790s, and the snack quickly became a wintertime favorite. Today, vendors can
still be found on urban streets selling the snack from carts or out of the back of pickup
trucks.
Document 1: “The Produce of the Land of Japan”:
Excerpts from Joao Rodrigues’s History of the Church in
Japan (1620–1621)
The land yields much good rice, and this is the principal food and crop of the whole
kingdom. It is sown during the May rains in fields where there is plenty of water and
irrigation, and as a result they harvest it in September. There are various kinds and
different types of rice. The chief sort is white rice, and here again there are various types
and prices; another type is red or reddish in color, and no matter how much they pound it
the rice never becomes white but remains grey in color. They also grow an abundance of
wheat for various purposes, but they do not use it to make bread after our fashion, and in
recent years merchants have shipped flour to Manila. They also grow barley, and this
serves as food for the peasants and poor folk in some barren regions; they cook it like rice
and mix a little with it. This happens principally in barren and mountainous places in the
Kantô regions and the island of Kyushu, where there is not enough rice. At certain times
of the year the peasants and poor folk eat barley, fern roots, and wild acorns in, for
example, Bungo, Satsuma, and Gotô.
Some of our first Fathers, noting this and unaware of what happened in other regions,
wrote that Japan was very poor and lacking in provisions, and that the people ate only the
leaves of radishes and plants, etc. But this is not so in Gokinai and other fertile regions,
where there is an abundance of food and provisions. . . .
They also produce an abundance of every type of vegetable, such as beans, diverse
kinds of millet, many various green stuffs, turnips, and large quantities of radishes, which
in some regions are so big that four of them make up a reasonable burden for one man, as
we ourselves saw.
Much of the fruit is the same as in Europe, for example, different kinds of pears, small
apples in the Kami regions, peaches, apricots, and plums. . . .
Bungo, Satsuma, and Gotô: Bungo is a province in eastern Kyushu; Satsuma is a
province in the southern Kyushu; Gotô refers to the Gotô Islands, off the west coast
of Kyushu.
fair: Light in color.
Fathers: Jesuit priests, members of the Society of Jesus.
Gokinai: Refers to the Kinai region, meaning the Kyoto-Osaka area.
mustard and poppy seeds: May refer to rapeseed, which was used for lighting.
radishes: Refers to Japanese radishes, or daikon, which are long and white.
tree from which varnish is obtained: The lacquer tree, the berries from which can
be used to produce wax for candles; the sap was used as a lacquer.
The country also produces much good sesame oil and this is the type most in use. But
oil is also produced from mustard and poppy seeds, as well as a certain kind of oil
obtained from the seed or fruit of a tree. The women use this last oil to dye their hair
black, in contrast to Europeans who try to make their hair fair, something that they dislike
intensely. There is also oil obtained from whales and other fish. There is a great deal of
wax for candles, and this is made from the fruit of the tree from which varnish is
obtained. . . .
The land produces a kind of tree from which they obtain excellent varnish, probably
the best in the discovered world and better than that of China.
Source: Michael Cooper, ed., Joao Rodrigues’s Account of Sixteenth-Century Japan (London: The Hakluyt Society,
2001), 105–6.
Document 2: Excerpt from Yamakawa Kikue, Women of the
Mito Domain (1943)
The diet of people in Mito was quite monotonous. They did not eat meat, of course, and
only what fish could be gotten locally. But while, compared to today, far fewer varieties
of fish were available, the supply was ample. The sea off Mito provided bonito and
sardines in abundance, from the Naka River came salmon and eel, and the trout of the Kuji
River was a favored delicacy. . . .
Chise’s family kept two or three chickens. Let loose during the day, at night they
roosted in a long, rectangular box attached to the outside of the shutter case. . . . In general
people did not eat eggs as frequently as they do today, but it was possible to buy them in
quantity from a farmer. Chicken meat was considered medicinal and was also available,
but people seem to have eaten it only when sick or in other special circumstances.
As for fruit, peaches, Japanese pears, and persimmons, while not of as good quality as
today’s could be obtained readily. Mandarin oranges were a rarity, however. People laid
in large quantities of small, thick-skinned oranges for occasions like the Thunder God
festival, but they were not regularly available at other times. Really tasty oranges, like
those we have today, were called Edo oranges. Sent by friends or relatives from Edo
when someone was sick or brought back as a present, they were a rare treat.
There was very little in the way of sweets. People usually did not take an afternoon
snack every day, and when they did they ate something like a sweet potato or toasted
slices of dried rice cake, not a fancy sweet made of bean jam. It may have been different
in the upper stratum of the bushi class, but middle- and lower-level bushi families did not
customarily offer sweets even to a visitor. Usually tea was the only refreshment provided.
For one thing, no household kept sweets regularly on hand, and there were not many
sweetshops. . . .
hagi rice cakes: Rice cakes covered in ground sesame seed, soybean flour, or bean
jam; so-called because they look like a bush clover (hagi) in bloom.
mandarin oranges: Refers to mikan in Japanese.
pounded rice dumplings: Refers to mochi in Japanese.
sweet potato: Known as Satsuma-imo (Satsuma potato) in Japanese.
Thunder God: The popular name for Wake Ikazuchi shrine (and known as Raijinsama in Japanese); pilgrims would pray to this deity in particular for rain.
As a special treat for occasions like New Year’s, Kiku would cook pounded rice
dumplings in [unrefined] brown sugar that had been heated in an earthenware pot until
bubbly; when they were done she would sprinkle them with soybean flour. White sugar
was not generally available. Sometimes a student from a high-ranking family would send
a little as a present at midsummer or the year end. Kiku would store it away carefully to
sprinkle on special dishes like sweet hagi rice cakes or rice dumplings. . . .
At Chise’s house the daily dishes served with rice consisted of miso soup and pickles
at breakfast, vegetables cooked in soy sauce at lunch, and miso soup again in the evening
together with a main dish of some sort of fish. Probably reflecting the taste of the head of
the house, the miso soup at night often had fish in it as well.
Source: Yamakawa Kikue (trans. and with an introduction by Kate Nakai), Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections
of Samurai Family Life (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1992), 56–58.
Document 3: “Mountain Whale”: Excerpt from Edo
hanjôki (1832–1836) [An Account of the Prosperity of Edo]
Scallions and meat—a perfect combination. Cooking pots all in a row—one pot per
customer. Tipplers enjoy their meat with sake, while teetotalers take it with rice alone.
As the flames grow lively, the meat bubbles and simmers in the pot. Gradually we enter
the realm of savory delights! . . .
The price of a pot of meat generally falls into three categories: small, at fifty cash;
medium, for one hundred; and large, for two hundred. Over the last few years, the price of
meat has soared, to the point where it is on a par with eel. Yet its flavor is so tender and
succulent, its curative powers so swift that who could quibble over mere price?
The animals used are boar, deer, fox, rabbit, otter, wolf, bear, and antelope; their
carcasses lie heaped in the restaurant. . . .
I have heard that it was in the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Tenmu [675] that the
first national decree was issued against the consumption of animal flesh. It allowed no
consumption of meat whatsoever, apart from what was required for nursing the sick. As a
result, meat became known as “medicinal food.” Until recently in Edo there was only one
establishment serving up this “medicinal food,” a certain shop in Kôjimachi. Now, some
twenty years later, this same “medication” has become so popular that the number of such
shops defies all reckoning. As a rule, the signs for these dispensaries display a pattern of
scattered autumn maples leaves, and carry a two-word inscription: MOUNTAIN
WHALE. The business of these establishments is, of course, “medicinal food,” but by
this description they circumvent the national ban. The device is a mere code, a transparent
artifice.
cash: Copper coins, or mon.
Kôjimachi: A commoner section of Edo.
maples leaves: A euphemism for venison.
mountain whale: Euphemism for boar meat.
teetotaler: A person who abstains from alcohol.
tippler: A person who drinks habitually or to excess.
Source: Andrew Markus, “Meat and Potatoes: Two Selections from Edo Hanjôki,” Sino-Japanese Studies 4, no. 2
(1992): 12–13.
Aftermath
While Yamakawa’s account is based on experiences from Mito domain, the conditions
described could be found generally in much of Japan during the second half of the Tokugawa
period. In retrospect (Yamakawa’s account is based largely on oral testimony taken in the
twentieth century), the Mito diet may have seemed monotonous, but one might argue that it was
resource-efficient. In fact, scholars have found that in Tokugawa Japan, most people, of all
status groups, had adequate diets and that their level of physical well-being—taking into
consideration housing, food and sanitation—was fairly comparable with that of the West. It is
important to emphasize that this occurred despite the fact that Japan was not yet an
industrialized nation.
The consumption of meat was, to be sure, something unusual. Still, while Buddhist
sentiment may have discouraged the activity, game meat was openly sold and consumed in
many parts of Japan, and not only by hunters and residents of mountainous areas. Samurai were
known to have consumed it, particularly early in the Tokugawa period. Pork was eaten in the
southern domain of Satsuma and consumed by its samurai on duty in Edo. Beef, however, was
not widely consumed in Japan until the 1870s.
Ask Yourself
1. How does Yamakawa describe her family’s diet? Was it balanced? What were the major
sources of protein and carbohydrates?
2. How much did diet differ according to economic class? What might an upper-samurai eat
that a lower-samurai could not? Was there much difference between the diet of samurai and
that of commoners?
3. What would a child belonging to a samurai household have considered a treat?
4. To what uses was whale oil put?
5. What is the satirical element in “Mountain Whale”?
6. Based on “Mountain Whale,” how do you think people during the Tokugawa period felt
about eating meat? Why do you think there were various euphemisms for different types of
meat?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider the question: How has Japanese food changed since the Tokugawa period? From
the primary sources above, make a list of the types of foodstuffs available in Tokugawa
Japan. Then watch the film Tampopo and list the types of foods consumed by the characters
in the film—how many of them were available during the Edo period? Using the Internet,
research when any of the foods not available during the Edo period were first introduced to
Japan.
• Using the Internet and sources listed below, draw up a list of foodstuffs for an American
family (remember that there will be class differences) in the mid-nineteenth century and
compare it to the list you created for Tokugawa Japan in Activity #1. Does one diet seem
more healthy than the other?
• Using the print sources below, research the origins of sushi during the Tokugawa period.
How does the sushi we eat today compare?
• Do a Google image search for “Japanese lacquerware.” List all the types of vessels for
which lacquer is used. What kind of appearance does the lacquer give them?
• Using the Kikkoman web site, below, research the history of the Satsuma-imo. If you live
near an Asian market, purchase one and try one or more recipes (type the keywords “sweet
potato” on the Recipe Search page to find the recipes). How does the taste compare with
other sweet potatoes you have eaten previously?
• Consider the history of sugar in a comparative context: How did the consumption of sugar
in Japan in the mid-nineteenth century differ from that in the United States, England, or
France?
Further Information
Ashkenazi, Michael. Food Culture in Japan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.
Cwiertka, Katarzyna Joann. Modern Japanese Cuisine: Food, Power and National Identity. London: Reaktion, 2006.
Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997.
Ishige, Naomichi. The History and Culture of Japanese Food. London and New York: Kegan Paul, 2001.
Matsunosuke, Nishiyama. Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600–1868. Honolulu: University of
Hawai’i Press, 1997. See especially Chapter 8, “Edo Period Cuisine.”
Rath, Eric C., and Assman, Stephanie. Japanese Foodways: Past and Present. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University
of Illinois Press, 2010.
Ross, Alice. “Health and Diet in 19th-Century America: A Food Historian’s Point of View.” Historical Archaeology 27, no. 2
(1993): 42–56.
Film
Japanese Foods. Directed by Andrew Zimmern, 2004. Part of Chef Andrew Zimmern’s “Ethnic Eating” series. DVD.
Tampopo. Directed by Itami Juzo, 1985. VHS, 114 min.
Web Sites
‘Bikuni Bridge in Snow’: Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.” Brooklyn Museum.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/edo/detail.php?view=Winter.114 (accessed November 5, 2010). Includes
an image of a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes and a shop selling wild game meat.
“Kikkoman Food Forum.” Kikkoman Corporation. http://www.kikkoman.com/foodforum/index.shtml (accessed October 12,
2010). Contains a wide variety of essays on Japanese food from the Kikkoman Corporation’s web site. For the Kikkoman
Cookbook, an online collection of recipes, go to: http://www.kikkoman.com/cookbook/index.shtml.
“
Dining Out at Restaurants and Food Stalls
Restaurants first appeared in Edo sometime in the middle of the seventeenth century,
about the same time that the first cookbooks were published in Japan. These shops served
only simple fare, such as tea over rice (chazuke), miso soup with tofu, and fresh fish and
vegetables, boiled in soy sauce. For those of greater financial means wanting a more
diverse cuisine, this was available in the licensed quarters at Yoshiwara. Outside of the
pleasure quarters, restaurants offering a range of cuisine became more common from the
late eighteenth century. Sushi and soba (buckwheat noodles) became quite popular in the
early decades of the nineteenth century; reportedly, in Edo there was a soba shop on
practically every block. Other types of restaurants included those specializing in tofu and
one-pot cooking (nabemono). Sakai Banshirô, a samurai from Wakayama, was quite fond
of a number of the foods mentioned above. During his year of duty in Edo (1860–1861),
he dined in town, outside the domain’s residence, quite frequently, eating sushi on 14
occasions; soba, 31 times; and one-pot cooking, 43 times. Oftentimes Banshirô would
enjoy rice wine (sake) with his soba or one-pot cooking, which could include boar, pig
or fowl.
9
The Communal Bath
Shikitei Sanba’s “The Women’s Bath” (Ukiyoburo, 1810)
Introduction
(1776–1822) was the pen name of Kikuchi Taisuke, an Edo-born writer of
comic fiction, or gesaku. He was one of the first Japanese writers to make a living from
writing fiction, and was particularly known as the author of kokkeibon or “funny books,” of
which the Bathhouse of the Floating World (Ukiyoburo), excerpted here, is perhaps the most
notable. It was published in four major parts, or books (satsu): Books I and IV treat the “Men’s
Bath” and Books II and III the “Women’s Bath.” Throughout the work the setting remains the
same—a public bath—while the customers are constantly changing. This makes the work feel
more like a series of unrelated comic skits, heavily dependent on dialogue, rather than a novel.
The following excerpts are from Book II, “The Women’s Bath,” Part I. Works such as these
were often distributed through booksellers and lending libraries.
SHIKITEI SANBA
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. A lot of comic fiction relies on word play, which is very difficult to communicate
adequately in a translation. Sanba also liked to underscore the linguistic differences
between speakers from the Kyoto-Osaka area (Kamigata or Kansai dialect) and those from
the Edo area.
2. The dominant marriage custom in Tokugawa Japan was yome-iri, or “taking in a bride,” in
which the bride moved into the groom’s household and became subject to the authority of
the in-laws, particularly the mother-in-law. However, it was not unusual for a family with
multiple sons to adopt one out to another family as heir; from the receiving family’s
perspective this custom was referred to as muko-iri (adopting in a son-in-law).
3. The character Rin referred to in the story was likely a female servant of the merchant
housewife’s family.
4. “Switch pictures,” or kawari-e, were images published as single sheets or in bound books.
Similar to the pictures found on the inside back cover of Mad magazine, a switch picture
could be cut or folded in a certain way to create a new image, sometimes one that was
quite surprising or funny.
5. (Utagawa) Toyokuni (1769–1825) and (Utagawa) Kunisada (1786–1865) are the names of
two well-known woodblock print artists. Both were members of the same atelier, from
whose master artist they received their artistic family name. Kunisada was Toyokuni’s
most prolific and influential student. Toyokuni was best known for his woodblock prints of
kabuki actors. Kunisada was known for his portrait prints of both women and kabuki
actors.
6. “Red covers” (akahon) were illustrated books, usually children’s literature, bound with
red covers, that were popular in the late seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century.
Oftentimes they were retellings of folk or fairy tales.
Document: Excerpts from “The Bathhouse of the Floating
World: A Burlesque. Book II, Part 1: The Women’s Bath”
A merchant-class housewife of thirty-three or thirty-four entered through the street gate,
accompanied by a girl of about seven and carrying a baby of barely two.
“Oooh, it’s cold, it’s cold,” said the mother. “I’ll bet you’re cold, aren’t you, Bô?” she
asked the baby. Turning to the mistress of the bath, she said, “How have you been,
Mistress?”
The mistress was sitting on a raised platform. “Ah, good morning. It’s been damned
cold the last couple of days, hasn’t it! Oh! Osugi, you’re here today, too! Oh ho ho ho ho!
You’re always full of beans, aren’t you, Osugi-bô! Otama, do you have a vacation from
school today?”
“No, Ma’m,” answered the little girl.
“Aha! A lazybones, eh?”
“Just look at her, will you?” said the mother. “The minute my back is turned she thinks
she can skip school. Today she completely fooled her Papa and got him to let her take the
day off. Papa is in so much trouble. He’s just too nice, I’m afraid. She simply ignores
everything I say.”
. . . “Otama, when you get your clothes off, put them over there,” instructed the mother.
“Whoops! Don’t fall over. Let’s take your socks off, Osugi-bô. There! Now we undo your
undershirt . . . Huh? Rin certainly has a funny way of tying this thing. I can’t get the ties of
your undershirt undone, Bô. Ah! There we are. It’s all right. Let’s hurry up and get in the
tub and warm up! Go, go, go, go!”
...
“I guess it’s the same for everybody,” said Mrs. A. “They [children] ask you for gilt
paper, or that lovely colored paper with the designs done on it in mica powder, and then
they just waste it. They cut it all up and throw it away. And then there are those things they
call ‘switch pictures’ or whatever they are, the ones you fold one way or the other to
change the pictures, you know, to make an actor do quick costume changes for instance.
Anyway, my children buy them one after another, and then put them in a box. You wouldn’t
believe how packed that box is! And then my third one, the oldest boy, buys those—what
are they? gôkan—those little illustrated novels, anyway, and they pile up in a basket.
‘Toyokuni’s the best’ ‘Kunisada’s the best!’—they even learn the names of all the
illustrators! Children these days are up on simply everything!”
“They certainly are! When we were little,” said Mrs. B., “we couldn’t imagine
anything more wonderful than a ‘red-cover’ of some old story like ‘The Mouse’s
Wedding.’ ”
“Well, everything changes, I guess. It seems like it was just a little while ago that
people started wearing whalebone clips in their sidelocks. And before that,
everybody . . .”
“Yes!” interrupted Mrs. B. “Everybody did their hair up in tight little buns. And then,
when those handy little pins and paper strings came in, you could do your hair up
yourself. And what about those ‘quick Shimada’ forms! Just like an actor’s wig, I swear!
All you do is put it on top of your head, and zip! You’ve got your hair done up. Now that’s
really clever.”
“And we used to have a big topknot up on top,” Mrs. A continued. “But now, we’re
back to the tiny little old-style Shimada again. Of course, now we’re starting to get people
that like the Kamigata style, too. Sometimes I just can’t believe how quickly things
change, really!”
“Yes, and people are always going on about the Kyoto style, or Kyoto pins and what
not. I think Edo people should just stick with Edo things and be done with it, don’t you?
Say. This is a different subject, but did I hear that you finally got your oldest daughter
taken care of?”
“Yes, we did. We just found the match for her, and managed to get it all settled.”
“It must be a relief to get one of them taken care of, anyway,” observed Mrs. B.
“What is it my husband always says? ‘Girls are money-gobblers.’ Honestly, he does
nothing but complain!” said Mrs. A.
“Will she have a mother-in-law there?” Mrs. B asked.
“Yes, and she’s still young, too.”
“Oh, dear. The girl may be in for a lot of hard work!”
“No, I don’t really think so,” Mrs. A said. “The mother-in-law is very good-natured.
Not only that, but the groom—he’s settled down now, but he evidently used to be
something of a playboy, so he’s a very knowing sort of person. They certainly get along
very well, anyway.”
“Well, that’s the important thing,” Mrs. B. observed. “Even if the mother-in-law is a
little difficult, things will work out if the two of them really get along with each other.”
“She’s put on the maternity sash last month, too!” said Mrs. A.
“Really? Oh, my goodness!” Mrs. B exclaimed. “Nothing but one happy event after
another. You must be sure she avoids anything that’s bad for her. Nothing much can happen
after the fifth month, but certainly don’t let her have any sting ray or anything like that. It
blocks up the nipples. You’ve had children, so I assume you won’t forget to make sure she
takes the pills she should, like ‘Real Mother’ and ‘Queen.’ ”
“Oh, yes! Both of those worked so well for me, too. But there’s another one that’s
good, too, the medicine for female complaint they sell at the tabi shops in Koami and
Kofuna. . . .”
“. . . Anyway, you can be sure we’ve borrowed all sorts of lucky things from people,
like a bear’s sash, and charms for easy childbirth, and one of those dolls from the
Kurishima Shrine—you know, that sort of thing. Even though I’ve had a lot of children
myself, I still can’t help worrying when a baby’s due. I always feel sort of uneasy.”
actor: Refers here to an actor of the kabuki theater.
Koami and Kofuna: Areas in Edo near Nihonbashi (heart of townsman area).
Kurishima Shrine: A Shinto shrine in Kada, Kii province (today’s Wakayama
prefecture).
maternity sash: A cotton sash worn under the clothes to support the abdomen.
shôji: Translucent screen consisting of wooden frame covered with rice paper.
tabi: Traditional Japanese socks (ankle high; separation between big toe and other
toes).
“Well, that’s natural,” said Mrs. B. “Listen. When the baby comes, be sure to fill up a
bottle with some of the water it’s washed in, and bury the bottle along with the afterbirth.
It’s a charm to keep Baby from having trouble with its milk. My. We don’t have any
babies to take care of at our house, and that’s no good at all. Oh, how I envy you!”
“Well, I don’t know—you should be happy with just one child. At least he’s a boy. We
have three girls and two boys, and let me tell you, those girls are going to be a plague
from cradle to grave.”
“Oh, come!” protested Mrs. B. “Girls are good to have. They’re a real pleasure. My!
If you have two sons, you’re in a perfect position to get the younger one adopted into
some other family as an heir, aren’t you? Now my son, he’s nothing but trouble, let me tell
you! He’s driving me crazy. I’m really sorry now we didn’t apprentice him out
somewhere. But then, he’s our only child, and a boy at that, and we spoil him terribly.
Still, no matter how clever and intelligent someone is, he won’t amount to anything unless
he sees a little of the world.”
Source: Excerpts from Robert W. Leutner, Shikitei Sanba and the Comic Tradition in Edo Fiction (Cambridge, MA:
Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University and the Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985), 173–77. © 1985 The
President and Fellows of Harvard College. By permission of the Harvard University Asia Center.
Aftermath
Shikitei Sanba’s Bathhouse of the Floating World enjoyed great success, and as a result, a
few years later, he wrote a sequel, Ukiyodoko (The Barbershop of the Floating World, 1813–
1814), which followed the same format of conversations between ordinary townspeople. The
popularity of comic fiction like Shikitei’s is evidence of the commercialization of literature
from the late eighteenth century, the expansion of the reading public and the rise of commoners
as professional writers, who surpassed earlier writers of samurai status.
Ask Yourself
1. How would you describe the economic status of the merchant housewife? What evidence in
the story supports your characterization?
2. According to the grown women in the public bath, what was currently popular with
children? What was the case when they themselves were children?
3. What evidence of women’s fashion do you find in this story?
4. What evidence is there of regional cultural differences?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the Internet and print sources, research the different hairstyles discussed in the story
and the general history of women’s hairstyles in Japan and compare them with those in
contemporary Europe. For Japan, how much did women’s hairstyles change during the
course of the Tokugawa period? How much did hairstyle vary among the different status
groups? Based on the evidence you find, how much time, effort and expense do you
imagine was involved in fixing the hair?
• Research the history of the Utagawa school of woodblock print artists. Who were the
stand-outs and for what were they best known?
Further Information
“Hairstyles.” Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (A–L), 487, 490. New York: Kodansha, 1993.
Marks, Andreas. Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers, and Masterworks, 1680–1900. Tokyo, and Rutland, VT:
Tuttle, 2010.
Newland, Amy, and Chris Uhlenbeck, eds. Ukiyo-e: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints. New York: Smithmark, 1994.
Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006.
Web Sites
“Interior of a Bathhouse.” Artist Torii Kiyonaga’s diptych of the interior of a Japanese bathhouse, from 1787.
http://mfa.org/collections/object/interior-of-a-bathhouse-467811 (accessed February 12, 2011).
“Japanese
Women’s
Hairstyles
through
the
Ages.”
About.com:
Asian
History.
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/ss/JapanHair.htm (accessed November 26, 2010).
“William Heine (1827–1885), Public Bath at Simoda.” American artist William Heine’s ink and color image of the public bath, at
Shimoda, ca. 1856—an image so controversial in its depiction of coed bathing that it was removed from the official record
of Commodore Perry’s mission after the first printing. MIT Visualizing Cultures Image Database. http://okidev.mit.edu:8080/narravision-web/medium_view.jsp?mediumImage=http://www.blackshipsandsamurai.com/
BSS_COLLECTION_JPEGS/01_408aL_narr_Bath_md.jpg&assetId=01_
408aL_narr_Bath&largeImage=http://www.blackshipsandsamurai.com/
BSS_COLLECTION_JPEGS/01_408aL_narr_Bath_lg.jpg (accessed April 16, 2011).
The Japanese Public Bath (Sentô)
The earliest evidence in Japan for baths that were open to the public goes back to the
Nara period (710–784), when large temples sometimes allowed the infirmed to use the
facilities. These were steam baths, however. The soaking tub, for which Japan is still
renowned today, was not common until the second half of the seventeenth century.
However, by the end of the Tokugawa period there were as many as 600 public baths in
Edo alone.
At first, public baths in Edo employed female bath attendants (yuna), who were also
available for sexual services on the premises. As a result, in 1657, the shogunate banned
the female attendants, and replaced them with male employees, who would scrub the
backs of bathers, both male and female, but did not perform any other services. For
cleansing purposes, traditionally bathers used lyme, clay, or soapberry, and for the hair,
egg whites mixed with ash. The public bath offered other recreational activities besides
bathing: customers could play board games, drink tea, or eat snacks. There were also
special sections for samurai, to minimize the interaction between the two-sworded men
and commoners.
Westerners who came to Japan in the nineteenth century were shocked by the
Japanese custom of mixed bathing. The practice was later banned during the American
occupation of Japan (1945–1952) after World War II, but endured in the countryside in
spite of it.
10
The Japanese Home
Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa Made during the
Years 1770 and 1779 (1791)
Introduction
A noted Swedish doctor and naturalist, CARL PETER THUNBERG (1743–1828) was invited to
serve as the head surgeon on the Dutch trading post on Deshima from 1775 to 1776. As such,
he was one of just a few hundred Europeans who were able to visit Japan during the Tokugawa
era, before the opening of the country to the Western powers. While the movements of the
Dutch in Japan were largely constrained, Thunberg was allowed some latitude to leave the
manmade island to conduct botanical research ashore. He also was able to accompany the top
Dutch official (the opperhoofd) there to Edo for an audience with the shogun. This trip gave
him the opportunity to observe Japanese life firsthand and provided him with much of the
material about which he wrote in his book, which is excerpted below.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The “partition walls” that Thunberg refers to are one type of sliding interior walls
(fusuma), which were often painted; another type (shoji) was covered with paper to allow
external light to penetrate inside the home.
2. To do his job in Japan properly, Thunberg had to learn Dutch. He interrupted his voyage
there to stay for three years in Cape Town (present-day South Africa), a Dutch colony, to
accomplish this.
3. In his description of the privy, Thunberg writes that the Japanese sit over an opening in the
floor, but by “sit,” he means to sit on their legs, meaning to squat over the hole: the body
did not touch the opening. Urine (and human waste) was collected and sold to farmers, who
processed it as fertilizer to be used in the rice and other crop fields.
Document: Excerpt from Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels in
Europe, Asia and Africa Made during the Years 1770 and
1779 (1791)
The style of their architecture
The houses in general are of wood and plaster, and white-washed on the outside so as
to look exactly like stone. The beams all lie horizontal, or stand perpendicular (no
slanting ones as are otherwise used in framework buildings). Between these beams,
which are square and far from thick, bamboos are interwoven and the spaces filled up
with clay, sand and lime. In consequence of this the walls are not very thick, but when
white-washed make a tolerably good appearance. There are partition walls in their
houses which are merely supported by posts or upright beams, between which again at the
ceiling and floor other beams run across with grooves in them, for partitioning off the
apartments. Thus, the whole house at first forms only one room, which, however, may be
partitioned off with frames that slide in the grooves made in their cross-beams, and may
be put up, taken away, or slid behind each other at pleasure. These frames are made of
lacquered wood and covered with thick painted paper. The ceiling is tolerably neat and
formed of boards closely joined, but the floor, which is always raised from the ground, is
laid with planks at a distance from each other. The roofs are covered with tiles, which are
of singular make and very thick and heavy; the more ordinary houses are covered with
chips, which are frequently laid heavy stones to secure them. . . . The houses are generally
two stories high, but the upper story is seldom inhabited, is for the most part lower than
the other, and is used for a loft, or to lay up lumber in. The houses of people of distinction
are larger indeed, and handsomer than others, but not more than two stories, at the most
twenty feet high. . . .
chips: Wooden shingles.
Juncus: Rush.
mats: Refers here to tatami matting.
oblong aperture: Rectangular hole.
privy: Toilet.
The floors are always covered with mats made of a fine species of grass (Juncus)
interwoven with rice straw, from three to four inches thick and of the same size throughout
the whole country, viz. two yards long and one broad, with a narrow blue or black
border. . . . In the houses of the lower order of people a great part of the room on the
outside is not covered with mats and serves for a hall where the company may leave their
shoes: within is a raised floor, which, covered with mats, constitutes the sitting room, and
by means of sliding screens may be divided into several compartments. . . .
Every house has its privy, in the floor of which there is an oblong aperture and it is
over this aperture that the Japanese sit. At the side of the wall is a kind of a box, inclining
obliquely outwards, into which they discharge their urine. Near it there is always a china
vessel with water in it, with which, on these occasions, they never fail to wash their
hands.
Source: Japan Extolled and Decried: Carl Peter Thunberg and the Shogun’s Realm, 1775–1796, annotated and
introduced by Timon Screech (London and New York: Routledge, 2005), 189–91.
Aftermath
Thunberg’s travel account, originally written in Swedish, was soon published in German,
French, and English translations. It served as one of the most important sources of knowledge
on Japan for contemporary Europeans, who during the Enlightenment era after the American
and French revolutions looked to Japan (and China) for possible alternate models of statecraft.
After leaving Japan, Thunberg continued his travels in Asia before returning home in 1779
to Sweden, where he was appointed professor of medicine and natural philosophy at the
University of Uppsala.
Ask Yourself
1. What are the basic building materials for a Japanese home? Why do you think the Japanese
chose these types of materials? (Why might they be well suited to the Japanese climate and
geophysical characteristics of the land?)
2. How did sliding interior walls allow for flexible use of interior space?
3. What differences in housing based on economic class do you detect?
4. How would you describe Japanese hygiene, as found in this excerpt? (How would you
compare it to that of Europeans or Americans living around same time?) Why did Japanese
take off their shoes?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Thunberg gave a general description of townsmen (merchant and artisan) homes that he
saw. Using several of the print sources and the various web sites listed below, investigate
the housing conditions that members of the other status groups, peasants and samurai,
experienced. How different were their residences, and what do you make of these
differences?
• Katsura Imperial Villa, dating to the early seventeenth century, is one of the most studied
structures in architecture and has influenced many modern architects around the globe.
Based on the web site on Katsura and the print sources listed, investigate the buildings and
gardens there. Draw up a list of what you consider to be the defining characteristics of this,
sukiya, style of architecture. Using the text by Itô, consider the extent to which traditional
architecture remains influential in Japan today.
Further Information
Coaldrake, William H. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.
Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Things in Premodern Japan. The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997.
Hirai, Kiyoshi. Feudal Architecture of Japan. Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1973.
Itô, Teiji. The Classic Tradition in Japanese Architecture: Modern Versions of the Sukiya Style. Translated by Richard L.
Gage. New York: Weatherhill, 1972.
Naito, Akira. Katsura: A Princely Retreat. Translated by Charles S. Terry; photographs by Takeshi Nishikawa. New York:
Kodansha, 1977.
Nishi, Kazuo, and Kazuo Hozumi. What Is Japanese Architecture? Translated, adapted, and with an introduction by H. Mack
Horton. Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International, 1996.
Paine, Robert. The Art and Architecture of Japan. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.
Web Site
“The Tour of Katsura Imperial Villa.” Copyright, The Tour of Katsura Imperial Villa. http://katsura-rikyu.50webs.com/
(accessed November 15, 2010).
The Political Sphere
11
A Foreigner’s View of the Battle of Osaka
Richard Cocks’s Account of the Fall of Osaka Castle (1615)
Introduction
This selection comes from the pen of RICHARD COCKS (1566–1624), head merchant in the
British East India Company, which operated from its trading post in Hirado. The first document
comes from his personal diary and relates much detailed information about the activities of the
British merchants in Japan as well as the contemporary political situation there. In the entries
covering four days in June 1615, he recounted news that was communicated to him about the
fall of Osaka castle, where the forces allied with TOYOTOMI HIDEYORI (1593–1615), in opposition
to the Tokugawa shogunate, were held up. Cocks was also a frequent letter writer, and the
second document is from a missive he wrote in 1616 to a fellow merchant, Richard Westby,
who was in Jambi, Indonesia, at the time.
The origins of the conflict that led to the burning of Osaka castle go back to the time of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598), Ieyasu’s overlord, who appointed him as one of his son’s
five guardians. After the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Ieyasu allowed Hideyori to retain his
father’s castle, Osaka, as his residence. Even after becoming shogun (see “Shogun”) in 1603,
Ieyasu did not feel secure enough in his power to move against Hideyori; but as long as
Hideyori remained alive, he challenged the legitimacy of the Tokugawa. Ieyasu also tried to
control Hideyori and to placate the forces loyal to the Toyotomi family by arranging the
marriage of Hideyori to the daughter of his son, Hidetada. After a two-hour meeting in 1611,
now-retired shogun Ieyasu was reportedly impressed with the young man, which only further
convinced him that Hideyori was truly a threat. The Tokugawa finally felt secure enough to
attack Hideyori directly, in 1614, when a giant bronze bell was cast at the temple in Kyoto
built in honor of Hideyoshi. Ieyasu chose to interpret an ambiguously worded inscription on the
bell as treasonous, giving him the excuse to lay siege to the castle (the Winter campaign).
While the attack was not successful, Hideyori signed a peace treaty, of which the Tokugawa
took advantage in beginning to tear down outer defensive walls and to fill in the outer moat. In
a second military campaign (the Summer campaign) the following year, 1615, the castle was
bombarded by heavy cannon the Tokugawa had acquired from the Dutch and the English and
set ablaze.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. At the time of the Osaka campaigns, TOKUGAWA IEYASU was the retired shogun. His son and
successor, TOKUGAWA HIDETADA, was in nominal control as shogun, but Ieyasu was still in
charge.
2. When Richard Cocks refers to the “emperor,” he means the shogun. Many foreigners in
Japan did not fully understand the political situation in Japan; that is, that there was a
largely symbolic emperor who resided in Kyoto, while the shogun, or at this time, the
retired shogun, was the real power holder. Likewise, he referred to the daimyo as kings;
hence, the “King of Hirado” is the daimyo of Hirado.
3. Hideyori’s wife, the daughter of shogun Hidetada, was sent out of Osaka castle before it
fell to the Tokugawa’s forces, but was unable to convince Ieyasu to spare her husband’s
life.
4. Most historical accounts hold that the Tokugawa’s forces were larger than Cocks indicated,
perhaps as many as 194,000 (versus roughly 113,000 for the Toyotomi side).
5. Cocks’s letter exaggerated the extent of destruction of the city of Osaka and mistakenly
stated that Sakai was destroyed. Similarly, we know that Hideyori’s son Kunimatsu, only
eight years old, was captured by Tokugawa forces and beheaded.
Document 1: Richard Cocks’s Account of the Fall of Osaka
Castle: Excerpts from Richard Cocks, The Diary of Richard
Cocks, Cape-Merchant in the English Factory in Japan,
1615–1622: With Correspondence
June 2[, 1615]. We had news today that Ieyasu hath taken the fortress of Osaka and
overthrown the forces of Hideyori. Others say that most of the forces of Hideyori issued
out of the fortress, and sallid out 3 leagues towards Miyako, but were encountered by the
Emperor’s forces and put to the worse, many of them being slaughtered and the rest drive
back into the fortress, etc.
June 5. There came letters from the King of Hirado to Bungo Dono [the daimyo or
lord of Bungo], that it is true that the Emperor hath overthrown the forces of Hideyori, and
taken the fortress of Osaka, and entered into it the sixth day of this month, Hideyori and
his mother with his son having cut their bellies, etc.
June 7. After dinner came a Franciscan friar, called Padre Apolonario, whom I had
seen two or three times in Hirado heretofore. He was in the fortress of Osaka when it was
taken, and yet had the good happ to escape. He told me he brought nothing away with him
but the clothes on his back, the action was so sudden; and that he marveled that a force of
about 120,000 men (such as was that of Hideyori) should be so soon overthrown.
June 19. They say the taking of this fortress hath cost above 100,000 men’s lives on
the one part and other, and that on the Prince Hideyori’s part no dead man of account is
found with his head on, but all cut off, because they should not be known, to seek revenge
against their friends and parents after. Neither (as some say) can the body of Hideyori be
found; so that many think he is secretly escaped. But I cannot believe it.
Franciscan friar: A member of the Catholic religious order founded by Saint
Francis of Assissi in the early thirteenth century.
happ: Happenstance; good fortune.
having cut their bellies: Committed seppuku, or ritual suicide.
league: A unit of measurement that has varied over time, but at this time likely
means three miles.
Miyako: Literally, “capital,” meaning the imperial capital, or Kyoto.
Sallid (to sally): To make an attack on an enemy from a defended position.
Source: Adapted from Richard Cocks, The Diary of Richard Cocks, Cape-Merchant in the English Factory in
Japan, 1615–1622: With Correspondence (London: Hakluyt Society, 1883).
Document 2: Excerpt from Richard Cocks’s Letter to
Richard Westby, February 1616
Also we have had great troubles and wars in Japan since our arrival, which hath put us to
much pains and charges in sending up and down to save our goods, and yet for all that
some is lost and burned, two great cities being burned to the ground, each one of them
being almost as big as London and not one house left standing, the one called Osaka and
the other Sakai; and, as it is reported, above 300,000 men have lost their lives on the one
part and other. Yet the old Emperor Ieyasu hath prevailed and Hideyori either slain or fled
secretly away that no news is to be heard of him.
Sakai: Today, a suburb of Osaka; during the Tokugawa period, it served as the port
city for Osaka.
Source: William Foster, ed., Letters Received by the East India Company from Its Servants in the East, vol. 4, 1616
(London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1900), 59.
Aftermath
Rumors that Hideyori survived the onslaught at Osaka castle continued for some time, but
they were quite unfounded. Indeed, he was among the 100,000 men who lost their lives in that
battle, which drew to a conclusion the two military campaigns of 1614–1615. It is reported
that Hideyori took his own life. Most of the generals on Hideyori’s side were either killed in
battle or committed suicide as the castle fell. Large numbers of Toyotomi supporters were
decapitated and thousands of their heads displayed on planks on the road between Kyoto and
Fushimi, for all passersby to see. Even Hideyori’s son (the shogun Hidetada’s grandson) was
beheaded. His daughter, however, fared better; she was spared and sent to live in Tôkeiji
convent in Kamakura (see Section 2). The language in Cocks’s entry for June 19 is not clear,
but he appears to be indicating that men on the Toyotomi side were cutting off the heads of
some of their better-known colleagues who had fallen in battle to prevent their heads from
falling into the hands of the Tokugawa side. Possession of the heads would have allowed the
Tokugawa to identify the corpses and to take revenge against the men’s friends and families.
Exposing the heads was also a way of publicly humiliating those who had opposed the
Tokugawa.
In taking control of Osaka, the Tokugawa were able to project their power more firmly into
western Japan. In defeating Hideyori, the most visible rallying point of opposition, Ieyasu did
much to secure the Tokugawa dynasty. In fact, it was Ieyasu’s final military campaign, and the
last time that two armies of samurai would fight in a pitched battle. The fact that Ieyasu was a
disloyal vassal of the Toyotomi no doubt alerted him to the potential treachery of his own
followers.
As for Richard Cocks and the English, the trading post that Cocks managed was not
successful, and remained in operation only from 1613 to 1623 before the English abandoned
their efforts in Japan voluntarily, 15 years before the Portuguese were ordered to leave (see
Section 17). After an unsuccessful attempt was made to resume trade relations in 1673, the
British would not return to Japanese waters again until the nineteenth century.
Ask Yourself
1. In his account, Cocks mentions a Franciscan friar. What were Franciscans doing in Japan at
the time, and what was their experience there like? How has Christianity fared in Japan
since the early Tokugawa period?
2. What did Cocks and other contemporary Europeans in Japan think of Japanese society
(consult Cocks’s complete diaries)? Did the views of traders like Cocks differ from those
of European missionaries, such as the friar mentioned above? How did these views
compare with those of Europeans and Americans who came to Japan later, in the nineteenth
century?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Osaka was the last pitched battle between samurai. Consider the Battle of Osaka in the
context of other sieges in history. See for example, Paul K. Davis, Besieged: 100 Great
Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
• Examine the famous screens of the various battles, located on the web sites listed below
(the National Geographic site in particular allows the viewer to examine the screen in
detail at high resolution). Remember that traditional Japanese visual images are read from
right to left. Based on the images, write a description of the battle and the nature of warfare
at the time. Consider, by comparison, what battle was like in contemporary Europe.
• Using the Internet and books, research the history of Osaka castle after it was attacked by
the Tokugawa until the present day.
• What brought the various European powers—Portugal, Britain, Holland—to East Asia and
Japan in particular? Compare the goals and achievements of the three countries in Japan.
Further Information
McClain, James L., and Wakita Osamu, eds. Osaka: The Merchants’ Capital of Early Modern Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1999.
Turnbull, Stephen. Osaka 1615: The Last Battle of the Samurai. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1999.
Web Sites
“History of Osaka Castle.” Osaka Castle web site. http://www.osakacastle.net/english/history/index.html (accessed September
12, 2010).
“The Siege of Osaka Castle.” National Geographic. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0312/feature5/zoomify/main.html
(accessed September 12, 2010).
Shogun
An abbreviation of sei-i-taishogun, which literally means the “barbarian-quelling
general,” this title originated in the eighth century with the temporary commissions given
by the Japanese emperor to a designated military figure to lead expeditions against tribal
groups that occupied the northeastern portion of the main island of Honshu. Four
centuries later, the title became regularized with the imperial appointment of Minamoto
Yoritomo as shogun, in 1192. His warrior-based government is known to us today as the
bakufu (“tent government”), which is commonly translated in English as “shogunate.”
There were three shogunates in Japanese history: the Kamakura (1192–1333), with its
headquarters in the city of Kamakura, near present-day Tokyo; the Ashikaga (1338–
1573), who moved their headquarters to Kyoto; and the third, the Tokugawa (1603–
1868), who built their great capital in Edo (now Tokyo).
12
Forging Political Order
“Laws for the Military Houses” (1615, 1635)
Introduction
In the Seventh Month of the lunar calendar, the daimyo came to Fushimi Castle, outside of
Kyoto, where the second shogun, TOKUGAWA HIDETADA, formally promulgated the 13-article
law code, which was compiled mainly by the Zen monk ISHIN SÛDEN (1539–1633), at Tokugawa
Ieyasu’s direction. Every succeeding shogun in the Tokugawa dynasty formally reissued the
regulations, allowing for them to be amended over time, as needed; however, they remained the
same in general tone and effect.
The Laws for the Military Houses were an important step in a series of actions taken by the
Tokugawa house to assert its hegemony (military rule) over the other regional lords since its
victory over them on the battlefield in 1600, in the BATTLE OF SEKIGAHARA. Three years later,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, then simply the head of the Tokugawa house, felt in a strong enough position
to demand that the EMPEROR appoint him to the title of shogun. The government that he headed
is known to us as the shogunate, or bakufu, in Japanese; in contemporary Japanese documents it
was known simply as ôkôgi, or the “great public authority.” In 1611, Ieyasu was able to
demand oaths of allegiance from the daimyo of central and western Japan in Nijô castle
(Kyoto), near the castle of Osaka, where the forces of the rival TOYOTOMI family were
concentrated. The following year, similar oaths were obtained from the daimyo of northern
Japan. Finally in 1614–1615, in two separate campaigns, the Tokugawa defeated the forces
aligned with the Toyotomi and burnt Osaka castle to the ground (see Section 11). Months later,
the daimyo were assembled in Fushimi and read the regulations which follow.
The regulations reflected the tense political climate of the early seventeenth century and,
consequently, Ieyasu’s desire to control the daimyo closely. Ieyasu was aware of the fact that
the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara in 1600 was sealed only with the assistance of key former
vassals of the Toyotomi, such as the Kuroda, Fukushima, and Yamauchi, and the treachery of
several other daimyo who switched sides during the battle. In other words, he was well aware
of the tenuous nature of Tokugawa’s hold on power. Even after Sekigahara, there were still
powerful daimyo, such as Uesugi, Date, and Shimazu, of whom he had to be wary. There were
also masterless samurai and other disaffected warriors who supported the Toyotomi; although
they were defeated in the Battle of Osaka, sufficient numbers still remained after the conflict
and would support the forces that rose in opposition to Tokugawa-led forces in the SHIMABARA
UPRISING. Of course, Ieyasu had only to remember that in Osaka, he broke his own pledge to
Toyotomi Hideyoshi to protect and support his son, Hideyori, as Hideyoshi’s heir to reaffirm
that political loyalties were often short-lived.
These regulations were part of a broader plan to extend Tokugawa authority over all elites
in Japanese society, including the emperor and the court nobility (see Section 13) and a series
of laws, issued between 1610 and 1614, aimed at the Buddhist church.
The Laws for the Military Houses were reissued twice by the third shogun, Iemitsu, in
1629, in exactly the same form as in 1615, and again in 1635. Only the substantive changes in
the 1635 version are included in Document 2.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. This set of guidelines issued by the Tokugawa was aimed at the regional lords (daimyo),
the shogunate’s main rivals, not samurai in general. Other regulations issued by the
Tokugawa were aimed specifically at their direct vassals, the bannermen (hatamoto) and
the housemen (gokenin).
2. The forces aligned with the Tokugawa’s rivals, the Toyotomi family, had been defeated
only months earlier, so the political climate was still delicate.
