Lust, Commerce, and Corruption

An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard, by an Edo Samurai
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-231-16644-7
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 496 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 793 g

Reihe: Translations from the Asian Classics

By 1816, Japan had recovered from the famines of the 1780s and moved beyond the political reforms of the 1790s. Despite persistent economic and social stresses, the country seemed to be approaching a new period of growth. The idea that the shogunate would not last forever was far from anyone's mind.

Yet, in that year, an anonymous samurai author completed one of the most detailed critiques of Edo society known today. Writing as Buyo Inshi, "a retired gentleman of Edo," he expresses a profound despair with the state of the realm and with people's behavior and attitudes. He sees decay wherever he turns and believes the world will soon descend into war.

Buyo shows a familiarity with many corners of Edo life that one might not expect in a samurai. He describes the corruption of samurai officials; the suffering of the poor in villages and cities; the operation of brothels; the dealings of blind moneylenders; the selling and buying of temple abbotships; and the dubious strategies townspeople use in the law courts. Perhaps the frankness of his account, which contains a wealth of concrete information about Edo society, made him prefer to remain anonymous.

This volume contains a full translation of Buyo's often-quoted but rarely studied work by a team of specialists on Edo society. Together with extensive annotation of the translation, the volume includes an introduction that situates the text culturally and historically.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Teeuwen, Mark

Nakai, Kate Wildman

Weitere Mitwirkende

Miyazaki, Fumiko

Walthall, Anne

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface Era Names Measures CurrenciesMapsPart 1: Buyo Inshi and His TimesPart 2: Matters of the World: An Account of What I Have Seen and HeardPrologueChapter 1IntroductionWarriorsChapter 2FarmersChapter 3Temple and Shrine PriestsThe Medical ProfessionChapter 4The Way of Yin and YangThe BlindLawsuitsChapter 5TownspeopleLower TownspeopleChapter 6Pleasure Districts and ProstitutesKabukiChapter 7Pariahs and OutcastsRice, Grains, and Other ProductsMountains and ForestsOn Japan Being Called a Divine LandUntimely DeathsThe Land, People, and RulerGlossaryEditions and ReferencesContributorsIndex

Leseproben

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Über Autor(innen)

Mark Teeuwen is professor in Japanese studies at the University of Oslo. He is a historian of Japanese religion, with special focus on the history of Shinto.



Kate Wildman Nakai is a professor emerita at Sophia University, Tokyo. Her research focuses on Tokugawa and modern history, with an emphasis on intellectual developments.



Miyazaki Fumiko is professor of Japanese history at Keisen University in Tokyo. Her research focuses on Tokugawa religion and society.



Anne Walthall is professor of Japanese history and director of the Center for Asian Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on society and gender during the Tokugawa period.



John Breen is a professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, where he edits the journal Japan Review. His research focuses on issues of state and religion in Japan.