ABSTRACT
Terakado Seiken’s The Prosperity of Edo (1832) records a conversation in the alleys. A mendicant comes home at noon and tells a nun that because of the current inflation he had not been given much rice. He says that thanks to the rice storage they would not starve, but should try to save and economize in case of emergency. Overhearing this conversation, a neighbour shouts from beyond the wall, ‘Stop such gloomy talk. When Nakamura Shikan, the star kabuki actor, left Edo for Osaka, the patrons sent him one hundred ryō in one night, and one thousand ryō in ten days, didn’t they? Even if we have to eat porridge at home, we give generously to the actor we patronize. That is the spirit of the Edo citizen for you.’