3. During the Warring States period, daimyo often used marriage to seal political alliances. It
was not uncommon for them to have secondary wives in addition to the primary wife.
Document 1: “The Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke
shohatto), 1615
1. The study of literature and the practice of the military arts, including archery and
horsemanship, must be cultivated diligently.
2. Avoid drinking parties and gaming amusements.
3. Those who break the law should not be given refuge in the domains.
4. The daimyo, the lesser lords, and those who hold land under them should expel any of
their retainers guilty of rebellion or murder.
5. Henceforth, no social intercourse is to be permitted for residents of your domain with
people from other domains.
6. The castles in the domains may be repaired but this must be reported [to the
shogunate]. New construction is strictly prohibited.
7. If innovations are being planned or political factions being formed in a neighboring
domain, these must be reported immediately.
8. Marriages must not be arranged privately [i.e., without the approval of the shogun].
9. The daimyo should present themselves at Edo for service (sankin) to the shogun:
10. Regulations governing clothing must be followed.
11. Miscellaneous persons [i.e., persons without sufficient rank] are not to ride in
palanquins.
12. The samurai throughout the domains are to practice frugality.
13. The lords of the domains must select for office men of ability.
The above-mentioned regulations must be obeyed.
First year of Genna [1615], Seventh Month
Source: Shihôsho, ed. Tokugawa kinreikô (Consideration of Tokugawa Regulations), vol. 1 (Tokyo: Shôbunsha, 1879),
90–92. Translation adapted from John Carey Hall, Japanese Feudal Laws. The Tokugawa Legislation (Yokohama,
1910), 286–319.
Document 2: Excerpts from “The Laws for the Military
Houses” (Buke shohatto), 1635
2. It is now settled that the daimyo and the lesser lords are to do service, in turns, at Edo.
They shall come to Edo every year in the summer during the Fourth month. Recently the
numbers of retainers and attendants accompanying them have become excessive. This is
wasteful to the domains and districts; moreover it causes the people great hardship.
Hereafter, suitable reductions in this regard must be made. When they are ordered to go to
Kyoto, the instructions must be followed. When traveling to fulfill an official duty, the
number of people accompanying the lord must be appropriate to their status.
koku: A Japanese unit of volume, equivalent to 180 liters or roughly five bushels of
unhulled rice; one koku of rice was defined, historically as the amount necessary to
feed one person for one year.
lunar calendar: A calendar that measures the passage of the year according to the
cycles of the moon.
palanquin: A sedan chair carried on poles by at least two porters.
parapet: A low wall.
shogun: Hereditary leader of the military government, in principle appointed by the
emperor.
sumptuary laws: Attempted to restrict the wearing of certain types, qualities, and
colors of clothing or apparel to certain classes of people.
...
4. If an occurrence of any type whatsoever should take place, whether in Edo or in any
of the provinces, those (daimyo and their retainers) who are there at the time are to stay
where they are and to await the shogun’s orders.
...
6. The scheming of innovations, the forming of parties, and the taking of (private)
oaths is strictly forbidden.
...
13. When the hostages given by sub-vassals to their lords have committed an offense
requiring punishment by banishment or death, that punishment should not be carried out
before an order consenting to this has been received (from the shogunate). Should it be
necessary to cut down a hostage immediately, a detailed account of the matter must be
provided (to the shogunate).
...
15. The roads, post horses, ferry-boats and bridges must be carefully attended to
prevent any delays or disruption to services.
...
16. Private toll barriers are forbidden, as is the discontinuing of any existing ferry
service.
...
17. It is forbidden to build vessels of over 500 koku burden.
Source: Shihôsho, ed., Tokugawa kinreikô (Consideration of Tokugawa Regulations), vol. 1 (Tokyo: Shôbunsha, 1879),
93–95. Translation adapted from John Carey Hall, Japanese Feudal Laws: The Tokugawa Legislation (Yokohama,
1910), 286–319.
Aftermath
The edicts were reissued upon the succession of each shogun: in 1663, under the fourth
shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna; in 1683, under Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (see Figure 1 on p. xxxviii in
“Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents”); and in then 1710, under Tokugawa Ienobu.
While these versions of the Laws evidenced stylistic differences, there was not much
substantive change. One exception, however, was a ban on Christianity, which was included in
the 1663 version. The next issue of the Laws, in 1683, included language reinforcing the ban on
junshi, ritual suicide upon the death of one’s lord, which had been banned earlier in 1663.
Other new articles in these latter versions included stipulations on the abuses of power, the
acceptance of bribes, the proper succession of daimyo and sumptuary rules on clothing and
housing. The 1683 version was reissued by almost all successive shoguns.
Ask Yourself
1. What is the general tone and purpose of these rules and regulations? What range of
activities or behavior was it trying to regulate, and why? (The reverse question is equally
important: In what important area[s] did the Tokugawa chose not to try to regulate the
daimyo?) What behavior was acceptable, and what behavior might get the daimyo in
trouble with the shogunate?
2. Based on these laws, how would you describe the Tokugawa shogunate? (What kind of
government was it? How intrusive or not were the regulations?) Why do you think the
Tokugawa appealed to notions of morality and honor in the regulations?
3. What evidence do you see in the regulations of the Tokugawa’s concern for military
security?
4. If you were a daimyo living during this time, how might you have reacted to these laws?
5. How do you explain the organization of the articles? (Is there some logic to the order of the
articles, or are they simply listed randomly?)
6. Why were the laws reissued periodically? (Does that necessarily mean that they were not
effective?)
7. What impact do you think the second article of the 1635 version of the Laws had on the life
of daimyo? What impact might this requirement have on the domains over which they
ruled?
Topics to Consider
• The Tokugawa rulers consolidated their power over other political-military elites (the
daimyo) during the first half of the seventeenth century, in part through issuing these Laws
of the Military Households. Consider how rulers in other countries during roughly the
same time period went about attempting to do the same.
• How does Tokugawa Ieyasu’s position as shogun compare with other rulers at that time, or
with military rulers today?
• Consider the issue of written versus unwritten law. In some early modern societies, much
law was only on a need-to-know basis. How important is written law in your life?
The Tokugawa Shoguns, 1603–1867
It was important to Tokugawa Ieyasu to retire as shogun, formally becoming the “retired
shogun” in order to allow his son Hidetada to succeed him. Hidetada, in turn, did the
same for his son. By doing this each of them did his part to help cement the position of the
Tokugawa as the military hegemon. In this way the Tokugawa were able to achieve what
previous shoguns had not: a long succession of shoguns from a single, extended family,
whose rule was stable and long-lasting.
List of Tokugawa Shoguns
Name
Life Dates
Period of Official Rule
Ieyasu
1542–1616
1603–1605
Hidetada
1579–1632
1605–1622
Iemitsu
1603–1651
1622–1651
Ietsuna
1639–1680
1651–1680
Tsunayoshi
1646–1709
1680–1709
Ienobu
1662–1712
1709–1712
Ietsugu
1709–1716
1713–1716
Yoshimune
1677–1751
1716–1745
Ieshige
1712–1761
1745–1760
Ieharu
1737–1786
1760–1786
Ienari
1773–1841
1786–1837
Ieyoshi
1792–1853
1837–1858
Iesada
1824–1858
1853–1858
Iemochi
1846–1866
1858–1866
Yoshinobu (Keiki)
1837–1913
1866–1867
Further Information
Sadler, A. L. The Maker of Modern Japan. The Life of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Charles E.
Tuttle Company, 1978.
Totman, Conrad. Tokugawa Ieyasu. Shogun. Berkeley, CA: Heian International, 1983.
Film and Television
Shogun (1980). Mini-series and film, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune (as Toranaga, based on the historical
character Tokugawa Ieyasu). On the relationship between the film and history, see Henry Smith, Learning from Shogun:
Japanese History and Western Fantasy (Santa Barbara, CA: Program in Asian Studies, University of California, Santa
Barbara,
1980).
This
wonderful
resource
is
also
available
online:
http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf (accessed September 9, 2011).
13
The Emperor and the Kyoto Aristocracy
“Regulations for the Imperial Palace and the Court Nobility” (1615)
Introduction
This selection is from the 17-article code issued by the shogunate to the imperial court. It
was issued the same month that the shogunate promulgated a set of regulations for the daimyo
(see Section 13) and bore the seals of the reigning shogun, Hidetada; the retired shogun, Ieyasu;
and the highest ranking court official (kanpaku) of the time, Nijô Akizane. The imperial
palace, where the emperor and the court nobility lived, was located in Kyoto, the city that had
served as the capital during the Heian (794–1185) and Ashikaga (1336–1567) periods. The
shogun’s capital was located in Edo, a distance of 488 kilometers (308 miles), about a 10- to
12-day walk. To oversee the imperial court, the shogunate set up an office in Kyoto headed by
a Tokugawa official referred to as the Kyoto Deputy (Kyôto shôshidai). It also constructed,
with the required assistance of the daimyo, an elaborate palace called Nijô Castle, which
served as the shogun’s residence when he was in Kyoto. This document should be seen in the
context of the shogunate’s concern with regulating the imperial institution; for example, in
1613, the shogunate took from the emperor the right to grant on his own purple robes to
Buddhist priests—i.e., the right to appoint abbots, one of the few powers that he enjoyed. The
regulations of 1615 were the result of much study and reflected a thorough investigation of
historical records dealing with the emperor and the court in previous times.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The imperial court was economically and militarily weak, but at the beginning of the
Tokugawa period, it still had the authority to influence politics by granting court ranks to
military men, who sought them for prestige. At this time it was also a potential rallying
point for those who opposed the new Tokugawa government.
2. The emperor, in theory, appointed the shogun, thereby sanctioning his rule. In reality,
though, the emperor was powerless to oppose the military leader.
3. The shogunate also assisted the imperial court, which had fallen on hard times, in a number
of ways: through restoration of the imperial palace itself; providing residences for all the
court nobility; and earmarking income from designated lands for its support.
Document: Excerpts from “Regulations for the Imperial
Palace and the Court Nobility” (Kinchû narabi ni kuge
shohatto)
[1] The emperor is to be engaged in the arts, the first of which is scholarship. If he is
negligent in learning he will be unable to illuminate the ancient way; there has yet to be
[an unlearned emperor] who has ruled well, in peace. . . .
bugyôshoku: An important court position.
chancellor: An important court position.
Han period: Era of the Han imperial dynasty in China, 206 BCE–220 CE.
name for a new era: I.e., an era name (nengô).
prohibited colors: I.e., compound colors such as purple and vermilion.
tensô: Court officials who transmitted the orders of the shogun to the court.
tsurubami: Made from boiled acorns; its color could vary, however, depending on
what other dyeing agents were added to it.
[7] Offices and ranks of the military lords must be kept separate from those of the
courtiers.
[8] In choosing a name for a new era, select one from among those of good fortune
during the Han period. However, a thorough and thoughtful approach to the ceremony
will allow the incorporation of precedents from our land.
[9] The emperor’s ceremonial robes: The robes and skirt of the emperor are to be
adorned with twelve emblematic figures. (These are different from those on the
ceremonial robes worn by the ministers.) The ordinary dress is, when patterned, to be of
[bluish]-yellow; when plain, of green or of undyed silk, either finished or rough-woven.
Otherwise unadorned and informal apparel may be worn.
The dress of a retired emperor is to be dyed red with a mixture of tsurubami, or it
may be of light yellow color. . . .
The nobles of the court may wear dress of the prohibited colors in any variety. . . .
As regards the colors of robes: for those of the fourth rank and upwards the color is to
be tsurubami; for those of the fifth rank, vermilion over an undercoat of red; for those of
the sixth rank, deep green; for the seventh rank, deep blue; for the lowest rank, light blue.
As regards the patterns on robes: they are to be of “bit and vine” style; the various
families are to dress in these patterns in their hereditary styles. After being appointed a
minister of state the plain pattern is to be worn. . . .
As regards the cap: until sixteen years of age it is to be worn with a slit in the
crown. . . .
[11] Any among the nobility, whether high or low, who disregards the requests of the
chancellor, tensô or bugyôshoku will be exiled. . . .
[16] The purple robes [that the emperor] grants to certain temples heads (abbots)
were rare bestowals in the past. But in recent years this bestowal of imperial permission
has become reckless. You have made a farce of the concept of rank based on age and have
defiled the temples which are located on court grounds. This will not do. From now on
choose men of talent, who have undertaken extensive religious training and are
knowledgeable—and inform [the shogunate] of your intentions. . . .
The above articles are to be obeyed.
1615 (Keichô 20)/7/17
(Nijô) Akizane, (Tokugawa) Hidetada, (Tokugawa) Ieyasu (seals of the three)
Source: Lee A. Butler, “Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Regulations for the Court: A Reappraisal,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies 54, no. 2 (1994): 509–51.
Aftermath
While some of the articles in the Regulations of 1615 were not new, having appeared in
similar form in the preceding years of the Tokugawa period, the code as a whole represents an
array of control that the shogunate exerted over the emperor and the imperial court. It
established the basis for relations between the shogunate and the court for the remainder of the
period. Article 7, in creating separate sets of ranks for samurai and for courtiers in particular,
effectively separated the court from the daimyo for most of the Tokugawa period. It meant that
daimyo could no longer become part of the imperial hierarchy in Kyoto, as TOYOTOMI
HIDEYOSHI had done in the late sixteenth century. However, Ieyasu sought to do more than
simply control the court. The codes reflected his paternalism in wanting them to act as guides
of behavior for the emperor and the nobility. A number of articles (not excerpted here) also
established a clear hierarchy among the top officials at court to avoid arguments and divisions
among the nobility. This was particularly important in deciding seating arrangements at
imperial audiences or at theatrical performances at court. Indeed the regulations established a
set of standards for court practices for the entire Tokugawa period.
Ask Yourself
1. In what sense do the regulations reflect Ieyasu’s idealistic view of the role of the Kyoto
nobility in Japanese society?
2. How enforceable do you think specific recommendations were?
3. Why do you think the shogunate was so concerned with: regulating the color, material, and
design of the court nobility’s clothing? fixing rank order and seating arrangements?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Compare the “Regulations for the Palace and Nobility” with those issued to the daimyo
(see Section 12). Consider how they compare in tone and substance. In what sense might
both sets of regulations be read as constitutions and not just as groups of laws?
• Using the portion of the web site indicated below dedicated to the Edo (Tokugawa) period,
look for examples of the types of clothing discussed in the regulations. Compare the attire
of the courtiers with that of the samurai and consider how it reflects the values of each
social group. What do you notice about the ceremonial clothing of high-ranking samurai
like the daimyo?
Further Information
Butler, Lee. Emperor and Aristocracy in Japan, 1467–1680: Resilience and Renewal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Asia Center, 2002.
Wakabayashi, Bob. “In Name Only: Imperial Sovereignty in Early Modern Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 12, no. 1
(1986): 25–57.
Webb, Herschel. The Japanese Imperial Institution in the Tokugawa Period. New York: Columbia University Press, 1968.
Web Sites
“Court Lady in Formal Dress at the Early Stage of Edo Era.” The Costume Museum.
http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/kosode/index.htm (accessed June 1, 2010).
“Metadata Database of Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period.” Nagasaki University Library Collection.
http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp (accessed June 1, 2010).
The Japanese Emperor (tennô)
The Japanese imperial institution is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. As an
institution, it predates the existence of recorded history in Japan. According to tradition
there have been 125 emperors down to the present monarch, Akihito, who began his reign
in 1989. This number includes some 14 sovereigns who are considered legendary, not
historical, figures. Since the Meiji period (1868–1912), succession has been exclusively
through the male line of descent. In early historical times, however, there were eight
female sovereigns. Again in the Tokugawa period, after a gap of more than 850 years,
another female sovereign, Meishô, came to the throne. She was the shogun Tokugawa
Hidetada’s granddaughter. Go-Sakuramachi, whose reign ended in 1771, was the last
female to reign in Japanese history. Imperial household regulations still call for exclusive
male succession to the throne and are in direct contradiction with the postwar
constitution, which calls for the equality of the sexes.
Abbreviated List of Emperors during the Tokugawa Period*
Number
Sovereign
Birth/Death Dates
Reign Dates
107
Go-Yôzei
1572–1617
1586–1611
108
Go-Mizunoo
1596–1680
1611–1629
109
Meishô
1624–1696
1629–1643
117
Go-Sakuramachi
1740–1813
1762–1771
120
Ninkô
1800–1846
1817–1846
121
Kômei
1831–1867
1846–1867
* Female sovereigns’ names are marked in bold.
14
Weapons Control in Japanese Society
Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s “Sword Hunt” (1588) and “A Local Edo Ordinance
Regarding Swords” (1648)
Introduction
The following two documents, one from the late sixteenth century and the other from the
mid-seventeenth century, reveal the concerns of Japanese political leaders with bringing order
to their society, which had been wracked by more than a century of warfare and great social
fluidity. While the first document (“Sword Hunt”) below predates the seventeenth century, it
had long-lasting effects on Japanese society for the entire Tokugawa period. Hideyoshi was not
the first warlord of the late Warring States period to collect weapons from the countryside, but
he was the first to attempt it on a national scale. As a result, the Sword Hunt put its stamp on
Tokugawa Japan in that, together with policies that largely separated warrior (samurai) and
peasants in physical terms, with samurai living in castle towns and peasants living in the
countryside, it was instrumental in helping to clarify social occupations. The Sword Hunt
played an important role in helping to distinguish between samurai and the peasantry, the latter
of whom were to devote themselves exclusively to agricultural work and not to bear arms. All
of these policies were key in the creation of what historians refer to as the status system (see
“Status System”) and to the promotion of civil peace.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The warrior leader TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI (1536–1598; an example of a Japanese historical
figure of such fame that he is usually identified simply by his given name, Hideyoshi), who
is responsible for issuing the first document, rose to power just shortly after a period of
over 100 years of civil war in Japan, known as the WARRING STATES PERIOD (1467–1568),
when political power was fragmented into what was at one time hundreds of domains. But
even in Hideyoshi’s time, there was still widespread warfare, as about a dozen daimyo
vied to expand their regional alliances in hopes of unifying the country. By the year the
document was issued, 1588, Hideyoshi had conquered most of the country, with just one
major daimyo in the east (the Hôjô) still holding out in opposition against him.
2. During the sixteenth century, occupational categories were blurred: when called upon by a
local military leader, a peasant might put down his farming tools and take up a sword to
fight in the leader’s army. Or, a farmer might take up arms with other farmers and or
military men to resist a local military leader.
3. The religion of Buddhism had great popularity amongst the masses in Japanese society
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was also not uncommon even during the
Warring States period for daimyo in their house codes (laws or instructions for their
retainers) to call upon their men to have faith in the Buddha (and the SHINTO deities) and to
warn men to behave properly for fear of punishment from the Buddhist and Shinto deities.
At the same time many Buddhist monasteries had developed independent armies, built up
arsenals, and resisted the attempts of daimyo to control them.
4. The Sword Hunt (Document 1) was part of a broad series of social, economic, and
political reforms aimed at pacifying a society accustomed to warfare and building a stable
governmental rule over the entire country. Related to this is the fact that the decree was not
addressed to any single individual or official; Hideyoshi, apparently, is addressing the
nation as a whole.
5. While referred to as the “Sword Hunt,” this edict did not have a formal title, and as is
evident from the first article, all types of weapons including muskets and bows, not just
swords, were collected.
6. Document 2 is an Edo city ordinance, and is aimed at the commoners living there, namely
the merchants and the artisans.
Document 1: Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s “Sword Hunt” (1588)
1. The farmers of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to possess long swords,
short swords, bows, spears, muskets, or any other form of weapon. If there are
persons who maintain unnecessary implements, cause hardship in the collecting of
annual taxes, and [thus] foment uprisings, or commit wrong acts toward the retainers,
they shall, needless to say, be brought to judgment. Since [in such cases] the paddies
and dry fields of the places concerned will not be cultivated and the fiefs will be
wasted, the lords of the provinces, the retainers, and the representatives shall
therefore strictly collect all these weapons mentioned and deliver them [to us].
2. So that the long and short swords collected shall not be wasted, they shall be [melted
down and] used as rivets and clamps in the forthcoming constructing of the Great
Buddha. This will be an act by which the farmers will be saved in this life, needless
to say, and in the life to come.
3. If farmers possess agricultural tools alone and engage [themselves] completely in
cultivation, they shall [prosper] unto eternity, even to [the generations of] their
children and grandchildren. [Thus] it is with compassion for the farmers that we rule
in this manner. Truly [these orders] will be the foundation of the safety of the country
and the happiness of all people. In another country the ruler Yao of China pacified the
realm and [then] used precious swords and sharp blades as farming tools. There has
been no [such] attempt] in our country. Observing the meaning [of our orders], and
understanding their various purposes, the farmers shall invest their energies in
agriculture and [the cultivation] of mulberry trees [for silkworms].
Collect the above-mentioned implements without fail and deliver them [to us].
Tenshô 16 [1588], Seventh Month, eighth day [Hideyoshi’s red seal]
Source: Mary Elizabeth Berry, Hideyoshi (Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1989),
102–3.
Document 2: “A Local Edo Ordinance Regarding Swords”
(1648)
Regarding commoners—
who wear long swords,
who wear short swords which are unnaturally long,
who impersonate members of the military class,
who appear strange [i.e. acting and/or behaving in an outlandish manner]
who act unruly or without propriety
Immediately upon noticing such persons, the authorities should apprehend them and
explain to them that they are neither to impersonate samurai nor to wear the long sword;
instructing them so that henceforth they shall not in any of their affairs act in such an
unthinkable and improper manner.
Source: Machibure, Shôhô 5 (1648), Second Month. Ofuregaki Kanpô shû [Collected Circular Announcements of the
Kanpô era]. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1934, edict number 2882, 1305–6.
Aftermath
The Sword Hunt edict surprisingly met with no widespread resistance. Although not
immediately enforced across the entire country, Hideyoshi’s designated officials and local
daimyo collected large caches of weapons and sent them to Kyoto. For example, from just one
district in Kaga domain, located on the Sea of Japan, 2,613 long and short swords, 700
daggers, and 160 spearheads were collected. Apparently daimyo were only too willing to obey
Hideyoshi’s order, because removing weapons from the countryside meant that peasants would
find it more difficult to create disorder by resisting the collection of annual taxes, by fomenting
uprisings, or by impeding the rule of local officials.
Three years later, in 1591, Hideyoshi followed up the sword hunt with a new edict that
prohibited movement between the three occupational orders of peasant farmer, townsmen
(merchant and artisan), and warrior (samurai). This too aimed at a clear separation of peasants
and warriors.
Although the Sword Hunt focused on the countryside, the shogunate and domainal
governments were also concerned about civil peace in the cities. While the Edo ordinance of
1648 (Document 2) is not explicit in prohibiting commoners from wearing long swords, from
1668 on, the language was quite clear that violators would be severely punished. Perhaps
because those commoners living in the cities, artisans and merchants, did not control the food
supply, there was less concern about armed unrest on their part. They were allowed to carry
the short sword for protection, but the prohibition on the long sword meant that a samurai
would have a tremendous advantage in any potential conflict between members of the two
status groups.
Ask Yourself
1. What reasons are given in Document 1 for collecting weapons from the peasantry? What
other, unstated, reasons might there have been? What do you think Hideyoshi’s motivations
were in issuing this decree?
2. Why did Hideyoshi promise that the swords collected would be used to build a giant
Buddha statue? What type of benefits did he say the people would gain?
3. What precedents were cited in the document for the disarming of the population?
4. Why would the shogunate and domainal governments not want commoners in either the
countryside or the cities to have weapons? Why do the prohibitions concern only long
swords? Why would they not want commoners to dress or act like samurai?
5. How might the Sword Hunt and the various regulations on weapons relate to contemporary
debates about gun registration and/or the confiscation of weapons in the United States
today?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• What precedents were there in earlier periods of Japanese history or the history of China,
Japan’s main historical model, for disarming the population (“sword hunts”) that might
have inspired Hideyoshi? Were they successful?
• To what extent have political leaders, across time and space, attempted to limit the spread
of weapons in their societies? Have they sought to justify their “right” to collect weapons,
and if so, how? To what degree have these attempts been successful or not? How, in turn,
have the people reacted to them? Select two societies and consider how Japanese society
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries compares with them.
Status System
Status (mibun) was a concept used by political leaders to create a schematized social
system based on occupational categories. Borrowed from ancient China, the system was
adapted to Japan. In place of the scholar-official, who in China stood at the top of
society, there was the samurai (the political leaders), and the ranking of the other three
social groups reflected their perspective: the peasants, who produced the wealth that
fueled society in general and paid the samurai’s stipends in particular, followed by the
artisans, and then the merchants. It was not the case that peasants per se were more
important than merchants or artisans, but rather that their agricultural labor was valued
more highly than the work of artisans and merchants. These status categories, in
principle, were hereditary in nature, but movement among the lower three rungs was
common. Movement into the samurai group—usually into its lowest ranks—was more
difficult but not uncommon, particularly late in the Tokugawa period. Different
regulations and laws were applied by the samurai rulers to the various status groups; as a
result, historians view “rule by status” as one of the defining characteristics of the
Tokugawa period. However, the status system did not closely mirror social reality. While
despised according to the official ideology, in fact, merchants played an essential social
function and many of them became quite wealthy. Also, there was considerable intrastatus discrimination (i.e., between different members of the same status group), for
example, between upper and lower samurai and between landholding peasants and tenant
farmers. A major problem with the idea of the status system is that it left out large
numbers of Japanese who did not fit neatly into these four categories, such as outcast
groups, actors and other entertainers, court nobles, and the clergy.
• What impact might this period of weapons control have had on Japanese society after the
Tokugawa period? Research on the Internet Japanese government policy toward weapons,
especially swords and guns, in the Meiji period (1868–1912) and beyond. To what extent
are guns present in Japanese society today? What is the crime rate like in Japan today, and
what percentage of crimes are committed using weapons?
Further Information
Berry, Mary Elizabeth. Hideyoshi. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1989.
Boscaro, Adriana, ed. and trans. 101 Letters of Hideyoshi: The Private Correspondence of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokyo:
Sophia University, 1975.
Film
Rikkyû, directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1992. An historical account of Rikkyû, Hideyoshi’s tea master and political adviser,
and his stormy relationship with Hideyoshi.
15
Self-Governance in Villages
Goningumi (Five-Household Group) Laws (1640)
Introduction
The following set of laws is found in the records of Shimo-Sakurai village, in Shinano
province (present-day Nagano prefecture), a mountainous region in central Japan. It is one of
the earliest records of village laws in Tokugawa territories, or HOUSE LANDS (tenryô), dating
from 1640, and consisting of 21 articles. The laws were issued by shogunate authorities and
directed specifically to the goningumi or FIVE-HOUSEHOLD GROUPS in the village. They
included instructions that the document was to be rewritten every month, and that all villagers
should gather at the headman’s residence and affix their seals to it as evidence that they
understood its content and agreed to abide by its terms. The document was likely read to an
assembly of villagers by an assistant to the headman.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The only authoritative count we have for the number of villages in Tokugawa Japan is
63,126, a statistic that dates from the early nineteenth century, which is considerably later
than this document. The average village had an estimated yield of about 400 koku and a
population of a little more than 400 persons.
2. Taxes were in principle assessed in terms of rice and paid in rice. However, taxes on areas
that did not produce rice—either because they grew dry-field crops (such as barley or
millet), or because they were mountain or fishing villages—were paid in money.
3. A village’s population consisted of independent or titled farmers (honbyakushô), who
played an active role in village affairs. There were also marginal farmers, known as
mizunomi (literally, “those who drink water”), who did not own enough land to be
independent. They worked as tenant farmers for others in the village and were excluded
from participation in village assemblies or from having a voice in village affairs. There
were also various types of indentured peasants living in the village as dependents of the
independent farmers.
4. This set of laws was handed down by the samurai-based government, but villages also
generated their own sets of codes from within.
5. Christianity was prohibited by the Tokugawa, in 1614, and its believers persecuted, forced
to convert or put to death (see Section 39).
Document: Excerpts from the Five-Household Group
(goningumi) Laws from Shimo-Sakurai Village (1640)
1. Goningumi should not be formed only with kith and kin; membership should be
diverse.
2. Re: The yearly investigation of affiliation with Christianity. There is not a single
Christian in this village. The peasants are investigated every month, and comings and
goings are checked with the pertinent temple in each case to verify affiliation.
Therefore, should there be a Christian in this village, not only his goningumi and the
headman, but the entire village will be punished.
arrears: Unpaid debts.
kith: Friends and acquaintances.
traffic in human beings: Slavery.
yearly tribute: The annual land tax.
3. If there is a thief in the village, it should be reported to the shogunal authorities.
Presently there are none. If one is found, the person will be apprehended immediately
and turned over to the shogunal authorities.
4. The term of indentured servants is limited to ten years, as ordered. Anyone exceeding
this term by even one month will be punished by the shogunal authorities. . . .
5. Prohibitions against traffic in human beings have been issued. Henceforth both
parties in these transactions will be punished.
6. Wells should be dug and rivers cleaned in due time; cultivation engaged in without
delay; yearly tribute paid in full.
7. Turns for guarding the storehouse should be faithfully kept to avoid arrears in tribute
rice; in case of fire or theft, loss has to be made up by the entire village.
8. If someone commits the offense of not paying tribute in full or absconds without
paying it because he or she cannot make ends meet, the entire village should share the
unpaid portion and pay it promptly in full.
9. Nothing that has to be turned in to the shogunal authorities can be sold to others.
10. Wives of headmen and peasants cannot wear starched silk or silky fabrics; peasants
can only wear clothes made of cotton or thick paper at any time.
11. Roads and bridges have to be fixed regularly to keep them in good repair.
12. Bamboo cannot be cut without official permit.
13. Gambling, lotteries, and games of any kind are prohibited.
14. Business trips have to be reported to the headman and goningumi before departure,
stating the purpose and the places where one will stay; . . .
15. All orders from the shogunal office must be obeyed; circular letters from the
INTENDANT’s assistant should be passed on without the slightest delay; negligence in
delivery will be punished. . . .
16. Wounded individuals cannot be given lodging.
17. Peasants who fix up their hair in bamboo-whisk style, wear long swords, disobey
their parents or master, or do not engage in cultivation but spend their days in idleness
must be reported to the authorities and cannot be concealed even if they are one’s
children or servants.
18. People with complaints can lodge suits only on their own; they cannot encourage
others to do this, invoking gods’ names; . . .
19. Oak, lacquer, and mulberry trees, obviously, but also any kind of tree and bamboo
should be planted with due diligence.
The above articles should never be violated.
Source: Herman Ooms, Tokugawa Village Practice. Class, Status, Power, Law (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1996), 353–55.
Aftermath
These laws were reissued periodically, but by 1662, they had acquired the form they
would maintain for 200 years. These later versions were far more detailed, containing
numerous articles concerning the payment of the land tax, an obvious concern of government.
They also paid greater attention to issues of status (mibun), reflecting government’s attempts to
protect social and economic positions by controlling symbols of status (see Section 5). For
example, there were explicit distinctions made in sartorial (dress) status distinctions between
the village headman and the peasants. Articles stress the importance of staying within the
boundaries of one’s status, and lay out rules for the forms of greeting and behavior that
peasants needed to follow in the presence of samurai. There was also considerable concern
expressed about denying a vagrant population of beggars, outcastes, ascetics, and even
Buddhist monks or Shinto priests lodging overnight in the village.
Ask Yourself
1. Under what basic principles did the members of the Five-Household Groups operate?
2. Based on these articles, what would you say the expectations of the overlord (the
shogunate) were? With what areas of peasant life was government most interested?
3. What was the purpose of the regulation that the wives of headmen and peasants cannot
wear starched silk or silky fabrics? (Who could wear them?)
4. What distinguishes indentured servants from slaves?
5. To what uses were lacquer, mulberry trees, and bamboo put?
Topics to Consider
• The village laws prohibited slavery, threatening punishment if such transactions were
discovered, which indicates that it was still practiced to some extent. Research the topic of
slavery in early modern Japan and Europe or elsewhere in East Asia (Qing China and
Choson Korea) or South Asia. Was it similarly banned but nevertheless practiced in these
places? To what extent does slavery still exist today in the world?
• The laws tell us how the government hoped the villagers would behave. What can you
uncover about the degree of compliance with these laws?
Further Information
Alpers, Edward A., Gwyn Campbell, and Michael Salman. History of Slavery in Asia. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Ooms, Herman. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Smith, Thomas C. The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1966.
Web Site
Photographs from the late Tokugawa and early Meiji period. http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en/index.html (accessed June 1,
2010). Search using the categories “Work” (rice planting, dry field farming, fisherman, making tea, housekeeping), “Person”
(man, woman, man and woman, child, picture of people) as well as by the terms “farmer,” “farming,” and “village.”
16
Regulating Townspeople in Two Cities
City Code from Kanazawa (1642) and Notice Board in Edo (1711)
Introduction
The two documents below are sets of laws issued to townspeople (merchants and artisans)
in Kanazawa, the castle town of Kaga domain, one of the largest cities in Japan, and the
shogun’s capital, Edo, the most populous city in the country.
The first document is a set of laws dating from 1642 issued by a city magistrate named
Nagase Gorôemon, a high-ranking samurai official of Kaga domain, which faces the Sea of
Japan and was the largest domain in the country after that of the Tokugawa. Kanazawa grew
from a settlement of a few thousand in 1583, when Maeda Toshiie arrived there and began to
construct a castle town, to at least 50,000 in 1630. By the time of the code’s issuance in 1642,
the city had already gone through its formative years. It already was a substantial urban center,
and by 1700, it reached a population of as many as 120,000, making it one of the 20 largest
cities in Japan and Europe, rivaling Rome, Amsterdam, and Madrid.
As a city magistrate, Nagase was in charge of administering the affairs of the townspeople:
maintaining the peace, investigating incidents of physical violence and punishing criminals,
and overseeing the collection of taxes in the city, as well as supervising a range of officials
below him. Nagase was one of two city magistrates; they, like most samurai officials across
the country, shared jobs, each serving in rotation for a portion of the year. This was one way of
dealing with the fact that there were far more samurai than official posts available. Although
Nagase’s name was on the document, since he was the responsible official, it is likely that the
code was compiled by at least several subordinates, as was common practice. It is also likely
that at least the broad principles of the document were communicated to him by the daimyo’s
advisers.
The second document, dating from 1711, is a list of laws and ordinances for townspeople
that were published on notice boards (kôsatsu) located at six different, prominent locations in
Edo (four of the six were located near bridges), where they were sure to be seen by large
numbers of people. The regulations were issued in the name of the Edo city magistrate (Edo
machi bugyô), who was usually a bannerman, or direct samurai retainer of the shogun. At the
time of this document, Edo’s population had grown to over one million persons.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Short lists of prohibitions had been issued to the commoner population of Kanazawa
previously, some under the daimyo’s own seal. This document, from 1642, was the first
major law code issued in Kanazawa under the seal of the city magistrate. It is evidence,
therefore, of the regularization of urban administration by the Maeda.
2. The term for “loitering” (tsujidachi) meant more than simply standing about idly in a
public place. It entailed a range of behavior that included calling out insults to people
passing by and cavorting with streetwalkers (prostitutes).
3. Notice boards were used by governments in Japan since at least the late eighth century.
They communicated the various regimes’ laws and the punishments for breaking them (see
“Capital Punishment”), and they served as a physical reminder of the particular
government’s existence. An earlier version dating from 1661 listed the prohibition of
Christianity, arson, and counterfeit drugs and encouraged benevolent (compassionate)
behavior.
4. Many of the articles in both documents, like those in Section 15, have an exhortative
quality to them.
Document 1: Excerpts from “The 1642 Chônin Code”
Chônin are not to possess a large number of luxurious clothes. Earlier we [issued
ordinances which] permitted retainers to wear silk, silk habutae, and pongee. Materials
other than the above are prohibited, even for decorative purposes on sleeves and collars.
Chônin are to obey the ordinances issued earlier and to restrict themselves to clothing
that is appropriate [to their status] . . .
Chônin, regardless of who they are, will be held responsible if they are slovenly or
commit improprieties toward samurai.
It is forbidden to keep dogs as pets or to walk along the street next to samurai. Such
incidents should be reported immediately to the Ward Representative who will report to
the Magistrates. If the Ward Representative does not make a report, he will be held
responsible. Birds may be kept as pets.
Chônin are strictly forbidden to bet money on games of chance. Parents and masters
should warn their charges about this. If there are violations, the parent, master, and the
person who rented the premises for gambling shall be punished, regardless of the status of
the violator. We will consider those who love gambling to be the same as thieves.
Behavior inappropriate to one’s status as a chônin or artisan is forbidden. Do your
jobs well.
Chônin are not to gather in shops and gossip loudly about others, nor are chônin in
shops to sit around in rude positions.
Chônin, children, youngsters, and persons of low status shall not wear straw hats or
scarves which cover the face and engage in kabukimono-type behavior. Persons shall not
loiter on the streets (tsujidachi), nor shall they sing ballads or noh chants in a loud voice.
If an Investigator (metsuke) learns of such behavior, he will report it regardless of who is
involved.
habutae: A type of high-quality, lustrous white silk cloth made in Kanazawa and the
surrounding region.
kabukimono: Young masterless samurai, or samurai who dressed in outlandish
clothes, wore a long sword, and were known to loiter on the streets, looking for
trouble in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
pongee: A soft thin silk cloth.
rokushaku: A palanquin bearer.
ward representative (machi-kimoiri): Townspeople appointed by samurai
officials to assist in urban administration.
zôritori (hôkônin): Here refers to a hired or hereditary servant of a samurai.
Chônin, children and rokushaku and zôritori (hôkônin) shall not wear high rain clogs
(ashida). The height of clogs and the quality of materials shall be in accordance with
one’s status. If someone violates this, regardless of who he is, he shall be reported to his
master.
Chônin, children, and others should be reported if they get together and behave
rudely.
Persons who urinate from the second floor of houses in the city, regardless of whether
it is night or day, shall certainly be punished . . . Spitting from the second floor, throwing
waste water from the second floor, and opening the second-floor windows and staring at
passersby or calling out rude comments to them are also prohibited.
Chônin are not to wear long swords. They will be held responsible if they wear
swords and imitate hôkônin when they go sight-seeing . . .
When chônin go sight-seeing, men and women shall not enter the same place
together . . .
When an item is pawned, the pawnshop owner shall insist that the person pawning the
item have a guarantor. If it is later discovered that the pawned item was stolen, the
guarantor will be held responsible. The pawnshop owner will be responsible if there was
no guarantor.
Source: James L. McClain, Kanazawa. A Seventeenth-Century Castle Town (New Haven, CT, and London: Yale
University Press, 1982), 159–60.
Document 2: Public Notice Board of Edo (1711)
1. All relations, from parents and children, elder and younger brothers, husbands and
wives downwards must be affectionate toward one another and be compassionate
towards their inferiors down to the lowest; and those who have masters over them
must be diligent in the performance of their services.
2. Each person must devote himself to his own business, without negligence; and in all
respects keep within the limits proper to his social position.
3. There must be no fraudulent conduct and no unjust claims; nor must anything be done
or said to cause injury to others.
4. Gambling of every description is strictly prohibited.
5. Quarrels and wrangling must be eschewed; and if any such occurs there must be no
assembling of bystanders. If any blows or wounds are inflicted on any one there must
be no concealment of the fact.
6. Firearms must not be discharged at random. In case of any contravention occurring,
the fact must be reported. In case of concealment, and of the facts coming to light from
other sources, the degree of guilt will be aggravated.
contravention: Infringement or flouting (of a regulation or law).
7. If any cases of theft or robbery occur, or banditti [bandits] make their appearance, the
facts must be reported. A reward will assuredly be given [to the person reporting].
8. When capital punishment is being inflicted there must be no assembling of a crowd.
9. The buying and selling of men and women must be strictly discontinued. However, the
engagement of a manservant or woman servant for an indefinitely long time, or the
hereditary employment of family menials, is permitted by private agreement between
the parties.
Furthermore: When hereditary menials, or persons who have been old residents of a
place, move away to some other place, if they have in their new place a wife and children
and are able to support them there, it is not permissible to call them back to their original
abode. But this exemption from recall does not apply to cases in which a crime or offence
has been committed.
The above provisions must be carefully obeyed: Anyone infringing on them will be
dealt with as a criminal.
The Magistrate
Source: John Carey Hall, “Japanese Feudal Laws III: The Tokugawa Legislation,” part 3, Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan, 1st ser., 38, no. 4 (1911): 320–21.
Aftermath
Many of the regulations in the 1642 code in Kanazawa were sumptuary or exhortative in
nature, trying to regulate human behavior. While regulations concerning clothing may have been
difficult to enforce, others that prohibited behavior such as gambling or loitering were at times
strictly enforced, since they were more likely to result in an outbreak of violence.
Successive codes repeated the same prohibitions against gambling, prostitution, urinating
from the second floor of buildings, and the wearing of long swords that were contained in this
document. There were, however, a few changes made in the next code that was issued, in 1660,
that evidenced an increase in government involvement in the economic life of Kanazawa’s
townspeople: for example, fixing interest rates for loans and prohibiting samurai and
townspeople from going into business together. The 1660 code also showed greater concern
with public facilities or services, such as maintaining firefighting equipment and supplies
(water barrels, ladders, and rakes), which was the responsibility of all townspeople.
The Edo notice boards remained a regular fixture on the streets of the shogun’s capital for
the remainder of the Tokugawa period. They briefly survived the fall of the shogunate but were
proscribed in 1874. Two years later, the Meiji government had them all physically removed
from the streets.
Ask Yourself
1. What types of behavior do the regulations proscribe? Why would activities such as singing
in a loud voice or wearing hats or scarves that cover the face be of concern to government
officials? Why do you think that the city government would care whether or not chônin in
shops sat around in “rude positions”?
2. Why do you think that the punishments promised for any particular infraction are not
defined clearly? What benefits might there be to this approach?
3. What can we infer about the relationship between townspeople and samurai from this list
of regulations? Why do you think chônin were instructed not to walk along the street next to
samurai?
4. How would you describe the various articles found on the Edo notice board? What
purpose do the various articles serve?
5. Imagine that you are an Edo townsperson reading the notice board (Document 2) for the
first time. How would you react to it, and why?
6. Why would crowds be discouraged at execution places and yet the heads of decapitated
criminals exposed to public view? (What was the case in contemporary European
countries such as England and France?)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider how cities in contemporary Europe or China were administered. Try to locate
similar codes for townspeople and compare them with the one from Kanazawa. How do
the concerns of officials in other countries compare with those in Japan? To what extent
did governments in the early modern world get involved in the lives of urban residents?
• Create a list of the top 5 or 10 largest cities in Tokugawa Japan (and include population
figures). Locate them on a map of Japan. Do the same for Japan today and then compare the
two lists. What do you find?
• Kanazawa was spared aerial bombing during World War II, which, despite postwar urban
development, allows us to get some sense of what the Edo-period streets were like. Using
the online video listed below, go on a visual tour of the samurai section of town
(Nagamachi).
• Consider the criminal system in a comparative context: How did the legal system in Japan
compare with that in other contemporary countries, such as China, England, and France?
What activities were considered capital offenses, and how do they compare with those in
other countries? How was the infliction of criminal, including capital, punishment carried
out? To what extent was punishment gendered? (Were women punished more often or less
often, or more harshly or less harshly, than men?)
• There was some intellectual and religious debate in Tokugawa Japan about crucifixion and
burning alive as overly harsh forms of punishment, and about the use of the death penalty
for theft. What was the substance of that debate and how does it compare with
contemporary debates in the United States over the use of capital punishment?
Further Information
Botsman, Daniel V. Punishment and Power in the Making of Modern Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
2005.
Leupp, Gary P. Servants, Shophands and Laborers in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1992.
McClain, James L. Kanazawa: A Seventeenth-Century Castle Town. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press,
1982.
Capital Punishment
Capital punishment could be inflicted on commoners (samurai usually were forced to
commit seppuku) in a number of ways: crucifixion, burning to death, decapitation, and
death by the pulling of the saw. In the latter case, the criminal was led around for public
exposure for one day, then two sword cuts were made at the base of the neck and he or
she was exposed to public view for two days. Passersby were free to use one of the
bamboo saws placed on each side of the criminal to cut away at the neck. In general,
however, executions took place in jailhouses, and then the decapitated heads were
gibbeted (put on public display); in Edo, in the south, near Shinagawa at Suzugamori,
facing the Tôkaidô highway, or, after 1657, in the northeast at Kotsukappara, near Senjû
and the confluence of several major and minor highways. While the execution grounds
may have been located in the city’s outskirts to avoid polluting the sacred ground of the
shogun’s capital with the corpses of executed criminals, their very visible location in
high traffic areas at the northern and southern entrances to Edo was intentional.
The degree of capital punishment varied according to the manner in which the murder
was carried out (random attacks in the street were deemed particularly terrible); whether
or not another crime, such as theft, was carried out at the same time; and depending on
whether the murder violated service or family hierarchies (a servant killing a master or a
son killing a father was considered worse than the reverse).
Web Sites
“Kanazawa.”
Visit
Japan
Channel
(Japan
National
Tourist
Organization).
http://www.youtube.com/user/visitjapan#p/search/1/JhkmjVxN7jc (accessed October 10, 2010).
“Kanazawa Samurai District,” http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4204.html (accessed September 20, 2011).
“Kanazawa Nagamachi buke yashiki ato” (Samurai Housing in Kanazawa’s Nagamachi area.” YouTube video, 3:21, posted by
“sewanin,” January 20, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fCSmWp2w_o (accessed September 20, 2011).
Foreign Relations
17
Regulating Foreign Relations
The “Closed Country Edicts” (sakoku rei, 1635, 1639)
Introduction
Between 1633 and 1639, the Tokugawa shogunate—specifically, the SENIOR COUNCILORS
(rôjû)—dispatched five separate documents to its magistrates (bugyô) in Nagasaki that limited
trade and the scope of Japan’s foreign relations. Four of these sets of edicts were quite similar
in substance, though each successive one contained some important additions and amendments.
The fifth (1639) edict was simply an addendum to the previous one, calling for the exclusion of
the Portuguese; copies of it were to be given to officials on any Chinese or Dutch ships that
came to Nagasaki to trade. This series of edicts was part of the policies of the shogun,
Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651), to solidify political control over the country.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. This set of edicts was untitled; only in recent times has it, and the other similar edicts
issued between 1633 and 1639, been referred to by historians as the “closed country,” or
sakoku, edicts. This interpretation of the memorandum may not have been what its authors
intended.
2. There were a number of antecedents to the edicts of 1633–1639: (1) As of 1605 it was no
longer permitted to build vessels with a capacity in excess of 500 koku; in other words, it
was prohibited to build oceangoing vessels; and (2) in 1616, European traders were
restricted to the ports of Nagasaki and Hirado.
3. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, before the edicts of 1633–1639 were
issued, trade with Europe brought the Japanese a variety of Western goods, such as
eyeglasses, clocks, firearms, and artillery, which found interest among many Japanese for a
time. However, the Portuguese and other Europeans were part of an inter-Asian trade
network and traded primarily in Asian, not European, goods. The Japanese could also
obtain these goods through trade with the semi-independent vassal kingdom of Ryûkyû,
with Korea (through Tsushima domain), and with the AINU people (through Matsumae
domain).
4. The Spanish had been expelled in 1624. The year before, the English had closed down
their trade factory (see Section 11) and left Japan voluntarily.
Document 1: Memorandum Addressed to the Nagasaki
Magistrates (1635)
1. It is strictly prohibited for Japanese ships to leave for foreign countries.
2. Japanese are prohibited from going abroad. If a Japanese goes abroad in secret, he
will be put to death. The ship that transported him must be impounded, its owner
arrested, and the matter reported to the authorities.
3. If any Japanese returns home after residing abroad, he must be put to death.
Edo: Here refers not to the city, but to the Tokugawa shogunate.
five trading cities: The five cities—Kyoto, Edo, Osaka, Sakai, and Nagasaki—
where the shogunate allowed foreigners to conduct trade.
Galeota: Portuguese ship.
Hirado: A small island off the coast of Kyushu, not far from Nagasaki.
Ômura domain: The area around the city of Nagasaki.
padre: A father or priest in the Catholic church.
southern barbarians: Westerners, but more specifically those from southern
Europe, such as the Portuguese and Spanish.
4. If there is any place where the teachings of the padres (Christianity) is practiced, the
two of you must order a thorough investigation.
5. Any informer who reveals the whereabouts of the followers of padres (Christians)
must be rewarded. If anyone reveals the whereabouts of a high-ranking padre, he must
be given one hundred pieces of silver; for those of lower ranks, the reward must be
set accordingly.
6. If a foreign ship has objections to the edicts and it becomes necessary to report the
matter to Edo, you may ask the officials of Ômura domain to provide ships to guard
the foreign vessel, as was done previously.
7. If there are any southern barbarians who spread the teachings of the padres, or
otherwise commit crimes, they may be locked up in the prison maintained by Ômura
domain, as was done previously.
8. All incoming ships must be carefully searched for the followers of padres.
9. No single trading city shall be permitted to purchase all the merchandise brought by
foreign ships.
10. Samurai are not permitted to purchase any goods originating from foreign ships
directly from Chinese merchants in Nagasaki.
11. After a list of merchandise brought by foreign ships is sent to Edo, as before, you may
order that commercial dealings may take place without waiting for a reply from Edo.
12. After settling the price, all white yarns [raw silk] brought by foreign ships shall be
allocated to the five trading cities and other quarters as stipulated.
13. After settling the price of white yarns, other merchandise [brought by foreign ships]
may be traded freely between the [licensed] dealers. However, since the Chinese
ships are small and cannot bring large consignments, you may issue orders of sale at
your discretion. In addition, payment for commodities purchased must be made within
twenty days after the price is fixed.
14. The date of departure homeward for foreign ships shall not be later than the twentieth
day of the Ninth Month. Any ships arriving in Japan later than usual shall depart
within fifty days of their arrival. As to the departure of Chinese ships, use your
discretion to order their departure after the Portuguese galeota have left.
15. The goods brought by foreign ships that remain unsold may not be deposited or
accepted for deposit.
16. The arrival in Nagasaki of representatives of the five trading cities shall not be later
than the fifth day of the Seventh Month. Anyone arriving later than that date shall lose
the quota assigned to his city.
17. Ships arriving in Hirado must sell their raw silk at the price set in Nagasaki; only
after the price is established in Nagasaki are they permitted to engage in business
transactions.
You are hereby required to act in accordance with the provisions set above. It is so
ordered.
Source: Hôseishi gakkai, ed., Tokugawa kinreikô, vol. 2 (Sôbunsha, 1959), 231.
Document 2: Exclusion of the Portuguese (1639)
1. The proscription of Christianity is known [to the Portuguese], but heretofore they have
secretly transported those who are going to propagate that religion.
2. If those who believe in that religion band together in an attempt to do evil things, they
must be subjected to punishment.
3. While those who believe in the preaching of the priests are in hiding, there are
incidents in which that country [i.e., Portugal] has sent gifts to them for their
sustenance.
In view of the above, hereafter entry by the Portuguese galeota is forbidden. If they
insist on coming [to Japan], the ships must be destroyed and anyone aboard those ships
must be beheaded. We have received the above order and are thus transmitting it to you
accordingly.
Memorandum
With regard to those who believe in Christianity, you are aware that there is a
proscription, and thus knowing, you are not permitted to let padres and those who believe
in their preaching to come aboard your ships. If there is any violation, all of you who are
aboard will be considered culpable. If there is anyone who hides the fact that he is
Christian and boards your ship, you may report it to us. A substantial reward will be
given to you for this information.
This memorandum is to be given to those who come on Chinese ships. [A similar note
to the Dutch ships.]
Source: Hôseishi gakkai, ed., Tokugawa kinreikô, vol. 2 (Sôbunsha, 1959), 232.
Aftermath
After the Portuguese were expelled from Japan (see “Portuguese Influence in Japan”), the
only Europeans allowed to remain in Japan were the Dutch, who were not interested in
converting the Japanese to Christianity. They were, however, restricted to their post in Hirado
and then, in 1641, forced to move to the specially constructed fan-shaped island of Dejima in
Nagasaki harbor. The edicts issued from 1633 to 1639 are misleadingly referred to as the
“closed country edicts”; and many texts still incorrectly claim that they were intended to close
down foreign trade and to isolate Japan from the rest of the world. In fact, the shogunate only
moved to expel the Portuguese once it received assurances from the Dutch that they could make
up for the volume of trade that would be lost with the Portuguese gone. The Portuguese were
expelled because the Tokugawa could no longer tolerate the threat to their nation building that
the Catholic missionaries and their supporters represented. This step was also taken so the
Tokugawa could gain control of foreign trade and prevent potentially hostile daimyo from
trading with the Europeans for guns and other armaments. Rather than close itself off to the
outsider world, Japan’s trade with Korea and China actually increased after the Portuguese
were expelled. Only in the early eighteenth century did foreign trade levels drop, and then only
because of concerns that too much of Japan’s natural resources, particularly silver and copper,
were being drained to pay for imports. As a result, domestic industries in silk and ginseng, two
of Japan’s main imports, were encouraged.
While the idea of a “closed country” in the sense of Japan intentionally shutting itself off
from the outside world is incorrect, the edicts limited Japanese contacts with foreign countries
and peoples from the 1635 until the 1850s. They also effectively ended Japan’s licensed (redseal) trade with Southeast Asia, which had prospered since the late sixteenth century.
The Tokugawa shogunate was able to increase its power and authority by controlling
foreign trade and relations. As a result of these limitations, Japan was able to concentrate on
internal developments and to enjoy the fruits of several centuries of peace. However, although
it was not the intention of the Tokugawa leaders to shut Japan off from the outside world, with
the force of time, the restrictions imposed induced a state of mind, or mentalité, in which the
ideal state for Japan was one of isolation. Later, in the mid-nineteenth century, when various
Western powers attempted to convince the shogunate to undo the restrictions, Japanese
officials referred to Japan’s isolation as “ancestral law.” The Americans were the first to
succeed in getting the shogunate to change its foreign policy stance of not dealing with foreign
governments by forcing upon it a Western-style diplomatic treaty (1854). This was followed a
few years later (1858) by a full-blown commercial treaty.
Ask Yourself
1. Do you agree with the interpretation that this memorandum should be called the “closed
country” edict? (Why or why not?) How did it affect the Japanese people?
2. The 17 articles that comprise the memorandum arguably can be divided into three major
sections. What are the three sections, and how would you entitle each of them?
3. According to the various articles, how was foreign trade to be regulated? Why did the
shogunate prohibit samurai from trading directly with foreigners?
4. Why do you think a significant number of European scientists and physicians, such as the
German Englebert Kaempfer and the Swede Peter Thunberg, sought employment with the
Dutch East India Company? What attraction might a period of residence in Japan have had
for them?
5. Why did the shogunate establish such a strict policy toward Japanese traveling abroad?
6. Why was it necessary to issue the 1639 edict? How did it differ from the earlier 1635
edict?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using several of the web sites provided below, consider the depiction of the Catholic
missionaries and merchants of Portugal and Spain—the “southern barbarians” or
nanbanjin, as the Japanese called them—in the Southern Barbarian Screens (nanban
byôbu): How are the foreigners distinguished from the Japanese? What objects or clothing
mark the visitors’ foreign origins? In what activities can we see the foreigners engaging?
What might these depictions of foreigners tell us about the Japanese?
• Remember: Japanese art of the Edo period was meant to be “read” from right to left!
• Consider the nanban screens themselves as material culture (objects). Using the print and
Internet sources below, research the function of the screens: How were they used? (Hint:
What does the Japanese term for screen, byôbu, mean?) Who might have owned one or
more? Also consider the artistic techniques used on these late-sixteenth- and earlyseventeenth-century screens and the artistic values inherent in the objects: What techniques
of perspective, if any, are used? What do the artists do to suggest depth? What aesthetic
qualities did the artists value?
• Consider the way in which rulers in other countries, particularly China, tried to restrict
international trade. For what reasons did they do so?
Further Information
Boxer, Charles R. Portuguese Merchants and Missionaries in Feudal Japan, 1543–1640. London: Variorum Reprints,
1986.
Okamoto, Yoshitomo. The Namban Art of Japan. Translated by Ronald K. Jones. Tokyo and New York: Weatherhill, 1973.
Portuguese Influence in Japan
The Portuguese and their culture had some influence on Japanese clothing, accessories,
food, and language. (Of course, their introduction of the musket in 1543 revolutionized
warfare in Japan during the last half of the sixteenth century.) The unifiers Oda Nobunaga
and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were fond of wearing Western clothing, which the Portuguese
introduced. Even though the Portuguese were expelled from Japan in 1639, pan (bread),
konpeito (a type of candy), tempura, kasutera (sponge cake), and shichimi togarashi (a
seven-flavored spice mix) have remained a part of Japanese cuisine and language to this
day. Some other Portuguese foreign loan words are listed in the chart below:
Portuguese
Japanese
English
alcool
arukoru
alcohol
padre
bateren
priest
veludo
biroodo
velvet
botao
botan
button
capa
kappa
raincoat
tabaco
tabako
tobacco
confeito
konpeito
candy
Pao de Castella
kasutera
sponge cake
Web Sites
“Nanban
(‘Southern
Barbarians’
in
Japan).”
Art
through
Time:
A
Global
View.
http://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/166/index.html (accessed October 29, 2010).
“Portugal in Japan.” Embassy of Portugal in Tokyo. http://www.embaixadadeportugal.jp/cultural-centre/portugal-japan/nambanart/en/ (accessed October 29, 2010).
“Southern Barbarians (Nanban byôbu).” Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Museum Education.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/education/trc/SouthernBarbarians.pdf (accessed October 29, 2010).
18
Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea
“The Diary of Shin Yu-han” (1719)
Introduction
was a member of the government embassy from Choson Korea to Tokugawa
Japan, during the reign of the eighth shogun YOSHIMUNE (1684–1751). He served in the capacity of
secretary and diarist for the envoy on this embassy in 1719. His diary, Haeyurok (Record of a
Journey across the Sea), was brushed in Chinese, the official written language used by
educated Koreans. Indeed, while official diaries were kept as a matter of routine for the
Korean embassies, Shin’s account stands out for its richness as a source of information about
daily life and the politics of the day. In traveling to Japan, the envoys and their attendants went
by sea as far as Osaka, from which they took the overland route up the TÔKAIDÔ. In doing so,
the embassies followed a strictly defined route. They stayed in Japan only a few months and
met almost exclusively with samurai and Buddhist priests. The portions of the diary excerpted
below recount the embassy’s arrival in Edo and audience with the shogun.
SHIN YU-HAN
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Relations between Choson Korea and Japan were reestablished in 1609, having been
severed as a result of the two invasions led by TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI in 1592 and 1594.
2. Japanese relations with Korea were channeled through the Sô daimyo of Tsushima, the only
domain with rights to trade with Korea.
3. Few Japanese would have had an opportunity to witness the embassies, which occurred
only rarely, unless they lived nearby the route taken or made a special trip to see them
along the route or in Edo.
4. Choson Korea exercised a form of seclusion vis-à-vis the West, which in the nineteenth
century earned it the nickname the “Hermit Kingdom.” Similarly, Westerners at this time
also viewed Japan as a “closed country” (see Section 17).
5. At the time of Shin’s visit, Edo was likely the largest city in the world, with a population of
over one million persons.
6. As a rule, Korean and Japanese diplomatic officials could speak neither each other’s
language nor Chinese, but could communicate in written Chinese, knowledge of which was
a basic element in the education of elite members of both societies. A smaller number of
technical interpreters did speak the others’ language. There is no evidence that Shin Yu-han
either spoke or read Japanese.
Document: Excerpts from “The Diary of Shin Yu-han”
(1719)
“[Ninth Month] 27th [day]. . . . As I gazed off into the distance, the great castle [Edo]
faintly appeared. Looming over the farthest extent of the ocean, it appeared as if the dike
face had been whittled away and sea water had been drawn for the moat. The grandeur of
the moat and the soaring majesty of the donjon filled all with awe. . . .
Long, corridor like streets were filled with shops on either side. In the city there were
streets and each street had its gate. . . . There were white, two and three storied mansions
with carved beams. . . .
abbot: The head of a Buddhist temple.
dais: A raised platform.
kanpaku: A court title; but here it refers to the shogun, Yoshimune.
made obeisance: Bowed down.
quiver: A container for arrows.
thirty kin: 18 kilograms or 39.6 pounds.
Tsushima lord: The daimyo of Tsushima domain.
Yokota Bitchû: Official title of a daimyo who served as a Tokugawa Great
Inspector (ômetsuke).
The men and women were clogged to overflowing. . . .
[Shogun] Yoshimune’s character is dauntless, superior and wise, and this year, he is
thirty-five years old. He is of sturdy spirit and has a dignified bearing. He is a lover of the
martial arts but finds no joy in literature. He respects economy and rejects
extravagance. . . . He loves the hunt. He often carries thirty kin iron canes and climbs
hills. When he has time, he puts a hawk on his arm and goes to the city’s outskirts. . . .
When we reached gate three of the castle, we had reached the palace. There was a
wall but no moat and no gun turrets. The elegance of its organization resembled our
nation’s palace wall, and was very big. All military officers and below dismounted
outside the castle gate, took off their bows, quivers and hip swords and walked in. The
standard bearers, drummers, and trumpeters all fell behind. When we had advanced to
another gate, all those of the rank of senior interpreter and below stepped out of their
palanquins. The Tsushima lord, the two abbots, Shô and Tatô, both protocol officers, and
Yokota Bitchû greeted us inside the gate, bowed and let us in. I and the other upper
officials all followed. . . .
The envoys entered, made obeisance to the kanpaku and went out. They entered a
second time, made a toast and went out. . . . The middle and lower officials made
obeisance outside the audience hall. All made obeisance four times and withdrew.
When I paid my respects, I gazed at the kanpaku from afar. He was wearing a pointed,
black coronet on his head, a pale blue robe on his body, and sat atop a pile of cushions.
There was no dais or chair. I and he [He and I] were about three or four ken apart, but
since his seat was far in the back and to his left and right were provided colorful screens
with pearl embroidery, an unobstructed view of the interior of the hall was difficult to
obtain. I was unable to examine his face very closely. Roughly speaking, he appeared
very fierce, lean and muscular, and his seated appearance was towering.
Source: James B. Lewis, “Beyond Sakoku: The Korean Envoy to Edo and the 1719 Diary of Shin Yu-han,” Korea
Journal 25, no. 11 (1985): 32, 34–35.
Aftermath
The embassy of which Shin Yu-han was a member came roughly a hundred years after
Japan and Korea resumed relations, which were characterized as “neighborly” by both
governments during the Tokugawa/Choson period. Japan and Korea were both relatively
closed to Europeans, and although there was no free movement of common people between the
two countries, Korean envoys, accompanied typically by a retinue of 300–400 men, visited
Japan 12 times during the period (the last official embassy was in 1811). The Japanese also
sent embassies to Korea; however, Japanese officials and traders from Tsushima were not
allowed to travel to the Choson capital at Seoul. Rather, they were restricted to a trade factory
in Pusan—much as the Japanese restricted the Dutch and Chinese traders in Nagasaki—
because of the negative legacy of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasions at the end of the sixteenth
century. Still, the missions from Korea served as an important form of official recognition for
the Tokugawa shogunate, which used them as a source of legitimization by parading the
embassies up the highways to Edo for an audience with the shogun. (The same was true of
embassies from the Ryûkyûan kingdom.) The embassies also provide evidence of the interest
among Japanese intellectuals for Korean cultural accomplishments, as its Korean members
were often overwhelmed with attention and requests for examples of their poetry or
calligraphy, recitations of poetry, or requests to write introductions for collections of Japanese
poetry. The Korean officials and their attendants also impacted the broader Japanese culture in
that the embassies were reenacted as parades in local festivals in towns and villages in
various locations across Japan. Some of these continue even today.
Ask Yourself
1. What were Shin’s impressions of the capital of Edo?
2. What was Shin’s opinion of the shogun Yoshimune? How does he describe the audience
with the shogun?
Topics to Consider
• Using the print sources listed below, research the process by which Korea and Japan
resumed relations in the early seventeenth century. What diplomatic problems did they
face, and how were they resolved? Why was Japan able to establish official relations with
Korea but not China?
• Think about how two countries often interpret the same event in different ways. How did
the Japanese and Korean governments each regard the embassies? (What “spin” did they
put on the events?) What events in current times can be examined in the same way?
• Japanese-Korean relations are still colored by Hideyoshi’s invasions (and of course
Japan’s subsequent history of colonization of Korea, 1910–1945). Can you think of other
countries whose current relations are similarly influenced by conflicts of the distant past?
Further Information
Kazui, Tashiro. “Foreign Relations during the Edo Period: Sakoku Reexamined.” Translated by Susan Downing Videen. Journal
of Japanese Studies 8, no. 2 (1982): 283–306.
Lewis, James Bryant. “Beyond Sakoku: The Korean Envoy to Edo and the 1719 Diary of Shin Yu-han.” Korea Journal 25,
no. 11 (1985): 32–41.
Toby, Ronald P. “Carnival of the Aliens: Korean Embassies in Edo-Period Art and Popular Culture.” Monumenta Nipponica
41, no. 4 (1986): 415–56.
Toby, Ronald P. State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983; Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991.
19
Leaving a Window Open to the Western World
Letter from a Nagasaki Official to the Dutch Governor General (1642)
Introduction
The Dutch first arrived in Japan after the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the English. The
Dutch East India Company (known as VOC in Dutch), a chartered company, carried out
extensive trade in Asia for almost 200 years, surpassing all of its European rivals. In 1609, it
established a trading base in Japan on Hirado Island, off the coast of Kyushu (later moved to
Dejima). The letter below was written in Japanese by Ebiya Shiroemon, the head official of
Deshima, and addressed to the governor-general of the Dutch in Batavia (Jakarta), where the
Dutch had operated a trading post, or factory, since 1610. On the outside of the letter was
written a request that those to whom the letter was to be given to read should translate the
document (into Dutch) accurately. The letter was forwarded to Batavia by Jan van Elserac,
who served as Opperhoofden (lit. “supreme headman”), the chief officer of the VOC in Japan
at the time.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. All foreign trade, except for that with the Chinese, had been confined to Hirado and
Nagasaki in 1616. Twenty years later, in 1636, the Tokugawa shogunate restricted the
Portuguese to Dejima, the fan-shaped, manmade island in Nagasaki Bay that had been
specially constructed for them, and then in 1639 expelled them from the country.
2. In 1641, the Dutch East India Company was moved to from Hirado to Deshima. The
decision was made after Japanese authorities discovered the Christian-era date marking the
date of construction on the warehouse and ordered it destroyed. The head of the Dutch
factory complied without resistance, but the following year, the Dutch were ordered to
move to Deshima nonetheless, which had been vacated by the Portuguese in 1639.
3. The letter refers to the “Emperor” but really refers to the “shogun.” Europeans often
misunderstood the political situation in Japan at this time, being ignorant of the fact that
there was an emperor in Kyoto as well as the shogun in Edo.
4. As of 1612, it was forbidden to attempt to convert Japanese to Christianity in territory
controlled by the Tokugawa shogunate.
5. The letter to which the writer refers in the second paragraph (“I have observed that Your
Honour . . . sent a Letter with divers requests”) refers to a document that the Dutch
governor-general in Batavia asked the Nagasaki magistrate to forward to the Tokugawa
shogunate in Edo. In that document he complained in specific terms about the poor
treatment the Dutch had been subjected to since being forced to move to Deshima, not to
mention the financial losses they had sustained, and offered to send an envoy to the shogun
to discuss either withdrawing the Dutch factory from Japan or to ask the shogun to continue
allowing the Dutch to trade in Japan. In short, he was likely bluffing in threatening to
discontinue trade in order to receive better treatment. The Nagasaki magistrate did not
forward the document, which would have compromised his position of authority, and
promised better treatment.
Document: Excerpts from a Letter from Ebiya Shiroemon
to the Governor-General of the VOC
Last year the Hollanders’ ships for the first time came to Nagasaki, where they live on an
island, free from danger of fire, and drive their trade unmolested; furthermore our
Superiors have ordained that we should lodge the Captain in our own house, and
notwithstanding that the same is not very commodious, yet the Captain is satisfied
therewith, and has lodged there in person, whereby the house and we were honoured, for
which we are duly grateful. . . .
I have observed that Your Honour has [not] well understood the Japanese
Government[’s intentions], and sent a Letter with divers requests thereto. At present the
Nagasaki Magistrate, Baba Saburozaemon, who has governed there since many years, so
that matters are not now as formerly; he is an intelligent and kind-hearted Gentleman, who
has known from of old that they [i.e., the Dutch] have traded in Japan, and he does not
allow any one to lend money to them, but will do them much good, more than can be
described with the pen.
All men say that the time when the Hollanders came in Nagasaki, will prove to have
been a lucky time for them [i.e., came to Nagasaki at a very lucky time].
Your letter is not right in some particulars, and therefore we have been it advisable
not to forward it to our Government, but to keep it in Nagasaki, and advise you of this
fact; there are more than thirty points in the same [which are wrong?], which we will not
recount here, hoping that if you read this through carefully, you will certainly understand
the same. But as yet you do not understand fully these Japanese customs, which is the
reason why you have drawn up such a Missive.
Captain: Opperhoofd, or the head of the Dutch East India Company in Japan.
Cha: Tea.
commodious: Pleasantly spacious.
(the) Company: The VOC, or Dutch East Indian Company.
divers: More than one, and of various types.
Emperor: The shogun.
Government in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate.
island: I.e., Deshima.
Missive: Letter.
savours: Shows traces of.
to lend money to them: I.e., to charge them interest on a loan.
traded long years: Traded for many years.
traffick: To conduct trade.
Should you wish to write to the Government in Japan, you must have some patience
first, and trade 4 or 5 years in Nagasaki, when you will be able to see, how you are
treated here, and how everything is regulated for the good of the Company.
The Laws of Japan are upright, though somewhat harsh and severe, especially against
the Christians; but seeing that the Hollanders have traded long years in Japan, and have
never tried to propagate Christianity, or troubled themselves about such matters, but have
always behaved themselves peaceably, the Government has, in view of this, allowed them
to come and traffick in Nagasaki, being a place of no private Lord, but of the Emperor
himself, where all foreign nations may drive their trade; if you also should wish to do so,
all will be well. But be pleased to order your Subordinates, whom you send to Japan, or
instruct to remain there, to guard themselves from the outward observance of Religion, so
that they may keep their Christianity secret and concealed; should they thoroughly
understand the Japanese Laws, and punctually obey the same, then you may obtain all you
wish, even unasked; but should you write again to the Japanese government, and make
some request about Christianity therein, maters will go ill; similarly, so long as the
Hollanders do anything which savours of Christianity, then shall they obtain nothing,
whatsoever they may ask.
If it should be found out that we connived at Christianity to some extent, we should
all, Siroye Mondonne [the Nagasaki magistrate], the Interpreters, and all who are on the
island, together with the island itself, be destroyed. . . .
Nagasaki is much better situated than Hirado, and the Company will be able to trade
there more advantageously than in Hirado, though in the event of punishment being meted
out, this may fall rather heavily; but provided you be pleased to order that no Christian
things be brought, nor any mention be made of the Christian belief, then shall you grow to
be a great tree, flourishing eternally with many branches; and then you may send as many
ships to Japan as you choose, since we shall order everything, with the help of the
Captain, to the best advantage of the Company.
Together with this Letter I send you a pot of Cha, as also a copper Beaker and Lamp,
being merely an acknowledgement. What else I have to say, I have told Captain Elserac
verbally, from whom you can understand everything.
Source: Translation adapted from C. R. Boxer, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam by
Francois Caron and Joost Schouten, reprinted from the English edition of 1663, with Introduction, Notes, and
appendixes by C. R. Boxer (London: Argonaut Press, 1935), 89–91.
Aftermath
The Dutch were the only Westerners allowed to remain in Japan after 1639. Accordingly,
they were closely monitored on Deshima and their activities controlled. The shogunate did not
want the Dutch to feel at home in Japan, so it required the opperhoofd to be rotated every year.
Moreover, they were not allowed to bring any females to Deshima, although they were
permitted to receive the visits of courtesans on the island. Nor were the Dutch permitted to
bury their dead on Japanese soil. Furthermore, they were not to import any religious items and
could not openly practice their faith. In fact, the Japanese prevented them from observing the
Sabbath, requiring them to work on Sunday. Each head official of the VOC was obligated to
travel to Edo to offer tribute and to present a report on conditions in the world to the shogun. In
1790, however, the attendance requirement was reduced to once every four years (see Section
20).
Ask Yourself
1. How would you describe the tone of the letter? What advice is the Japanese official giving
the Dutch?
2. Why was the Japanese official so concerned about Christianity?
3. According to this letter, why were the Dutch allowed to remain in Japan (and not expelled
like the Portuguese)? What other reasons might there have been? Why do you think the
Japanese official did not mention the reasons for the Dutch’s forced move from Hirado to
Deshima?
4. What conclusions can we draw from this letter regarding the state of relations between the
Dutch and the Japanese in 1642?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the web sites provided below, examine the maps, woodblock prints, and
reconstructions of Deshima, and investigate what conditions were like on Deshima for the
foreigners. Also, consider the operation of the island as a trade factory: What were the
specific functions of the various buildings? As time allows, read several of the print
sources noted below and compare your conclusions with the real-life accounts of some of
the Dutch.
• Using the print sources below or by doing independent research on the internet, research
the life of one of the opperhoofden (head of the Dutch factory), such as Hendrik Doeff, Jan
Cock Blomhoff, or Isaac Titsingh. A complete list is available at
http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Japan.htm#Dejima (accessed September 10, 2011).
• Examine the woodblock print images of the Dutch created by Japanese artists. How were
the Dutchmen portrayed? What activities of the Dutch caught the interest of the Japanese
artists?
Further Information
Blomhoff, Jan Cock. The Court Journey to the Shogun of Japan: From a Private Account by Jan Cock Blomhoff.
Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2000.
Boxer, Charles Ralph. Jan Compagnie in Japan, 1600–1850. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1936.
Massarella, Derek. A World Elsewhere: Europe’s Encounter with Japan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.
Web Sites
“Deshima Comes Back to Life.” Nagasaki City, last updated 2002. http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/dejima/en/main.html.
See in particular the portion of the site on the present-day reconstruction of Deshima by clicking on “Birth of a New
Deshima” or going to the following URL: http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/dejima/en/new_dejima/index.html
(accessed September 10, 2011).
“Englebert
Kaempfer’s
Map
of
Deshima.”
New
York
Public
Library
Digital
Gallery.
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?strucID=102910&imageID=481279 (accessed September 11,
2010).
“Paper Trails: Deshima Island: A Stepping Stone between Civilizations.” World History Connected.
http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/3.3/gilbert.html (accessed September 11, 2011).
“Red-Haired Barbarians: The Dutch and Other Foreigners in Nagasaki and Yokohama, 1800–1865.” Forty Japanese prints from
the
NEHA
collection.
Netherlands
Economic
History
Archive
(NEHA).
http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/japaneseprints/dutch.html (accessed September 11, 2010).
The First American Trade with Japan
American trade with Japan did not begin with Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s mission
to Japan and the signing of a treaty between the two countries in 1854 nor with the
signing of a formal commercial treaty in 1858. In fact, American vessels were able to
trade with Japan for a brief period at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the
eighteenth centuries, while the so-called “Closed Country Edicts” were still in effect.
From 1797 to 1809, no fewer than 10 American ships, under charter from the Dutch,
traded with the Japanese at Nagasaki. The Dutch were forced to charter American and
Danish ships around the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) between France and
England. With the Netherlands occupied by France, Dutch vessels were subject to attack
by the British. As a result, the Dutch had to resort to foreign vessels. Most of the
American vessels came out of Boston (e.g., the Massachusetts), Salem (the Margaret)
and Baltimore (the Samuel Smith and Rebecca). Japanese officials in Nagasaki noticed
that the ships looked different and asked for an explanation. As a consequence, the
Japanese first learned about the United States and the American Revolution.
20
A Dutch Audience with the Shogun
Englebert Kaempfer’s The History of Japan (1692)
Introduction
This selection is from a history of Japan written by the German physician and naturalist
ENGLEBERT KAEMPFER, who was in Japan in the employment of the Dutch East India Company
(VOC). As a result, he accompanied the VOC’s embassy from its base on Deshima, the fanshaped manmade island where the Dutch were required to live and to do their business, to Edo
on two occasions, in 1691 and 1692. In this excerpt, dating from 1691, he relates his account
of the audience of the Dutch embassy before the eighth shogun, TOKUGAWA TSUNAYOSHI, in his
palace within Edo castle.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The Dutch, after 1639, were the only Westerners allowed in Japan. The Tokugawa’s top
officials debated whether or not to exclude the Dutch as well, but in the end the decision
was made to allow them to remain, under tightly controlled conditions, for trade purposes
and in order to keep a channel open for the shogunate to receive information about the
Western world.
2. There were no state-to-state relations between Holland and Japan. The Dutch trade
company (or VOC, in Dutch) was allowed to trade with Japan as a private entity.
However, the head of the Dutch trade mission—known as opperhoofden, literally
“supreme headman” in Dutch and kapitan in Japanese—was allowed to pay his respects to
the shogun (whereas the Chinese were not given the same privilege), much as the daimyo
were required to attend the shogun during alternate years. The annual visits were reduced
to once every four years after 1790.
3. The VOC periodically employed doctors who were not Dutch, such as Englebert Kaempfer
(from the Westphalian region of what is today Germany), Philipp Franz von Sielbold (also
from Germany) and Carl Peter Thunberg (from Sweden).
Document: Excerpt from Englebert Kaempfer, The History
of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of
Siam, 1690–92: Audience at Edo Castle, 1691
[The audience hall] opens on one side towards a small court, which lets in the light; on
the opposite side it joins to two other apartments, which are on this occasion laid open
towards the same court, one of which is considerably larger than the other, and serves for
the Counsellors of State, when they give audience by themselves. The other is narrower,
deeper, and one step higher than the hall itself. In this the Emperor sits, when he gives
audience, cross-legged, raised only on a few carpets. Nor is it an easy matter to see him,
the light reaching not quite so far as the place where he sits, besides, that the audience is
too short, and the person admitted to it, in so humble an submissive a posture, that he
cannot well have an opportunity to hold up his head, and to view him. This audience is
otherwise very awful and majestic, by reason chiefly of the silent presence of all the
Counsellors of State, as also of many Princes and Lords of the Empire, the Gentlemen
of his Majesty’s Bed-chamber, and other chief Officers of his Court, who line the hall of
audience and all its avenues, sitting in good order and clad in their garments of ceremony.
Batavia: Jakarta, Indonesia.
Bingo: An honorary title of Makino Narisada, a daimyo and a top official of the
shogunate, who held the title “Lord of Bingo.”
cancrous humors and imposthumations of the inner parts: Cancers and internal
abscesses.
Captain: The head of the Dutch East India Company in Japan.
Counsellors of State: The Councilors, or Council of Elders (rôjû), the top
administrative officials in the shogunate.
Distempers: Illnesses.
Emperor: Kaempfer is referring to the shogun.
Gentlemen of his Majesty’s Bed-chamber: Personal attendants.
Jedo: Edo.
Princes and Lords of the Empire: I.e., daimyo and high-ranking officials in the
shogunate.
Formerly all we had to do at the Emperor’s court, was completed by the captain’s
paying him the usual homage, after the manner above related. A few days after, some laws
concerning our trade and behaviour were read to him, which, in the name of the Dutch, he
promised to keep, and so was dispatch’d back to Nagasaki. But for about these twenty
years last past, he and the rest of the Dutchmen, that came up with the Embassy to Jedo,
were conducted deeper into the palace, to give the Empress and the Ladies of her court,
and the Princesses of the Blood, the diversion of seeing us. In this the second audience,
the Emperor, and the ladies invited to it, attend behind screens and lattices, but the
Counsellors of State, and other Officers of the Court, sit in the open rooms, in their usual
and elegant order. . . . The Emperor himself was in such an obscure place, that we should
scarce have known him to be present, had not his voice discovered him, which yet was so
low, as if he purposely intended to be there incognito. . . .
The mutual compliments being over, the succeeding part of this solemnity turn’d to a
perfect farce. We were asked a thousand ridiculous and impertiment questions. Thus for
instance, they desired to know, in the first place, how old each of us was, and what was
his name, which we were commanded to write upon a bit of paper, having for these
purposes took an European inkhorn along with us. This paper, together with the inkhorn
itself, we were commanded to give to Bingo, who delivered them both into the Emperor’s
hands, reaching them over below the lattice. The Captain, or Ambassador, was asked
concerning the distance of Holland from Batavia, and of Batavia from Nagasaki? . . . As
for my own particular the following questions were put to me: What external and internal
distempers I thought the most dangerous, and most difficult to cure? How I proceeded in
the cure of cancrous humors and imposthumations of the inner parts. Whether our
European Physicians did not search after some Medicine to render people immortal, as
the Chinese Physicians had done for many hundred years? Whether we had made any
considerable progress in this search, and which was the last remedy conducive to long
life, that had been found out in Europe? . . .
The Emperor who hitherto sat among the Ladies, almost opposite to us, at a
considerable distance, did now draw nearer, and sat himself down on our right behind the
lattices, as near us as possibly he could. Then he ordered us to take off our Cappa, or
Cloak, being our Garment of Ceremony, then to stand upright, that he might have a full
view of us; again to walk, to stand still, to complement each other, to dance, to jump, to
play the drunkard, to speak broken Japanese, to read Dutch, to paint, to sing, to put our
cloaks on and off. Mean while we obeyed the Emperor’s commands in the best manner
we could, I joined to my dance a love-song in High German. In this manner, and with
innumerable such other apish tricks, we must suffer ourselves to contribute to the
Emperor’s and the Court’s diversion.
Source: Adapted from Englebert Kaempfer, The History of Japan Together with a description of the Kingdom of
Siam, 1690–92, trans. J. G. Scheuchzer, vol. 3 (Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1906), 88–94.
Ask Yourself
1. From the Japanese perspective, what was the purpose of the audience granted the
Dutchmen? What benefit do you think the Japanese derived from it? What in particular was
the purpose of the second audience? Why were the ladies “behind screens and lattices”?
2. Why do you think ceremonial procedures were made such that it was difficult to see the
shogun? How did the other Japanese officials behave in the shogun’s presence? During the
second audience, why did he remain behind the screens?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider how political leaders in different countries have displayed their power. Would an
audience with other world leaders such as Elizabeth I (1533–1603) of England or Peter the
Great (1672–1725) of Russia been the same?
Further Information
Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice, ed. The Furthest Goal: Englebert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Tokugawa Japan. Sandgate: Japan
Library, 1995.
Doeff, Hendrik. Recollections of Japan. Translated and annotated by Annick M. Doeff. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing,
2003.
Kaempfer, Englebert. Kaempfer’s Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed. Edited, translated, and annotated by Beatrice
Bodart-Bailey. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
Lequin, Frank, ed. The Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh: Volume 1 (1785–1811). Amsterdam: Netherlands
Association for Japanese Studies, 1990.
21
Sizing Up the Foreign Threat
Aizawa Seishisai’s Shinron (New Theses, 1825)
Introduction
The intrusion of foreign vessels in Japanese waters in the early nineteenth century greatly
alarmed Japanese intellectuals. The Mito samurai AIZAWA SEISHISAI (1782–1863) was one of
them. After crew members of an English whaling vessel came ashore on the coast of Aizawa’s
Mito in 1824, he was sent by his lord, Tokugawa Narinobu, to interview the men. Disbelieving
their explanation for coming to Japan (whaling), which was communicated in gestures, he was
convinced that they had aggressive designs on his country. In response to this latest intrusion of
a foreign vessel in Japanese waters, in 1825, the shogunate adopted a hard-line policy and
issued instructions to the daimyo to fire upon and repel “without hesitation” any Western ships.
This order is often referred to in English as the “Don’t Think Twice” edict. Soon afterward,
Aizawa took brush to paper to write a long memorial (opinion paper) to his lord, Narinobu’s
brother and successor Nariaki, on how to deal with the threat posed by the West, a portion of
which is excerpted below.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The foreign ships that were appearing in Japanese waters with greater frequency were
doing so in defiance of the shogunate’s exclusion policy (see Section 17), which dated to
the 1630s. Seeking to avoid conflict, however, the government put the policy into practice
only once, firing on the unarmed American merchant ship Morrison in 1837.
2. Aizawa speaks of an unbroken imperial line, but in fact, from 1336 to 1392, the imperial
court was split, divided into contending northern and southern courts. The emperor of the
southern court renounced his claim to the throne to end the division in 1392.
Document: Excerpt from Aizawa Seishisai’s Shinron (New
Theses), 1825
Our Divine Realm is where the sun emerges. It is the source of the primordial vital force
sustaining all life and order. Our Emperors, descendents of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu,
have acceded to the Imperial Throne in each and every generation, a unique fact that will
never change. Our Divine Realm rightly constitutes the head and shoulders of the world
and controls all nations. It is only proper that our Divine Realm illuminates the entire
universe and that our dynasty’s sphere of moral suasion knows no bounds. But recently the
loathsome Western barbarians, unmindful of their base position as the lower extremities
of the world, have been scurrying impudently across the Four Seas, trampling other
nations underfoot. Now they are audacious enough to challenge our exalted position in the
world. What manner of insolence is this?
(Gloss: The earth lies amid the heavenly firmament, is round in shape, and has no edges. All things exist as
nature dictates. Thus, Our Divine Realm is at the top of the world. Though not a very large country, it reigns
over the Four Quarters because its Imperial Line has never known dynastic change. The Western barbarians
represent the thighs, legs, and feet of the universe. This is why they sail hither and yon, indifferent to the
distances involved. Moreover, the country they call America is located at the rear end of the world, so its
inhabitants are stupid and incompetent. All of this is as nature dictates.)
Divine Realm: Refers to Japan.
Ezo tribes: The Ainu people living in northern Honshu and Hokkaido islands.
These barbarians court ultimate ruin by ignoring the moral laws of nature and refusing
to accept the lowliness of their status. . . .
Unless a Great Hero bestirs himself to assist Heaven’s normative processes, all
creation will fall prey to the wily, meat-eating barbarians. . . .
The Barbarians’ Nature
For close to three hundred years now the Western barbarians have rampaged on the
high seas. Why are they able to enlarge their territories and fulfill their every
desire? . . . Christianity is the sole key to their success. It is a truly evil and base religion,
barely worth discussing. But its main doctrines are simple to grasp and well-contrived;
they can easily deceive stupid commoners with it. . . .
Whenever they seek to take over a country, they employ the same method. By trading
with that nation, they learn about its geography and defenses. If these be weak, they
dispatch troops to invade the nation; if strong, they propagate Christianity to subvert it
from within. . . .
Russia has expanded tremendously of late. It utilized Christianity to seduce the Ezo
tribes into submission and to capture island after island [to our north]. Now Russia has
turned its predatory eyes on Japan proper. The English also appear at frequent intervals,
furtively trying to beguile our commoners and peoples in outlying areas.
Source: Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early Modern Japan: The New
Theses of 1825 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985), 149–50, 200–201, 204.
Aftermath
Aizawa’s memorial was written in 1825 and circulated widely in manuscript form from the
1840s. It was published in woodblock form only in the 1850s. Although he sought to reform
Japan to strengthen it and the Tokugawa shogunate, increasing numbers of young, radical
samurai in the 1850s and 1860s drew different lessons: they read in it an indictment of the
Tokugawa and a call to overthrow the shogunate. Aizawa passed away in 1863, however,
before that was realized.
Ask Yourself
1. What is the nature of the Western threat that the Japanese perceived? What did Japanese
see as the reason for the strength of the West?
2. What kind of organistic view of the world does Aizawa describe? (That is, how does he
describe the world in terms of the body—what countries form what parts of the body?)
3. According to Aizawa, which country or countries did Japanese fear the most? Why?
4. How does Aizawa describe the role of the imperial institution in Japanese life? How do
you think the leaders in the Tokugawa shogunate might have felt had they come into
possession of his text? (Hint: Aizawa’s book was circulated only in manuscript—
handwritten—form when he first wrote it.)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the “Japanese Historical Maps” website listed below, examine several Japanese
world maps from around the time that Aizawa wrote. (Once you have activated one of the
browsers listed on the main page, you can find these maps by typing “world map” in the
search block and then by scrolling down and reading the captions, which are in English, to
find maps dated from the early nineteenth century.) Naturally, the writing on the maps
themselves is Japanese, but from the visual clues available, how accurate a worldview
would you say the Japanese had at the time?
• Using the essays and images presented in the “Black Ships and Samurai” web site below,
consider the manner in which the Japanese and Americans perceived each other at the time
of Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s arrival in Japan, 28 years after Aizawa wrote Shinron.
How would you describe their views of the Other (i.e., the Americans)?
Further Information
Chang, Richard T. From Prejudice to Tolerance: A Study of the Japanese Image of the West 1826–1864. Tokyo: Sophia
University, 1970.
Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi. Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early Modern Japan: The New Theses of 1825.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.
Web Sites
“Black
Ships
and
Samurai,”
MIT
Visualizing
Cultures.
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/black_ships_and_samurai/index.html (accessed October 27, 2010).
“Japanese Historical Maps.” East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley. http://www.davidrumsey.com/japan/
(accessed October 27, 2010).
Social and Economic Life
22
The Social Estates
Yamaga Sokô on “The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
Introduction
The following text is an excerpt from a longer work entitled The Way of the Samurai
(Shidô), written by YAMAGA SOKÔ (1622–1685), a noted Confucian scholar as well as an expert
in military science. He wrote the text sometime during the middle part of the seventeenth
century, after the SHIMABARA REBELLION, the last major armed conflict for more than two
centuries.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Given the new conditions of peace, Yamaga was concerned about the inactivity of samurai.
Accordingly, he tried to articulate a new role for the samurai, who had a long history in
Japan as warriors with a proud martial tradition.
2. Yamaga had been a student of the Chinese Confucian classics since a young age. In this text
he applied the Confucian ideal of the “superior man” to the samurai in Japan (he used the
same Chinese word shi (“superior man” or “gentleman”) to describe both of them.
3. In the text below, Yamaga writes of the “Way of the lord and subject, friend and friend,
father and son, older and younger brother, and husband and wife,” which is referring to the
“five relationships” of Confucian teachings. Although he does not list them in the correct
hierarchical order, as they were articulated in Japan, the informed reader would not have
been confused. In Japan, the relationships, in order of social importance, were: lord and
subject, father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother, friend and friend. In
China, where the concept originated, the relationship between father and son was deemed
paramount, and came first.
Document: Excerpts from Yamaga Sokô’s “The Way of the
Samurai” (shidô)
. . . Generation after generation men have taken their livelihood from tilling the soil, or
devised and manufactured tools, or produced profit from mutual trade, so that peoples’
needs were satisfied. Thus the occupations of farmer, artisan, and merchant necessarily
grew up as complementary to one another. However, the samurai eats food without
growing it, uses utensils without manufacturing them, and profits without buying or
selling. What is the justification for this? . . . The samurai is one who does not cultivate,
does not manufacture, and does not engage in trade, but it cannot be that he has no function
at all as a samurai. He who satisfied his needs without performing any function at all
would more properly be called an idler. Therefore one must devote all one’s mind to the
detailed examination of one’s calling.
three classes of the common people: Namely, farmer, artisan, and merchant.
Way: Here it refers to “the way of the samurai” (the term, in a generic sense, stems
from Confucius).
Human beings aside, does any creature in the land—bird or animal, lowly fish or
insect, or insentient plant or tree—fulfill its nature by being idle? Birds and beasts fly and
run to find their own food; fish and insects seek their food as they go about with one
another; . . . None of them has any respite from seeking food, . . . Among men, the farmers,
artisans, and merchants also do the same. One who lives his whole life without working
should be called a rebel against heaven. Hence we ask ourselves how it can be that the
samurai should have no occupation; and it is only then as we inquire into the function of
the samurai, that [the nature of] his calling becomes apparent. . . .
The business of samurai consists in reflecting on his own station in life, in discharging
loyal service to his master if he has one, in deepening his fidelity in associations with
friends, and, with due consideration of his own position, in devoting himself to duty
above all. . . . The samurai dispenses with the business of the farmer, artisan, and
merchants and confines himself to practice this Way; should there be someone in the
three classes of the common people who transgresses against these moral principles, the
samurai summarily punishes him and thus upholds proper moral principles in the land. It
would not do for the samurai to know the martial and civil virtues without manifesting
them. Since this is the case, outwardly he stands in physical readiness for any call to
service and inwardly he strives to fulfill the Way of the lord and subject, friend and
friend, father and son, older and younger brother, and husband and wife. Within his heart
he keeps to the ways of peace, but without he keeps his weapons ready for use. The three
classes of the common people make him their teacher and respect him. By following his
teachings, they are enabled to understand what is fundamental and what is secondary.
Source: Ryusaku Tsunoda, Wm. Theodore de Bary, and Donald Keene, compilers, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol.
1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 389–91.
Aftermath
Yamaga’s systematic expression of the samurai spirit inspired other writers, including his
student Daidôji Yûzan (1639–1730), author of Budô shoshinshû (An Introduction to the “Way
of the Warrior”), and provided a philosophical basis for what later became known as bushido.
Ask Yourself
1. How can we interpret Yamaga’s writings in terms of a theory of the division of social
responsibilities?
2. According to Yamaga, what were the most important duties of the samurai? How were their
duties different from those of the members of the other three status groups?
3. Why does he feel samurai were uniquely qualified to assume moral authority in Tokugawa
society?
4. How did Yamaga depict the model samurai? What part did military spirit play in this
depiction? (Warrior codes dating back to the Ashikaga period at least, not to mention the
Laws for the Military Houses [Section 12], talk about the importance of both high
intellectual education [bun] and martial training [bu]. How is this reflected in Yamaga’s
writings?)
5. Why did Yamaga feel it necessary to justify the samurai’s role in society?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Compare the image of samurai that Yamaga envisioned with that of the samurai in popular
films, manga or anime today—a few suggestions are listed below.
• Consider the role of the samurai in Tokugawa society in comparison with that of the
scholar-official in Qing China. In what ways were their roles comparable? In what ways
did they diverge?
Further Information
Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1995.
Tucker, John Allen. “Yamaga Sokô’s Seikyô yôroku: An English Translation and Analysis.” Parts One and Two. SinoJapanese Studies 8, no. 1–2 (1995–1996): 22–39; 62–85.
Film, Anime, and Manga
Kill Bill. Directed by Quentin Tarentino, vol. 1, 2003; vol. 2, 2004. DVD.
Koike, Kazuo, and Goseki Kojima. Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin’s Road. Translated by Dana Lewis. Milwaukie,
OR: Dark Horse Comics, Inc., 2000.
Samurai Champloo (Samurai chanpurû). Japanese television series, 2004–2005. Available on English-dubbed DVD; some
subtitled episodes available on YouTube.
Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei). Directed by Yamada Yôji, 2002. DVD.
23
Trying to Get by on a Fixed Income
The Economic Problems Facing the Samurai, as Seen in a Letter from Tani
Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu (1751) and a Statement from
Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
Introduction
The first document is a letter from the samurai and Confucian scholar TANI TANNAI (or
Mashio, 1729–1797) to the merchant Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu (1705–1779). The letter
was one of a number exchanged by the two men that Tani copied into his ledger, Record of
Daily Necessities (Nichiyô beien roku, 1748–1754), which literally means “Record of the
daily necessities of rice and salt.” In addition Tani also recorded therein various budgets and
memos to himself. The ledger itself reflected his attempts at thrift, for several of the pages and
the cover of the original document were written on paper that already been used on one side
(see “Japanese Paper”). This may be an indication that he meant the ledger to be a personal
record, though perhaps he also kept it as a useful guide and/or warning to his son. Tannai wrote
the letter below asking for another loan to carry him over until his next stipend payment. This
was because Saitaniya had turned down his request to break out of the spiral of increasing debt
by restructuring his considerable debt load from previous years by treating it as “old debt”
(i.e., a no-interest loan). In terms of income, Tannai was a lower-ranking samurai, earning 24
koku in rice. In most domains, income distribution was concentrated in the lower end. For
example, in Hirato domain, about one-third of the retainer corps received stipends in the range
of 10–30 koku.
The second selection is a statement from three village leaders to a Tokugawa BANNERMAN,
dating from 1856. This bannerman had a FIEF or domain of 700 koku of rice and was
descended from a daimyo; in other words, he was a samurai of some substance. The village
leaders were peasants, and their village was part of the bannerman’s domain, bequeathed to
him by the Tokugawa shogun from which he derived his income.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. In general, samurai were paid in rice or in a combination of rice and money. What rice was
not consumed had to be converted to cash to pay for the other necessities of life. Merchants
were needed for this.
2. By the time of this letter (mid-eighteenth century), most daimyo, themselves in financial
straits, were commonly demanding that samurai return a portion of their stipends to the
domains as forced loans. These were known euphemistically as “loans to the lord”
(onkariage), even though there was no expectation that they would ever be repaid. Forced
loans generally were deducted in one sum, from one of the two yearly payments retainers
received, which made keeping to a budget very difficult.
3. Samurai also became dependent on merchants due to the multi-metallic monetary system,
which required converting from one type of currency to another, and the variable rate for
converting rice to cash.
4. Saitaniya was both Tani’s creditor as well as his student; Tani was both teacher and debtor.
5. Both Tannai and his father, Tanshirô, also received support rice (rice allowances) for the
services they performed as Confucian scholars for the domain, in addition to their basic
stipends.
6. Remember that according to the official status hierarchy, the occupations were ranked:
samurai, peasant, artisan, and merchant, in that order.
Document 1: Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya
Hachirôbei Naomasu
1751/1/30
To: Saitaniya Hachirôbei
Thank you for your hospitality and the leisurely talk we enjoyed last night. And thank you
as well for having sent Shin-no-jô to deliver a message from you. When my father
Tanshirô returns from Edo he must call on you to pay his respects.
I have thought a lot about what you wrote in your letter (of the previous 6/13) and am
resolved to do my best. My repayment scheme is laid out below. Please inform me if I am
in error:
The 18 koku of my stipend that remains after the loan to the lord, at a market rate of
50 monme/koku, converts to 900 monme; divided by 13 months [he includes the
intercalary month—see Section 7], this gives me a budget of 69 monme/month.
Consequently, I will need to borrow 270.68 monme for the period from the first day of the
Second Month until the middle of the Fifth Month. Please divide the monthly payment in
two and dispense the funds to me on the first and sixteenth days.
When my father Tanshirô returns from Edo sometime in the middle of the Fifth Month,
he should bring back five or six ryô, and from this the above-mentioned loan will be
repaid. If he does not bring back enough money, I will repay you from my Summer
payment of 6 koku. . . . In this case, I would require another loan until the end of the year.
At the end of the year I will be appointed for Edo duty, and will use the 22 koku
service allowance, which at a rate of 50 monme/koku, converts to one kan 100 me, for
repayment of my various new loans of 598 monme. . . .
Given the above, I will not be able to pay back the old loans next year. Moreover,
although I will receive a subsidy for Edo service next year, those funds will be needed to
maintain myself there. However, should some money remain from them, it can be applied
to the loans—but it probably will not be very much.
Edo duty: Duty of samurai retainer to accompany daimyo to Edo and to serve him
there for a specified period of time, usually one year.
koku: A unit of measurement for rice, equivalent to about five bushels; one koku
was roughly the amount needed to sustain one person for one year.
monme: A unit of silver; 45 monme were roughly equivalent to one koku of rice.
ryô: Gold; 5–6 ryô was equivalent to 300 or 360 monme silver.
service allowance: A special support allowance for samurai retainers serving their
lord in Edo.
Shin-no-jô: The name of Saitaniya’s servant.
If Tanshirô returns from Edo the year after next with some funds, that money can be
applied toward my own loans. Should I be appointed again at the end of the year for Edo
service, the entire advance payment of 10 koku can also be applied to the loan. I am
resolved that things will work out in this manner. Moreover, if the forced loans cease,
those funds can all be applied toward repayment.
Financial affairs do not ordinarily proceed as planned, but I have nevertheless laid
out my ideas above. If my thinking is mistaken, please let me know. Since tomorrow is a
fortuitous day, I hope that you can do as I have written and dispense 60 monme, one-third
of the loan, at that time.
Tani Tannai
Source: Constantine N. Vaporis, “Samurai and Merchant in Mid-Tokugawa Japan: Tani Tannai’s Record of Daily
Necessities (1748–54),” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 60, no. 1 (2000): 25–27. Based on the original document:
Tani Tannai, “Nichiyô beien roku” (1748–54), housed in Kôchi prefectural library, Kôchi, Japan.
Document 2: Excerpts from a Statement from Three Village
Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
1. Because of your promise to reduce expenditures, we have, during the past years,
advanced tax rice and made loans. However, we see no sign of any efforts to achieve
necessary reductions in expenditures;
2. Your brother is an immoral idler. As long as such a person is supported by your
household, there is little chance of reducing expenditures. Last winter, we asked that
some actions be taken against your brother. What is your plan?
3. You have more than six servants including maids and horsemen. Some should be
dismissed;
4. Your representative asked us if we could assist in negotiating a further loan. Even if a
low interest loan were to be made to you, it would be of little use as long as you have
your useless brother. The temple from which you hope to borrow does not know that
you already have 200 ryô in debt, but you know that you already have a large debt;
5. What is the purpose of your debt? As far as we can determine, you are sufficiently
provided for; and,
6. To keep your brother is uneconomical. If no action is taken, we intend to resign our
post as village leaders.
Source: Kozo Yamamura, A Study of Samurai Income and Entrepreneurship (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1974), 47–48.
Aftermath
Tani Tannai’s stipend of 24 koku rice plus the support rice he and his father received were
not sufficient to keep the household solvent. Twenty-five percent of his base stipend had to be
returned to the lord, and while the amount of the paybacks varied over time, they did not go
away, remaining a constant problem. The paybacks were deducted annually in one lump sum—
in Tannai’s case from his summer payment—which meant that he had to borrow money in order
to be able to support his family until he received his winter payment. Year after year the
interest built up and ate away at his standard of living. These economic difficulties compelled
many retainers to seek alternate sources of income, namely side employments: creating
handicrafts like sun umbrellas, wooden clogs (geta) covering paper lanterns, or wooden
boxes; and in Yonezawa domain, authorities encouraged samurai households to produce silk
cloth for sale. There is no evidence that the Tani household did similarly; instead, Tannai and
his father, because of their education and training, were able to gain a position repeatedly
(Tannai did so nine times) in the lord’s entourage, which traveled to the shogun’s capital on
alternate attendance and benefitted from the financial support that retainers were given for Edo
duty. This was not an option open to many retainers, however, and even with the extra support,
the Tani household struggled to make ends meet. Tannai continued to borrow money from
Saitaniya and, breaking a rule that he himself had set, took out additional loans from other
merchants.
Bannermen, as the higher ranking of two categories of Tokugawa retainers, were not
legally permitted by the shogun to take up side employments, and so often had to resort to
borrowing to try to maintain their households. The shogunate tried to assist the bannermen with
price supports for rice, so they could exchange their rice for a better price. Periodically the
shogunate absolved all loans made by bannermen from rice merchants, but it could not resort to
this tactic too often without risk. From available evidence, the bannermen, as a group, did not
suffer an actual drop in income during the second half of the Tokugawa period, but because
their income did not increase, and those of their social inferiors seemed to increase, many of
them experienced a type of “psychological poverty.”
Ask Yourself
1. What role(s) does Saitaniya play in Tani’s life? How would you describe the relationship
between the two?
2. In these two documents, who seems to be in control and why? How would you describe the
language used in the second document?
3. Why might the village leaders have continued to loan money to the bannerman when he
seemed hard pressed to repay his existing loans?
4. What is the relationship between status (mibun) and economic power?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• In many ways, Tannai’s plight seems quite modern: falling prey to a cycle of debt, from
which he seemed unable to break away. Research some of the lives of other samurai (see
the sources listed below and in the Bibliography) and see how they tried to cope with
economic difficulties.
• Based on the print sources listed below, construct a household budget for a typical samurai
family. What were the main household expenses? How do the basic elements of that budget
compare with a typical American family’s household budget?
Further Information
Kokichi, Katsu. Musui’s Story. The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai. Translated by Teruko Craig. Tucson: University
of Arizona Press, 1988.
Yamakawa, Kikue. Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life. Translated by Kate Nakai. Stanford,
CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Yamamura, Kozo. “The Increasing Poverty of the Samurai in Tokugawa Japan, 1600–1868,” Journal of Economic History 31
(1971): 378–406.
Film
Gonza the Lancer. Directed by Shinoda Masahiro, 1986. 126 min.
Japanese Paper
Japanese paper (washi) was commonly made from the paper mulberry tree and is much
stronger than ordinary paper made from wood pulp. To help stave off paper-eating
insects, the covers of books during the Tokugawa period were sometimes coated with
persimmon juice, which contains a natural insect repellant. Because of the durability of
Japanese paper, a very large body of documentation for the Tokugawa period has
survived, and much of it is in very good condition.
Paper was a valuable commodity in Tokugawa Japan. Officials, and private
individuals, often used the back side of paper that had already been written on (with
brush and ink). Also, official documents were often recycled. For example, the
population registers that piled up year after year in a daimyo’s storehouses were
sometimes sold as scrap paper. Since town and village administrators often regarded the
documents they created as personal property, official documents were often disposed of
in a variety of ways. In tea-producing areas, it might be used as scrap paper to prepare
and package tea. They were also used as an undercoating in sliding paper walls/doors
(shôji) or, in the case of poor families, even to make paper screens. As a result,
sometimes when very old houses are demolished, historians are called in to examine the
documents used in the sliding walls to ascertain whether or not they contain valuable
information.
For more information, see the online Guide to the Ino Paper Museum, located outside
of Kôchi: http://www.handmadejapan.com/e_/features_/eft002_02.htm.
24
The Samurai and Death
An Account of Junshi from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the
Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636)
Introduction
The following selection deals with one of the well-known practices or customs of the
samurai: junshi (following one’s lord in death), which is a form of seppuku (alternatively
known as harakiri), or ritual suicide. The document is an excerpt from the book A True
Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636), one of the earliest European
accounts of Japan. Its author, FRANCOIS CARON (1600–1673), a Frenchman in the employ of the
Dutch East India Company, lived in Japan for over 20 years, from 1619 to 1641, rising through
the ranks to become the head of the factory and quite proficient in Japanese.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Seppuku, the more formal term for harakiri, means “cutting the belly.” The abdomen was
chosen because contemporary Japanese believed that it was where the soul resides.
2. During the centuries of warfare before the Tokugawa period, most often samurai committed
seppuku to avoid the disgrace of falling into enemy hands. They might also be ordered by
their lord to kill themselves to atone for some offense. Similarly, a defeated daimyo might
be called upon to commit ritual suicide as part of a peace agreement, as was the case in
1590 when the daimyo Hôjô Ujimasa was called upon by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to do so
after the Hôjô’s defeat at Odawara in 1590.
3. Junshi occurred occasionally during the medieval period in Japan, usually after a battle
when the samurai lost his lord in battle. During the early Tokugawa period it could take
place when a lord died of natural causes or illness, or committed ritual suicide (seppuku).
The abolition of junshi in 1663 is interpreted by many historians as an important sign of a
shift from a military-based society to a more civil one.
4. There were many different types of seppuku, and these can be divided into two main
categories: those performed voluntarily, and those forced for punishment. The voluntary
category includes junshi, memboku (seppuku performed to prove one’s innocence), kanshi
(in protest again some action taken by a samurai’s lord), and inseki (performed to assume
responsibility for some mistake).
5. Some scholars like Yamaga Sokô rejected the moral legitimacy of the practice of junshi,
which he saw as a result of the close personal, sometimes sexual, relationship between
lord and vassal. Yamaga felt that the samurai should have a broad sense of duty in serving
society in general.
6. Seppuku was practiced only by samurai, who used their short swords (wakizashi) for this
purpose. Non-samurai (peasants, artisans, and merchants) convicted of a capital offense
were put to death by beheading or crucifixion.
7. It was the job of the second, or kaishakunin, to assist the person committing ritual suicide.
Ideally, the second was to be a close friend of the principal, someone who excelled as a
swordsman, being able to cut the neck in such a way that a small band of flesh kept the
head attached to the body, hanging in front rather than rolling unceremoniously away. Few
had such skills, which meant that the principal was usually decapitated.
Document: An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from
Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty
Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636)
When one of these Lords die, ten, twenty, or thirty of his vassals kill themselves to bear
him company: many that do so, oblige themselves to it during their Lord’s lives; for
having received some more than ordinary grace and favor from him, and fancying
themselves better beloved than their companions, they think it a shame to survive their
benefactor; and therefore in return of their thanks they usually add, My Lord, the number
of your faithful slaves is great, but what have I done to merit this honor? This body, which
is indeed yours, I offer you again, and promise it shall not live longer than yours; I will
not survive so worthy a patron.
Lords: I.e., daimyo.
For confirmation of this they drink a bowl of wine together, which is solemn; for no
covenants thus made are to be broken. Those that thus bind themselves cut their own
bellies, and do it as follows: they assemble their nearest kindred, and going to church,
they celebrate the parting feast upon mats and carpets in the midst of the Plain, where
having well eat and drank, they cut up their bellies, so that the guts and entrails burst out;
and he that cuts himself highest, as some do even to the throat, is counted the bravest
fellow, and most esteemed.
Source: Francois Caron, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam, translation by Roger
Manley of original Dutch version of 1636 (London: Samuel Broun & John de l’Ecluse, 1663), 49–51.
Aftermath
After the Tokugawa pacified the country, junshi became somewhat of a fad, ironically, as
samurai had to turn their aggression inward on themselves to prove their loyalty since they
could not do so on a battlefield. For example, when the lord Date Masamune died in 1636, 15
samurai followed him in death by their own hands. Actually, 6 of the 15 men were rear vassals
(or subvassals) whose masters had committed junshi upon the death of Lord Date. Twenty-six
samurai followed lord Nabeshima Katsushige in death in 1657. A samurai who performed
junshi not only demonstrated his skill in the marital arts, but was usually honored
posthumously and his heirs well rewarded. Sometimes junshi was also related to the socially
sanctioned sexual relationship that sometimes existed between lord and vassal. However,
junshi came to be viewed as an obstruction to orderly government, leading several daimyo to
ban the practice. The Tokugawa shogunate moved to ban the practice in 1663. The ban was
enforced, for example, when Sugiura Uemon, a vassal of Lord Okudaira Tadamasa, committed
junshi in 1668. The heirs of both the lord and his vassal were punished. The prohibition was
further reinforced through its inclusion in the “Laws for the Military Houses” of 1683. Both
codification of the law and active enforcement acted to stymie this samurai custom.
Although the practice of junshi came to an end toward the end of the seventeenth century,
seppuku in many of its other forms continued to be practiced throughout the Edo period. During
the peaceful years of Tokugawa rule, seppuku became a highly ritualized practice, regardless
of whether it was obligatory, being carried out as a form of capital punishment, or voluntarily.
Before carrying out seppuku, the samurai bathed, dressed in white (death) robes, and ate a
final meal, which include sake (white rice wine). He was also given the opportunity to write a
death poem prior to carrying out the ceremony in front of what was generally a small number of
official spectators. An agreement was made beforehand by the principal and second as to when
decapitation would take place. Usually this occurred when the short sword was plunged into
the abdomen, rather than waiting for complete disembowelment to take place; but as the
practice became even more ritualized, it could happen as soon as the principal reached for the
sword. In some cases the sword was done away with altogether, replaced with something
symbolic like a fan.
Ask Yourself
Since seppuku, for all intents and purposes, involved cutting off the head of a samurai, how
was it any different than the beheading that commoners were subjected to for capital
punishment? Why do you think this practice was restricted to the samurai?
Topics to Consider
• Using the sources listed below, research the question: What are the origins of the origins of
the practice of seppuku in Japan?
• Consider the customs and practices of warriors in other societies: How does the samurai
tradition compare, for example, with that of a Roman legionnaire, a Mongol horseman, or a
Cherokee warrior?
• What did Westerners think of the Japanese practice of seppuku?
Further Information
Fuse, Toyomasa. “Seppuku: An Institutionalized Form of Suicide in Japan.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 5 (1978): 48–66.
Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1995.
Mitford, Algernon B. Tales of Old Japan. London: MacMillan and Company, 1910. See particularly his “An Account of the
Hara-kiri,” 375–409. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13015 (accessed September 10, 2011).
Mori, Ôgai. “The Incident at Sakai.” In The Historical Fiction of Mori Ôgai, edited by David Dilworth and J. Thomas Rimer,
129–52. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1991.
Seward, Jack. Harakiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 1968.
Film
Harakiri. Directed by Kobayashi Masaki, 1962. 133 min. This is the story of the forced seppuku of a poor samurai who
threatens to commit seppuku on the doorstep of the Ii daimyo mansion in Edo, in hopes of being given some money to go
away, in a desperate attempt to help his ailing family, and the father-in-law who seeks to expose the unjustness and cruelty
of the Ii leadership’s actions.
Web Site
“Harakiri.” YouTube video, 1:13, posted by “sawakazukjip,” July 23, 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6RB62gHO6U
(accessed September 29, 2010). Dramatic recreation of seppuku of Takechi Hanpeita (1839–1867), a leading imperial
loyalist from Tosa domain, by actor Shiina Kippei.
25
Private Vengeance among Samurai
“A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the
Tokugawa Shogunate” and “A Letter of Authorization” (1828)
Introduction
The following pair of documents concern the case of two samurai, brothers whose father
had been murdered. The first document is a report by a daimyo’s official to a local official of
the Tokugawa shogunate informing him of the request of two brothers from his domain to seek
out and kill the man who had murdered their father. It further makes note of the fact that the
father’s brother had also, separately, sought permission to avenge his slain elder brother. The
second document is the letter authorizing the two sons to embark on their mission. A separate
letter of authorization—not included here—was sent to the murdered man’s brother, praising
him, granting him leave and permission to assist his nephews, and giving him an increase in
stipend. It also makes note of the fact that domain officials had given the eldest son a valuable
sword and a considerable sum of money (20 ryô) to help him achieve his mission.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Under the Tokugawa shogunate and daimyo governments, samurai were legally restricted in
terms of their rights to use their two swords against another living person. (A samurai
could obtain permission to test a new sword on a corpse.) One such legalized form of
killing was revenge killing (katakiuchi), or the vendetta. This meant that a samurai could
petition for official permission to avenge the unjust death of a social superior. In other
words, a son could avenge the unjust murder of his father or elder brother, but a father
could not do the same for a son, nor could an elder brother for a younger one. There were
more than 100 known cases of legalized revenge during the Edo period, and news of them
spread widely across the country through woodblock print newssheets, literature, or the
theater. The most famous case of a revenge killing, known as the Akô Incident, was made
into a bunraku (puppet) play, Kanadehon Chûshingura (Treasury of Loyal Retainers).
Strictly speaking, however, it was not a katakiuchi because the 47 rônin, or masterless
samurai, took revenge on a man who did not directly cause the death of their lord (the
Tokugawa shogunate was responsible in ordering the lord’s death by seppuku).
2. Revenge killing was almost exclusively restricted to samurai, but in a few extraordinary
cases, the Tokugawa shogunate gave permission for a commoner to carry out a vendetta.
3. Samurai, in theory, were also allowed to use their swords to cut down commoners who
committed some grave offense against them, such as verbally insulting or trying to cheat
them, or physically bumping into or hitting them. In practice, however, samurai did not
often exercise this prerogative, and when one did there had to be witnesses and the offense
had to be deemed of sufficient degree to warrant the commoner’s death; otherwise, a
samurai could face punishment such as banishment.
4. If a samurai avenged someone without permission, or engaged in some other unsanctioned
form of violence, he became liable to legal punishment for having engaged in a kenka
(“fight”).
5. Secondary vengeance (retaliatory revenge) was prohibited by law; in other words, once a
legally sanctioned vengeance had been carried out, the family of the original killer was not
allowed to take any action against the avenger or his family. This prevented the
multigenerational family feuds that sometimes took place in earlier periods in Japanese
history or in other countries.
6. Stories about revenge killings, usually fictionalized to some degree, were a regular feature
of the Tokugawa theater and also found great popularity as literature from the late
seventeenth century.
Document 1: A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo
Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828)
Retainers of Mizoguchi Hôki-no-kami:
Kume Kôtarô—son, aged 18
Kume Seitarô—son, aged 15
Itakura Tomegorô—younger brother, aged 43
The father of the above named Kôtarô and Seitarô, Kume Yagobei, was in the twelfth
month of 1817 killed in his home town by his associate Takizawa Kyûemon, who then
made his escape, and although a careful search was made in the neighborhood and even
further afield, could not be traced. In the third month of the following year, the affair was
reported and registered in the official record. At the time, the brothers were still very
young, but now, having grown to mature age, they have recently applied for permission to
seek out their enemy wherever he may be, not only in the immediate vicinity but also in
Edo or even in some other province, and as soon as they find him to carry out revenge on
him. The above-named Tomegorô, being the younger brother of Yagobei, also wishes to
avenge his brother, and since the two sons will have no recollection of Kyûemon’s
appearance, having been so young at the time, Tomegorô has applied for permission to
join them. This is hereby registered. Of course, they have been instructed to report to the
local officials if they succeed in killing Kyûemon. Therefore it is requested that the matter
should be entered in the official records . . .
28th of the 4th Month of 1828
Kawamura Hatsutarô [retainer to Mizoguchi Hôki-no-kami]
Source: D. E. Mills, “Katakiuchi: The Practice of Blood-Revenge in Pre-Modern Japan.” Modern Asian Studies 10,
no. 4 (1976): 525.
Document 2: A Letter of Authorization (1828)
Concerning your request that you and your brother Seitarô be given leave to track down
and kill Takizawa Kyûemon, the enemy of your late father Yagobei, instructions have been
issued that you be given leave as requested. You may set out as soon as you wish. The
matter has been duly notified and registered at the local office of the Bakufu [shogunate],
the office of the local commissioner, and a copy of the entry is furnished herewith. If all
goes well and you succeed in killing your enemy, you must comply with the regulations
and report the circumstances to the local officials. In addition you must report to our own
daimyo’s mansion in Edo or to this headquarters, whichever is nearer. The allotment of
rice to support your family will be continued so that you need have no worries to distract
you from the achievement of your goal.
two temples: Refers to Zôjôji and Kan’eiji temples in Edo, both with important
connections to the Tokugawa shogunate.
However, you should be careful to avoid violating the sanctity of Edo Castle, the two
temples, and other such places. Of course if you should receive news that Kyûemon is
dead, you should obtain definite proof of that fact and return home.
Source: D. E. Mills, “Katakiuchi: The Practice of Blood-Revenge in Pre-Modern Japan.” Modern Asian Studies 10,
no. 4 (1976): 525–26.
Aftermath
It sometimes took a samurai seeking revenge a long time to complete his mission, and some
in fact never found their man at all. Others were, in fact, prevented from doing so when the
would-be avenger was killed, preemptively, by his intended victim. In the case of Kume
Kôtarô, he was not able to succeed until 1857, almost 30 years after having received
permission to set out to avenge his father (which itself was 10 years after his father’s death).
The practice of vendetta occurred throughout the Edo period, and was abolished by the
Meiji government in 1873. Even after that date, however, there were several occurrences of
revenge killing, although the samurai ceased to exist as a status category.
Ask Yourself
1. What procedures did someone who wanted to carry out a legal revenge killing have to go
through?
2. Why do you think it was important in samurai society for a samurai to carry out a revenge
killing? How was this practiced encouraged? (Why would a daimyo have continued to pay
the stipend of a samurai who was going to be leaving the domain, potentially for a long
time, to pursue his vendetta?) What do you think the consequences might have been for a
samurai who did not request such permission?
3. Why do you think the murdered man’s brother was given an increase in stipend?
4. Why do you think the officials from the avenging brothers’ domain sent official notification
to the shogunate’s officials? (Think about the nature of government in Tokugawa Japan:
How might the issue of jurisdiction be relevant if a murderer fled from his domain?)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Vendettas, or blood feuds, have gone on since ancient times and, in fact, still go on today in
many parts of the world. With the assistance of a study partner, try to compile a list of some
examples of vendettas that you may have encountered in your study of history or literature
(think, for example, about Romeo and Juliet or The Godfather). Then select one or two
examples to research. What were the causes of the disputes? How were they resolved?
What were the legal ramifications, if any?
• Consider the extent to which vendettas are culture specific. In other words, for example,
how was the vendetta different in Tokugawa Japan and nineteenth-century Corsica (Italy)?
• Study the theme of revenge in Japanese literature. Consider, for example, the Nô plays
Mochizuki, Hôkazô (The Hôka Priests), or any of the Nô or kabuki plays about the Soga
brothers (for example, Sukeroku).
Further Information
Masahide, Bitô. “The Akô Incident of 1701–1703.” Translated by Henry D. Smith II. Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):
149–70.
Mills, D. E. “Katakiuchi: The Practice of Blood-Revenge in Pre-Modern Japan.” Modern Asian Studies 10, no, 4 (1976):
525–42.
Film
Hana [Tale of a Reluctant Samurai]. Directed by Koreeda Hirokazu, 2006. DVD, 127 min. The fictional story of a young
samurai named Soza who demurs from avenging the death of his father, preferring to live a life of peace and reconciliation.
Web Site
Smith,
Henry
D.
“Chûshingura
and
the
Samurai
Tradition.”
Columbia
http://www.columbia/edu/~hds2/chushinguranew/CHUSHINGURA.htm (accessed January 29, 2011).
University.
26
Rules of Merchant Houses
“The Testament of Shimai Sôshitsu” (1610) and “The Code of the Okaya
House” (1836)
Introduction
The following two selections are merchant house codes, one from early in the seventeenth
century, and the other from the last decades of the Tokugawa period. The first selection was
written in 1610 by the head of the merchant house Shimai and was addressed to his adopted
son, Kamiya Tokuzaemon. Adoption was frequently practiced in Tokugawa Japan, among
commoners and samurai alike, to ensure the continuity of the household when there was no
heir, or even sometimes when there was no heir deemed competent enough to succeed. The
founder of the house, Shimai Sôshitsu (headship, 1539–1615), was from Hakata, in northern
Kyushu. In the late sixteenth century, he traded in sake and lent money, particularly to important
daimyo, and traded with merchants in Korea. In the transition to the Tokugawa period, he
restricted his trading activities to the domestic sector and focused on financing other merchant
traders. The second selection, dating from 1836, is the code of the Okaya house. It was written
by Okaya Sanezumi, the ninth-generation head of the house originally founded by a samurai
named Sôshichi, who moved to Nagoya, renounced his samurai status, and founded a hardware
store.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Merchants were not the first to compile house codes. Numerous house codes were
compiled in major samurai families during the SENGOKU PERIOD (1467–1568).
2. Merchant house codes did not appear in large numbers until the eighteenth century.
3. Generally, house codes exist only in older, wealthier merchant houses.
4. Merchants were quite diverse in nature: some were bankers and financiers; others were
hardware-store owners, drapers, sake brewers, copper mine owners, or transport
operators.
Document 1: Excerpts from “The Testament of Shimai
Sôshitsu” (1610)
1. Live an honest and sincere life. Respect your parents, Sôi and his wife, your brothers,
and your relatives, and try to live harmoniously with them all. Honor and treat with
respect everyone you meet, even those you see only occasionally. Never behave
discourteously or selfishly. Never lie. . . .
bu: A unit of linear measurement equivalent to 0.12 inches or 3.03 millimeters.
chess: A translation of shogi, a two-player board game of strategy similar to chess
(often referred to as “Japanese chess”).
Constitution of [Shôtoku] Taishi: A list of 17 precepts for governing the state
attributed to Prince Shôtoku, dating to 604 CE.
go: Another two-person game, of Chinese origin, played with black and white
stones on a grid board.
noh: Classical Japanese theater.
tenured lands: His fief or domain.
2. Although those who are elderly may reasonably pray about the life to come, you
should ignore all such issues until you are fifty. . . .
3. Dice, backgammon, and all other forms of gambling are strictly forbidden in this life.
Even go, chess, the martial arts, the noh chants, and the noh dances are forbidden for
people under forty. . . .
4. Until you are forty, avoid every luxury, and never act or think as one above your
station in life. In matters of business and money-making, however, work harder than
anyone else. . . .
Until you are forty years old, wear only material such as cotton, loosely woven cloth,
or knotted silk, materials that will not attract attention. As for your house, worry only
about keeping it repaired, and do only such work as that of replacing rotten ropes
holding together a fence or wall. Do not build a new house unless you are over
fifty. . . .
5. Until you are forty, do not invite out others or let others invite you out. . . .
6. . . . You should pick up all trash inside and behind the house, and chop up the pieces
of rope and short bits of trash to use in plaster, and use the long pieces to make
rope. . . . Save all paper scraps, even pieces only three or five bu long, to use in
making fresh paper. Do as I have done, and waste absolutely nothing. . . .
7. Those with even a small fortune must remember that their duty in life is to devote
themselves to their house and to its business. . . .
Although a samurai can draw on the produce of his tenured lands to earn his
livelihood, a merchant must rely on the profit from his business, for without that
profit, the money in his bags would soon disappear. No matter how much profit he
makes and packs into his bags, however, if he continually wastes that money, he may
as well pack it into bags full of holes. Remember this.
8. Rise early in the morning, and go to bed as soon as the sun sets, for you waste oil if
you burn lamps on evenings you have nothing important to do. . . .
9. As much as possible, do things yourself. Rather than send someone else after an item,
for example, get it yourself. . . .
10. Live in harmony with your wife, for the two of you must work together diligently. . . .
The above seventeen articles should be as important to you as the Great Constitution
of [Shôtoku] Taishi. Read them every day or even twice a day, and be careful to forget
nothing. Write a vow on the back of a votive table promising never to violate any of the
articles and put it in my coffin when I die.
Keichô 15 (1610), First Month, fifteenth day
Kyohaku [Shimai] Sôshitsu (seal)
To: Kamiya Tokuzaemon [adopted son of Sôshitsu]
Source: Mark Ramseyer, “Thrift and Diligence: House Codes of Tokugawa Merchant Families.” Monumenta
Nipponica 34, no. 2 (1979): 221–26.
Document 2: “The Code of the Okaya House” (1836)
1. Remember your duties to your parents.
We cannot distinguish between cause and effect unless we remember that our parents
are the “cause” of our existence. Neither can we make filial piety the “cause” of our
actions unless we remember the debt of our gratitude we owe our parents.
auspicious day: In the lunar calendar, each day of the month was associated with
one of six degrees of good or bad fortune.
Way: A term derived from Neo-Confucian ideology meaning, but here it refers to
the “Way of the merchant.”
2. Honor your superiors.
Everyone, young or old, should consider the distinctions between master and servant,
and between superior and inferior to be basic, and so honor those above him.
3. Maintain peace within the neighborhood.
Peace within a neighborhood depends on peace within each house, but peace within a
house depends on the attitudes of its members. If each person in your house maintains a
healthy attitude and works faithfully, everyone will be on good terms with his colleagues,
and your house will win the respect of the neighborhood.
4. Instruct your descendants.
Teach your children when they are young to lead pure lives. Teach them to obey their
parents, to respect their elders, never to tell even a small lie, to move quietly, never to
neglect their work, to be always alert, never to walk about aimlessly, and never to dress
or eat extravagantly.
5. Be content with your Way.
Samurai study the martial arts and work in the government. Farmers till their lands
and pay their taxes. Artisans labor at their family industries and pass on to their children
the family traditions. Merchants have trading as their duty and must trade diligently and
honestly. Each of the four classes has its own Way and that Way is its true Way.
6. Avoid bad behavior.
Although the world is limitless, everything in it is either good or bad. That which
follows the Way is good, while that which goes against it is bad.
Revised: Tenpô 7 (1836), Seventh Month, auspicious day
Okaya Sanezumi
Source: Mark Ramseyer, “Thrift and Diligence: House Codes of Tokugawa Merchant Families.” Monumenta
Nipponica 34, no. 2 (1979): 229–30.
Aftermath
The decline and fall of merchant houses was of great concern to the men who led those
establishments. The merchant Mitsui Takafusa (1684–1748) wrote, for example, that the great
merchant houses of Kyoto generally are ruined in the second or third generation. The Shimai
and Okaya houses were not, but very few Tokugawa-period merchant houses were able to
remain successful after the MEIJI RESTORATION in 1868.
Ask Yourself
1. Why were merchant house codes written? Who were their audience? Why do you think they
did not begin to appear in large numbers until the eighteenth century?
2. What basic values do the codes communicate, both explicitly and implicitly? Is greater
attention placed on some value(s) rather than others? How would you describe the business
philosophy contained in these codes?
3. How do the values of the merchants expressed in these documents compare with those of
the samurai?
4. Based on these codes, how did merchants view themselves and their role in society? How
did they view the samurai? (Remember that samurai occupied the top rung and merchants
the lowest rung in the Confucian hierarchy of occupations.)
5. What does this document tell you about the lifestyle of prosperous merchants?
6. Why does Shimai Sôshitsu say to wear clothing in a manner so as not to attract attention?
Why does he say that certain activities and behaviors are permissible after the age of 40 or
50? Why does he say that his text should be treated as important as the Constitution of
Prince Shôtoku—are there any similarities between the two?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Selecting from among the print sources below, research the history of a successful Japanese
merchant house and consider the reasons for that success. How were Mitsui and Kikkoman
able to make the transition from Tokugawa to modern times?
Further Information
Fruin, W. Mark. Kikkoman: Company, Clan and Community. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.
Ramseyer, Mark J. “Thrift and Diligence: House Codes of Tokugawa Merchant Families.” Monumenta Nipponica 34, no. 2
(1979): 209–30.
Roberts, John G. Mitsui: Three Centuries of Japanese Business. New York: Weatherhill, 1973.
Sheldon, Charles David. The Rise of the Merchant Class in Tokugawa Japan 1600–1868. New York: Russell & Russell,
1973.
27
Dealing with Deviant Behavior
“A Letter of Apology” (1866)
Introduction
This selection is a letter of apology written in 1866 by a peasant named Ishimatsu from
Anyôji village in Ômi province (present-day Shiga prefecture) in central Japan. He was driven
to write it because of the consequences of an act of violence directed by him and his two
brothers against a fellow villager named Asakichi on the day of Ishimatsu’s wedding. It is
addressed to the members of the youth group, or Young People’s Association, of the same
village.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The Young People’s Association (wakamonogumi) was a male youth group that formed in
villages. Most males entered at the age of around 15, often living together in communal
housing until marriage. Membership was marked by an initiation ceremony and was one
indication of a male’s recognition as an adult by the community.
2. There were no government offices or police stations in Tokugawa villages (and of course,
no samurai in rural areas in the overwhelming majority of domains in Japan). The nearest
government office was usually located at a considerable distance from most villages in a
domain or in Tokugawa territory.
Document: “A Letter of Apology” (1866)
My two younger brothers and I, from the beginning unruly, have in the past committed
excesses in the eyes of all of you. So . . . at my wedding, we three brothers, when a slight
disturbance occurred as Asakichi came to observe, chased him into the fields and beat
him with farmers’ tools. Not only that, but we three brothers dragged him into the
house . . . and also beat him for some time. For these reasons, the Young People’s
Association forthwith expelled us; . . . we finally asked a mediator to beseech you for
reconciliation. . . . with all of your charity the matter was kindly settled, and we are most
grateful.
Thus, it is decided that we will never hold the annual offices or the like. At the
general sake meeting place, we will not of course occupy the upper seats, and we will be
treated just as minors. At all places we will accept advice without speaking out, and in
addition we will surely be quiet and reform ourselves. But if by chance we should have a
change of heart, then you may hand down any punishment whatever. . . .
Sake: Rice wine.
For later proof, we so attest by delivery of this paper of reform.
[Date:] 1866, Second Month
Principal: Ishimatsu
Younger brother: Otokichi
Younger brother: Tomekichi
[Addressee:] Young People’s Association
Source: Adapted from Dan Fenno Henderson, Village “Contracts” in Tokugawa Japan (Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press, 1978), 188–89.
Ask Yourself
1. What were the consequences of the three brothers’ violent behavior? How did the
community of which they were a part—the Young People’s Association—treat them after
the incident?
2. Why did the eldest brother, the author, write the letter? In it, what does he promise?
3. What other options for dealing with the three brothers might have been available for the
Young People’s Association?
4. What does the fact that the intendant’s office was not close by the village, and that the
intendant was not to be bothered with minor matters, mean for the conduct of life within the
village?
Topics to Consider
• Using the sources listed below, explore further how the Young People’s Association
functioned in the lives of rural youth in Japan.
• Investigate how deviant behavior is treated in different communities, past and present, in
extralegal (outside of the law) ways. How might a group to which you belong deal with
someone who harmed another member?
Further Information
Ooms, Herman. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Varner, Richard E. “The Organized Peasant: The Wakamonogumi in the Edo Period.” Monumenta Nipponica 32, no. 4 (1977):
459–83.
Walthall, Anne. “Peripheries: Rural Culture in Tokugawa Japan.” Monumenta Nipponica 39, no. 4 (1984): 371–92.
28
Loans among the Peasantry
“Rice Borrowed” (1702)
Introduction
This document certifies a loan of rice taken out by the headman of Aihara village,
Magoemon, from a peasant lender named Kinzaburô, who lived in neighboring Narumi village,
located in Owari province (present-day Aichi prefecture) in central Japan, on the Pacific coast
(east) side of the main island of Honshu. The rice tax—a certain percentage of the crop, in
most domains in Japan officially about 40 percent of the yield (in reality, it was usually much
lower)—had to be paid annually to the overlord, meaning a daimyo in the case of a domain, or
an INTENDANT (daikan) in the case of Tokugawa territory. For some reason, the VILLAGE
HEADMAN, Magoemon, was unable to pay his tax bill and hence was seeking a loan, which he
acquired from an individual lender named Kinzaburô, who resided in a neighboring village.
The identity of the guarantors and witness, beyond their names, is unknown.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Villages were assessed a land tax as a unit. It was up to the village headmen to divide the
tax bill among the various households according to the size of their landholdings.
2. Although the village headman occupied a position of responsibility, he still had to pay his
own quota of taxes.
3. Rice fields were assessed at different rates depending on how they were classified (e.g.,
upper rice field, lower rice field). The classification was dependent upon the quality of the
parcel of land, which affected the quality and yield of the rice crop.
4. Village headmen, and sometimes the small group of advisers known as “elders,” typically
had the customary right of a surname (see “Japanese Names”) and might even be allowed
to wear the long sword. It is curious that the headman in this document is known only by his
first name; perhaps this was because the document was an agreement between villagers and
did not involve any samurai government officials.
Document: “Rice Borrowed” (1702)
Total: 1 koku, 5 to
This will certify that, because of my inability to pay the rice tax, I have borrowed the
above [rice] and mortgaged one low rice field as security with an area of 5 se, 5 bu
located at the placed called Igami. The interest is agreed at 30%, and I will definitely
settle up the principal and interest in the coming autumn.
1 koku, 5 to: Equivalent to 1.5 koku, or roughly 7.5 bushels (of rice).
5 se, 5 bu: About one-tenth of an acre of land.
low rice field: A rice field of lower quality.
If payment is delayed, and the above security is not satisfactory, we will come
forward and settle up with you in any amount [required], and will not utter the slightest
protest.
For a later day, we so attest by this note.
[Date:] Genroku 15 (1702), Year of the Horse, Third Month, 21st day
Aihara Village Headman: Magoemon (seal)
Guarantor: Nihei (seal)
Guarantor: Kozaemon (seal)
Witness: Shichiemon (seal)
[Addressee:]
Narumi Village [lender]: Kinzaburô
Source: Adapted from Dan Fenno Henderson, Village “Contracts” in Tokugawa Japan (Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press, 1978), 110–11.
Ask Yourself
1. What does Magoemon offer as collateral for his loan?
2. Why did three other people besides the borrower affix their seals (equivalent to signing in
the West) to the document?
3. At what interest rate is the loan set? Would you consider this to be a high rate relative to
today?
4. How would you characterize this document: Is it an “agreement”? A contract? How do you
imagine it would be enforced, particularly when Magoemon was in a position of some
authority?
Topics to Consider
• Consider the practice of moneylending, particularly in rural areas. How did moneylending
practices in Tokugawa Japan compare with those in early modern Europe or Qing China
(1644–1911)?
• Research the Tokugawa village. How did it function as a corporate unit? What was the
relationship between the village and the larger state? To what extent was the village
autonomous in its affairs?
Further Information
Befu, Harumi. “Village Autonomy and Articulation with the State.” Journal of Asian Studies 25, no. 1 (1965): 19–32.
Chambliss, William Jones. Chiaraijima Village. Tucson: University of Arizona Press for the Association of Asian Studies,
1965.
Smith, Thomas. The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1959.
Toby, Ronald. “Both a Borrower and a Lender Be: From Village Moneylender to Rural Banker in the Tempo Era.” Monumenta
Nipponica 46, no. 4 (1991): 483–512.
Japanese Names
In Japan, as in China and Korea, names consist of a family name (surname), followed by
a given name—the reverse order in which names are written in the United States and
Europe. During the Tokugawa period, commoners were not allowed—officially—to use
family names, although some privileged merchants were granted the right to do so (and to
wear a long sword) by either the shogunate or a domain government. That is why the
various villagers in this document are known only by a first name. Merchants sometimes
used their profession as an unofficial last name, as in the paper merchant Kamiya Jihei in
the writer Ihara Saikaku’s play “The Love Suicides at Amijima.”
In terms of first names, boys regularly changed their names when they reached
adulthood, generally at the age of 15. In official records, women lost their names at
marriage and were known after this point by their relationship to the household: “bride,”
“wife” or, when appropriate, “widow.” It was not uncommon for men to change their
names arbitrarily, to mark important changes in their lives or for auspicious purposes,
and also upon retirement.
29
Unrest in the Countryside
A Song in Memory of a Protest (1786) and Petition to the Lord of Sendai
from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853)
Introduction
Peasants in the countryside expressed their dissatisfaction with samurai-led government in
popular uprisings and other forms of defiance. Records of these peasant uprisings (see
“Peasant Unrest”), or hyakushô ikki, assumed a variety of forms. The first document below is
an anonymous song—a counting song, borrowing from folk song tradition—created after an
uprising in 1786 near Hiroshima, in the western part of Honshu Island that was copied by a
Confucian scholar, Rai Kyôhei (1756–1834). It is a record of the protest by the villagers and
the response of the local daimyo’s government. The second document is a petition from 1853
presented by a group of peasants from Nanbu domain to the daimyo of neighboring Sendai
domain.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. We have no other evidence on either the origins of the conflict between the local
government and peasants that led to the composition of the song (Document 1), or about
what followed after the resolution alluded to in it.
2. Tax rates varied widely across the country, from about 30 percent in the shogunate’s
domain to 40–60 percent elsewhere. However, villagers also had access to nonagricultural
(untaxed) income, such as on handicrafts.
3. In the 1780s, Japan experienced a sharp rise in the number of peasant protests (229)
relative to the previous decade (78) or the one that followed (122). During the Tenmei era
(1781–1788), a series of famines hit most parts of the country severely and several
hundred thousand people died. This, of course, adversely affected agricultural productivity
and forced people to look for alternative sources of food.
4. Peasant petitions frequently borrowed the language of the ruler’s political ideology in
asking that the lord act in a benevolent manner, like a model Confucian ruler. By doing so,
the peasants reasoned, the lord could ensure that the peasants be able to continue their
work as farmers; the implication here was that it was also beneficial to the lord, as it
would allow them to continue to pay taxes rather than going bankrupt and having to
abandon their fields.
Document 1: Untitled Song, circa 1786
1. Together we speak, we the peasants
2. Carrying bundles of straw on our backs.
3. We abscond to Sannohara.
4. Our problems have not been handled with discretion and understanding.
abscond: To leave hurriedly and secretly.
seven greens: Nanakusa, seven edible wild herbs of spring; usually eaten with rice
porridge on January 7.
tribute: The land tax.
5. It is difficult for us to pay the tribute for 1785.
6. We cannot find any means to raise the money.
7. Even the seven greens have disappeared.
8. There is nothing we can do.
9. Even to appeal and appeal
10. Makes us afraid of being taken for conspirators.
From the lord:
10. Conspiracy is absolutely forbidden.
9. To disrupt the domain
8. And behave boisterously,
7. What can you be thinking of?
6. To block immorally the traffic of many people
5. Is outrageous. Although taxes are to be paid,
4. There is distress now and then, and
3. Thirty percent will be exempted.
2. Notwithstanding that hardships will happen again and again,
1. Procure the seals of acceptance for this announcement from everyone.
Source: Anne Walthall, Social Protest and Popular Culture in Eighteenth-Century Japan (Tucson: University of
Arizona Press, 1986), 40.
Document 2: Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the
Peasants of the Sanhei, 1853
To the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei
—We Respectfully Make This Petition—
1. We sincerely aspire to see that Lord Kai no Kami, now retired in Edo comes back to
the fief.
2. We sincerely aspire to see you keep benevolently in your fief all the peasants coming
from Sanheidôri [the three petitioning districts] and save their lives.
3. We aspire that you designate Sanheidôri to be a part of the shogunate’s domain and if
this is not possible, designate it to be part of Sendai domain.
Lord Kai no kami: The honorary title of Date Toshitomo, daimyo of Sendai domain.
Sanhei: Refers to three districts in Nanbu domain.
Source: Herbert P. Bix, “Leader of Peasant Rebellions: Miura Meisuke,” in Great Historical Figures of Japan, ed.
Hyoe Murakami and Thomas J. Harper (Tokyo: Japan Culture Institute, 1978), 251.
Aftermath
The song in Document 1 is an expression of what can be termed the ideology of the
unlettered. In the aftermath of the uprising, there was a moment in time in which peasants were
able to express an image of themselves and their samurai rulers through songs of protest and
stories or by building physical markers, such as shrines or monuments, that preserved the
memory of the event.
Ask Yourself
1. How would you describe the mood of the song (Document 1)? Based on the song, how can
you describe the image of themselves that the peasants projected in this song? To what
extent might it have exaggerated or misrepresented reality?
2. What reasons did the peasants in both instances give for their rebellious behavior? (What
image of the ruling samurai did they have?) How would you describe their demands?
Revolutionary? Idealistic? Measured? Or what?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Investigate the case of Sakura Sôgorô, perhaps the most famous leader of a peasant uprising
in Japan (see text by Walthall).
Peasant Unrest (hyakushô ikki)
There were at least 2,686 cases of popular unrest and other forms of peasant contention
against the shogunate and domains. They occurred in every part of the country, and
throughout the entire span of Tokugawa rule, although with greater frequency from the
second half of the eighteenth century. Peak periods of unrest tended to correspond to
times of famine (e.g., the Tenmei, 1783–1786, and Tenpô, 1836–1838, famines) and
political uncertainty (after Commodore Perry’s mission to Japan in 1853). Early in the
period, protest against economic burdens was mild, often taking the form of desertion or
direct or indirect appeals to political authorities, and was likely to have been led by
members of the village leadership. After 1750, unrest often became more violent and
larger in scale, involving thousands of peasants from multiple political jurisdictions; they
were often organized and executed by the peasants themselves rather than by village
officials. The aim of these protests became more complex as well: rather than simply
protests against high land taxes or forced labor imposed by government authorities, the
unrest of this period was also directed against wealthy rural elites who as landlords or
moneylenders were seen to exploit villagers. During the closing decades of the period,
rural unrest was often instigated by peasants who wanted political reforms in the village
—for example, to dismiss a corrupt official or to introduce elections for village officials.
A lively debate has ensued between Marxist and non-Marxist scholars regarding whether
or not peasant unrest was revolutionary in nature.
• Consider tax rates in Japan in a comparative perspective. Was the rate of taxation high in
Japan? How, for example, did peasant farmers in Germany or France fare?
Further Information
Smith, Thomas C. “The Land Tax in Tokugawa Japan.” In Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan,
edited by J. W. Hall and Marius B. Jansen, 283–99. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968.
Vlastos, Stephen. Peasant Protests and Uprisings in Tokugawa Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Walthall, Anne, ed. and trans. Peasant Uprisings in Japan. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
30
Outcastes in Tokugawa Society
A Report from the Head of All Eta and Hinin (undated) and an Inquiry by
the Edo City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the
Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta Who Assumed the Status of a
Commoner (1799)
Introduction
Certain social groups have faced discrimination in different societies across the globe. In
Tokugawa Japan, various forms of discrimination were codified, and thus backed by the state,
to create several rigid, caste-like categories of people known as hinin (lit. “non-human”) and
kawata (lit. “leather workers,” but known derogatively by others, and often in official
documentation, as eta, a word that means “abundant pollution”). In the first document, below,
DANZAEMON, the head of all eta and hinin in the eight provinces of the Kanto area, reports to
an undisclosed Tokugawa official, likely the Edo city magistrate. The second document is a
letter of inquiry from two Edo city magistrates to the Council of State (hyôjôsho), the highest
judicial council in the shogunate, regarding eta. The Edo officials had previously received a
letter of inquiry from the Kyoto city magistrate, but being unable to give a satisfactory reply,
they were seeking clarification from the Council of State.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Hinin comprised a wide variety of people, such as registered beggars and street
performers, convicted criminals, and those who suffered with various physical disabilities
or blindness or deforming illness (such as leprosy). Eta (kawata) skinned and disposed of
dead cattle and horses and reworked the hides into a variety of leather goods, such as
footwear and drum skins, armor, and bowstrings; made candle and lamp wicks; performed
as monkey trainers; and served as prison guards and executioners. By nature, neither group
was racially distinguishable from other Japanese. Kawata status was hereditary, but this
was also the case for one of two categories of hinin; the other category consisted of those
who were demoted to that status because of crime or poverty.
2. According to a census of 1800, there were 7,720 outcaste (5,664 eta and 1,995 hinin)
households under Danzaemon’s supervision in the Kanto; in Edo specifically, there were
232 eta and 734 hinin households. Hinin lived scattered across the city of Edo, whereas
eta resided on Danzaemon’s property at Asakusa.
3. It is often assumed, incorrectly, that outcaste groups were discriminated against because
they carried out certain activities that were viewed as “defiling” or “polluting.” However,
hunter-peasants killed animals, even four-legged ones, Buddhist monks conducted funerals,
and farmers handled night soil without being considered polluted.
4. Hinin were made physically distinct from the majority population in a number of ways:
they were required to crop their hair; they were prohibited from wearing head coverings;
their clothes could not extend below the knee; and women were prohibited from shaving
their eyebrows and from dyeing their teeth, as was customary upon marriage. Late in the
Edo period, hinin were required to carry a small, wooden license tag.
5. In the Kanto region, the Tokugawa centralized authority over outcaste groups in
Danzaemon; but in the Kyoto-Osaka area, it was dispersed among local bosses.
6. There were a number of Hinin-offices (hinin-goya) in Edo; these were established for the
supervision of hinin. Hinin-heads (hinin-gashira) were a group of four high-ranking
officers who supervised the officials operating the Hinin-offices.
Document 1: Prohibition of Hinin-by-Birth Becoming
Commoners (undated)
It has generally been forbidden by ancient custom for hinin-by-birth to acquire the status
of commoners. But if a commoner falls into the status of a hinin, his relatives may, before
the lapse of ten years [after his becoming a hinin], file a petition to the Hinin-Office
stating that they desire to have him raised [to commoner status]. When this petition is
forwarded to my office by the Hinin-head, I order that the person in question should be
made a commoner on his submission of an instrument thereof.
The custom has been that after the lapse of ten years, no such hinin is permitted to
become a commoner. However, as it is a social advancement for a hinin to become a
commoner, there have been instances in recent years of the relatives petitioning at the
offices of the hinin-heads for the restoration of the status of persons who have been in the
status of hinin for a longer period. On such occasions, we first explain to them the above
custom; but if they still insist, we direct them to submit instruments thereof and grant their
petitions.
However, as I have said above, it has been forbidden by custom for hinin-by-birth to
become commoners.
In reply to Your Lordships’ inquiry, I respectfully present the above facts in this
report.
Danzaemon, of Asakusa (seal)
Source: Translation adapted from John Henry Wigmore, ed., Law and Justice in Tokugawa Japan: Materials for the
History of Japanese Law and Justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603–1867: Pt. VIII A: Persons: Legal
Precedents (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1986), Document 125, pp. 176–77.
Document 2: Inquiry by the Edo City Magistrates to the
Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the Forfeiture of the
Property of an Eta Who Assumed the Status of a
Commoner (1799)
[To:] Council of State:
There are no settled rulings [in the Kyoto City Magistrate’s Office] about cases where
an eta, pretending to be a common person, buys a house and lot, comes to live in the town
and engages in some trade and is then [discovered and] put on trial, but sometimes the
eta’s house and lot and other property have been forfeited, and at other times handed over
the Eta Elder (eta toshiyori). Accordingly, Matsushita Shinano no kami, Kyoto City
Magistrate, has inquired as to the regulations observed for such cases in this city [Edo].
bannerman: A hatamoto or direct retainer of the shogun.
Shinano no kami: Honorary title of the Kyoto city magistrate.
However, neither of our Offices having had cases of the above nature, we inquired
about the regulations observed by Danzaemon, the Head of the Eta, who, however,
[reports that he] has no fixed custom to observe as law [in such cases as above]. . . .
So, how would it be if henceforth we agree on the following rule: If a house-lot or
cultivated land has been bought by an eta from a commoner, the land should be caused to
be sold to a commoner, and the eta’s house and furniture be purchased by the Head of Eta;
but that if the land belongs to an eta village, the house and lot, as well as the furniture and
cultivated land, should be bought by the Head of Eta; and that in either case, the proceeds
of the sale be handed over to the competent government authorities, or, in a case of a
private fief, to the daimyo or bannerman.
Concerning the above we beg to consult Your Lordships.
[From:] Otagiri Tosa no kami [Edo City Magistrate]
Negishi Nizen no kami [Edo City Magistrate]
Source: Translation adapted from John Henry Wigmore, ed., Law and Justice in Tokugawa Japan: Materials for the
History of Japanese Law and Justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603–1867: Pt. VIII A: Persons: Legal
Precedents (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1986), Document 122, pp. 173–74.
Aftermath
The categories of eta and hinin were officially abolished in 1871 by the Meiji government,
which stipulated that they be treated as “new common people” (shin heimin). This so-called
emancipation edict had little effect, however, in improving their economic condition. In fact, a
new system of household registration, not to mention the existence of special hamlets (buraku,
from which the modern term burakumin, or “people of the hamlet” is derived), helped to
perpetuate discrimination.
Ask Yourself
1. Under what conditions or circumstances might a hinin be elevated to commoner status?
What different categories of hinin were there?
2. What observations about eta can you make based on Document 2?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Investigate the origins of hinin and kawata (eta) in earlier periods of Japanese society.
• Consider the existence of groups facing discrimination as “outcastes” in different societies.
How prevalent is this today? What is the basis for the discrimination? (To what extent are
politics and religion involved in defining or justifying who is a member of such groups?)
• Research the status of burakumin in Japan today. What types of discrimination still remain
in place?
Further Information
Groemer, Gerald. “The Creation of the Edo Outcaste Order.” Journal of Japanese Studies 27, no. 2 (2001): 263–93.
Ooms, Herman. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1996. See especially chapter 5, “Status and State Racism: From Kawata to Eta.”
Recreational Life
31
Advice to Travelers in the Edo Period
Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers, 1810)
Introduction
This selection comes from Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers), a travel handbook
written in 1810 by YASUMI ROAN, an enigmatic figure about whom little is known beyond the
fact that he wrote other books on the topic of health. The original text is a pocket-sized book,
12 cm by 18 cm, and 151 pages in length. The excerpts were selected from the list of 61
precautions—dos and don’ts for the traveler—which comprise the core of the book. Following
this list is a section of almost equal length in which Yasumi provides more detailed advice on
a limited number of specific topics, such as what to do when meeting wild animals in the
mountains, precautions to be taken when traveling by boat, strange methods of dealing with and
preventing seasickness, and how to relieve fatigue. It also contains a lengthy list of hot springs,
a variety of charts with useful information on times for sunrise and sunsets during the year,
transport charges for services offered at post stations, the location of sekisho (checking
stations), lists of the major stops in various pilgrimage (see “Pilgrimage”) circuits, and songs
for the road.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Yasumi was writing largely in response to a boom in travel that began in the late eighteenth
century. This was a type of national obsession with pilgrimage and recreational travel.
Some of the other physical forms of the culture of movement that developed included travel
literature, travel diaries, handbooks, maps, woodblock prints gazetteers (illustrated books
of famous landmarks), as well as travel boardgames.
2. Some of the reasons that travel developed as a popular form of recreation were the long
years of peace, improving economic conditions, the development of an integrated transport
network that catered increasingly to the needs of commoners (rather than samurai), and the
spread of travel clubs or confraternities (groups that pooled economic resources to allow
certain numbers of their members to travel each year), not to mention the practice of
almsgiving (giving of money and food to travelers on pilgrimage).
3. Wheeled traffic was for all practical purposes prohibited on Tokugawa roads, in order to
maintain them in good condition. Accordingly, the traveler had only a few options when
traveling by land: to walk; or, if he or she had enough money, to ride a post horse, which
was led from post station to post station by a porter, or to be carried in a palanquin (a litter
carried on poles on the shoulders of porters).
4. Private accommodations were a rarity. Travelers commonly had to share rooms. The bath
was also shared, a common custom dating from the middle of the Tokugawa period.
Washing and rinsing was done outside the tub, thus allowing multiple users to enjoy clean
water.
Document: Excerpts from Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for
Travelers), 1810
Preface
When people decide to make a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine during the time when they are
not occupied with the family business, they make preparations for the journey, find travel
companions, and set an auspicious date for their departure. Farewell gifts arrive from all
quarters. Members of the household, too, cheerfully assist with the various preparations
for the trip. On the day of the departure, friends and relatives accompany the travelers to
the town limits, where they throw a farewell party for them. The well-wishers kindly give
the travelers advice for the road—and is this not an enviable thing? In addition, those who
travel on business or other mundane matters every year to all parts of the country, whether
they are young or old, feel tense and are full of nervous energy before setting out. . . .
Ever since I was a child, I have loved to travel. When my friends heard that I had
journeyed all over the country, they used to come to me for guidance before setting out on
their own trips. . . . To fulfill my responsibilities to teach other people about traveling, I
complied with their requests, had the printing blocks cut, and titled the work Ryokô
yôjinshû.
Sixty-one Travel Precautions
1. On the first day of a journey the traveler should test the condition of his straw
sandals by walking lightly in them. To prevent injuring the feet, it is best to stop and rest
every once in a while for the first two or three days. When setting out, a traveler is
always in a hurry and is prone to overdo it by not taking rest breaks. But if the feet are
injured, they will be a source of trouble for the rest of the trip. Above all, then, it is
important to remember to take proper care of your feet from the very start.
2. If you are traveling for the first time and need a pack-horse, a palanquin or porter
services, you should make arrangements with the innkeeper before dusk, for difficulties
may arise while you are negotiating such things.
3. Do not soak in a hot bath on an empty stomach; and even after you have eaten, it is
best to wait a little while until your stomach settles down. But sometimes there will be a
lot of people waiting their turn and so you will have to enter the bath before eating. . . .
4. When a bridge gets washed away, there are other ways of crossing the river, for
example, on foot or by ferry. But never wade across an unfamiliar river. On such
occasions, go and confer with the post-station officials in person; if you do this, then
things will turn out for the best no matter what the conditions are.
5. You should take certain precautions at river-crossings when you are traveling with
women and children. Unlike men, women are timid creatures and sometimes are
frightened when they look at the fast current of a wide river. Also at times they are afraid
of the disorderly conduct of the river porters and may become light-headed or dizzy. For
this reason you should carefully explain to them the day before that the crossing site will
be bustling with activity and that even if they become temporarily separated from their
travel companions, there is no reason to become frightened. Post-station officials are on
duty at such places and thus there is no cause for any concern on the part of the traveler.
Even so, women are easily frightened, not only at river crossings but also at the edge of
lakes, at boat crossings, and on mountain slopes and other steep places; it is therefore
important to explain to them beforehand what they will encounter.
go: An ancient board game of strategy played by two players with white and black
pieces called stones on a board painted with grid lines.
innkeeper: Manager of an inn; in this case, it refers to inns located in post stations.
Ise Shrine: Was and is one of the most important shrines belonging to the Shintô
religion in Japan and one of the most popular sites for religious pilgrimage in the
Edo period.
seal (inkan): Also known as chop; a stamp with your family name, which served as
a signature.
shôgi: A board game for two players; also known as Japanese chess.
6. Should you befriend someone while on the road and travel together for two or three
days, or even as long as a week, do not share lodgings with him, nor exchange food or
medicines, even though he seems to be an honest person.
7. Money for travel expenses should be kept in a purse tied around your waist.
Remove a small amount needed for the day’s expenses and carry it in your bosom. But
remember to do this without being observed, even at night.
8. Take particular care not to start fires. When passing through a village or a field, do
not empty out tobacco ashes carelessly. When you are taking a rest or riding in a boat with
others, clothing or baggage may sometimes catch fire from lighted tobacco. Take care to
prevent this from happening.
9. If you meet a traveler who is chanting the noh, singing a ballad, or just humming a
tune, do not follow behind singing your own song, for this will only cause an altercation.
10. When you are traveling, do not stop to watch the following: fights, arguments,
gambling, go, shôgi, village dancing festivals, village sumo, people who have died
accidentally, and execution grounds. In short, avoid all places where crowds gather.
11. You will often have to share a room at an inn, but if you take adequate precautions
your stay will pass without incident. It is of the utmost importance to make sure that the
doors of your room are closed. Also, observe the demeanor of your fellow-guests during
the evening; if they are in a drunken stupor or seem mentally disturbed, then immediately
precautions should be taken. Incidents are not at all unusual when a room is shared with a
stranger.
Selected Passages from Other Sections
Methods of preventing sickness when riding in a palanquin:
People who are prone to sickness when riding in a palanquin should leave the door of
the vehicle open . . . Women and children should tie a narrow sash tightly around the
lower stomach when riding a horse or in a palanquin.
Things to take on a journey:
Ink and brush case; folding fan; needle and thread; pocket mirror; notebook for
keeping a diary; comb and hair oil (but razors should be borrowed from the inn at which
you are staying; they also offer hair-dressing services, and so before you pass through
checkpoints or castle towns, be sure that your hair is not disheveled); paper lantern;
candle; flint and steel set; and fire sticks (even if you do not smoke tobacco, you must
carry these; inn lanterns are prone to go out, so you may need the sticks unexpectedly);
your personal seal (a copy of the impression made by the seal should be left at home so
that those staying behind can verify the authenticity of any written requests you may send;
the seal, moreover, will be necessary when you change silver or gold during your trip);
two hooks and some rope (these will prove priceless treasures if you take them along).
Source: The modern printed version can be found in Imai Kingo, ed., Ryokô Yôjinshû (Tokyo: Yasaka Publishers,
1972). The translated excerpts used here are from Constantine N. Vaporis, “Caveat Viator: Advice to Travelers in the
Edo Period,” Monumenta Nipponica 44, no. 4 (Winter 1989): 461–83.
Aftermath
It is impossible to know how many people read Ryokô Yôjinshû or had it read to them (the
latter being a common custom in much of the premodern world), since publication figures are
rarely available for any books during the Edo period. However, there is some evidence to
suggest that it had enjoyed considerable circulation: the fact that it was printed from
woodblocks, and did not circulate in brushwritten manuscript form; many other authors
repeated Yasumi’s advice; and, copies of the book exist today in fair numbers.
The travel boom that encouraged the production of texts like Ryokô Yôjinshû continued for
the next several decades. Trips sometimes lasting from two to four months, with stops at
pilgrimage sites, hot springs, major urban centers, and places of historical interest, were not at
all uncommon.
Ask Yourself
1. What common themes or threads run through the list of precautions?
2. Why would Yasumi have advised travelers to avoid all places where crowds gather? How
safe did travel seem to have been?
3. What views of female travelers, and women in general, does the author seem to have?
4. To what uses would a traveler have put the various items that Yasumi suggested one carry?
What would you carry if you were to take a trip on foot?
5. How do you account for the obsession with preventing fires? (Hint: Consider the nature of
Japanese building materials at the time, not to mention seismic conditions in Japan.)
Topics and Activities to Consider
• The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were a time when recreational travel
became increasingly popular in early modern Japan and England. Consider what social and
economic conditions in both countries allowed for this to occur. How did pilgrimage to a
major site in Japan, such as Ise Shrine, compare with the Grand Tour for English?
• Consider what types of travel were popular in Japan and England at this time. What did
people of different social status do when they traveled? Consider also travel within a
larger framework of recreation: What other forms of recreation were available?
• Yasumi wrote a long list of items that the traveler should carry. Consider what a traveler in
other parts of the world would carry. Compare the lists and see what conclusions you might
come to about each society.
Pilgrimage
Several foreign observers in Japan during the Tokugawa period remarked that the
Japanese seemed very much addicted to pilgrimage. The close relationship between
travel and pilgrimage is evident from an examination of travel diaries of the time, many
of which consist of little more than an expense log and list of religious sites and famous
places visited. In its most basic form, pilgrimage was a religious act, and this element
remained the strongest in the EIGHTY-EIGHT TEMPLE CIRCUIT in Shikoku and the THIRTYTHREE TEMPLE CIRCUIT in western Japan. However, temples and shrines were also
cultural centers, which attracted travelers, particularly to exhibitions of temple treasures
of religious art. In addition to the exhibitions, a traveler could also enjoy the food stands
and circus-like shows put on by performers within the temple precincts. While no one
should discount the religious component of the act for many people, pilgrimage during the
Tokugawa period appears to have undergone a process of secularization. In short, the
element of travel as recreation became increasingly evident, and pilgrims became, at
least secondarily, tourists.
32
Documentation for Travel
“Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706) and “A Passport” (1782)
Introduction
In the first decades of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa established 53 SEKISHO or
checking stations, in strategic points on its official highway network, the GOKAIDÔ, in order to
monitor traffic. The initial purpose of the checking stations was military—to control the
movement of the remnants of the coalition that had opposed the Tokugawa in the climactic
Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. During the subsequent three decades, the function of the stations
was expanded to include the monitoring of general traffic, the transport of guns, and
compliance with the institution of alternate attendance. This policy is popularly known as irideppô ni de-onna, or “in-bound guns and out-bound women [i.e., those leaving Edo].” Under
the requirements of alternate attendance, daimyo wives and children, particularly daimyo heirs,
were required to remain in Edo as political hostages when the lord returned to his domain.
Officials at Hakone and Arai (referred to in Document 1) stations on the TÔKAIDÔ highway
were reputed to be the strictest in terms of the inspection of traffic.
The first document is a transit permit (sekisho tegata), which was issued by designated
officials of the shogunate and the daimyo for passage through a particular station. The second
type, known simply as passports (ôrai tegata), was generally issued at shrines and temples
and by village officials and innkeepers. They could be used for passage through as many
stations as needed. Passports were used most often for pilgrimage and recreational travel,
including trips to hot springs. Unlike the situation with transit permits, there appears to have
been no regulations dictating the issuing of passports, nor does it appear to have occurred on
behalf of, or under the supervision of, central or local government authorities.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The Tokugawa came into power after a century of civil war, during which time population
movement was very fluid. To bring order to society, it was important to regulate the
movement of people. One way to do that was to control the movement of women.
2. Tokugawa Japan was primarily an agricultural society, and as such, it required a stable
population to remain in place on the land. This idealized notion of an agronomic society
remained in the minds of many government leaders, even long after a commercialized
economy developed from the late seventeenth century onward.
3. Passports were used exclusively by commoners (i.e., not by samurai) and mostly by males.
Samurai also needed permission to travel, but this usually took the form of a document
written by an immediate superior; this acted, in effect, like a passport.
4. Note that during the Tokugawa period, the date, the issuing authority and the addressee, in
that order, were listed at the end rather than at the beginning of an official document. The
higher social position of the addressee is indicated by its position in the document—last.
5. A guarantor was required for the good behavior of the person or persons listed on the
travel permits.
6. The application for the transit permit or passport was written on a separate piece of paper
—that is, it was neither included with nor recopied on the transit permit.
Document 1: “Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706)
Four women, among them one with cut hair [kamikiri], and one who is not married, will
be traveling from Kyôto to Edo. Please grant them safe passage through the sekisho. The
four women are the mother of actor Takeshima Kôemon, his wife, daughter, and a
maidservant. The City Elders from Takasegawa Tennô-chô and their Group of Five
Households [goningumi] are their guarantors. 1706/10/11
City Elders: Commoners appointed to administer urban areas.
cut hair [kamikiri]: Indicates that the woman was a widow.
group of Five Households [goningumi]: Literally, “five-man groups”; mutual
responsibility units, generally from five to as many as a dozen households.
Inspector of Women [aratame onna]: A female employed at sekisho to check
female travelers.
Kyoto City Magistrates: A Tokugawa official with administrative duties for the
city of Kyoto, in this case the issuing authority for the transit permit.
sekisho: A government-regulated checkpoint or barrier, strategically placed on
highways; to pass through, travelers usually were required to provide travel
documentation.
Takasegawa Tennô-chô: The name of the town in which the four women resided.
[From] Nakane Setsu no kami and Andô Suruga no kami [Kyoto City Magistrates]
[To] Imagiri [i.e., Arai] sekisho Inspector of Women
Source: Arai chôshi shiryôhen [History of Arai. Documents], vol. 8 (Arai machi: Arai machi kyôiku iinkai, 1976),
document no. 54, p. 185.
Document 2: “A Passport” (1782)
Genjirô, a peasant from Moro Village in the Saku District of Shinano Province, wishes to
make a pilgrimage to various shrines and temples. He is accompanied by one child. It is
therefore requested that they be granted safe passage through all sekisho. Furthermore, it
is respectfully requested that in case of sickness or death the appropriate village or city
officials send notice here and that they be cared for with benevolence according to the
customs of the local area.
1782/11/19
Shinano Province, Saku District, Moro
Village headmen
Sadaemon
Goemon
[To] All officials of sekisho, towns, and villages
Source: Nagano kenshi kankôkai, ed., Nagano kenshi, kinsei shiryôhen [History of Nagano Prefecture, Early Modern
Documents], vol. 2, pt. 2 (Nagano: Nagano ken, 1988), 199.
Aftermath
Permits and checking stations were necessary to implement the travel regulations issued by
the shogunate and the domains. These regulations were issued frequently from the middle of the
Tokugawa period, when the volume of travel increased significantly, and were inspired mainly
by economic rationale. Since pilgrimage was the principal objective for travel by commoners,
most regulations were directed at it. These restrictions were aimed at limiting the time that
peasants would be away from the field and the amount of money that would be spent outside
the domain. Their effectiveness was largely uneven. No doubt political regulations had some
effect in restraining the numbers embarking on long-distance travel, but with punishments
against offenders largely formalized, and government officials content to issue and reissue
prohibitions, they functioned more like sumptuary legislation (see Section 5).
The shogunate maintained a gendered travel policy, subjecting women to many more
restrictions than men until the relaxation of alternate attendance in 1867. Not only was the
application process to obtain permits highly regulated for women, but the permits themselves
were required to contain detailed information. An official at the checking station carefully
surveyed that the physical description of the woman given on the permit matched up with the
traveler herself. Sometimes a physical inspection by the Inspector of Women was also
required. Not only was a lookout kept at checking stations for “outbound women,” but also for
young girls who might be disguised as boys. These various requirements made travel much
more difficult for females, and as a result women might be inclined to ignore all legal
procedures by traveling on side roads, bypassing checking stations.
Travelers might be denied passage at checking stations if there were irregularities with
their documentation. It is unknown, however, whether or not the travelers who used the permit
and passport reproduced here had any difficulties with the authorities.
Ask Yourself
1. What kind of information was included on a travel permit or passport? Why might certain
information about the person’s physical description be included? Was the same type of
information included for men and women? If not, why might that be?
2. Why might it have been in the traveler’s best interest to apply for a travel permit, even
though it required time and effort? (Hint: Think about why it might have been necessary to
include the requests contained in the language of the passport.)
3. Why was a passport more convenient for the traveler than a transit permit? (Hint: Consider
the addressee on both documents.)
4. What can you tell about the travelers’ purpose in setting out on their journeys?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the Internet or books, research the types of controls on movement in other societies
around the globe. (Have governments always been concerned about this issue, or did it
become a particular issue during early modern times?) In countries where there was such
regulation, consider what the motives and aims of the governments might have been. What
portion or portions of the population did they target, and why?
• If you were planning to regulate traffic on the main highways of Tokugawa Japan, what
would be the best locations for doing so? Study the layout of the post stations along the
Tôkaidô highway, for example (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ukiyoe/tokaido/index.html), as
well as a topographic map of Japan, and consider at what points it would be best to control
traffic. How might you have gone about avoiding the official procedures for obtaining
travel documentation?
• What were the consequences if someone was caught evading a checking station?
• Study the layout and the design of the recreated checking station and palisade (wooden
fence) system at Hakone and consider the effects of that layout:
http://www.hakonesekisyo.jp/english/main/main.html.
• How might you have felt passing through an area like this and having to present your travel
papers to government officials?
• What evidence is there that women traveled, even with the greater procedural and
administrative difficulties that they faced? Although woodblock prints are often not exact
representations of reality, can you find visual representations of women travelers in the
various series of prints of places on Tokugawa Japan’s various highways produced by the
artist ANDÔ HIROSHIGE. See, for example, his Hoeido Tôkaidô series of prints
(http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ukiyoe/tokaido/hoeido/index.html). Consider the manner in
which these women are traveling (e.g., singly? in groups? with or without male
companionship?)
Further Information
Nenzi, Laura. Excursions in Identity: Travel and the Intersection of Place, Gender, and Status in Edo Japan. Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press, 2008.
Vaporis, Constantine. Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Council of East
Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1994.
Film and Television
Samurai Champloo. In episode 9 (“Evil Spirits of Mountain and Stream”) of the Japanese television show Samurai Champloo
(director Watanabe Shin’ichirô; available on DVD and on YouTube), the lead characters Mugen, Jin, and Fuu are sold a
forged travel permit, which they try to us to pass through the Hakone checkpoint.
33
Children and Their Amusements
The Journal of Francis Hall (1859)
Introduction
arrived in Japan in 1859, the year following the conclusion of the TREATY OF
AMITY AND COMMERCE between the United States and Japan. This came just five years after
naval commander Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his small fleet of steam-powered “black
ships” arrived in Japan and, under the threat of force, convinced the Tokugawa shogunate to
sign a diplomatic treaty—the TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP —with the United States the following year
(1854). During his stay in Japan, Hall made almost daily walks into the countryside
surrounding Yokohama, the treaty port specially built by the Tokugawa to house foreign
residents. This gave him the occasion to observe many different aspects of Japanese life,
including festivals at shrines and temples, sumo wrestling (see “Sumo Wrestling”), theater, and
children’s amusements, the subject of the excerpt below; and to interact with many Japanese.
His journal remains an important source of information on Japanese life just before the Meiji
Restoration of 1868, which toppled the Tokugawa from power.
FRANCIS HALL
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The author arrived in Japan with little knowledge of the country. However, being a
newspaper reporter, he had a keen curiosity about all that he saw. He began studying
Japanese using a dictionary on the voyage from the United States to Japan and continued
that study while in Japan, gaining a good degree of competency in the language in a couple
of years.
2. Hall mentions a common type of kite with the picture of the emperor. Westerners often
misunderstood the political system in Japan and referred to the shogun as “emperor”;
however, he is most likely referring to a common form of kite depicting a samurai’s
attendant, known as yakodako.
Document: Excerpts from The Journal of Francis Hall
(1859)
Tuesday, December 20, 1859
. . . Japan seems to be not more prolific in soil than in children. The streets are full of
them. They seem always to be merry and good natured. I have not seen a quarrel yet and
rarely see a child crying. The secretion of the noses, however, seems to be as abundant as
among civilized youngsters. Every day they gather round our gate, which is an open sunny
spot, to play their little games. Spinning tops and bounding ball are the chief amusements.
In the latter sport they keep the count in a musical singing way. Girls of ten or twelve, say
one third of them, have a babe strapped to their backs. Kite flying is another popular
amusement. The children are great patrons of the itinerant peddlers of fancy goods,
confectionery, etc. I saw a group of them today very much interested in the goods of a
peddler who carried dolls, figures of dogs, rabbits, cats, and other animals. . . .
confectionery: Candy.
Monday January 23, 1860
. . . The streets were full of men, women, and children all in their holiday garb. I
crossed the fields to the Consulate. On my way I heard a loud buzzing noise. I fancied a
big blue bottle fly about my ears or the sound of many bees in the clover. But the sound
was too loud for that. Then I saw groups of well dressed children kite flying. They gave
the kites string and others rapidly drew them in again, and I saw it was the kite that made
the noise. There were a half dozen of them over my head, and looking across the fields I
could see many more high in the air, “buzz,” “buzz” they went. The kites were square,
oblong, bird shape, butterfly shape, all shapes, and painted. The large square ones were
most common with pictures of the emperor, a stern looking many got up in elaborate
costume having all the colors of the rainbow. The butterflies were next the favorites and
there were many nondescript ministers. Not only boys, but men were happy in flying their
humming kites. The noise was made by a thin shred of bamboo stretched taughtly across
the top of the kite and played upon by the wind. The boys were in fine feather and wanted
one to try their kites, which I did, and were much pleased when I told them that American
boys also flew kites.
Source: F. G. Notehelfer, ed. and anno., Japan through American Eyes. The Journal of Francis Hall, Kanagawa
and Yokohama 1859–1866 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992), 91, 109–10.
Aftermath
Francis Hall remained in Japan for seven years, but not long enough to witness the MEIJI
RESTORATION of 1868. Yet, until his departure in 1866, he was one of the leading sources of
information about Japan for the American public, writing more than 70 articles for his
newspaper.
Ask Yourself
1. How do the amusements of Japanese commoner children compare with those of American
children in the mid-to-late nineteenth century? Were there similar amusements in the United
States that both children and adults shared?
2. What can we tell about Japanese childrearing practices among commoners from Hall’s
description?
3. What views of the Japanese did Francis Hall hold? What evidence for your conclusions
can you find in the text?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider the question of Western views of the Japanese. Was Hall typical of Americans
and other Westerners during the mid-to-late nineteenth century? Reading more extensively
in his diary, draw up a list of Hall’s descriptions and characterizations of the Japanese.
Then read at least one other foreigner’s account of life in Japan during this period and
compare.
• Using the print and Internet sources listed below, answer these questions: What was life
like in Yokohama? To what extent might it be compared to the “Wild West” in the United
States?
• Using the woodblock prints of Yokohama life found on the “Yokohama Boomtown” web
site (see below), consider what Japanese views of Westerners were like. How realistic are
foreigners depicted? What aspects of Westerners’ physicality or mannerisms might the
Japanese artists have emphasized, and to what effect?
• To what extent did the amusements of members of different status groups differ? Compare
those of commoner children with those of children of bushi status? (Use texts by
Yamakawa, Sugimoto, and Notehelfer.)
• Research the origins and spread of kites around the world.
Further Information
Duus, Peter. The Japanese Discovery of America: A Brief History with Documents. Boston and New York: Bedford Books,
1997.
Griffiths, William E. The Mikado’s Empire. 2 vols. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1876.
Satow, Sir Ernest. A Diplomat in Japan. An Inner History of the Japanese Reformation. Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Tuttle
Books, 1983.
Yamakawa, Kikue. Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life. Translated by K. Wildman Nakai.
Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1992. (See chapter on Amusements, 72–85.)
Web Sites
“Japanese Traditional Kites.” Japan Kite Association, last updated November 25, 2005. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~et3mtkkw/h1.html (accessed September 11, 2011). (Scroll down and double-click on “yakko” to see a variety of this type of
kites.)
“Yokohama Boomtown: Foreigners in Treaty-Port Japan (1859–1872),” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Visualizing
Cultures. http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yokohama/index.html (accessed November 6, 2010).
Sumo Wrestling
Sometimes referred to as Japan’s national sport, sumo may be traceable back to ancient
times, when wrestling bouts were performed in the imperial court during the Heian
period (794–1185). In the centuries leading up to the Tokugawa period, wrestling was
one skill, a form of unarmed combat, that samurai were expected to acquire. During the
latter part of the seventeenth century, it developed into a sport carried on by
professionals. Sumo tournaments were held at certain major shrines, with troupes of
wrestlers competing against each other and spectators paying a fee for admission.
Tournaments, some of which were to raise money for various projects such as rebuilding
shrine buildings, took place in the three major cities, Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo. These
could be major events, with one 10-day tournament in Edo in 1843 accommodating as
many as 3,000 paying customers, who watched as many as 226 wrestlers compete. Some
of the top wrestlers became well known through woodblock prints and were sponsored
by daimyo patrons. At least two shoguns, Ienari and Ieyoshi, in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, were diehard fans. Sumo also remained popular at the amateur
level. Itinerant troupes traveled in the countryside and took on challengers. “Street-corner
wrestling” was repeatedly banned but attests to the continuing attraction of wrestling
among commoners. According to various first-person accounts, sumo wrestling by
amateurs, including children, could be found at shrine festivals. The sport remained
popular with some samurai, too, who wrestled informally with their peers.
34
The Tea Ceremony
Chikamatsu Shigenori’s Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804)
Introduction
The author, CHIKAMATSU SHIGENORI (1695–1778), was a samurai and retainer of the
Tokugawa daimyo in Owari, a branch of the main family of the shogun. Although not a
professional tea master, Shigenori studied and practiced the tea ceremony diligently, and in
1739 compiled a manuscript on the subject, entitled Legends of the Tea Ceremony. This work
consisted of seven volumes, with 305 stories and anecdotes based on things that Shigenori
either saw himself or were recounted to him. It remained in manuscript form until well after his
death, when the book was published in 1804 under the present title: Stories from a Tearoom
Window. It met with some success, and a second edition was published in 1816.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. The popularity of the tea ceremony cut across status lines, and it was not unusual for a
samurai to study it. Some studied it as a means of advancement when other, more
traditional avenues were closed off to them. Others, like Shigenori, studied it purely for
personal reasons. Retainers were particularly prone to indulge in the tea ceremony when
their lord practiced it.
2. The tea ceremony at its most basic level was nothing more than the preparation and serving
of a bowl of tea. However, under the influence of Zen Buddhism, great artistic and spiritual
meaning was found in the highly ritualized actions prescribed for preparing and serving the
tea. The instruments used to prepare and serve the tea also became objects of beauty, which
were collected by connoisseurs.
3. Shigenori practiced the Sen school of tea, meaning that he studied the tea ceremony as
developed by the most famous of all tea masters, Sen Rikyû (1522–1591), who was
sponsored by the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the late
sixteenth century. Rikyû’s tradition was known as wabi-cha (“wabi tea,” wabi meaning
literally “forlorn”), which emphasized the aesthetic values of simplicity and rusticity.
4. Basic tea implements or utensils included: a tea caddy, which held the powdered tea; an
iron kettle, for heating the water; a curved bamboo tea scoop, used to extract the powdered
tea from the tea caddy; a bamboo whisk, with which to mix the water and powdered tea;
and, last but not least, a tea bowl.
Document: Excerpts from Chikamatsu Shigenori’s Stories
from a Tearoom Window (1804)
Entry #44. The Manners of the Tea Ceremony
Kuze Doku Raisai spoke as follows: “The manners of the tea ceremony originally arose
from the serene tastefulness of leisured and retired people, and its embodiment in quiet
vacancy and deliberate simplicity. The ceremony or party can be called suki. This was
originally seen to have nothing to do with worldly wealth or the nobility. However, since
Lord Yoshimasa indulged himself in the tea ceremony, it gradually grew into luxurious
extravagance. A single earthen vessel came to be more esteemed than a jewel as large as
1 shaku [30 cm.] in diameter, and a single scroll came to be more precious than a
thousand gold coins. This can be called the current evil of the tea ceremony.
Hotta Kaga-no-kami Masamori (1608–51): A trusted vassal of the Tokugawa who
rose to become daimyo of Matsumoto domain.
Kuze Doku Raisai: A tea master who lived from 1704 to 1784.
Lord Yoshimasa: Eighth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate; lived from 1435 to
1490.
m eibutsu: Famous (used in reference to famous objects).
warrior’s house: The house of a samurai.
And yet, the very essence of tea manners is still strictly observed. In attending the tea
ceremony, both the host and his guests help each other, bathe and purify themselves
beforehand, change clothes, renew their attitude no matter how used to it they are, remain
modest and reticent in speech and action, feel as if they were fully satisfied even with
nothing, and act as if someone were present even when entering an empty room. Can’t this
be called respectfulness? One always arrives ahead of the appointed time. If one is late,
one must come and apologize for one’s lateness. Intercession, daily life, acts and attitudes
—all are faithful to the rules and in harmony with the way of righteousness. Can’t this be
called true courteousness? However wealthy one may be, no beautiful pictures are to be
displayed nor gems shown in one’s room. As to meals, fewer than three or four kinds of
fish or vegetables should be enough even for kings or nobles. Can’t this be called true
frugality? And yet, harmony is attained in such an environment. . . . Tea aficionados
should try to return to the fundamental essentials of the tea ceremony.
Entry #29. The Warrior’s Implements
Hosokawa Sansai, an influential man of his time, possessed many meibutsu tea
utensils. Hotta Kaga-no-kami Masamori was fond of the tea ceremony, so he sent a
messenger to ask Sansai to show him his treasured implements. Sansai accepted his
request. When Masamori went to see the utensils, he was most kindly welcomed and was
entertained with the utmost hospitality. Then he was shown quite a number of implements,
but quite contrary to his expectations, they were all weapons and armor. Masamori felt
unhappy as his expectations had not been satisfied, and yet he left thanking Sansai politely
for his hospitality.
A few days later, the messenger returned and rebuked Sansai, saying, “Why didn’t you
show my master your tea utensils?”
The answer was “I did not show them because, when you first came here, you simply
asked me to show your master my treasured implements. When we speak of treasured
implements in a warrior’s house, the meaning can be nothing but weapons and armor.
Therefore I did not exhibit my tea utensils at all.”
Source: Chikamatsu Shigenori, Stories from a Tearoom Window, ed. Toshiko Mori, trans. Kozaburo Mori (Rutland, VT,
and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, Co., 1982), 56–57, 77–78.
Aftermath
Chikamatsu Shigenori compiled his text in an attempt to restore the tea ceremony to the
ideals of Sen Rikyû, meaning to restore simplicity and rusticity as basic elements of the ritual.
He decried the rigidity, the excessive detail paid to technique, and extravagance into which it
had fallen. However, that basic tension between the original aesthetics of the tea ceremony and
its later development remained, even with the publication of Shigenori’s book.
The tea ceremony grew in popularity during the course of the Tokugawa period. Rikyû’s
tradition of wabi-cha was carried on by his successors. After the death of Rikyû’s grandson,
Genpaku Sôtan (1578–1658), the family line split into three, forming the Urasenke,
Omotesenke, and Mushakôjisenke schools or streams of tea, each professing to teach the
original tea ceremony that Rikyû had founded. All three, and numerous other schools of tea
ceremony, continue to exist today in Japan, and branches of the Urasenke school can be found
in many countries across the globe, including the United States and Europe.
Ask Yourself
1. According to the first anecdote, what are the attractions of the tea ceremony? What
aesthetic elements are prized?
2. What problems did Kuze Doku Raisai identify in the tea ceremony as it was being
practiced then?
3. Why did Hosokawa Sansai show Hotta his weapons and armor instead of his tea utensils?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the Internet and print sources, research the history of green tea in Japan: How was it
introduced to Japan? What was its relationship with Buddhism? How did the habit of tea
drinking spread throughout Japanese society? How did tea drinking develop into the tea
ceremony (chanoyu)?
• Using the Internet, visit some of the famous historical tea houses in Japan, such as the Jo-an,
Konnichi-an, Zangetsu-tei, and Taian. Using the source by Nishi (especially pages 78–81
and 105–19), construct a paper model of the Taian teahouse. Study the model carefully to
see how the teahouse actually functions. Write a short paper describing your findings.
• Design your own tearoom or tea house (both referred to in Japanese as chashitsu), based
on your study of some of the print and Internet sources listed below. First identify the main
components of a tearoom. Then select the objects to be displayed in the alcove—in
particular season-appropriate flowers or other objects from nature and a hanging scroll
(suggestion: do a Google search for “tea ceremony scrolls”).
Further Information
Graham, Patricia Jane. Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1998.
Nishi, Kazuo, and Kazuo Hozumi. What Is Japanese Architecture? Translated, adapted, and with an introduction by H. Mack
Horton. Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International, 1996.
Ohki, Sakado. Tea Culture of Japan. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
Sen, Sôshitsu. The Japanese Way of Tea: From Its Origins in China to Sen Rikyû. Translated by V. Dixon Morris. Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press, 1998.
Video
The Japanese Tea Ceremony. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2003. 30 min.
Rikyu. Directed by Teshigahara Hiroshi, 1989. 135 min. Award-winning film about tea master Sen no Rikyû.
Web Sites
“History [of Green Tea]” and “Introduction to the Tea Ceremony.” Hibiki-an Japanese Tea Company. http://www.hibiki-an.com/
(accessed October 13, 2010).
“History of Green Tea.” Urasenke Foundation, San Francisco. http://www.urasenke.org/tradition/index.php (accessed October
13, 2010).
“Japanese Tearoom.” Washington and Lee University. http://www.wlu.edu/x34367.xml (accessed November 12, 2010).
Contains photos of the tearoom built at Washington and Lee University as well as much useful general information on the
tea ceremony.
35
Archery and the Martial Arts
Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka’s Honchô Bugei Shôden (A Short Tale of
the Martial Arts in Our Country, 1714)
Introduction
During the years of warfare prior to the Tokugawa period samurai frequently had occasion
to use the weapons with which they trained. However, with the onset of the “Great Peace”
under the Tokugawa shoguns there was hardly any occasion for samurai to use their weapons in
combat. Instead of using their bows to shoot people, samurai trained by shooting at targets, or
by shooting at dogs (with blunt, nonlethal arrows) while on horseback, a practice known as
inuoumono. Instead of using a real sword in conflict, a samurai practiced with a wooden one;
and if he was lucky, once in a while, he was able to test his actual long sword’s sharpness on a
corpse. As a result of peacetime conditions, battlefield skills were transformed into the martial
arts, often practiced in interior halls and in a nonlethal manner.
HINATSU SHIRÔZAEMON SHIGETAKA was the son of a master practitioner of the naginata, a
weapon like a European halberd, which consisted of a wooden shaft with a curved blade on
the end and a guard, similar to those on swords, between the blade and shaft. Hinatsu compiled
a narrative survey history of the classical Japanese martial arts in 1714 and published it two
years later, giving it the distinction of being the oldest such text. The book is divided into 10
chapters, covering nine different martial arts and mentioning a total of 150 famous samurai
who founded or practiced the various arts. The segment that appears below is from chapter
three, “Archery.”
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. During the centuries prior to the Tokugawa period, the bow was a samurai’s primary
weapon, and the samurai was said to follow the “way of the bow and horse.” In battle, the
sword was used once the warrior dismounted from his horse and sought to finish off his
opponent. It was only during the peaceful Tokugawa period that the sword assumed
primacy and was said to be “the soul of the samurai.”
2. There were a variety of martial arts during the Tokugawa period, including, military
science and strategy, military decorum, archery, horsemanship, swordsmanship, the spear
or lance, armed close combat, and unarmed combat.
3. Sanjûsangen-dô (lit. “Hall of Thirty-three ken; 1 ken = a unit of linear measure equivalent
to 1.82 meters) is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto renowned for its 1,000 life-size statues of the
Thousand-Armed Kannon, a bodhisattva, or Buddhist deity. For archers, Sanjûsangen-dô
was terribly important, as during the Tokugawa period, exhibition contests were held on
the temple’s west veranda, which spanned 33 “lengths” (120 meters). It was extremely
difficult for archers—even from the kneeling position they assumed—to shoot an arrow
across that length because the eaves of the roof, which extended over the veranda, limited
the arc that an archer could put on the arrow. Visiting the temple today one can still see the
pockmarks from arrows that strayed from their intended course and hit the wooden pillars
or the ceiling. Archery contests are still held at Sanjûsangen-dô today, but they have been
moved to the courtyard below the veranda.
4. Contests for distance (tôya) and for continuous shooting (tôshiya) became popular during
the seventeenth century.
Document: Excerpt from Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka’s
Honchô Bugei Shôden (1714)
Asaoka Heibei
Asaoka Heibei was from Kiyosu in Owari. He studied archery under Chikurin Josei.
On the 19th day, First Month, Keichô 11 [1606], he succeeded in shooting fifty-one
arrows the entire length of the Sanjûsangen-dô. Contending for first place by shooting at
the Hall [to see who could shoot the greatest number of arrows successfully] began with
Asaoka. Twenty-six archers later became known as the Great Archers of the Hall: Ueda
Kakubei, Tsutsui Dembei, Shioya Kakuzaemon, . . .
In a certain book it is written that shooting a fixed number of arrows at the
Sanjûsangen-dô does nothing to further the art of archery. This is because study in the art
of archery in former times emphasized proper form and did not stress the number of
arrows a man could shoot. Technique must be correct for an arrow to hit the target, so
those wishing to do this must study and practice the art of archery. Thus as long as archery
places its goal on hitting the target, the Way of the bow and arrow will not decline. But
seeing how many arrows a man can shoot the length of the hall is a feat accomplished by
the strength of the archer and his bow. When a man sets his goal on seeing how many
arrows he can shoot the length of the Hall, he stresses strength and does not practice
technique; as a result the Way of the bow and arrow cannot but decline. . . .
In the Analects it is written, “In archery it is not going through the leather which is the
principal thing;—because people’s strength is not equal.” “Going through leather” refers
to the depth to which the arrow penetrates the target. But people today think that being
able to shoot scores of arrows the length of the Sanjûsangen-dô is true archery. They are
quite wrong, for this is merely the Way of strength.
Furthermore, the original purpose of shooting arrows the length of the Sanjûsangen-dô
was not the same as the intention of the people today who try to see how many arrows
they can shoot. Shooting at the Hall was originally a test consisting of shooting ten arrows
so that a man’s form could be evaluated. Despite this, people nowadays shoot countless
arrows, trying to get as many as possible to travel the length of the Hall. As this is their
sole purpose, it goes without saying that the Way of archery as technique will decline. The
reason why these archers cannot shoot the length of the Hall is because their form is not
right. All the more reason why they should try to correct their form.
gentleman: Refers to the Chinese term junzi, or “the superior man,” a Confucian
term describing the ideal person.
Confucius said, “Shooting the bow is much like the way of the gentleman. When one
misses the mark, one must look for the cause within himself.” It is wrong for those
learning archery to set the Sanjûsangen-dô as their goal.
Source: Hinatsu Shigetaka, “Honchô Bugei Shôden,” Monumenta Nipponica 45, no. 3 (1990): 282–84.
Aftermath
Hinatsu published his book during the period of the Kyôhô reforms, which spanned from
1716 to 1736. During this time, under the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, the martial arts
were encouraged as a way to raise the morale of samurai. While his book enjoyed wide
circulation, was frequently quoted, and also later appeared in digest form, neither Hinatsu nor
Yoshimune could do much to stop the inevitable transformation of fighting skills like archery
and swordsmanship into something akin to competitive sports.
Ask Yourself
1. According to the author, how has the practice of archery at Sanjûsangen-dô changed since
ancient times? Why is Hinatsu critical of contemporary bowmen?
2. What spiritual connection is there between archery and the self?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the print sources cited below, explore the nature of the martial arts in Tokugawa
Japan. Consider the following questions: How many and what type of martial arts were
there? In how many martial arts did samurai receive training, and how extensive was that
training? Did women belonging to samurai households receive martial training?
• Explore the role of the sword in the life of a Tokugawa samurai, using both print and
Internet sources, as found below.
Further Information
Hesselink, Reinier. “Tokugawa Yoshimune Revives the Yabusame Ceremony.” Journal of Asian Martial Arts 4, no. 4 (1999):
41–48.
Hurst, Cameron. The Armed Martial Arts of Japan. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.
Rogers, John M. “Arts of War in Times of Peace. Archery in Honchô Bugei Shoden.” Monumenta Nipponica 45, no. 3
(1990): 253–60.
Sato, Kanzan. The Japanese Sword. Translated by Joe Earle. New York: Kodansha, 1983.
Yumoto, John M. The Samurai Sword: A Handbook. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 1989.
Web Sites
To
see an image of the veranda at Sanjûsangen-dô where archery contests were held, go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanjusangendo_temple01s1408.jpg.
“Archery Contests at Sanjusangendo Temple.” YouTube video, 3:49, posted by “zoealitheia,” January 21, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk1o8zY0MXU (accessed November 18, 2010).
“Richard Stein’s Japanese Sword Guide.” http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm (accessed September 24, 2011).
“Sanjusangendo Temple.” Kyoto Travel Guide [Shrines and Temples], City of Kyoto and Kyoto Tourism Council.
http://www.kyoto.travel/2009/11/sanjusangen-do-temple.html (accessed November 18, 2010).
“Secrets of the Samurai Sword.” Nova (PBS). http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/samurai (accessed September 24, 2011).
36
Courtesans and the Sex Trade
Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku ichidai otoko, 1682)
and Buyô Ishi’s An Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816)
Introduction
The following two documents are concerned with the pleasure quarters, or prostitution
districts, in Tokugawa Japan’s cities. The first excerpt comes from The Life of an Amorous
Man (Koshoku ichidai otoko), the first novel written by IHARA SAIKAKU (1642–1693), the son
of a wealthy merchant who had earlier made a name for himself as a popular haikai (linked
verse) poet. This was the first of many novels that detailed the way of life in the pleasure
quarters—the entertainment, arts, and sex districts—of Tokugawa Japan. The protagonist of
this fictional story is Yonosuke, which literally means “man of the world.” The story covers his
life from the age of seven, when he first made love to a woman, to the age of 60, when he
sailed to Nyogogashima, the “Isle of Women.” During his life in between those two events, he
travels around the country in constant pursuit of love affairs with women and men both. The
carefree world that Yonosuke occupied, and which Saikaku described in his novel, is the
ukiyo, or “floating world” (see “The Floating World”). Saikaku’s work paved the way for the
popularity of a genre of novels called “stories of the floating world” (ukiyô zôshi).
The second document is from the anonymous author Buyô Ishi’s An Account of Worldly
Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816), part of his wide-ranging critique of Edo, which he saw as an
ailing society.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Government in Japan, dating to the late twelfth century, legally recognized and attempted to
supervise brothels (prostitution). Each of the three largest cities of the Tokugawa period,
Edo, Osaka and Kyoto, had one government-sanctioned pleasure quarter (yûkaku):
Yoshiwara, Shinmachi, and Shimabara, respectively. Yoshiwara, in Edo, was the largest,
with 2,000–3,000 courtesans, or prostitutes, in as many as 200 brothels. However, many
unlicensed prostitutes worked outside these officially recognized districts.
2. Famous courtesans were the movie stars or celebrities of their day and were immortalized
in literature, kabuki theater, and painting as well as in woodblock prints, which were
widely available (similar to the posters of today) because of their low cost. Both the
courtesans, and the arts that treated them as subject matter, had a great impact on
Tokugawa-period culture, beyond the arts listed above, including music, fashion and
hairstyles.
3. Higher-class courtesans were ranked in specially produced books according to their
artistic abilities and beauty. The highest-ranked courtesans, tayû, were known as “castle
topplers” because they were so expensive, they could bankrupt a man. Lower-ranked
courtesans were staged behind latticed wood windows for prospective customers to see.
(This can be seen in many woodblock prints and photographs.)
4. Since the sale of people (slavery) was illegal, girls were indentured with contracts,
commonly for 10-year periods, but the contracts were often extended, which meant that
they lived under conditions similar to slaves. Parents selling their daughters into
prostitution received a sum of money called minoshirokin, or “money for the body.”
Mortuary records from Jôkanji temple in Edo list the names of 21,056 prostitutes without
families between 1743 and 1801, the majority of whom died in their 20s.
5. In Edo, clients usually made arrangements at a house of assignation (ageya) to be with a
courtesan; but after 1650, teahouses—not to be confused with the tearooms discussed in
Section 36—took over this function. Once the price was negotiated, an attendant from the
establishment accompanied the client to the brothel, where the courtesan lived and worked.
If the customer so desired, a special entertainer, known as a geisha, could also be called. In
Kyoto, courtesans served their customers in quarters that were also known as ageya, which
were separate from the houses in which they lived.
6. Samurai (who were supposed to be moral exemplars) and others who wanted to conceal
their identity often wore a large, braided straw hat in the pleasure quarters; these could
even be rented for the duration of the visit.
7. Shimabara, Kyoto’s pleasure quarters, in 1641, was moved by the Tokugawa shogunate
from a central location to a more remote area, west of Nishi Honganji temple. There, it
was surrounded by a moat and a wall, with just one access point, the Great Gate.
Document 1: Excerpts from Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an
Amorous Man
Musan told Yonosuke: “We might as well pay a visit to the Shimabara gay quarters.”
Thereupon a man named Zenkichi, who was also well versed in such matters, said
with what seemed like overweening self-confidence: “I am sure that even Yonosuke-sama
is a novice in the gay quarters. Why don’t you two men come with me, do as I do, and
emulate my ways? I can show you a few tricks.”
Complying gracefully with his suggestion, both Yonosuke and Musan set out for
Shimabara, with Zenkichi leading. . . .
It seemed that Zenkichi, now in his most vigorous age, possessed a quality unknown to
men that attracted women. The story was that a lesser courtesan in the Yoshiwara district
of Edo once fell deeply in love with him. People talked about the love affair, and the
courtesan, determined to perform some devotional feat which other women would hesitate
to do, is said to have seen him off to the Great Gate early one morning, barefoot in the
softly falling snow and holding aloft a parasol for him until her arm ached. It was a truly
unprecedented act, and it became the talk of the town. . . .
gay quarters: Pleasure quarters or red-light district, the area where courtesans
resided.
Great Gate: The famous main (and only) entrance to the Shimabara pleasure
quarters in Kyoto.
Marutaya: The name of a house of assignation, or brothel.
sama: An honorific suffix attached to men’s names.
By now Zenkichi was well known in practically all of the country’s gay districts. But
apparently not yet in Shimabara. . . . [H]e peered into the interior of the Marutaya and
saw a number of pretty courtesans drinking sake all by themselves. Soon one of these
courtesans, Sekishu by name, emptied her cup, called her kamuro—her little girl attendant
—and instructed her: “Go out there and offer that stranger a drink or two with my
compliments.”
Zenkichi gracefully accepted the cup and drank two cupfuls, then dried the cup and
returned it, as was the custom. “Thank you,” he said.
Next he took out from the box on which he was sitting a six-stringed, ebony-necked
samisen, handed it to the girl, and said: “Please offer this to the gracious Tayu-sama with
my compliments.” Then he ordered his servant: “Sing, Detchi!”
As the servant began to sing a passage from “Rosai,” the courtesan Sekishu played the
accompaniment on the proferred samisen. The singing voice was beautiful, and so was the
accompaniment—perfectly matched, in fact. All the lesser courtesans inside the Marutaya,
impressed by the whole proceeding, praised Sekishu for her discovery. The upshot was
that Zenkichi was invited by them to go inside. The women all but pawed him with
affectionate attention and canceled their engagements with other patrons so as to spend the
day with him. . . .
Yonosuke, looking on silently, felt chagrined by the fact that even second-rate
courtesans had failed to notice him. He told himself, . . . “I am not the sort to dally with
women by playing up to them, no matter what happens. Some day I’ll make women come
to me of their own accord, without my putting on an act. This isn’t the end by any means.”
Source: Ihara Saikaku, The Life of an Amorous Man, trans. Kengi Hamada (Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Charles E.
Tuttle, Co., 1963), 114–18.
Document 2: Excerpt from Buyô Ishi’s An Account of
Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku), 1816
In the affluent world of pleasure, the architectural grandeur of the brothels and pavilions
and the splendor of bedchambers have become matchlessly luxurious. The parlor doors
are painted in gold, silver, and rich colors; the decorative alcoves and shelves are built
with imported rare woods, such as rosewood, ebony and Bombay blackwood. The
hanging scrolls of calligraphy and painting and vessels for incense and flowers are rare
objects from China and Japan. The richest gold brocade, satin damask, velvet, Chinese
heavy silk weave, and twilled wool are used for the courtesans’ clothes and bedding.
Their hair ornaments are made of exquisitely crafty materials such as priceless
tortoiseshell, coral, amber, gold, and silver. The opulence of the courtesans’ life is
unprecedented. This is the place where wealthy libertines of the world spare no expense,
and where extravagance is the soul of business. But these prostitutes have no stable homes
and their lot is no better than in olden times. Their fate is floating and sinking, their bodies
shamed by men. In today’s world, characterized by inhumanity and insincerity, their
relationships lack kindness. . . .
brocade: A heavy woven fabric with a raised design.
damask: A reversible figured fabric.
libertine: A person without most moral restraints.
Prostitutes are not to be despised. Rather, more despicable are the proprietors, known
as bôhachi. Lacking humanity, they act against the ways of heaven and counter to human
principles. They behave like animals and are to be detested by society. First, they
purchase and usurp other people’s beloved children for a mere pittance, imprison them
like birds, then work them to exhaustion, forcing them to seduce young men. The bôhachi
ignore the grief they cause to parents who are forced to disinherit their sons. They do not
care if husbands divorce their wives and part with their children. They do not shy away
from swindling, stealing, and grand larceny. They accept as clients priests, untouchables,
and beggars. They welcome robbers and murderers as well, showering all of them with
flattery—then ruthlessly robbing them of everything. . . . Bôhachi wear luxurious clothes
and carry expensive paraphernalia. Leaving the running of their business to their wives
and concubines, they devote themselves to the theater or sumo matches. With their
servants in tow, they go in palanquins sightseeing, picnicking, to shrines and
temples. . . . Free to do as they please and having all the time in the world, with their
cronies they band together to enjoy parties of wine and food. They gamble on go and
chess, betting with gold and silver. They indulge themselves by building fine villas and
retreats to keep their best courtesans for themselves. . . . Unlike the undernourished
populace, they have sanguine complexions and appear fat and healthy. Arrogant in their
splendid apparel, they squander money like pebbles. Wherever they go, it is obvious to
anyone that they are brothel keepers.
Source: Buyô Ishi, “Seji kenmonroku.” Quoted in Cecilia Segawa Seigle, Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the
Japanese Courtesan (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1993), 207–8.
Aftermath
The reputation of the protagonist, Yonosuke, does in fact grow, as he had boasted it would.
Later in the story, he is able to secure an appointment with the popular tayû Takao, a popular
courtesan of the highest rank (he had been told by the proprietor of Takao’s house [Owariya]
that her services were already reserved for the next five months). Actually, Saikaku does much
to deflate the notion of the tayû as an idealized figure, by detailing embarrassing or vulgar
habits (one, for example, had the habit of breaking wind) or a greedy nature. With the
publication of this, Saikaku’s first novel, his popularity and readership increased quickly, and
by the time of his death, he had established a name as one of the most popular writers of his
time—a reputation that held for the duration of the Tokugawa period.
Shimabara, the Kyoto pleasure quarters, lost a lot of its luster in the Meiji period (1868–
1912), as much of the nighttime business drifted north to the Gion district. All that exists today
as a reminder of the once-flourishing quarters is the Great Gate and one of the brothels, the
Sumiya.
Ask Yourself
1. How did Japanese during the Tokugawa period feel about prostitution and sex in general?
In particular, how do the attitudes of the two male authors compare? How might religion
have affected their attitudes?
2. Why do you think the Yoshiwara and Shimabara were enclosed communities? Similarly,
why was the Yoshiwara located (after the great Meireki Fire of 1657) outside the city
boundary, in former rice-paddy fields north of Asakusa, itself in the northern part of Edo?
3. Why was the Tokugawa government involved in the regulation of prostitution? During the
years that spanned the Edo period (1603–1868), how did political authorities in different
parts of the world, including the United States, England, or France, regulate prostitution? Is
the Japanese case different, and if so, why? How about today?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using some of the sources listed below (particularly the books by Seigle and Swinton),
research the image and reality of life for Japanese courtesans of the Tokugawa period. To
what extent did the images create an idealized image of life? To what extent is it possible
to see evidence in the prints of a less than glamorous life?
• Using the print sources below, explore the relationship between the courtesans of the Edo
period and the geisha of modern times.
• Compare the Hollywood film Memoirs of a Geisha and one of the autobiographies listed
below. To what extent is the film an accurate representation of the life of a geisha?
Further Information
Downer, Lesley. Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha. New York: Broadway, 2002.
Masuda, Sayo. Autobiography of a Geisha. Translated by G. G. Rowley. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press,
1993.
Swinton, Elizabeth de Sabato. The Women of the Pleasure Quarter: Japanese Paintings and Prints of the Floating World.
New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1995.
Film
The Life of Oharu. Directed by Mizoguchi Kenji, 1952. 148 min. It is based on various stories from Ihara Saikaku’s The Life
of an Amorous Woman (1686).
Memoirs of a Geisha. Directed by Rob Marshall, 2005. 145 min. Based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden.
Special Features disc; part of two-disc Special Edition with informational bonus features.
Web Sites
“Art
of
the
Pleasure
Quarters
and
the
Ukiyo-e
Style.”
Metropolitan
Museum
of
Art.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/plea/hd_plea.htm (accessed October 15, 2010).
Johansson, Hans Olof. “A Guide to the Ukiyo-e Sites of the Internet,” Last modified September 1, 2007. http://www.ukiyoe.se/guide.html (accessed September 23, 2011). A list of outstanding sites that contain online collections of Japanese
woodblock prints or essays about them.
“Sumiya.” http://www16.ocn.ne.jp/~sumiyaho/page/english.html (accessed October 15, 2010). This is the official web page of
Sumiya, the former ageya in Kyoto’s Shimabara district. It was declared a National Treasure by the Japanese government
in 1952.
“Tokugawa Japan: Ukiyo: The Pleasure Quarters” (online video). Asian Topics: An Online Resource for Asian History and
Culture, Columbia University. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at/tokugawa/tj14.html (accessed October 15, 2010).
“Yoshiwara” (Old Tokyo). Mori Corporation. http://www.oldtokyo.com/yoshiwara.html (accessed October 16, 2010).
Photographs of the Yoshiwara district from the early twentieth century.
The Floating World (ukiyo)
Originally a term that expressed the Buddhist notion of the transience of life, ukiyo took
on an entirely different meaning during the Edo period. Eliminating the pessimism
inherent in the term, ukiyo was turned on its head: the transitory nature of life meant that it
should be enjoyed to the fullest. The writer Asai Ryôi (d. 1691) popularized this new
slant on the term in his 1661 book, Ukiyo monogatari (Tales of the Floating World) in
which the author encouraged the pursuit of pleasure, like a gourd bobbing along the
stream of life. An important focus of the “floating world” culture was the pleasure
quarters, with its brothels, teahouses, and kabuki theaters that were patronized by
increasing numbers of merchants and artisans. Woodblock prints (ukiyo-e, literally
“pictures of the floating world”), which often depicted courtesans, kabuki actors, and
sumo wrestlers, and “tales of the floating world” (ukiyozôshi) captured and popularized
this new, pleasure-seeking culture. The floating world culture also arose in other major
cities, such as Osaka and Kyoto.
Source: James A. Michener, The Floating World (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1983).
37
A Hero for the Masses
The Kabuki Play Sukeroku: Flower of Edo (1713)
Introduction
Both kabuki and bunraku (puppet) theaters flourished in Tokugawa Japan, and Sukeroku:
Flower of Edo is one of the most important plays in the kabuki repertoire. First performed in
1713, Sukeroku was written for the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô II, who played the title role. It is
the work of the townsman writers Tsuuchi Jihei II and Tsuuchi Hanemon, the latter of whom
was the chief playwright of the Yamamura Theater in Edo. The performance is a grand
spectacle, with a cast of over 80 actors, and can last two to three hours, depending on the
version of the play being performed. It features a long entrance dance of the lead character
down the hanamichi, a raised platform that runs left of center, from the back of the theater
through the audience to the stage. The play was also remarkable in that the music in it—
shamisen music and singing—was performed by amateur musicians of merchant status who
competed for the chance to perform on the kabuki stage. The excerpts below are from the first
of two scenes.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Stage or acting directions are in italic font, below.
2. Sukeroku is a townsman, or commoner, while Ikyû is a samurai. Ikyû has come to possess
Sukeroku’s sword, and Sukeroku eventually figures out that it is Ikyû who has it. Ikyû
knows that Sukeroku is looking for his sword and so endures all the insults that Sukeroku
throws his way in order not to have to draw his sword and thus reveal that he is in
possession of it.
3. However, Sukeroku actually has a double identity. It is revealed in the play that he is the
famous real-life warrior Soga Gorô (1174–1193), in disguise. Gorô and his brother Jûrô
sought revenge on their father’s killer, who possessed the famous sword Tomokirimaru.
Edo audiences understood the connections between the past and present in the play.
(Remember that commoners were not usually permitted to possess long swords.)
4. Agemaki is a courtesan of the Yoshiwara pleasure district and Sukeroku’s love interest.
Ikyû is infatuated with her.
5. A mie is a pose struck by an actor, who freezes for a moment to heighten the intensity of
emotion of a particular scene. In a mie an actor’s eyes are opened as wide as possible.
After the pose is struck, audience members may shout out words of praise or the actor’s
name. The practice of mie is often attributed to the actor Ichikawa Danjurô I during the
Genroku period (1688–1704).
6. Kabuki actors, like the actors of the Shakespearean theater, were all male. Male actors
who played female roles were referred to as onnagata.
7. Tobacco was imported to Japan by the Portuguese in the late sixteenth century and quickly
gained popularity across the country, with both men and women. A Japanese pipe, or
kiseru, consisted of a metal mouthpiece and bowl, while the long shaft was made of
bamboo. The tobacco, which was shredded fine, went into a bowl that was much smaller
than Western-style pipes.
Document. Excerpts from the Kabuki Play Sukeroku:
Flower of Edo
AGEMAKI:
. . . I have been waiting for you.
IKYU
[sneering]:
Ehh? Me! You wait, you mean, for Sukeroku! [Poses.]
...
SHIRATAMA:
. . . [To AGEMAKI.] Dear Agemaki, let me as a friend gently ask—meet with Lord Ikyû. His
generosity is legend in the quarter. How can his words offend? If you do not wish to sleep with him,
deign at least to meet and drink in private.
AGEMAKI
[with haughty
superiority]:
Indeed. Not that I deign not to meet privately, Lord Ikyû, but . . .
IKYU
[face
ugly with rage]:
. . . but in truth, you wait for Sukeroku!
AGEMAKI
[feigning
disinterest]:
Sukeroku, you say?
IKYU:
Do you think I do not know the one you see is Sukeroku?
AGEMAKI:
I meet whom I please.
IKYU:
Take care, whore. I have the money to meet you when I please. [Strongly, drawing out his words.]
I hate this Sukeroku! [Speaking front, contemptuously.] You know, whores, don’t you, this
Sukeroku is a petty thief?
AGEMAKI
[poses
in
surprise]:
Ehh?
IKYU:
Watch him when he fights, if you can call it a fight the way his hand slides round the other fellow’s
hip searching out his wallet. A pickpocket is what he is. Tell me, Agemaki, how long will a great
courtesan relish the company of a vagabond?
AGEMAKI
[sadly,
to
herself]:
Truly, he does not bring happiness. And yet for all that, Sukeroku . . .
IKYU
[sneering]:
. . . charms you?
AGEMAKI
He is my charmed fate.
[poses,
serenely]:
IKYU
[bursting
angrily]:
out
You are bewitched by the devil, you mean! Will you keep him as your lover, Agemaki, until you’ve
been stripped naked? It will be piteous to see!
AGEMAKI:
You may say I jilt wealthy patrons to meet my lover. You may say I am a fool. But to say my
Sukeroku is a thief, Ikyû, is insupportable!
[She glances haughtily at him and poses.]
...
[SUKEROKU swaggers onto the main stage. One-handed he snaps open the umbrella and,
with a flourish, flicks it over his head. He thrusts his left fist through his kimono breast, and
poses in a vigorous mie. The audience applauds and shouts. . . . He preens. The
COURTESANS flutter about him.]
...
SUKEROKU
[expansively]:
Move over girls, make way for a man.
[COURTESANS sweep past him, piling both upturned hands full of pipes, ad-libbing “Here,
Sukeroku,” “Take mine, Sukeroku,” “No, take mine.” . . . ]
...
IKYU
[ominously]:
Whores: I’ll have one of your pipes.
FIRST
COURTESAN
[sweetly]:
We should like to, noble Ikyû . . .
SECOND
. . . except our pipes . . .
COURTESAN:
ALL:
. . . are gone.
IKYU [reacts]:
Your pipes are gone?
THIRD
Indeed, they all have been taken.
COURTESAN:
IKYU
[ominously]:
All? Taken, by . . . ?
SUKEROKU
[brusquely, not
looking]:
. . . by me. . . .
brusquely: Abruptly.
stripped naked: I.e., willing to sell the clothes off her back.
Source: James R. Brandon, Kabuki: Five Classic Plays (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press,
1975), 60–61, 64–65.
Aftermath
At the end of the play, Sukeroku gets his sword back and with it kills Ikyû. In some
versions of the play, the story ends there. In others, Sukeroku escapes from the police
constables who are searching for him by leaping into a huge vat of water, knocking the bottom
out of a bucket that he places over his head so that he could not be seen. This must have caused
quite a sensation in the audience at the time with the water that cascaded onto the stage.
Sukeroku has been performed by every generation of the hereditary stage family Ichikawa
Danjurô since its opening in 1713. It has remained, to this day, one of the most important plays
in the kabuki repertoire and is still a favorite of Japanese audiences.
Ask Yourself
1. According to the status hierarchy, how should Sukeroku have behaved when he encountered
Ikyû? What does he do instead?
2. What do you think accounts for the enduring popularity of Sukeroku? Why do you think it
would have appealed to an audience largely consisting of townspeople? What, if any,
lessons might a townsperson have drawn from the play? (Or was it simply escapist
entertainment?)
3. In principle, Agemaki could not have declined to have had sex with Ikyû, as long as he
could afford to pay, but why does he not press his case further? (He is a samurai, after all.)
Why is it important to him that Agemaki agree to sleep with him?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Do an Internet search for kabuki prints, particularly those depicting Ichikawa Danjurô.
How would you describe the costumes and makeup? Do an Internet search for images of
Darth Maul, from Star Wars. What do you notice?
• Compare the aragoto (rough) style and the wagoto (soft) styles of kabuki acting. Precisely
what defines each style?
• Read the entire play Sukeroku: The Flower of Edo and consider all the interactions
between townspeople and samurai characters. Then reconsider Question #2 in the “Ask
Yourself” section above.
• Make a model of an English theater during the time of Shakespeare and a kabuki theater.
What important differences and similarities can you note? (Question: What is a
hanamichi?)
• Compare the history of the English theater of Shakespeare’s time (1564–1616) with that of
the kabuki theater. What besides a common prohibition on female actors did they share?
Were there important differences? What changes did the theater in each country go through?
(Examine in particular the various stages of development that kabuki went through in the
seventeenth century.) To what extent were political authorities in each country concerned
with regulating the theater and why?
• Explore the relationship between the kabuki and bunraku (puppet) theaters. How do you
explain the popularity of each form of theater?
Further Information
Brandon, James R. Kabuki. Five Classic Plays, 50–92. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press, 1975.
Gunji, Masakatsu. “Kabuki and its Social Background.” Translated by Andrew L. Marcus. In Tokugawa Japan. The Social
and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan, edited by Chie Nakane and Ôishi Shinzaburô, 192–212. Tokyo: University
of Tokyo Press, 1990.
Leiter, Samuel L., ed. A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2002.
Shively, Donald H. “Bakufu versus Kabuki.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 18, no. 3–4 (1955): 326–56.
Thornbury, Barbara E. Sukeroku’s Double Identity: The Dramatic Structure of Edo Kabuki. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press, 1982.
Film
The Art of Kabuki. NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), 1993. VHS, 36 min.
The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: The Heart of Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku. Shin-Ei, Inc., 1989. VHS.
Web Site
“Sukeroku: The Flower of Edo Clip.” YouTube video, 5:59, posted by “CRCTheatre,” May 2, 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjWCzc9CG_k (accessed September 11, 2011). Video clip from the 1995 production of
Sukeroku: The Flower of Edo at the University of Hawai’i, performed in English.
Religion and Morality
38
Preaching to the People
A Sermon by Hosoi Heishû (1783)
Introduction
During the Twelfth Month of 1783, HOSOI HEISHÛ (1728–1801) delivered a sermon to a
gathering of 2,400 people in the Tachibanamachi area of Nagoya castle town, which was part
of the domain of Owari. In 1780, he was hired by the daimyo of Owari to head the school
where the domain’s samurai were educated. Several years later, however, economic conditions
deteriorated, with famine and resulting discontent among the peasantry. As a result, the daimyo
of Owari decided to send Hosoi out into the countryside to deliver popular sermons to the
local peasants.
Keep in Mind As You Read
1. Hosoi was a very dynamic speaker, with an evangelistic style of delivery, similar to what
you might hear on a popular religious cable television station. There are reports that
people cried during his lectures and that people presented him with offerings of money.
Hosoi spoke using colloquial language so he could be easily understood and used
examples from real life to which people could relate.
2. Hosoi was one of the most popular preachers of the eighteenth century, but he was not the
only one. The leaders of two religious movements, ISHIDA BAIGAN (1685–1744) and
NINOMIYA SONTOKU (1787–1856), also toured the countryside preaching, and in many cases
received financial support from the Tokugawa shogunate.
3. Concepts from different religious and philosophical traditions could be readily mixed in
Tokugawa Japan (just as Shinto and Buddhism coexisted peacefully for much of Japanese
history). In his preaching, Hosoi incorporated elements of the Shinto religion with the basic
moral values of the Confucian tradition.
4. Samurai were educated in the Confucian tradition in schools run by their domains. Peasants
living in the countryside might receive a basic education for a few years at a temple
school, but these public sermons can be thought of as a type of continuing education.
Document: Excerpts from a Sermon Given by Hosoi Heishû
I would like to talk to you today about the meaning of learning. Please listen carefully to
what I have to say. Learning is the perception of reason; it is through reason that we know
the difference between good and evil. We can achieve reason by studying the Classics. I
myself have come to understand reason from books and I give talks to lords on its
meanings.
The number of books in the world is staggering. All of you here, men and women
alike, whether you are warriors, artisans or merchants, are far too busy to study the
Classics on your own. . . .
I can make you understand far more easily by telling you a few stories. Learning is not
something that can be found only in books; you can find it in your daily lives as well.
Everything around you contains great teachings if you will only look for them.
Classics: Here refers to the basic texts (the canon) of the Confucian tradition.
filial: Devoted, respectful towards one’s parents and through marriage to one’s inlaws.
lords: Here refers to daimyo.
makoto: A key ethical concept in the Shinto religion, which expresses the idea of an
natural purity in nature and in man.
province: An old administrative division of the country dating back to the seventh
century CE; in some cases, such as Owari, a province consisted of just one domain.
Of all the creatures in the universe man is the most blessed. He alone is good at heart,
and his goodness come from makoto. Because of makoto man is born free from evil. An
example of makoto is the relationship between mother and child. . . .
Makoto also underlies all human relationships. . . . A feeling of good fellowship
grows up among travelers even though they have never met before. When food and shelter
are scarce, a traveler will share what he has with his fellow travelers. He will not eat
alone and let the others go hungry. This, too, is an expression of makoto.
...
When I was young, women in this province of Owari were very thrifty. When I went
to Edo after studying here in Nagoya I was astonished at the extravagance of the women
there. Now that I have returned to my home province, I find things greatly changed. Here
too, women have become overly extravagant. Their clothing is far too elaborate; they
dress like princesses. They wear fancy ornaments in their hair—and not just one but
several! . . .
There is no need for women to be extravagant in their dress. By nature, males are
better looking than females anyway. Take birds, for example. A cock has far prettier
feathers than a hen. Male birds, in general, are more beautiful than female birds, and the
same is true of humans. Men are simply better looking than women. They are born that
way and women should accept it. . . .
No one needs more than what is essential. If a plain silk outfit is sufficient for your
needs, wear it. You do not need to buy silk crepe. If cotton clothing will do, wear that.
You do not have to wear silk. If you are careful and thrifty and save as much as you can,
you will not go hungry in the future. Your old age will be peaceful and happy.
Think about the examples set by our superiors. All of us have three noble masters. The
highest is the emperor, the next is the shogun, and the third and closest to us is the lord of
this province. I know that our lord is not poor. You know that, too. He does not have to
scrimp on his spending.
But he is very careful with his money because he wants to set a good example for you.
Look at my own clothes. I go to see my lord in the very same clothes that I am wearing
now. They are made of cotton, not of silk. I know how important he considers it to set an
example of thrift for the people. He makes me feel very humble indeed, and so I wear
rough cotton clothing.
Now that you know how important your lord considers your welfare, you should not
indulge yourself by buying lots of things. I don’t believe that any one of you could be
extravagant if you consider your lord’s concern for you.
...
Another story I want to tell you is about a woman who was very filial toward her inlaws. . . . The husband . . . led the wandering life of a gambler and completely neglected
his wife and parents. . . . The young wife, by contrast, was very kind to her husband’s
parents. The colder her husband was to his parents, the more kindly the wife felt toward
them. The husband resented the close relationship that grew up between his wife and his
parents, and he became bitterly jealous. He was sullen when he was with his wife and
even threatened her with divorce if she continued to be so friendly with his parents.
The wife ignored these threats and continued to serve his parents no matter how
unreasonable her husband became. Now you may suspect the wife of courting her
husband’s family in order to inherit their property, but that was not the case. . . . One day
he came home from a gambling trip and said to her,
“I can no longer stand your behavior. I have decided to divorce you as I have always
longed to do. I am sending you back to your parents.”
The wife remained calm. She had expected something of the sort.
“It is not very difficult for me to leave you since I see very little of you in any case,
but if I leave this house, who is to care for your helpless parents? My heart aches when I
think of leaving them all alone. Please let me stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
The young wife’s eyes filled with tears.
The husband was furious. . . . “You good-for-nothing woman! I told you to go home
and that’s final. Now that I am going to divorce you, I don’t need to listen to you any
more. Get out of my sight, you wretch, and don’t you talk back to me.”
He became violent and began to beat her, and she stood the blows for a while. But
then she abruptly got up, caught him by the neck, threw him down, and dragged him to the
central pillar. She heaved the pillar up and pushed his sleeve under it. The husband was
pinned to the pillar, just like an insect in a box.
“Now you listen to me. You ordered me out of your sight,” said the wife. “If you like,
I’ll go. But before I do, you must promise to do what I ask or take your chances here.”
The husband, in a panic, promised to do whatever she wanted.
“I cannot take your word for it,” said the wife. “You must put it in writing. I will
dictate what I want you to do and you are to write down exactly what I say.”
She brought writing materials and dictated to him a pledge that he would not neglect
his filial duty to care for his parents. After obtaining his pledge, she said,
“You have written this pledge with your own hand and you must keep it. Now that I
have this document, I can go.”
With that, she lifted the center post and freed her husband. She then went to the village
headman, explained the situation to him, and gave him her husband’s written promise.
“As you know,” she said, “he is not to be trusted. He may break his pledge as soon as
I leave. If he does, please punish him as you think best. This document will justify
whatever action you take.”
With that, the wife gave the document to the village headman and left for home.
As I have said before, the woman came from a town on the Tôkaidô near Edo. She
soon started working as a maid in one of the inns along the route. One day a guest in the
inn overheard her in the kitchen telling one of the other maids about her past experience.
The guest was wealthy merchant from Kyoto on a business trip to Edo. Impressed by the
young woman’s filial piety, he wanted to know more about her.
“It is indeed unusual these days to hear a story like hers,” he said to himself, and he
asked the innkeeper where she came from.
“She is from this town,” the innkeeper replied. “Her home is not very far from this
inn.”
“I understand that she is divorced,” said the merchant. “I wonder if her parents would
consent to her marrying again.” . . . I have a son of about thirty who has never married. Of
course my wife and I would like him to marry. We have tried to arrange a match for him
several times, but he has rejected each candidate as not being good enough for him.
Actually he is thinking of us rather than of himself. He knows that it is very difficult these
days to find a girl who will be filial to her in-laws. . . .
The merchant then asked the innkeeper to go and see if the parents would allow her to
remarry and to arrange for a meeting to ask for her hand in marriage on his son’s behalf.
The innkeeper delivered the message and the parents immediately agreed to give their
daughter in marriage to the son of the wealthy merchant. In this case, too, you see that
makoto was very important. The girl’s good fortune and her happy remarriage arose from
makoto. If you have makoto and are truly filial as a result, heaven will look on you with
favor.
Source: Michiko Y. Aoki and Margaret B. Dardess, “The Popularization of Samurai Values: A Sermon by Hosoi
Heishû,” Monumenta Nipponica 31, no. 4 (Winter 1976): 393–413.
Aftermath
Large numbers of common people heard Hosoi’s sermon and were moved by it. A few days
later, Hosoi repeated it in the same town, drawing an even larger audience of 4,000 people.
Through his dynamic sermons with stories that were easily related to, Hosoi was able to
present the values of the samurai leaders who financed his work to a wide audience. In other
words, it was in part through the work of Hosoi and other itinerant preachers like him that
samurai values were popularized during the Tokugawa period.
Ask Yourself
1. What does Hosoi see as his function in preaching to the common people?
2. What are the key values that Hosoi emphasized in his sermon? Why might a daimyo hire
someone like him to preach to the peasants in villages?
3. What sense of contemporary social conditions is revealed by Hosoi’s sermon?
4. What do Hosoi’s remarks tell us about the ideal woman? Why do you think Hosoi
presented the character of the wife in the way he does? (What is the moral of the story of
the wife?)
5. How does Hosoi use the example of the daimyo of Owari in instructing his audience? What
type of relationship between lord and peasant does he describe?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• What would you include in a sermon similar to Hosoi’s that reflects the common values and
problems of today?
• Consider the issue of the spread of values from one class of people to another. Are there
examples in the history of other early modern societies where elite values became diffused
more generally among the population? (What values, and by what means were they more
widely diffused?)
Further Information
Bellah, Robert N. Tokugawa Religion: The Values of Pre-Industrial Japan. New York: Free Press, 1985.
Dore, Ronald P. Education in Tokugawa Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1965.
39
Anti-Christian Propaganda
Kirishitan monogatari (1639)
Introduction
This selection is from two sections of an anonymous chapbook, a type of pocket-sized
booklet entitled Kirishitan monogatari, or Tale of the Christians. It was written by one or
more authors in response to the appearance of European traders and missionaries who came to
Japan in the middle of the sixteenth century. The first missionary to arrive, in 1549, was the
Jesuit priest FRANCIS XAVIER, and by 1579, at least six daimyo and a total of perhaps 100,000
Japanese had been converted to Christianity. The following year (1580), the port of Nagasaki
was ceded to the Society of Jesus. Major military figures such as the Oda Nobunaga and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi also supported the efforts of the Christian missionaries, which brought
them the benefits of trade. However, while in Kyushu trying to complete the unification of the
country, Hideyoshi came to fear the expanding influence of Christianity and, in 1587, abruptly
ordered the missionaries to leave the country and reclaimed Nagasaki.
While the order to expel the missionaries was not enforced, this marked the end of an
initial period of receptivity to the missionaries. Hideyoshi grew even more concerned after the
Jesuits were joined by the Spanish Franciscans and Dominicans, which led to quarrels among
the orders. Persecution soon followed, when 26 foreign and Japanese Christians were
crucified at Nagasaki in 1597. The first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, tolerated the Christians for
the sake of trade for a time, but he too turned against them in 1614, when the missionaries were
ordered to leave the country. Most left, but some 40, including a number of Japanese priests,
remained behind to continue their work underground. More persecutions followed in 1622 and
1633.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. More than 100 anti-Christian chapbooks circulated in Japan during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries; some of them included text, like the one below, but others consisted
simply of illustrations.
2. Most anti-Christian literature in Japan contained the sentence “Japan is the Land of the
gods” to contrast the Japanese gods, or KAMI, with the foreign, Christian, God.
3. There were an estimated 300,000 converts in Japan at the height of the popularity of
Christianity, though many of these may have been forced conversions (i.e., commoners who
were forced to accept conversion just because their lord had converted).
4. By 1637, there were only five foreign missionaries at large in Japan; but that same year, the
Shimabara Rebellion took place, which the shogunate viewed as a Christian uprising. This
led directly to the expulsion of the Portuguese, which was ordered in 1638 (and enforced
as of 1639).
Document: Excerpts from Kirishitan monogatari (1639)
“[A] Southern Barbarian trading vessel came to our shores. From this ship for the first
time emerged an unnamable creature, somewhat similar in shape to a human being, but
looking rather more like a long-nosed goblin . . . Upon close interrogation it was
discovered that this was a being called Bateren.
The length of his nose was the first thing which attracted attention: it was like a conch
shell . . . attached by suction to his face. His eyes were as large as spectacles, and their
insides were yellow. His head was small. On his hands and feet he had long claws. His
height exceeded seven feet, and he was black all over; only his nose was red. . . . What he
said could not be understood at all: his voice was like the screech of an owl. One and all
rushed to see him, crowding all the roads in total lack of restraint. And all were agreed
that this apparition was even more dreadful than the fiercest of goblins could ever be. His
name was Urugan Bateren. . . .
[A] monk came up from Higo Province and presented himself at Suruga. Received
before the Council of Elders, he reported as follows: . . . “The King of South Barbary
plans to subjugate Japan. His means is the diffusion of his brand of Buddhism. To that end
he has sent a great many Bateren over here . . . Under the pretext of annual trading
vessels he ships over all sort and manner of articles to entangle Japan in his
web. . . . This is a plot to take over the country without even a battle fought with bow and
arrow. . . .
“Quickly, dispatch someone to Higo to summon forth my adversaries, so we can have
a confrontation before the August Presence. Naturally, if it proves that I have spoken but
idle lies, then please dispose of me as you wish, though I be ripped apart by oxen or
carriages. . . .” Thus spoke the former Iruman, with never a hesitation.
All this was brought to the attention of His Highness, who favored the report with
much apparent satisfaction, being heard to comment, “A loyal individual!” Orders were
transmitted to Katô Lord Higo, who thereupon had the suitor’s adversaries brought up to
court. A confrontation between the two sides now took place. The Kiritshitans made a
confession in all particulars, and it was determined that they had, in fact, been steeped in
the plot to take over the country. From that point on His Highness grew to hate them
deeply and had their temples destroyed. And he gave strict notice as follows: “Those
among the followers of this religion who choose to fall away upon this occasion shall
remain further unmolested; but should there be any who persist, they shall meet with
immediate chastisement.”
bateren: I.e, padre, or priest of the Catholic church.
capital: I.e., Miyako, or Kyoto.
choose to fall away: To apostasize, or to renounce one’s religious faith.
Council of Elders: I.e., Senior Councilors (rôju), a small group of top officials in
the shogunate.
Genna Period: Era name covering the years 1624–1644.
Higo Province: A province in the central part of Kyushu in what is now Kumamoto
prefecture; during the period of this document, there was a major concentration of
Christians in the area.
His Highness: The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who ruled from 1623 to 1651.
Iruman: Japanese for the Portuguese word irmao, or brother, a title given to a
Catholic monk.
Katô Lord Higo: Katô Kiyomasa (1562–1611), daimyo of Higo domain.
King of South Barbary: Most likely refers to the king of Spain, who controlled
Portugal from 1581 to 1641.
Kirishitan: Christian.
Southern barbarian (nanban): Japanese term for the Spanish and Portuguese.
Suruga: The area in central Honshu where shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu retired in 1605
to Sunpu castle.
Source: Anonymous, “Kirishitan monogatari,” in Deus Destroyed: The Image of Christianity in Early Modern
Japan, by George Elison (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), 321–56.
Aftermath
Still fearing the presence of Japanese Christians, the shogunate and the domain
governments launched a religious registration system (see Section 40) and pursued an
ideological campaign through anti-Christian propaganda such as the Kirishitan monogatari.
Christians who were uncovered were required to renounce their faith, were tortured until they
renounced it or died witnessing the faith. In total, it is believed that as many as 3,000 Japanese
and 71 Europeans were martyred between the years 1614 and 1643. Christianity was
eradicated as an open religious movement, and with that its political, economic, and religious
influence on Japan became extremely limited. Some Japanese, however, did continue to
practice a version of Christianity under cover and are known as “hidden Christians” (see
“Hidden Christians”). As a result of the persecutions, foreign priests stopped trying to reenter
Japan. The last to do so was the Italian priest Giovanni Sidotti, who was captured in 1708 and
held for six years in prison, where he died of starvation.
Ask Yourself
1. How was the Catholic priest described in this story?
2. Why was this type of literature necessary when the foreign priests had already been
expelled from Japan?
3. According to the story, why did the foreign priests come to Japan?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Consider how European missionaries were depicted in Japan. Using the web sites listed
below, examine the images and compare them to the description offered in the story. Do the
priests look like goblins? (A Japanese term for goblin is tengu. Do a Google image search
for “tengu” and again compare the images with the description in the story.)
• Consider how European missionaries were depicted in other parts of the world. Locate and
compare these with the Japanese images. What similarities or differences are there in the
way various non-European peoples depicted the Christian missionaries?
• Using the Internet, explore the relationship between the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638)
and the expulsion of the Portuguese in 1639.
“Hidden Christians” (kakure kirishitan)
Government authorities tried to root out the Japanese Christians who remained under
cover. In 1657, 608 Christians were discovered in Ômura, in Kyushu, a stronghold of
Christianity. Of this group, 411 refused to recant and were beheaded, 78 died in prison,
and 20 others were sentenced to life in prison. After the middle of the seventeenth
century, Japanese authorities seemed to have stopped trying to find more Japanese
Christians, as long as they remained under cover. Secrecy thus became a type of defense
used by both the Christians as well as the government officials. Hidden Christians prayed
in silence and disguised their religious objects of worship. For example, statues of Christ
and the Virgin Mary were often disguised as the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy (Kannon),
who was also often depicted with a child.
When Japan’s seclusion ended in the middle of the nineteenth century, a small number
of priests reentered the country, in 1859, and soon discovered that there were as many as
60,000 Hidden Christians who, together with their predecessors, had been practicing
their faith in secret for more than two centuries. Anti-Christian laws were still in effect,
however, and many of them were jailed or sent in exile to other parts of the country. Only
in 1873 did the new Meiji government withdraw penalties against Christians. During the
two centuries that Christianity was prohibited, the faith practiced by the Hidden
Christians went through a process of indigenization, or adaptation to local faiths, and
became an eclectic mix of Christian, Buddhist, Shinto, and folk beliefs. As a result, even
after Christianity was legalized, some Hidden Christians rejected Catholicism, preferring
to continue to practice their established faith.
Further Information
Boxer, Charles Ralph. The Christian Century in Japan, 1549–1650. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
Cooper, Michael, ed. They Came to Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
Shusaku Endo. Silence. Translated by William Johnston. New York: Taplinger, 1980. Historical fiction by an acclaimed
Japanese writer.
Web Sites
Folding
Screens
depicting
the
arrival
in
Japan
Nanban
[Southern
Barbarians]:
http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/publication/rekihaku/122witness.html (accessed September 24, 2011).
Geocities site on the Nanban Screens. http://www.geocities.jp/yamada_1817/renaissance/japan_beau/
nanban_byobu/nanban1.html (accessed July 1, 2011). The site is in Japanese, but double click on any of the hot links on the
right hand side of the page to view a variety of images.
“Southern Barbarians.” http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/sma/collections/1.html (accessed July 1, 2011). Suntory Art
Museum page on Nanban screens.
40
Controlling the Populace
Registers of Religious Affiliation (1804)
Introduction
Following the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) and the issuing of the order expelling the
Portuguese (1638), the Tokugawa shogunate issued laws that established the investigation of
religious sets (shûmon aratame chô). This made Christianity illegal—thus helping to bring to
an end the so-called “Christian Century” (1549–1650) in Japan—and required each Japanese
to present to local officials proof of affiliation (membership) in a Buddhist temple. Initially,
sect affiliation investigations were conducted and the registers were compiled only in the
quarter of the country under the direct control of the Tokugawa; but in 1665, the shogunate
ordered all daimyo to comply as well.
The registers were created every year by officials in towns and villages, where the people
were also required to tread on Christian religious images to show that they were not Christians
(see “Fumie”). Two copies of the register were made: the original went to the lord (or the
shogunate, in the case of land directly held by the Tokugawa) while a duplicate remained in the
locality. Any changes that occurred before the next register was created were recorded in the
previous year’s register, usually with red ink or with paper slips that were pasted over the
entry being updated.
Keep in Mind As You Read
1. The Registers of Religious Affiliation were preceded by population surveys that were
conducted irregularly in various domains throughout the country in the early seventeenth
century. After 1671, the two surveys were combined into a single system.
2. Even though the last organized resistance by Christians at Shimabara (1637–1638) took
place almost 30 years prior to the shogunate’s order, there were still reports of Christians
under cover or Christians acting as if they were Buddhists.
3. Not all domains complied or compiled the registers in the manner in which the shogunate
did in its directly held territory. Since Tokugawa Japan was not a centralized state (nor a
totally decentralized one either), this is not surprising. Large domains like Satsuma and
Tosa were able to resist the Tokugawa’s demands in some ways.
4. The seal referred to in the document acted as the equivalent of a signature in Europe or the
United States.
5. In the actual document, household members are listed in columns, from right to left. To
accommodate the English language and for the ease of the reader, the entries are listed here
in horizontal form and the order has been altered to top-down.
6. The unit of record in the register is the household, not the family (see the notation at the
top: one household). Accordingly, married children of the househead and servants were
also listed, whenever present (though not in this particular household).
7. According to the traditional method of calculating age in Japan (and in China and Korea), a
child is considered one year old at birth and becomes a year older on New Year’s Day.
Therefore, a child born on the last day of the year would be two years old on the second
day of his or her life!
Document: Example of a Household Entry Listed in the
Register of Religious Affiliation from Niremata Village,
Mino Province (1804)
1. Household—(belonging to) this village, (which has an) assessment of 1,196 koku
(5,978 bushels rice).
Higashi Honganji sect, Keishôji temple parishioner
bushels: A koku of rice is roughly equivalent to five bushels.
Higashi Honganji: Part of the Pure Land Buddhist sect (also known as Shin
Buddhism, or Jôdô shinshû).
in service: Working away from home.
Peasant, Matakichi, [age] 59 (SEAL)
Wife, [age] 54: this is the younger sister of Yôhachi of this village; married 29 years
ago
Total: 2 residents: males, 1; females, 1
Others:
One person: Daughter, Mitsu, [age] 28—this person is in Owari province at Nagoya
in service
One person: Son, Shinemon, [age] 27—this person has been adopted by Shinzaemon
of this village
One person: Daughter, Tami, [age] 20—this person is in Owari province at Nagoya in
service
Source: Adapted from L. L. Cornell and Akira Hayami, “The shûmon aratame chô: Japan’s Population Registers.”
Journal of Family History 11, no. 4 (1986): 317.
Aftermath
The Registers of Religious Affiliation may have been useful to the daimyo, who were
required every six years, beginning in 1721, to report to the shogunate on the population living
in their domains. However, since there was no need to keep old records for more than a few
years, the records were often recycled or sold as scrap. As a result, very few long, perfect
series of records exist for any location in Japan. Nevertheless, the documentation that does
exist has provided historical demographers with valuable information about the Tokugawa
period.
This household register, seen in isolation, raises difficult questions. For example, Why is
no heir listed, as was common? And, related to this, why was the only son given out to
adoption? One possible scenario is that there was a second son who died after the previous
register. Another possibility is that the household listed in this register is a branch family of
another household and was obligated to provide it with an heir, if needed, with the expectation
that one of the daughters would later bring in a husband (in other words, that a man would be
adopted as a husband for a daughter).
Ask Yourself
1. Why do you think the shogunate waited so long after 1614 to order the daimyo to compile
population registers? What benefit might the shogunate have perceived in carrying out the
registration even after the real threat of Christianity was gone?
2. What kinds of information are contained in the registers? To what use might these various
pieces of information be to a ruler or to local officials?
3. How are the different members of the household listed? (By what name or designation? in
what order? How are the husband and wife listed?) What does this tell us about hierarchy
and gender relations? Why do you think the document was marked with Matakichi’s seal?
4. Two of the daughters left the household at least temporarily to work in Nagoya. What kind
of a place was Nagoya? Why do you think they left Niramata for Nagoya?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Compare the parish register system in Europe, particularly in England, with the temple
affiliation system in Japan. What types of information were collected in each country and to
what purposes was that information put? What does this tell us about the government in
each place?
Fumie (“Trampling Pictures”)
With the prohibition on Christianity, the shogunate and domains, in 1629, began to
institute a practice of making everyone trample on Christian religious pictures (known as
fumie, or “trampling pictures”) once a year; in some places this occurred on New Year’s
Day and in conjunction with the annual religious affiliation registers. Typically, the
images were of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a crucifix, and were made out of stone, but
some were woodblock prints. Very few fumie exist today, but you can view a few
examples on the web sites listed below.
Since the foot is the most unclean part of the body, it was believed that Christians
would not step on their religious images. People who refused to step on the images, or
who revealed reluctance to do so, were identified as Christians and sent to Nagasaki,
where they were pressured to renounce their faith. Those who refused to do so were
tortured until they either abandoned their faith or died. Some were put to death in the
boiling waters in the area of the Unzen volcano in Kyushu. The practice was halted in
1856 in ports that were opened to foreigners, but the suppression of Christianity
continued until 1873, after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Interestingly, in Gulliver’s Travels (Part III), the main character stops in Japan briefly
but is able to avoid having to step on a fumie.
Sources:
To see an image of fumie: http://www.pref.iwate.jp/~hp0910/korenaani/h/014.html.
To
see
woodblock
prints
of
Japanese
men
stepping
on
fumie:
http://mahoroba.lib.narawu.ac.jp/kakezu/kakezumaf/kakezum12.html and http://www1.odn.ne.jp/uracathe/kamitabi03.jpg (all three sites
accessed September 24, 2011).
Further Information
Elison, George. Deus Destroyed: The Image of Christianity in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1973.
Hayami, Akira. “Thank You Francisco Xavier: An Essay in the Use of Micro-Data for Historical Demography of Tokugawa
Japan.” Keio Economic Survey 16, no. 1–2 (1976): 65–81.
Hur, Nam-lin. Death and the Social Order in Tokugawa Japan: Buddhism, Anti-Christianity, and the Danka System.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2007.
Paramore, Kiri. Ideology and Christianity in Japan. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Smith, Thomas C. Nakahara: Family Farming and Population in a Japanese Village, 1717–1830. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press, 1977.
41
Religious Views of the Japanese
Sir Rutherford Alcock’s The Capital of the Tycoon (1863)
Introduction
The first British government minister in Japan, RUTHERFORD ALCOCK (1809–1897) was
appointed consul general and arrived in Edo in 1859. The document below is drawn from the
two-volume account of his experiences in Japan from 1859 to 1862, which he wrote in 1863
upon his return to London. Alcock served in Japan at a politically unstable time after the
opening of Japan to diplomatic and trade relations through the treaties of 1854 and 1858. He
suffered the murder of his translator and an attack upon the British legation by samurai from
Mito domain. He survived unharmed physically but, shortly after the attacks, took a leave to
return home to London, where he wrote his account. Capital of the Tycoon covered much more
than just the contemporary political situation. Alcock was keenly interested in observing and
trying to understand Japanese society, as the following excerpts on religion reveal.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. “Tycoon” refers to the shogun—during the period covered by Alcock’s account, it was
Tokugawa Iemochi (reigned 1859–1866), the next-to-last shogun; it is the Anglicization of
the Japanese term taikun (“Great Lord”), a diplomatic title used to designate the shogun in
relations with foreign countries.
2. Ise shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu (the kami or goddess of the sun), arguably is the most
important place of worship in the Shinto religion. It consists of two main shrines: the Inner
Shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu; and the Outer Shrine, dedicated to Toyouke, the deity of
agriculture.
3. The “Thirty-three Kannon temples” refers to a pilgrimage circuit to a set of 33 temples in
central Japan devoted to Kannon (Guanyin, in Chinese), a bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be)
associated with compassion. Ideally, pilgrims would visit and pray at all 33 as an act of
faith.
4. By ofarrai, Alcock means an ofuda or omamori, a religious amulet or charm that was
offered for sale at modest prices at shrines and temples. It was meant to protect a person or
household from general harm (e.g., disease) or a more specific harm (e.g., accidental fire).
They also offer support for personal benefits. Today, high school students often buy them
for success in college applications.
5. “Luther” refers to Martin Luther (1483–1546), the German theologian who began the
Protestant Reformation. He strongly protested against the belief that one could be freed
from God’s punishment of sin through the purchase of indulgences. Alcock is incorrect in
equating ofarrai (ofuda) and Christian indulgences (see above).
6. Amida is the Buddha of Everlasting Light, the religious figure around which Pure Land, or
Amida, Buddhism was oriented. Pure Land Buddhism developed out of Mahayana
Buddhism in India, was introduced to Japan through China and Korea, and became popular
in Japan from the Kamakura period (1185–1333). It was believed that anyone who called
on the name of the Amida Buddha with sincere faith would be granted by Amida an eternal
life of happiness in the Pure Land, i.e., the Western paradise.
7. Alcock is also incorrect in referring to “Lin and Cami or Buddhist temples.” Kami are
Shinto deities. By “Lin,” he probably mean in or jiin, namely Buddhist temples.
Document: Excerpts from Sir Rutherford Alcock, The
Capital of the Tycoon, vol. 2, on the Religious Views of the
Japanese
[R]eligion in any form does not enter very largely into the life of the people; and . . . the
higher and the educated classes are all more or less skeptical and indifferent. The strange
mode in which their religious ceremonies and temples are made to amalgamate with, and
subserve their popular amusements, is one of the evidences on which my convictions rest.
Plays are performed in their temple gardens, which also contain shooting galleries,
bazaars, tea-houses, flower-shows, menageries of wild beasts and exhibitors of models
like those of Madame Tussaud in Baker Street [in London]. Such a medley can scarcely
consist with any reverential feeling or serious religious convictions.
amalgamate: Combine or join together.
distempers: Illness.
elysium: Heaven.
kami: Shinto deity.
ofarrai: I.e., ofuda, a religious charm.
subserve: To serve to promote.
votaries: Devoted follower.
That the Japanese should nevertheless be very much addicted to pilgrimages with
professedly religious objects may be taken, on the other hand, as an evidence that, among
the lower orders at least, there is a religious sentiment of some vitality. There are
pilgrimages to Isje [Ise], to the thirty-three Quanquon [Kannon] temples—pilgrimages to
some of the most eminent Lin and Cami [kami] or Buddhist temples, celebrated for
miracles wrought there and the benefits conferred on pilgrims, which, no doubt, is a
powerful motive with the votaries, giving the hope of participating in their turn. A true
and orthodox disciple of Sinto [Shinto] visits only those of his own gods, . . . On the other
hand, both Buddhist and Sintoists seem to go the Quanquon temples as a means to obtain
happiness in this world, and bliss in that to come. In reference to the Sintoists there seems
to be a strong analogy in the laws of purity and purifying observances enjoined by their
creed with those of the Mosaic dispensation, while their priests give to the pilgrims an
ofarrai in a small oblong box, which is an absolution and remission of their sins—
whether preceded by a confession or not I cannot say—sometimes it is wrapped in white
paper in “order to remind the pilgrim to be pure and humble, these two virtues being the
most pleasing to the gods.” . . . And even for the benefit of those who cannot make the
pilgrimage, large numbers of ofarrai are sent throughout the country, for disposal like the
indulgences that excited Luther’s indignation. . . .
Making vows in times of trouble or distress, building temples as tokens of gratitude,
and gifts to the poor, are not uncommon in Japan. There are several religious orders,
hermits, and holy men who dedicate themselves to a life of prayer and solitude for the
mortification of the flesh; nor are there wanting counter-types of the mendicant friars of
Europe. Many of these seem to deal in charms and incantations for the cure of
distempers, discovery of criminals, etc. . . .
Engrafted on the Shinto or original religion of the Japan, (which had the one great
merit, at least, of not being idolatrous,) are the two derived from China—Confucianism,
Chinese in origin, and Buddhism, which found its way across Asia from India . . . Some
contend that they accept the doctrine of futurity and the immortality of the soul, with more
or less clearness of conception, but for both men and animals. They are also supposed to
believe in a place of happiness after death to which the good pass, and some place of
punishment for the bad—the first, a sort of Mahommedan paradise with various grades or
degrees of beatitude. Amida is the sovereign commander of these heavenly regions, and
through his sole mediation men obtain absolution of their sins, and their portion of
happiness hereafter. Leading a virtuous life and keeping the commandments of Siaka
[Shakyamuni, i.e., the historical Buddha] are said to be the only way to become agreeable
unto Amida, and worthy of eternal happiness, and the commandments are five:
1. Not to kill anything that hath life. 2. Not to steal. 3. Not to commit fornication. 4.
Not to lie (there can be no true Buddhism in Japan). 5. Not to drink intoxicating liquors
(especially unobserved).
As there is an elysium with various degrees of bliss, so is there a place of torment,
also varying in degrees of punishment, but not eternal. These may be greatly diminished
by the virtuous life of their friends and relatives, their prayers, and above all their
offerings to the great and good Amida.
Source: Sir Rutherford Alcock, The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a Three-Years’ Residence in Japan, vol. 2
(London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1863), 303–5.
Aftermath
Rutherford Alcock returned to his post in Japan in 1864, after having completed his The
Capital of the Tycoon. He found the political situation still quite unstable, and arranged for the
allied (British, American, French, and Dutch) bombardment of shore batteries off Chôshû that
had been used to attack Western ships in the Straits of Shimonoseki, between Honshu and
Kyushu islands. He was recalled to London later in 1864, due to differences with the British
foreign secretary.
Ask Yourself
1. What are Alcock’s views on the religious nature of the Japanese? How objective do you
think he was? To what extent do his Christian values influence his assessment of religion in
Japan?
2. What specific comparisons does the author make between religion in Japan and in Europe?
Are these comparisons useful? Why or why not?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• The author described Confucianism as a religion. Using the print sources below, investigate
to what extent this characterization is useful or not.
• Examine the historic relationship between Shinto and Buddhism in Japan. To what extent
was Buddhism, as Alcock wrote, grafted onto Shinto?
• Consider the relationship between religion and recreation. To what extent are they mutually
exclusive in any society? Use the suggested readings below on pilgrimage as a window
onto this issue.
Further Information
Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen. A New History of Shinto. Chichester; and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Davis, Winston. “Pilgrimage and World Renewal: A Study of Religion and Social Values in Tokugawa Japan.” Part I, History of
Religions 23, no. 2 (1983): 97–116; Part II, History of Religions 23, no. 3 (1984): 197–221.
Earnhart, Byron H. Religions of Japan: Many Traditions within One Sacred Way. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984.
Foard, James H. “The Boundaries of Compassion: Buddhism and National Tradition in Japanese Pilgrimage.” Journal of Asian
Studies, 41, no. 2 (1982): 231–51.
Nenzi, Laura, and Shinno Toshikazu. “Journeys, Pilgrimages, Excursions: Religious Travels in the Early Modern Period.”
Monumenta Nipponica 57, no. 4 (2002): 447–71.
Watanabe, Yasutada. Shinto Art: Ise and Izumo Shrines. Translated by Robert Ricketts. New York: Weatherhill/Heibonsha,
1974.
Film
Preaching from Pictures: A Japanese Mandala. Produced, designed, and edited by David W. Plath; directed by Murayama
Masami; written by Kuroda Hideo, David W. Plath, and Ronald P. Toby. Champaign, IL: Asian Educational Media Service,
2006. DVD, 37 min.
Religious Experience. Directed by Ken Rockefeller; written by Robert J. Allen; produced by Robert J. Allen. Lincoln,
Nebraska: GPN, 1976. 2 VHS, each 30 min. Nos. 13 and 14 in series Japan, the Living Tradition.
42
The Teachings of Zen Buddhism
Suzuki Shôsan’s Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge, 1648) and Hakuin
Ekaku’s Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures
on the Records of Sokkô, 1740)
Introduction
During the Tokugawa period, institutional Buddhism was closely regulated by the state, and
the shogunate used it and its network of temples to eradicate Christianity (see Section 40).
Neo-Confucianism gradually became an official state ideology, but Buddhism did not lose a
central place in Tokugawa culture, as evidenced by the increasing popularity of pilgrimage
among a growing segment of the population (see Sections 31 and 32). Also, ZEN BUDDHISM
experienced a revival during this time; a tradition of Zen painting by monks–amateur painters
flourished; and, a number of dynamic religious thinkers emerged, such as the two whose works
are presented below.
SUZUKI SHÔSAN (1579–1655) was one of the more dramatic personalities in the history of
Zen Buddhism. He was a samurai who served under the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and
fought at both the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and in the two campaigns that comprised the
Battle of Osaka (1614–1615). Not many years later, in 1621, he renounced his ties to his lord
and became a monk, at the age of 41, and developed a unique approach to Zen. Document 1
consists of excerpts from a collection of his talks, recorded by his disciple Echû, that were
published under the title Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge).
Much of the credit for the Tokugawa-period revival of Zen Buddhism must go to HAKUIN
EKAKU (1685–1768), a monk from a small rural Zen temple called Shôinji whose wisdom and
religious insight gained him hundreds of students. Later becoming abbot of the temple where he
was ordained, Hakuin traveled widely throughout the country, lecturing at temples on a wide
variety of Buddhist subjects. One of his most important contributions was his emphasis on
extensive meditation on paradoxical questions known as kôan, which was meant to lead to a
great awakening, or enlightenment. Not only did he systematize kôan practice, but he even
wrote one of the best-known examples: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” Also a
prolific writer, the text that is excerpted as Document 2 is part of an introductory talk, Sokkôroku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkô), that
Hakuin gave to students at the beginning of a large meeting at his home temple in 1740; Sokkô
was the Japanese form of the Chinese name of a great Song-dynasty Chinese Zen master,
Xigeng.
Keep in Mind as You Read
1. Shôsan did not acknowledge any Zen master and, in rather unorthodox fashion, ordained
himself. Staying outside of both main traditions of Zen (the Sôtô and Rinzai schools), he
taught his own method of zazen, or seated meditation, known as Niô Zen (Niô are the fierce
guardian deities found on either side of a Buddhist temple’s main gate).
2. Fudô means “kings of light or wisdom” and refers to the third rank in the Buddhist
pantheon of deities: the first two being Buddhas (Japanese: nyorai) and bodhisattvas
(Japanese: bosatsu), enlightened beings who, out of compassion, forego nirvana to save
others. They were usually depicted in Buddhist art as fierce creatures, with hair aflame and
weapons in hand, who try to save human beings resistant to Buddhist teachings.
3. Shôsan believed in the superiority of Buddhism over Confucianism, and wrote his first
pamphlet, Môanjô (A Staff for the Blind) in 1619 to convince his fellow samurai of that
viewpoint. In it he argues that Buddhism, rather than Confucianism, should serve as a moral
guide in Japan.
4. Shôsan believed that everyone, including himself, was a beginner in terms of Buddhist
practice and that achieving enlightenment would require numerous lifetimes of spiritual
practice. Hakuin similarly believed that religious training was a lifelong process and
argued for the necessity for continued practice even after an experience of enlightenment.
Document 1: Excerpts from Suzuki Shôsan’s Roankyô
(Donkey-Saddle Bridge) (1648)
The Master said, “To practice the Buddha Dharma, you should model yourselves after
Buddhist images. But beginners should not focus on the image of the Tathagata (Nyorai),
for they are not yet able to do Tathagata zazen. They should simply focus on the Niô and
Fudô and do Niô zazen. Initially think of the Niô as the entrance to the Buddha Dharma
and of the Fudô as the first of the Buddhas. That’s why the Niô stand at the gate and Fudô
is the first of the thirteen Buddhas. If you don’t acquire this vital energy, you’ll succumb to
delusion. You need only apply yourself single-mindedly with a strong spirit. But
nowadays the Buddha Dharmas has declined, and there aren’t any good methods. No one
makes use of his vital energy. There are only dead people. In the Buddha Way, however, it
is the living who make use of their vital energy. Unaware of this, some become gentle,
pious, and withdrawn, thinking that this is the Buddha Dharma. Others walk around
deranged, their noses in the air, entertaining the meaningless notion that they are
enlightened. I know nothing about either piety or enlightenment. Twenty-four hours a day
with my buoyant mind I am engaged in conquering all things. Having acquired this
unwavering energy of the Niô and Fudô, all of you should practice so you will overcome
the deluded thoughts arising from bad karma.”
Then the Master opened his eyes widely, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and said:
“When you guard yourself firmly and confidently, no one will be able to impose anything
upon you. With this one daring, vital energy, your practice will be complete. You need
nothing else. If you let your guard down, whatever the practice, it won’t work. Firmly fix
your gaze and practice zazen.”
Dharma: The Buddhist teachings.
Master: Here refers to Suzuki Shôsan.
the Tathagata: Another name for the Buddha.
zazen: Seated meditation.
...
One day, after a funeral, the Master said in astonishment: “People think that only
others will die. They forget that sooner or later they will, too. They carry on without so
much as a thought that death could possibly happen to them. Then they’re shocked when it
comes upon them unexpectedly. How foolish!”
...
One day the Master instructed a certain samurai: “From the beginning, it’s best to do
zazen in the midst of strife and confusion. A samurai, in particularly, must be able to do
zazen while uttering his battle cry. Guns are firing, lances are flying, and amidst the
confusion, you send up a battle cry. It’s here that you can clearly make good use of your
practice. What use can you have for the sort of zazen that needs a quiet place? However
appealing the Buddha Dharma may be, the samurai should throw out anything he can’t use
when the moment for his battle cry arrives. So he never needs anything but the mind of the
Niô. Other than this mind of the Niô, none of the myriad things is of any use to beginners.”
Source: Arthur Braverman, ed. and trans., Warrior of Zen. The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shôsan, with
an Introduction by Arthur Braverman (New York, Tokyo, and London: Kodansha International, 1994), 27–29, 31.
Document 2: Excerpts from Hakuin Ekaku’s Sokkô-roku
Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on
the Records of Sokkô, 1740)
The Difficulty of Repaying the Debt to the Buddhas and the Patriarchs
Buddha means “one who is awakened.” Once you have awakened, your own mind
itself is Buddha. By seeking outside yourself for a Buddha invested with form, you set
yourself forward as a foolish, misguided man. It is like a person who wants to catch a
fish. He must start by looking in the water, because fish live in water and are not found
apart from it. If a person wants to find Buddha, he must look into his own mind, because it
is there, and nowhere else, that Buddha exists.
Question: “In that case, what can I do to become awakened to my own mind?”
What is that which asks such a question? Is it your mind? Is it your original nature? Is
it some kind of spirit or demon? Is it inside you? Outside you? Is it somewhere
intermediate Is it blue, yellow, red, or white?
It is something you must investigate and clarify for yourself. You must investigate it
whether you are standing or sitting, speaking or silent when you are eating your rice or
drinking your tea. You must keep at it with total, single-minded devotion. And never,
whatever you do, look in sutras or in commentaries for an answer, or seek it in the words
you hear a teacher speak.
When all the effort you can muster has been exhausted and you have reached a total
impasse, and you are like the cat at the rathole, like the mother hen warming her egg, it
will suddenly come and you will break free. The phoenix will get through the golden net.
The crane will fly clear of the cage. . . .
[A] priest of former times, Gaofeng Yuanmiao, said, “A person who commits himself
to the practice of Zen must be equipped with three essentials. A great root of faith. A great
ball of doubt. A great tenacity of purpose. Lacking any one of them, he is like a tripod
with only two legs.”
By “great root of faith” is meant the belief that each and every person has an essential
self-nature he can see into, and the belief in a principle by which this self-nature can be
fully penetrated. Even though you attain this belief, you cannot break through and penetrate
to total awakening unless feelings of fundamental doubt arise as you work on the difficultto-pass koans. And even if these doubts build up, and crystallize, and you yourself
become a “great doubting mass,” you will be unable to break that doubting mass apart
unless you constantly bore into those koans with a great, burning tenacity of purpose. . . .
What you must do is to concentrate single-mindedly on bringing all your native
potential into play. The practice of Zen is like making a fire by friction. The essential
thing as you rub wood against stone is to apply continuous, all-out effort.
Source: Norman Waddell, trans., The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin (Boston and London: Shambhala,
1994), 61–62.
Aftermath
Shôsan’s goals were to conquer all fear of death and to revive Buddhism in Japan by
convincing the Tokugawa leaders to issue a government decree declaring Buddhism the
religion of the people. He felt that a decree was necessary for Buddhism to flourish. He
appears to have been successful in achieving his first goal but failed in the second. Still,
through the great efforts of religious figures such as Shôsan and Hakuin, Zen was revitalized.
Hakuin’s teachings were particularly important in this regard and laid the basis for a method of
Zen training that has allowed his Rinzai school of Zen to remain relevant even today.
Ask Yourself
1. What does Shôsan say about the role of Niô in Zen meditative practice? Why do you think
this practice might have appealed to samurai?
2. What are Hakuin’s views about the role of the individual in finding enlightenment?
3. What does Hakuin say about when to meditate and how does this compare with Shôsan’s
views? What does Hakuin not find helpful in working towards spiritual awakening?
Topics and Activities to Consider
• Using the web site on Japanese Buddhist Statuary listed below (use the “Who’s Who,
What’s What” guide to classifying Buddhist deities), print out images and construct a chart
of the first three tiers of the pantheon of Buddhist deities: Buddhas (Japanese: nyorai);
bodhisattvas (Japanese: bosatsu); and wisdom kings (myôô), such as Fudô.
Further Information
Addiss, Stephen, with Stanley Lombardo and Judith Roitman. Zen Sourcebook: Traditional Documents from China, Korea,
and Japan. With an introduction by Paula Arai. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2008.
Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Buddhism: A History. Vol. 2: Japan. Translated by James W. Heisig and Paul Knitter. Bloomington,
IN: World Wisdom, 2005.
Film
Principles and Practices of Zen. Written and directed by Toshimaro Ama. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities, 1992.
VHS, 100 min.
Web Sites
“Buddhism.” Internet Sacred Text Archive. http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/index.htm (accessed November 20, 2010).
Ciolek, T. Matthew. “Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library.” Dr. T. Matthew Ciolek, copyright.
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Zen.html (accessed November 20, 2010).
“A Day in the Life of a Zen Monk—Empty Mind Films.” YouTube video, 4:54, posted by emptymindfilms, July 8, 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pllQ_-ZxEA&feature=fvw (accessed November 21, 2010).
Schumacher,
Mark.
“Japanese
Buddhist
Statuary:
A
to
Z
Photo
Dictionary.”
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml (accessed November 20, 2010).
Appendix 1
Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in Text
Listed here are brief biographies of the authors of documents reproduced in this volume as well as of individuals mentioned in
connection with those documents. The first mentions of any of these individuals in any section are highlighted in small capitals as
cross-references. Japanese names are listed in East Asian name order, namely family name (surname) first.
Aizawa Seishisai (Yasushi) (1782–1863): A samurai and scholar of the Mito School, a nationalist school of Confucian study,
Aizawa served Tokugawa Nariaki, the influential daimyo of Mito domain. He was an important player in his domain’s
efforts to reform government and helped to establish a domain school, the Kôdôkan. Aizawa was involved in the compilation
of the Dai Nihon shi (Great History of Japan), a major historical project, but is best known for his 1825 work Shinron
(New Theses), which decades later became an important work for those involved in the sonnô jôi movement (“Revere the
Emperor, Expel the Barbarian”).
Alcock, Rutherford (1809–1897): A surgeon by training, Alcock decided to enlist in the diplomatic corps in 1844, and was
appointed consul in southern China, at Fuzhou, one of the ports opened to Western trade in the Treaty of Nanjing between
Britain and China. He also served in Shanghai, before being transferred to Japan, where he served as Consul General from
1859 to 1864 and the first British diplomatic official to reside there. He was also the first non-Japanese to climb Mount Fuji
in 1860. However, in the unsettled political climate in Japan at the time, the British legation was subject to attack by a group
of samurai from Mito domain; Alcock’s translator earlier had been killed at the gate of the legation. As a result, in 1862, he
requested leave to return to London, where he wrote his famous account of his three-year stay in Japan, The Capital of the
Tycoon, his best-known book. He did return to Japan in 1864, and played a role in arranging for a punitive expedition of
allied ships to bombard Chôshû domains coastal batteries that had fired on Western ships. He was recalled to London later
the same year due to differences with the Foreign Secretary Lord Russell, but was assigned again to service in China,
where he remained from 1865 to 1869.
Caron, Francois (1600–1673): A French Huguenot who was born in Brussels and later immigrated to the Netherlands, Caron
served the Dutch East India Company (VOC) for over 30 years. He remained in Japan for more than 20 of them, from
1619 to 1641, rising through the ranks to become the head of the Factory, from 1639 to 1641. He became proficient in
Japanese, serving as interpreter for one of the VOC missions to Edo, and married a Japanese woman, with whom he had
six children. When his contract with the company expired in 1641, he left Japan but took on other assignments from the
VOC in other parts of Asia. During the last six years of his life he served as the first director-general of the French East
India Company. His book, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636), is one of the earliest
European accounts of Japan.
Chamberlain, Basil Hall (1850–1935): A British scholar, Chamberlain was one of the leading experts on Japan in the
Western world during the late nineteenth century. He lived in Japan from 1873 to 1911 and held several academic positions,
most notably professor at Tokyo Imperial University. Among the earliest scholars of the Ainu, and the first translator of the
ancient text Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), the oldest written chronicle in Japanese history, Chamberlain is perhaps
best remembered for his encyclopedic work, Things Japanese (1890), and The Invention of a New Religion (1912), the
latter being a study of the emperor system.
Chikamatsu Shigenori (1695–1778): Shigenori was a samurai who served as a page to the daimyo of Owari, and had a
promising career ahead of him when his lord died. The lord’s brother and successor demoted Shigenori in order to advance
his own favorites. With more time on his hands, Shigenori studied military science and became an authority on the subject,
publishing widely. At the same time he took up the study of the tea ceremony with great interest. This led to his compilation
of the work, which is excerpted in this volume.
Cocks, Richard (1566–1624): Cocks served as the manager for the British East India Company during its decade-long period
of operation in Japan, 1613–1623. A trading post was established at Hirado (part of present-day Nagasaki prefecture),
where the Dutch East India Company had also opened a factory. Cocks made two visits to Edo and was granted an
audience with the shogun Hidetada during the first one, in 1616. The operation was not successful and was shut down by
the East India Company in 1623, but the diaries Cocks kept are in invaluable source of information about the British effort in
Japan and the political situation there in the early seventeenth century. Cocks died at sea on his way home to England.
Danzaemon: The name of the 13 people who served as the hereditary head of the two outcaste groups in Tokugawa Japan, the
eta and hinin. Danzaemon, like a daimyo, extracted taxes, tribute and labor from the thousands of households under his
supervision; he also received a residence and a substantial income of 3,000 koku of rice a year from the shogunate. From at
least the eighteenth century, he also maintained a monopoly on the sale of candle and lamp wicks in the Kanto region. Like a
daimyo, he was allowed the privilege of riding in a palanquin on official business, the right to wear certain kinds of formal
clothing, and the right to wear the long and short swords.
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901): Fukuzawa became one of the leading intellectuals of the early Meiji period and its foremost
expert on the West. He began life, though, as the younger son of an impoverished samurai family from Nakatsu domain.
Fukuzawa began studying Dutch from the age of 14, and after Commodore Perry’s ships arrived in Japan in 1853,
Fukuzawa continued those studies in Nagasaki, Edo, and for a longer period in Osaka. Later appointed an official Dutch
scholar of his domain, Fukuzawa obtained a position as an official translator for the Tokugawa shogunate and traveled to the
United States as part of its diplomatic mission in 1860 and then to Europe in 1862. A prolific writer, he used his experiences
abroad to author a best-selling 10-volume series, Conditions in the West (1867–70), but also wrote widely on a variety of
subjects such as the position of women and the nature of education. A school which he founded for the study of the West
continues to operate today as Keio University, a leading private institution in Japan.
Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1768): Hakuin followed the monastic life from the age of 15, becoming a monk at a local Zen temple in
a rural area of Suruga province (Shizuoka) near Mount Fuji. After a period of travel to study with various Zen masters, he
returned to his local temple as its abbot and gained a fame that spread across the country, drawing hundreds of followers to
become his disciples. He reformed Zen practice by emphasizing the importance of meditating upon paradoxical questions
known as kôan in order to achieve the insight that would lead to awakening (or enlightenment). Hakuin not only
systematized kôan practice, but went beyond the classic examples of past Chinese masters to create one the best-known
kôan: “Tell me the sound of one hand clapping.” He criticized teachers who called only for meditation in stillness, arguing
that one could meditate while carrying out routine daily activities and that enlightenment could come about at an unexpected
moment. A prolific writer, he continued to travel around the country throughout his life, delivering lectures on Buddhist
themes. In his 60s, he also produced ink paintings and calligraphy as expressions of his enlightenment.
Hall, Francis (1822–1902): Hall traveled to Japan in 1859, shortly after Japan and the United States established trade
relations as part of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1858), as a correspondent on assignment for the New York
Tribune. During his stay in Japan, from 1859 to 1866, he authored more than 70 articles for his newspaper, becoming the
leading source of information in the United States on Japan during this time. He also took advantage of the business
opportunities available in a country newly opened to Western commerce; he cofounded the firm Walsh, Hall & Company,
which became the leading American trading house in Japan, and returned home to the United States a wealthy man.
Hayashi Razan (1583–1657): Hayashi was an important Neo-Confucian scholar early in the Tokugawa period. As adviser to
the shogunate, and as an historian and educator, he promoted the Zhu Xi school of Neo-Confucianism, which became the
teaching favored by the Tokugawa. He served the shogunate over the course of a long career and played an important part
in the drafting of the “Laws for the Military Houses” (1635) as well as in diplomacy with Korea, devising the title Nihonkoku-taikun—or taikun for short—for the shogun’s use in his diplomatic dealings with that country. After his death, the
position of shogunal Confucian adviser became hereditary in his family. His family’s academy became the official shogunal
college, the Shôheikô, with the official adoption of Zhu Xi Confucianism as the official government ideology in 1790.
Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka (dates unknown): Little is known about Hinatsu, a member of the samurai status group,
other than that he was the eldest son of Hinatsu Yoshitada (d. 1688), a grandmaster of the naginata, a type of halberd, and
lived a long life, dying at the age of 72. For some reason he did not succeed his father, whose gravestone inscription tells us
that Shigetaka was heir to the family but left his native Sasayama, where he was serving the local daimyo, to take up
residence in Edo, where he lived and died. While it is unusual that we know so little about him, Hinatsu wrote a number of
books on the martial arts, and his Honchô Bugei Shôden enjoyed wide circulation.
Hiroshige (full name Andô Hiroshige) (1797–1858): A print designer, illustrator, and painter, Hiroshige is best known for
his woodblock landscapes. He traveled from Edo to Kyoto and back in 1832 and afterwards produced his most famous
series of prints, the Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô (Tôkaidô gojûsantsugi). During his illustrious career, he produced
thousands of prints, and these greatly influenced a number of Western artists in the late nineteenth century. In addition to his
landscape themes, he produced many other types of prints, such as portraits of actors and beautiful women, views of the
city of Edo, and designs of birds and flowers.
Hosoi Heishû (1728–1801): One of the most popular, and famous, preachers in eighteenth-century Japan, Hosoi was born
the son of a wealthy peasant in a village called Hirashima, in the domain of Owari. His family had engaged in both farming
and fighting before status lines were drawn at the end of the sixteenth century. After the family’s overlord lost his position,
the head of the Hosoi family decided to remain in farming full time. As a mark of their former position, however, the Hosoi
family was apparently allowed by the domain authorities to retain use of their family name (surname). His father sent
Heishû to the cities of Nagoya and Kyoto, where he studied with Confucian scholars before becoming one himself. A
dynamic speaker, he gained the attention of the daimyo of Yonezawa and then Owari, who successively employed him to
tutor their samurai retainers and also to travel around the countryside and preach to the peasantry.
Ihara Saikaku (1642–93): This was the pen name of Hirayama Tôgo, one of the most popular and prolific writers of the late
seventeenth century (see Genroku period). From a wealthy Osaka townsman family, Saikaku began as a poet but gained
fame as a novelist and writer of short stories. His first novel, Life of an Amorous Man (1682), detailed the exploits of a
young man who traveled around the country visiting the pleasure quarters in various urban centers. In general, he wrote
about townsmen, their leisure pursuits, experiences in the pleasure quarters, and business concerns, but a number of his
stories were also about the samurai.
Ishida Baigan (1685–1744): Baigan founded the religious movement known as Shingaku (“Heart Learning”), many of whose
preachers toured around the country and were supported financially by the Tokugawa shogunate. His teachings were
greatly influenced by Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shinto. He preached about the “heart” and “knowing the nature”;
in other words, by overcoming selfishness one could discover one’s “true heart” or true nature.
Ishin Sûden (1569–1633): A Zen monk of the Rinzai sect, Ishin served as adviser to the first three Tokugawa shoguns. He
played an important role in diplomatic affairs, in negotiations with the Ming Chinese court over the issue of reestablishing
formal state-to-state relations, and in organizing and receiving official Korean embassies to Japan. He was also instrumental
in the drafting of the Regulations for the Military Houses of 1615, which he read to the assembled daimyo at Fushimi castle,
the Regulations for the Imperial House and the Nobility, and the 1614 edict banning Christianity.
Mitford, Algernon B. (1837–1916): A British diplomat and writer, Mitford served in St. Petersburg and in Peking before
moving to a position in Japan as second secretary in the British Legation. He remained in Japan from 1866 to 1870, a
tumultuous period during which the Tokugawa shogunate fell and the new Meiji government came to power. The following
year, he wrote Tales of Old Japan (1871), the book that first made a number of Japanese historical tales, such as the story
of the 47 ronin, widely known in the West. In 1906, long after Mitford resigned from the diplomatic service, he accompanied
Prince Arthur on a visit to Japan to present Emperor Meiji with an honor from the British monarch, the Order of the Garter.
In Tokyo he was able to witness a recreation of a daimyo procession, which the Japanese staged to entertain their foreign
guests.
Ninomiya Sontoku (1787–1856): Known as the “peasant sage of Japan,” Ninomiya was an agricultural philosopher and
technologist. He traveled around the country spreading both practical and moral teachings, the latter of which urged
peasants to produce more and to pay their taxes. Due to this message that reaffirmed the political system, Ninomiya and his
followers received official support from the Tokugawa shogunate. Ninomiya was heralded as a paragon of virtue in prewar
textbooks, and his statue became a familiar sight in elementary schools.
Rodrigues, Joao (1562–1633): Just 14 years old when he sailed from Portugal, Rodrigues, in 1577, traveled from Macao to
Japan, where he joined the Society of Jesus as a novice. He gained great fluency in Japanese, and contemporaneous reports
often referred to him as “the Interpreter”; as a result, he was able to meet important Japanese political leaders, including
Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. He, together with other
missionaries, was expelled from Japan in 1610 in retaliation for an incident in Nagasaki involving the crew of a Portuguese
ship that had killed some Japanese sailors while in Macao. The character of Martin Alvito in James Clavell’s book Shôgun,
and the miniseries that was adapted from it, is loosely based on the historical Rodrigues. His several books are an important
source of information about Japan during the period in which the Christian missionaries were there.
Shikitei Sanba (1776–1822): This was the pen name of Kikuchi Taisuke, the Edo-born and bred (the proverbial “son of Edo”
or Edokko) writer of popular fiction, known as gesaku (“playful compositions”). More specifically, he wrote in genre of
comic fiction known as kokkeibon (“comic” or “funny books”), the most famous example of which is his Bathhouse of the
Floating World (1809–1813). A productive writer who authored more than 100 works, Sanba used other genres as well,
particularly kibyôshi or “yellow cover,” a type of illustrated fiction. He followed up the success of Bathhouse with
Barbershop of the Floating World (1813–1814). His humorous literature was much influenced by rakugo, a comic
theatrical form of storytelling.
Shin (Sin) Yu–han (b. 1681): Although he was the son of a concubine, and therefore not technically eligible to sit for the civil
service exams nor eligible for government service, Shin sat for and passed the highest level of civil service examinations and
gained an official post. He served as the secretary and official diarist for the government embassy from Choson Korea to
Tokugawa Japan in 1719, authoring an account entitled Haeyurok (Record of a Journey across the Sea). He was also a
skilled poet.
Suzuki Shôsan (1579–1655): Coming from an old samurai family, Shôsan fought alongside his father and second-eldest
brother on Tokugawa Ieyasu’s side at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and then, in 1614–1615, in both campaigns in the
Battle of Osaka. Renouncing his status as a samurai by taking the tonsure in 1621, a step that could have led to his being
forced to commit ritual suicide, Shôsan traveled widely around the country training at various Zen temples. He sought to
conquer the fear of death through an idiosyncratic form of seated meditation and sought to have the Tokugawa regime adopt
what he termed “true Buddhism.” Although he was successful in achieving his first goal he was unsuccessful in the second.
Nonetheless, he continued teaching and writing, authoring a number of texts such as Ninin bikuni (Two Nuns, 1664), Ha
Kirishitan (Christianity Refuted, 1642), and Banmin Tokuyû (Right Practice for All, 1661).
Tadano Makuzu (1763–1825): Born the daughter of a physician in the employ of the daimyo of Sendai domain, Makuzu grew
up in Edo in a bustling household visited by the many disciples and intellectual friends of her father. As a teenager, she
entered the service of the daughter of the Sendai lord until she returned home to her parents at the age of 25. After her first
husband died, she remarried another retainer from Sendai and moved to Sendai, where she took care of her husband’s three
sons from an earlier marriage and had a comfortable material existence, although she rarely saw her husband, who was
almost continuously posted in Edo. During roughly the last 20 years of her life, she took to writing a variety of literary forms,
including essays, travelogues, reminiscences, and poetry.
Tani Tannai (Mashio, 1729–1797): Tannai came from one of the three top scholarly families in the domain of Tosa. Like his
grandfather Jinzan and his father Kakimori, Tannai was an outstanding figure in the cultural history of Tosa during the
Tokugawa period. The Tani family was well known for its wide scholarship, such as Shinto studies, astronomy, the study of
ceremonies and customs, and poetry, but Tannai’s reputation rested particularly on his literary abilities. His poetic skills were
recognized in a number of contemporary works. When Tosa domain established an official school for its retainers in 1759,
he was appointed one of its four professors. He frequently accompanied the daimyo of Tosa on his biennial trip to Edo,
where he served as a Confucian lecturer to the lord or to his heir.
Terakado Seiken (1796–1868): A satirist, poet, illustrator, and student of Confucianism and Chinese classics, Terakado is
best known for his account of bustling life in the shogun’s capital early in the nineteenth century, Edo hanjôki (Tales of
Edo Prosperity, 1832–1836). The book quickly found an audience, but then was banned for its criticism of the Tokugawa
shogunate. Terakada himself was forced into temporary exile—that is, to leave Edo—during the period of the shogunate’s
Tenpô Reforms (1841–1843).
Thunberg, Carl Peter (1743–1828): A student of Carolus Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, Thunberg was able to
obtain a position as physician for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He spent 19 months in Japan, where he collected a
large number of Japanese botanical specimens. These scientific activities in Japan resulted in the 1784 publication of Flora
Japonica (Flora in Japan), a book that established his reputation. He also published a four-volume account of his travels,
the third volume, published in 1791, on Japan. Several years after his return to Sweden, in 1779, he succeeded to the
coveted chair of his professor, Linnaeus.
Tokugawa Hidetada (1579–1632): The son of, and successor to, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hidetada assumed formal power as
shogun in 1605, but he remained clearly subordinate to his father until the latter’s death in 1616. It is said that because of
having arrived too late to help at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Ieyasu did not have much confidence in his son. Perhaps
as a result of this, Hidetada was delegated to a secondary role in the Battle of Osaka in 1615. Following Ieyasu’s death,
Hidetada took important steps to strengthen Tokugawa power through controls on the imperial institution. Hidetada married
his daughter Kazuko to Emperor Go-Mizunoo, thus becoming the grandfather of the reigning emperor; the daughter she bore
became Empress Meishô (r. 1629–1643). He married his other daughter, Senhime, to Toyotomi Hideyori, but this did not
stop Hideyori from opposing the Tokugawa in the Battle of Osaka in 1615. Following his father’s strategy to establish a
dynasty, he stepped down in favor of his son Iemitsu in 1623, but retained substantial power until his death in 1632. During
this period, the shogunate adopted a number of anti-Christian measures, including the execution of 55 Japanese and foreign
believers in Nagasaki in 1628.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616): The third and greatest of the three unifiers, Ieyasu established a dynasty of 15 shoguns that
ruled over Japan from 1603 to 1868. The son of a petty warlord from Mikawa province in central Japan, Ieyasu spent much
of his childhood as a political hostage of the Oda and then Imagawa families, a common practice of the sixteenth century.
Later taking control of his father’s territory, Ieyasu allied himself with Oda Nobunaga and then with his successor,
Hideyoshi. After 1590, Hideyoshi granted Ieyasu a vast new domain in the east, where Ieyasu selected the small fishing
town of Edo (now Tokyo) as his headquarters. In 1600, Ieyasu led an army of roughly 100,000 men against an alliance of
vassals formerly aligned with Hideyoshi and easily won a victory at the Battle of Sekigahara. Three years later, Ieyasu’s
position was strong enough that he assumed the ancient title of sei-i-taishogun (barbarian-quelling general), marking the
beginning of the Tokugawa dynasty. He stepped down in favor of his son Hidetada in 1605, but remained in control as the
retired shogun (ôgosho) until his death in 1616.
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1649–1709): was the fifth shogun, ruling from 1680 to 1709. He was the fourth son of Tokugawa
Iemitsu, the third shogun (1604–1651), and served as the daimyo of Tatebayashi domain before succeeding his elder brother,
Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641–1680), who died prematurely. Tsunayoshi came to power after a power struggle in which one of
Ietsuna’s top advisers suggested that the succession not pass to a Tokugawa but rather to one of the sons of the emperor, as
occurred during the Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333). A rival adviser to Ietsuna pushed for Tsunayoshi, as the former
shogun’s brother, and Tsunayoshi’s appointment was secured in 1681. Tsunayoshi’s rule largely overlapped with the Genroku
period, which was characterized by extravagance and the flourishing of the arts. During this time, the German doctor
Englebert Kaempfer traveled to Edo in service with the Dutch East India Company and was able to witness, and later
record in writing, his account of the Company’s audience with the shogun. It was also during his reign that the Lord Asano
Naganori of Akô domain attempted to kill Kira Yoshinaka in Edo Castle, leading to the revenge of the 47 rônin (the Akô
Incident) in 1702. Tsunayoshi was criticized for his “Edicts on Compassion for Living Things,” which were aimed at creating
a more humane society, particularly because they were strictly enforced with severe penalties. In particular, the laws
directed at the protection of dogs led to his being known pejoratively as “the dog shogun” (inu kubô).
Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751): The eighth shogun, Yoshimune was born the third son of the daimyo of Wakayama, a
branch of the Tokugawa family, and became daimyo when his two elder brothers died. In 1716, the main branch of the
Tokugawa family came to an end with the death of the child shogun Ietsugu, who died without heir. Yoshimune was chosen
as successor at the age of 32, and the branch families both he and his son Ieshige founded provided the shogunal successors
for the remainder of the Tokugawa period. A hands-on ruler, Yoshimune actively promoted a reform movement, the Kyôhô
Reforms, which attempted to restore the financial solvency of the shogunate, largely by encouraging frugality, by improving
samurai morale, and by encouraging a revival of martial activities to redress what he saw as an imbalance between bun
(scholarly learning) and bu (martial skills).
Tokugawa Yoshinobu: Yoshinobu became the 15th and final shogun in 1867, at the mature age of 30. The son of the influential
Tokugawa Nariaki, the daimyo of Mito domain, he succeeded to the position through his adoption into a branch family of the
Tokugawa in line for shogunal succession. He came to power at a tumultuous time following Japan’s opening to the West
and demonstrated considerable skill in attempting to reform the shogunate. However, civil war broke out and in the face of
the opposition of a coalition of four domains, led by Satsuma and Chôshû, Yoshinobu decided to resign his position and
“restore” power to the emperor to avoid a protracted war. In doing so, he was expecting the court to place him to lead some
new form of government, perhaps a council of daimyo. He retired to the Tokugawa family homeland in Sunpu, where he
lived a quiet life and pursued his hobby of photography.
Toyotomi Hideyori (1593–1615): The son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified the country, and his consort Yodogimi,
Hideyori, was his father’s chosen successor but, because of his young age, Hideyoshi made plans to place him under the
case of a council of “Five Great Elders,” which included Tokugawa Ieyasu, in the case of his death. After Hideyoshi’s death
(1598), the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), and Tokugawa Ieyasu’s appointment as shogun (1603), Hideyori found himself
increasingly isolated in Osaka castle. Armed conflict finally broke—the Winter and Summer Osaka campaigns—and
Hideyori and his followers met their deaths in 1615 at the hands of a large force led by Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son and
successor, the shogun Hidetada.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598): The second of the three so-called unifiers of Japan, Hideyoshi came from rather humble
origins and rose in power to complete the task of national reunification begun by Nobunaga. The son of a footsoldier in the
employ of Oda Nobunaga’s father, Hideyoshi rose through the ranks and later served Nobunaga as a general; in 1582,
Hideyoshi hunted down and killed Akechi Mitsuhide, who had betrayed Nobunaga, and assumed Nobunaga’s mantle of
leadership. After a series of successful military campaigns, Hideyoshi reunified the country in 1590, becoming its military
leader (although he never assumed the title of shogun). Under Hideyoshi’s rule, the persecution of Christianity began, with
edicts denouncing the religion, prohibiting the forced conversion, and ordering (but not enforcing) the expulsion of Jesuit
missionaries. Hideyoshi carried out his famous sword hunt in 1588, which together with the increasingly common
requirement that military men be barracked in castle towns, helped to accelerate the general process by which warriors
were functionally and physically separated from the peasantry. These processes did much to bring stability to the land. Late
in life, Hideyoshi launched two ill-planned invasions of Korea, the second of which ended with his death in 1598.
Xavier, Francis (1506–52): A Spanish Catholic priest and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits), his
missionary activity took him to India and many places in southeast Asia before he arrived in Japan in 1549 with two
companions, six years after the first Portuguese traders. He had some success with the local daimyo in Yamaguchi, where
he was able to reside and to preach. A lack of fluency in Japanese hindered his efforts, though he used the religious
paintings that he brought along to aid him. He worked for more than two years in Japan and established a base for his
successor Jesuits, who were the only Christian missionaries to work in Japan for 45 years, until members of rival religious
orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, came to Japan.
Yamaga Sokô (1622–1685): A Confucian scholar and respected leader in the field of military arts or strategy, Yamaga served
briefly as a scholar-adviser in the small domain of Akô but made a name for himself through his writings. He wrote a series
of works dealing with the “way of the warrior” (shidô) and “the teaching for warriors” (bukyô). However, around 1660, he
came under attack for challenging the widely accepted views of scholars, including his former mentor, Hayashi Razan, who
accepted Neo-Confucianism. Yamaga argued that to understand Confucius, one had to read the original, ancient texts, not
the later works of the Song period or later, which were in vogue in both China and Japan. For this in 1666, he was ordered
into exile back to Akô domain and placed in the custody of Lord Asano, daimyo of Akô domain (who would later be forced
by the shogunate to commit seppuku). He was pardoned in 1675 and returned to Edo to continue his teachings, though he
did so in a more circumspect manner.
Yamakawa Kikue (1890–1980): Descended on her mother’s side from a samurai family of Mito domain with a scholarly
bent, Yamakawa is known not only as the author of Women of the Mito Domain, but also for her various contributions to
the feminist and socialist movements in Japan beginning in the 1910s. Her political activities in advocating for the special
needs of women led her to be subjected to police surveillance, and in 1937, as Japan was heading toward full-scale war with
China, she was arrested along with many other leftist intellectuals and academics and remained in jail for a year and a half.
After her release, she continued to be banned from publishing until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.
Yasumi Roan (Keizan; active 1810–1825): An enigmatic figure, Yasumi’s life dates are not even known. He was likely a
physician, as he authored several texts related to health: Shôgai yôjinshû (Advice for a [Healthy] Life) and Yôjô banashi
(Conversations about Health).
Appendix 2
Glossary of Terms Mentioned in Text
Listed here are brief definitions of terms mentioned in connection with the documents reproduced in this volume. The first
mention of any of these terms in any section are highlighted in small capitals as cross-references.
Ainu: The Ainu are believed to be the descendants of the Emishi or Ezo people mentioned in ancient Japanese texts. Originally
a hunter-gatherer society, the Ainu during the Tokugawa period became increasingly involved in trade with Japanese settlers
in the southern part of the northern island of Ezo, as Hokkaido was known then. The shogunate granted the Lord of
Matsumae monopoly right to trade with the Ainu; but later in the period, Matsumae began leasing out those rights to
Japanese merchants. The Ainu became increasingly dependent on commodities imported by the Japanese and the native
culture suffered from the policies of cultural assimilation pursued by the Matsumae government.
Ashikaga shogunate: The second military government, or bakufu, established in Japan, founded by the warrior Ashikaga
Takauji, which lasted from 1336 to 1573. Also known as the Muromachi shogunate, as its headquarters was centered in the
Muromachi area of Kyoto.
bannermen (hatamoto): were the hereditary direct retainers of the Tokugawa shogunate and numbered about 5,000. They
served as both the core of the Tokugawa’s army and the bureaucracy of its government. In almost all cases, they were
descendants of those warriors who helped Tokugawa Ieyasu establish his authority and fought with him at the Battle of
Sekigahara in 1600. Their stipends were a minimum of 100 koku of rice, and they had the right to an audience with the
shogun (those direct retainers earning less than that amount held the position of houseman, or gokenin, and did not qualify
for a direct audience). Many bannermen served in positions in Edo while others were assigned positions outside of the
capital as intendants, the highest administrative position for a given area under direct Tokugawa control, or as guards. The
bannermen held actual fiefs, although their degree of control over them varied.
Five–Household Group (goningumi): A system of organization introduced by the shogunate, the five-household group
together with the temple registration requirement, was a mechanism of state control and thus served to preserve peace and
order in the village. Although known as the Five-Household Group, in some places the group consisted of anywhere from
three to a dozen or more households. Regardless of the local variation, the group was formed on the basis of adjoining
households and was charged with neighborhood self-policing, and all members held joint (mutual) responsibility. The groups
also evolved into organizations for local self-help and self-rule.
Genroku period (1688–1703): This technically refers to the years of the Genroku era (1688–1703, but is more generally
applied to the years of the reign of the shogun Tsunayoshi (1680–1709). The period is notable for the flowering of culture
catering to the needs and tastes of townsmen, most notably in Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo. This culture included a number of
popular literary forms (comic linked verse and haiku, booklets, ukiyo zôshi, or booklets of the floating world), kabuki and
puppet theater. Painting and woodblock prints depicting courtesans and famous actors gained popularity as well. Writers
such as Ihara Saikaku and Chikamatsu Monzaemon were active during this time.
Gokaidô: The official road network established by the shogunate, consisting of five major highways (Tôkaidô, Nakasendô,
Ôshû dôchû, Kôshû dôchû, Nikkô dôchû) and eight auxiliary roads. The road system connected 248 nodules, or post
stations. Roadside trees and road markers were established for the convenience of travelers. Also, distance markers were
set up every ri (2.44 miles), with the bridge at Nihonbashi in Edo serving as the zero point (much like in the Roman empire,
where all the great roads began at the Forum). The road network was a symbol of Tokugawa authority, as it was built at
local expense and ran through the heart of the country, infringing on the political authority (sovereignty) of the daimyo
through whose territories it often ran.
House lands (tenryô): These are the lands in the personal domain of the Tokugawa shoguns, and includes both the territory
directly administered by the shogunate as well as that which was administered by adjoining daimyo on behalf of the
shogunate. Broadly interpreted, the term includes all Tokugawa land; but more technically speaking, it does not include about
one-third of the total, that which was awarded in fief to the shogun’s senior vassals, the bannermen (hatamoto), who
administered and taxed the land themselves. At the end of the seventeenth century, the house lands produced a little more
than four million koku of rice, roughly 17 percent of the national total. From the tax from this land, about 40 percent of the
crop, the shogun paid his vassals who had no fiefs and operated the shogunate. About 15 percent of the house lands were
actually administered by neighboring daimyo; the remainder was administered by shogunal officials called intendants
(daikan or gundai).
intendant (daikan): Intendants were officials appointed to head local offices of government in daimyo lands as well as the
territory under direct Tokugawa control. In Tokugawa lands, the office formed the lowest branch of government. Appointed
from among the Tokugawa’s senior direct retainers, the bannermen, the foremost responsibility of intendants was tax
collection, but they also supervised police and legal matters, and promoted agriculture. In the early 1700s, there were
approximately 50 intendants, administering about 3.7 million koku of land. This meant that each intendant was charged with
administering roughly 70,000 koku of land, the same as a daimyo of a middle-size domain.
Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333): The first of three military governments (later known as bakufu, or “tent government”)
in Japanese history. Destroying the rival Taira family, founder Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199) established his headquarters
in the eastern coastal town of Kamakura, far from the imperial seat in Kyoto. He established his government through the
appointment of military constables or military governors to the provinces and land stewards to the private estates (known as
shôen) and to the lands administered by the imperial provincial governments. After Yorimoto’s death, real power passed to
the family of his widow, Hôjô Masako, and for the remainder of the period, the male members of her family served as
regents to figurehead Minamoto shoguns. Although the shogunate represented a new political and social force, the imperial
court still retained a significant political and economic power, not to mention its religious aura.
kami: The Japanese term for the divine in the Shinto religion, meaning the spirits or natural forces that reside not only in the
natural realm, in animals, but also in some human beings. Sometimes the word is translated as “god” or “deity,” but both
terms are problematic. Kami are usually worshipped in shrines, and that worship included purification, the offering of food
and drink, and offerings of dances and music as an expression of gratitude. The beliefs associated with Shinto predate the
introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century, and as Shinto interacted with Buddhism, it went through many significant
changes. In terms of kami, from around the tenth century, they became associated with certain Buddhist deities.
koku: A measure of volume or capacity. During the Tokugawa period, it was used mostly for rice, but sometimes also for other
dry goods and liquids. It was equivalent to 5.12 bushels (180 liters) of unhulled rice, in principle enough to feed one person
for a year. Koku was also a measure of wealth, as land productivity, land tax assessments, the wealth of daimyo, and the
stipends of samurai were calculated in terms of it.
kokudaka: Literally, “the amount of koku,” meaning the assessed tax base in terms of koku.
Meiji Restoration: One of the most monumental events in Japanese history, the Meiji Restoration is widely regarded as
marking the beginning of modern Japan. Defined narrowly, the term refers to the events surrounding the military overthrow
of the Tokugawa shogunate on January 3, 1868, by the coalition of domains, led by the southern domains of Satsuma (now
Kagoshima prefecture) and Chôshû (now Yamaguchi prefecture), who opposed the shogunate and the declaration of the
“restoration” of authority to the emperor. More broadly, it refers to the series of political and socioeconomic reforms
spanning from 1868 until the promulgation in 1889 of the Meiji Constitution, which dismembered the Tokugawa system of
government and led to the rapid development of Japan into a unified modern state.
Muromachi (or Ashikaga) shogunate (1336–1573): The second of three military governments in Japanese history.
Established by Ashikaga Takauji after his forces destroyed the Kamakura shogunate, he situated his headquarters in the
Muromachi district of Kyoto, thereby making Kyoto the site of both military and imperial governments. The new shogunate
was not as strong politically and militarily as its predecessor, but the imperial court was also weaker. The warlord Oda
Nobunaga drove the last of the Ashikaga shoguns, Yoshiaki, out of Kyoto in 1573 (although Yoshiaki did not officially resign
his position until 1588).
Neo–Confucianism: Confucianism, the original teachings attributed to Confucius and his followers, was reformulated during
the Song dynasty (960–1279) in China, reflecting the influences of Buddhism and Daoism, and became known as NeoConfucianism. Its foremost exponent was the Chinese philospher Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who gave his name to the term
—shushigaku (literally, the Zhu Xi school) by which the Japanese identified the body of teachings we refer to as NeoConfucianism. First introduced to Japan in the early Kamakura period (1185–1333), its influence was widespread during the
Tokugawa period but it did not become the official ideology of the shogunate until the late eighteenth century.
Sekigahara, Battle of: It was the decisive conflict which led to the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu to power and the establishment of
a military government (shogunate) in Edo. After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, the main daimyo split into two
major groups, one led by Ishida Mitsunari, and the other under Ieyasu. In 1600, the two forces, more than 160,000 men, met
in a narrow valley near the village of Sekigahara (in Mino Province, present-day Gifu prefecture). As a result of the battle,
Ieyasu was able to solidify political and military control over the country, although the last opposition to his new government
was not eliminated until the Battle of Osaka in 1614–1615.
Sekisho: Government checking stations (sometimes referred to as “barriers”) located at strategic points along the Tokugawa’s
official highway network, the Gokaidô, where travelers could be stopped to have their travel documentation inspected.
Particularly stringent inspection of “incoming guns and outgoing women” (iri-deppô ni de-onna) was also carried out at the
stations. The sekisho were usually part of, or adjoined, a post station by the same name. In administering the checking
station system the shogunate relied heavily on the efforts of its vassal daimyo, sending general regulations to officials at the
checking stations, but leaving the definition of day-to-day operations to the individual administrative authorities.
Senior Councilors (rôjû): Except on the rare occasion when a Great councilor (tairô) was appointed, they served as the top
administrative position in the Tokugawa shogunate. Usually four or five in number, they served the shogun in rotation, for a
month at a time, but important matters were usually dealt with in a conciliar manner. Appointees were usually men of
middle-level hereditary, vassal daimyo (fudai daimyô) status, and were responsible for most other shogunal officials through
whom they supervised the daimyo, the imperial court and nobility, the direct landholdings of the Tokugawa, foreign policy,
and religious institutions. Their counterparts in the domain governments were known as domain elders (karô).
Shimabara Uprising (1637–38): A peasant uprising against the excessive taxation of the daimyo of Shimabara domain, in
present-day Nagasaki prefecture, in western Japan, that began in late 1637 and ended four months later. The shogunate
viewed the uprising as Christian-inspired, which led it to take the final step the following year to force the Portuguese to
leave Japan and to cut off all contact with Catholic nations. Although Shimabara was located in an area where the influence
of Christian missionaries had been strong, and many Christians did participate, they were joined by discontented masterless
samurai and driven to unrest by famine, cruel taxation policies, and religious persecution. The Tokugawa sent a large army
of over 100,000 men to lay siege to Hara Castle, where the leader of the uprising, Amakusa Shirô, and some 37,000 of his
followers, including women and children, perished in a one-sided battle that included bombardment from Dutch cannons (the
Dutch had been commanded by the shogunate to bombard the castle, and they complied).
Tôkaidô: The most important of the main highways in the Gokaidô (see above) network, it ran a distance of some 300 miles
from Edo, the shogunal capital, to Kyoto, the ancient capital of the imperial court. The 57 post stations on the road became
the subject of woodblock print artists such as Eisen and Hiroshige (see above).
Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1858; also known as the Harris Treaty): This followed the 1854 Treaty of Peace and
Amity, which established formal relations between the United States and Japan but left unresolved the question of trade.
Negotiated by U.S. consul Townsend Harris, who skillfully used the threat of military action on the part of the British should
Japan resist, the treaty allowed for the exchange of diplomats; the opening of five ports (Edo, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and
Yokohama); fixed, low duties on imports and exports; and a system of extraterritoriality for foreign residents of Japan, the
latter which was an imposition on Japanese sovereignty. This so-called “unequal treaty” became a model for other nations,
which followed the U.S. lead in signing commercial agreements with Japan. The treaty was ratified with the visit of a
Japanese embassy to the United States in 1860. At home, the treaty led to an increase in civil unrest due to the increasing
foreign presence in Japan.
Treaty of Peace and Amity (1854; also known as the Treaty of Kanagawa): The mission to “open” Japan led by
Commodore Matthew C. Perry and backed by the implied threat of U.S. steam-powered “black ships” resulted in this
treaty, which marked the start of official relations between the United States and Japan and the end of Japan’s so-called
national seclusion laws. The treaty included the following terms: the opening of two ports, Shimoda and Hakodate, to
American ships; the provisioning of American vessels (food and fuel); good treatment for any shipwrecked sailors; and the
establishment of an American consulate in Japan. The shogunate signed similar treaties with a number of other nations,
including the British (1854), the Russians (1855) and the Dutch (1856).
Village headman: Known variously as shôya (in central Japan), nanushi (in eastern Japan) and kimoiri (in northern Japan),
the village headman was the top official in a village. The headman acted as the principal intermediary between the villagers
and higher authorities (the state). It was his responsibility to allot the tax bill that was delivered to the village by the officials
of the daimyo or the shogun among the landowning residents, to collect the taxes, and to maintain order. The position was
hereditary in many villages, though in some it rotated among a group of elite families, and in others the headman was chosen
by election. The position allowed the headman families to acquire a wide range of social and economic privileges, including
the right to wear pongee (soft, thin woven silk), right to a surname, and the right to wear one sword. However, at the same
time, particularly during the second half of the period, their position and privileges could make them the target of discontent
for villagers. The headman was also assisted by a number of Group Leaders, who were also known as “elders” and
“peasant representatives.” Collectively, these two types of officials plus the village headman position were known as the
“three village offices.”
Wakamonogumi (Young Men’s Groups): This was an important village organization of young men who had reached
adulthood (generally recognized at age 15) but had not yet married. The organization had its own building and furnishings,
which allowed members to live there in a communal manner. They were involved in a variety of village functions, such as
festivals and religious rituals, served as night watchmen and firefighters, aided in general emergencies, and received training
in agricultural work skills. In these organizations, young people received the training that was necessary to become future
independent members of the community. Some villages had a counterpart organization for unmarried young women, known
as a young women’s group (musume-gumi), with which the Young Men’s Organization coordinated some events.
Warring States (Sengoku) period (1467–1568): This was a time of nearly continual military conflict and great social
upheaval, characterized by the term gekokujô (the overturning of authority). It began with the Ônin War (1467–1477), a
conflict during which much of the capital city was laid to waste, and then disorder and warfare then spread throughout the
country. Although the Muromachi shogunate continued to exist during these years, it was weak, and political authority
became extremely fragmented. Local military men, the sengoku daimyô (warring states daimyo), rose to fill the vacuum. In
1568, the warlord Oda Nobunaga and his military forces occupied Kyoto, the imperial capital and political center of the
country, driving out the last of the Ashikaga shoguns, thus marking the beginning of the period of unification (1568–1600).
Zen: A school of Buddhism in East Asia that emphasized the practice of seated meditation. According to legend, Zen was
introduced to China by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma, who died around 532 CE. Its practices were known in Japan in
ancient times from cultural contacts with China, but it was only later, during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), that Zen
was established as an independent school in Japan. In Japan, Zen developed through two main sects, the Rinzai sect and the
Sôtô sect. During the Muromachi period, Zen had tremendous influence on culture and the arts (such as the tea ceremony
and Noh theater). In the following Tokugawa period, Zen teachings were popularized, finding their way into the education of
commoners. During this time a third branch, the Ôbaku sect, was introduced to Japan by a Chinese master.
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Web Sites
Ando
Hiroshige.
“One
Hundred
Famous
Views
of
Edo.”
http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/100_views_edo/100_views_edo.htm
and
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/edo/view/
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images_people/index.html.
National Museum of Japanese History. http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/index.html.
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Red-Haired Barbarians. The Dutch and Other Foreigners in Nagasaki and Yokohama, 1800–1865.
http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/japaneseprints/dutch.html.
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“The Siege of Osaka Castle.” National Geographic. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0312/feature5/zoomify/main.html.
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“Tokugawa Japan.” From Asian Topics web site. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eacp/asiasite/topics/index.html?
topic=Tokugawa+mediatype=Video+subtopic=Intro.
Visualizing Cultures (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/home/index.html.
Index
The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search
function on your eReading device for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed
below
Abbot
Abeno, Battle of
Abscond
An Account of Junshi:
An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636)
Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816)
Actor
Adams, Will
Adultery:
“The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned” (1686)
“Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)
Agriculture:
conflict with economic philosophy (Tokugawa period)
impact of samurai leaving
Ainu
Aizawa Seishisai (Yasushi):
biographical notes
Shinron (New Theses), 1825
Akechi Mitsuhide
Alcock, Rutherford
biographical notes
on feudal government
“A Letter of Apology” (1866)
Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952), and interpretation of Tokugawa period
Alternate attendance system, impact on economy
Amalgamate
Ancestral law
Archery. See Recreational life
Ardor
Arrears
Art, and culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Ashikaga period (1333–1568):
shogunate of
Audience at Edo Castle, 1691
Auspicious day
Authorization (1828), A Letter of
Awadaguchi (Awataguchi)
Bakufu
Bannermen (hatamoto)
Batavia
Bateren
“Bathhouse of the Floating World, The:
A Burlesque. Book II, Part 1: The Women’s Bath”
Bingo
Brocade
Brusquely
Bu
Buddhism. See Religion/morality
Bugyôshoku
Bungo, Satsuman, and Gotô
Bushels (koku)
Buyô Ishi
Calendar years:
era names/year periods (nengô)
lunar
Meiji Restoration and
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Year of the Boar
Calligraphy:
and Chinese as originator of Japanese writing system
Cancrous humors and imposthumations of the inner parts
Capital
Capital of the Tycoon, The (Alcock, 1863)
Captain
Caron, Francois
biographical notes
Cash
Castigation
Castration
Cha
Chamberlain, Basil Hall:
biographical notes
Chancellor
Change of Clothes
Chess
Chikamatsu Shigenori
biographical notes
Children:
amusements of
China, as originator of Japanese writing system
Chips
Chônin
Choose to fall away
Christianity:
anti-Christian propaganda
campaign to exterminate
Classics
Clothing Edicts
Clothing/fashion:
dress/grooming standards “Prohibitions of 1615”
dress/grooming standards “Prohibitions of 1645”
importance of
List of Prohibitions Concerning Clothing for Edo Townsmen (1719)
“The Japanese Family Storehouse” (Ihara Saikaku, 1688)
Cocks, Richard
biographical notes
“Code of the Okaya House, The” (1836)
Commodious
Communal baths:
“The Bathhouse of the Floating World: A Burlesque. Book II, Part 1: The Women’s Bath”
Company. See Dutch East India Company
Confectionary
Constitutiton of [Shôtoku] Taishi
Contravention
Council of Elders
Counsellors of State
Courtesans. See Sex trade
Cruppers
Cultural life:
calendars
clothing/fashion and
communal bath
divorce and
food/diet and
marriage and
Tokugawa period (1600–1868, overview)
travel (1770 and 1779)
Cut hari (kamikiri)
Daidôji Yûzan
Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828), A Letter from
Dais
Damask
Danzaemon:
biographical notes
Death:
An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)
Buddhism and
due to Christianity
Dharma
Diary of Richard Cocks, Cape-Merchant in the English Factory in Japan 1615–1622, The
“Diary of Shin Yu-han, The” (1719)
Diet. See Food/diet
Dissolute
Distempers
Divers
Divine realm
Divorce:
“Letters of Divorce” (1857, undated)
“Untitled Woman’s Appeal to Temple for Assistance with Divorce” (1850)
“Don’t Think Twice” edict
Dowry
Dutch East India Company:
discussion
Dutch trade and relations with Japan after 1639
Letter from Ebiya Shiroemon to the Governor-General for the VOC
The History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam, 1690–92: Audience at Edo Castle, 1691
“Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned, The” (1686)
Economics:
An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)
“A Letter of Apology” (1866)
and culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
dowry
Inquiry by the Kyoto City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta
Who Assumed the Status of a Commoner, 1799
A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828)
Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu
A Letter of Authorization (1828)
Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853)
Prohibition of Hinin-by-Birth Becoming Commoners (undated)
“Rice Borrowed” (1702)
A Song in Memory of a Protest (1786)
Statement from Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
sumptuary laws and
“The Code of the Okaya House” (1836)
“The Testament of Shimai Sôshitsu” (1610)
Tokugawa period (1600–1868, overview) and
as tri-metallic system of coinage
Yamaga Sokô‘s “The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
Edo:
culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
“Mountain Whale” Edo hanjôki (1832–1836)
population during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Public Notice Board of Edo (1711)
sumo wrestling in
as Tokugawa shogunate
Edo boom
Edo duty
Edo Ordinance Regarding Swords (1648)
Edo period:
primary documents of. See also Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Elysium
Emperor
Entertainment:
and culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Eta
Exclusion of the Portuguese (1639)
Executions
Ezo tribes
Fair
Fashion:
“The 1642 Chônin Code”. See also Clothing/fashion
Fathers
Feudalism:
“centralized” term from mid-1050s
daimyo’s duty to
and samurai settlement in castle towns
Filial
Filial piety
5 se, 5 bu
Five-Household Group (goningumi)
definition
Laws from Shimo-Sakurai Village (1640)
Five trading cities
Floating World (ukiyo)
Food/diet:
dining out at restaurants/food stalls
“Mountain Whale” Edo hanjôki (1832–1836)
“The Produce of the Land of Japan” (Joao Rodrigues, 1620–1621)
Foreign relations
Aizawa Seishisa’s Shinron (New Theses), 1825
closed country edicts (1635, 1639) and
Dutch trade and
first American trade with Japan
Korea and
Letter from Ebiya Shiroemon to the Governor-General of the VOC
“The Diary of Shin Yu-han” (1719)
The History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam, 1690–92: Audience at Edo Castle, 1691
Formal black dress of five crests
Franciscan friar
Fukuzawa Yukichi:
biographical notes
on Meiji Restoration as revolution
Fumie
Galeota
Gay quarters
Gender roles:
emperors
marriage and
public baths and
Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)
“The Greater Learning for Women” (1716)
woman’s place
Genna Period
Genroku period (1688–1703)
Gentleman
Gentlemen of his Majesty’s Bedchambers
Geta
Go
Gokaidô:
definition
and maintenance by daimyo
Gokinai
Go-Sakuramachi
Governance:
capital punishment and
discussion
Five-Household Group (goningumi) Laws from Shimo-Sakurai Village (1640)
government in Japan
regulating townspeople in Kanazawa and Edo
self-governance in villages
Western response during Tokugawa period to
Great Change era
“Greater Learning for Women, The” (1716)
Great Gate
Great Peace, impact on samurai
Group of Five Households (goningumi). See Five-Household Group (goningumi)
Habutae
Hagi rice cakes
Hakuin Ekaku:
biographical notes
discussion
Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkô, 1740)
Hall, Francis
biographical notes
Hanamichi
Han period
Happ
Having cut their bellies
Hayashi Razan:
biographical notes
Heian period:
sumo wrestling during
Higashi Honganji
Highway network (Gokaidô)
definition
Higo Province
Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka
biographical notes
Hirado
Hiroshige (Andô):
biographical notes
His Highness
“History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam, The, 1690–92: Audience at Edo Castle, 1691”
History of the Church in Japan (1620–1621):
“The Produce of the Land of Japan” (1620–1621)
Homespun
“Honchô Bugei Shôden” (1714)
Hosoi Heishû
biographical notes
Hotta Kaga-no-kami Masamori (1608–51)
Household Entry Listed in the Register of Religious Affiliation from Niremata Village, Mino Province (1804)
House lands (tenryô)
Ihara Saikaku
biographical notes
Ill
“Imperial” designs
Imported Chinese silks
Indocility
Industrial Revolution:
impact on Tokugawa period of
Innkeeper
Inquiry by the Kyoto City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta
Who Assumed the Status of a Commoner, 1799
Inspector of Women (aratame onna)
Intendant (daikan)
Intractable
Introducer
Iruman
Ise
Ise Shrine
Ishida Baigan:
biographical notes
Ishin Sûden:
biographical notes
Island
Japanese emperor (tennô)
“Japanese Family Storehouse, The” (Ihara Saikaku, 1688)
Japanese paper (washi)
Jedo
Jesuit missionaries:
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Joao Rodrigues
Journal of Francis Hall (1859)
Juncus
Junshi:
An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)
Kabukimono
Kabuki play “Sukeroku” Flower of Edo”
Kaempfer, Englebert
Kamakura period (1185–1333):
shogunate of
Kami
Kamiya Tokuzaemon
Kanpaku
Karmic ties
Katô Lord Higo
Kikuchi Taisuke
King of South Barbary
Kirishitan
Kirishitan monogatari (1639)
Kith
Koami and Kofuna
Kojikiden
Kôjimachi
Koku
Kokudaka
Korea:
relations with Japan after 1639
“The Diary of Shin Yu-han” (1719) and
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Kurushima shrine
Kuze Doku Raisai
Kyoto:
aristocracy
culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
population during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
“Regulations for the Palace and Nobility” (Kinchû narabi ni kuge shogatto)
sumo wrestling in
Kyoto City Magistrates
Kyôto habutae silk
Language, influence in Japan of Portuguese
Laws, sumptuary laws
Laws for the Military Houses (1615)
“Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto, 1615)
“Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto, 1635)
League
Legends of the Tea Ceremony (Shigenori)
Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828)
Letter from Ebiya Shiroemon to the Governor-General fo the VOC
Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu
A Letter of Authorization (1828)
“Letters of Divorce” (1857, undated)
Libertine
The Life of an Amorous Man (1682)
List of Prohibitions Concerning Clothing for Edo Townsmen (1719)
Literature:
and culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
in Kyoto and Osaka
Laws for the Military Houses (1615)
primary documents of Edo period
tile printing (kawaraban)
Lord Kai no Kami
Lords
Lord Yoshimasa
Low rice field
Lunar calendar
Lunisolar calendar
Made obeisance
Makino Narisada
Makoto
Mandarin oranges
Maples leaves
Marriage:
adultery and
“Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)
“Letters of Divorce” (1857, undated)
“The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned” (1686)
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
“Untitled Woman’s Appeal to Temple for Assistance with Divorce” (1850)
Marutaya
Marxist theory:
impact of
Master
Maternity sash
Mats
Meibutsu
Meiji Restoration:
Christianity and
definition
Hall, Francis and
as revolution
Meishô
Memorandum Addressed to the Nagasaki Magistrates (1635)
Military class
Minamoto Yoritomo
Missionaries, Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Missive
Mitford, Algernon B.:
biographical notes
Mitsui Takafusa
Miyako
Money:
dowry
as tri-metallic system of coinage. See also Economics
Monme
Morality. See Religion/morality
Mountain whale
“Mountain Whale” Edo hanjôki (1832–1836)
Mount Machikane
Mount of Clothes
Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate (1336–1573):
definition
Muromachi period (1333–1568):
shogunate of
Muromachi Street
Mustard and poppy seeds
Nagasaki:
Memorandum Addressed to the Nagasaki Magistrates (1635)
Nagase Gorôemon
Name for a new era
Names
Nara period:
public baths and
Neck-pieces
Neo-Confucianism:
definition
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Neriki-mura
Ninomiya Sontoku
Nobility
Nobunaga
Noh
Oblong aperture
Oda Nobunaga, as unifier
Ofarrai
Ômura domain
Onnagata
Opperhoofd
Osaka:
culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
population during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Sumo wrestling in
Tokugawa Hidetada and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi perishing at
Osaka, Battle of
Owari
Padre
Palanquin
Paper (washi)
Parapet
Peasants:
separation from samurai
“Sword Hunt” (1588) and
unrest (hyakushô ikki)
Periodization of history
Perry, Matthew C.
Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853)
Pilgrimages. See also Recreational life
Political life:
capital punishment and
Exclusion of the Portuguese (1639)
Five-Household Group (goningumi) Laws from Shimo-Sakurai Village (1640)
Kyoto aristocracy
“Laws for the Military Houses” (1615, 1635)
“Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto, 1615)
“Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto, 1635)
A Local Edo Ordinance Regarding Swords (1648)
Memorandum Addressed to the Nagasaki Magistrates (1635)
organizations (ikkô ikki) and
Public Notice Board of Edo (1711)
regulating townspeople in Kanazawa and Edo
“Regulations for the Palace and Nobility” (Kinchû narabi ni kuge shogatto)
Richard Cocks’s Account of the Fall of Osaka Castle: Excerpts from Richard Cocks
Richard Cocks’s Letter to Richard Westby, February 1616
self-governance in villages
“Sword Hunt” (Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 1588)
“The 1642 Chônin Code”
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
weapons control. See also Foreign relations
Pongee
Population:
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and
Portuguese:
exclusion in 1639
Exclusion of the Portuguese (1639)
influence in Japan of
trade exclusion in 1639
Pounded rice dumplings
Primary documents:
discussion
from Edo period
Princes and Lords of the Empire
Privy
“Produce of the Land of Japan, The” (1620–1621)
Prohibited colors
Prohibition of Hinin-by-Birth Becoming Commoners (undated)
“Prohibitions of 1615”
“Prohibitions of 1645”
Province
Public Notice Board of Edo (1711)
Quiver
Radishes
Recreational life:
An Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816)
advice to travelers
“A Passport” (1782)
archery/martial arts
“Honchô Bugei Shôden” (1714)
The Journal of Francis Hall (1859)
Kabuki play “Sukeroku: Flower of Edo”
The Life of an Amorous Man (1682)
Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers), 1810
“Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706)
sex trade
Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804)
tea ceremony
theaters and heroes
Registers of Religious Affiliation
“Regulations for the Palace and Nobility” (Kinchû narabi ni kuge shogatto)
Religion/morality:
anti-Christian propaganda
and culture during Tokugawa period (1600–1868)
Dutch East India Company and
Hakuin Ekaku’s Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkô, 1740)
Household Entry Listed in the Register of Religious Affiliation from Niremata Village, Mino Province (1804)
Kirishitan monogatari (1639)
pilgrimages and
A Sermon Given by Hosoi Heishû
Sir Rutherford Alcock’s The Capital of the Tycoon (1863)
Suzuki Shôsan’s Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge)
trampling pictures (fumie)
Zen Buddhism
Religious Affiliation from Niremata Village, Mino Province (1804)
Remonstrate
“Rice Borrowed” (1702)
Richard Cocks’s Letter to Richard Westby, February 1616
Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge), Suzuki Shôsan’s
Rodrigues, Joao
Rokushaku
Ryô
Ryôi, Asai
Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers), 1810
Ryukyu Islands, relations with Japan after 1639
Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu, Letter from Tani Tannai to
Sake
Sallid (to sally)
Sama
Samurai:
An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)
calendar for seventh year of Kaei (1854)
dress/grooming standards “Prohibitions of 1615”
dress/grooming standards “Prohibitions of 1645”
food/diet and
hierarchy in Tokugawa period of
A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828)
A Letter of Authorization (1828)
organizations (ikkô ikki) and
separation from peasants
settlement in castle towns of
status (mibun) and
“Sword Hunt” (1588) and
Yamaga Sokô‘s “The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
Sanhei
Savours
Scabbard
Seal
Sekigahara, Battle of:
definition
discussion
Tokugawa Ieyasu and
Sekisho
“Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706)
Senior Councilors (rôjû)
Seppuku
Sermon Given by Hosoi Heishû
In service
Service allowance
Seven greens
Sex trade:
courtesans and
Floating World (ukiyo) and
Shikitei Sanba
biographical notes
Shimabara Uprising (1637–1638):
Christianity and
definition
political life and
Shimai Sôshitsu
Shin (Sin) Yu-han
Shinano no kami
Shin-no-jô
Shinron (New Theses), 1825
Shôgi
Shogun:
definition
political life and
title of
of Tokugawa period
Shogun (movie)
Shôji
Sidotti, Giovanni
Social life:
An Account of Junshi: An Excerpt from Francois Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)
“A Letter of Apology” (1866)
Inquiry by the Kyoto City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta
Who Assumed the Status of a Commoner, 1799
Japanese names
A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1828)
Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu
A Letter of Authorization (1828)
outcasts
Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853)
Prohibition of Hinin-by-Birth Becoming Commoners (undated)
“Rice Borrowed” (1702)
A Song in Memory of a Protest (1786)
Statement from Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
“The Code of the Okaya House” (1836)
Tokugawa period (1600–1868, overview) and
Yamaga Sokô‘s “The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkô, 1740), Hakuin Ekaku’s
Song in Memory of a Protest (1786)
Southern barbarians (nanban)
Spanish trade, exclusion in 1639
Sports:
Sumo wrestling. See also Recreational life
Statement from Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)
Status (mibun)
Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804)
Stripped naked
Subserve
Suicide (seppuku):
“having cut their bellies”
Western response to
“Sukeroku:
Flower of Edo”
Sumo wrestling
Sumptuary laws
Suruga
Suzuki Shôsan:
biographical notes
discussion
Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge)
Sweet potato
Swordguard (tsuba)
“Sword Hunt” (1588)
Tabi
Tadano Makuzu:
biographical notes
Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)
Takasegawa Tennô-chô
Tale of the Christians
Tales of the Floating World (Ukiyo monogatari; Ryôi)
Tani Tannai (Mashio):
biographical notes
Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu
Tathagata
Teetotalers
Tennô
Tensô
Tenured lands
Terakado Seiken
“Testament of Shimai Sôshitsu, The” (1610)
“The 1642 Chônin Code”
Theater
Thirty kin
Three classes of the common people
Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856), Statement from
Thunberg, Carl Peter
Thunder God
Timeline from 1550s to 1868
Tipplers
Tobacco. See Kabuki play “Sukeroku: Flower of Edo”
Tôkaidô
Tokugawa Bannerman (1856), Statement from Three Village Leaders to a
Tokugawa Hidetada:
biographical notes
political life and
Tokugawa Hideyori:
biographical notes
Tokugawa Hideyoshi:
biographical notes
Tokugawa Ieyasu:
biographical notes
political life and
and protection of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
as unifier
Tokugawa Narinobu
Tokugawa period (1600–1868):
cultural life (overview)
determination of time period for
emperors during
marriage and
and Meiji Restoration as revolution
money in
political life (overview)
post–World War II interpretation of
public baths and
shogunate of
social/economic life (overview)
timeline
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Tokugawa Yoshimune
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
To lend money to them
Tototomi Hideyori:
Battle of Abeno and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi:
Battle of Osaka and
death of
Nobunaga and
“Sword Hunt” (1588)
as unifier
Traded long years
Trade/traders:
exclusion in 1639
first American trade with Japan
Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and. See also Foreign relations
Traffic in human beings
Traffick
Trampling pictures (fumie)
Travel:
discussion
documentation
Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa Made during the Years 1770 and 1779 (Thunberg, 1791). See also Recreational life
Treaty
Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Harris Treaty, 1858)
Treaty of Friendship
Treaty of Peace and Amity (Treaty of Kanagawa, 1854)
Tree from which varnish is obtained
Tribute
True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam, A (1636)
Tsurubami
Tsushima lord
Tsuuchi Hanemon
Tsuuchi Jihei II
2-chôme, Kanda
Ukiyo stencil-patterns
“Untitled Woman’s Appeal to Temple for Assistance with Divorce” (1850)
Vengeance/vendettas
Village headman
VOC. See Dutch East India Company
Votaries
Wakamonogumi (Young Men’s Groups)
Ward representative (machi-kimoiri)
Warring States (Sengoku) period (1467–1568)
Warrior’s house
Washi
Way
“Way of the Samurai, The” (shidô)
Weaponry:
A Local Edo Ordinance Regarding Swords (1648)
swordguard (tsuba)
“Sword Hunt” (Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 1588)
Westby, Richard
Women of the Mito Domain (Yamakawa Kikue, 1943)
World War II:
Marxist theory and
Wrestling
Writing
Xavier, Francis:
biographical notes
Yamaga Sokô:
biographical notes
“The Way of the Samurai” (shidô)
Yamakawa Kikue
Yasumi Roan (Keizan)
Yearly tribute
Year of the Boar
Yokota Bitchû
Zazen
Zen
Zen Buddhism. See also Religion/morality
Zôritori (hôkônin)
About the Author
Constantine Nomikos Vaporis is Professor of History and Founding Director of the Asian
Studies program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Vaporis is the author of
Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan, Tour of Duty: Samurai,
Military Service in Edo, and the Culture of Early Modern Japan, and Nihonjin to sankin
kôtai [The Japanese and Alternate Attendance].