ABSTRACT

In this newly revised and updated 2nd edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan, Constantine Nomikos Vaporis offers an accessible collection of annotated historical documents of an extraordinary period in Japanese history, ranging from the unification of warring states under Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early seventeenth century to the overthrow of the shogunate just after the opening of Japan by the West in the mid- nineteenth century.

Through close examination of primary sources from "The Great Peace," this fascinating textbook offers fresh insights into the Tokugawa era: its political institutions, rigid class hierarchy, artistic and material culture, religious life, and more, demonstrating what historians can uncover from the words of ordinary people. New features include:

• An expanded section on religion, morality and ethics;

• A new selection of maps and visual documents;

• Sources from government documents and household records to diaries and personal correspondence, translated and examined in light of the latest scholarship;

• Updated references for student projects and research assignments.

The first edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan was the winner of the 2013 Franklin R. Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials. This fully revised textbook will prove a comprehensive resource for teachers and students of East Asian Studies, history, culture, and anthropology.

part I|22 pages

The Domestic Sphere

chapter 1|3 pages

Getting Married

“Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)

chapter 2|6 pages

Obtaining a Divorce

An Appeal for Assistance (1850) and Letters of Divorce (1857, Undated)

chapter 3|3 pages

The Consequences of Adultery

“The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned” (1686)

chapter 4|8 pages

A Woman’s Place

Onna Daigaku (The Greater Learning for Women, 1716) and Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818)

part II|30 pages

Material Life

chapter 5|5 pages

Fashion and Sumptuary Legislation

Ihara Saikaku’s The Japanese Family Storehouse (Nippon eitai gura, 1688); List of Clothing Prohibitions for Edo Townsmen (1719)

chapter 6|3 pages

Samurai Dress and Grooming Standards

Prohibitions of 1615 and 1645

chapter 7|4 pages

Lunisolar Calendar

Calendar for Seventh Year of Kaei (1854): Samurai in Armor

chapter 8|7 pages

Japanese Foodways and Diet

The Accounts of Joao Rodrigues (1620–21), Yamakawa Kikue (1943), and Terakado Seiken (1832–36)

chapter 9|6 pages

The Communal Bath

Shikitei Sanba’s “The Women’s Bath” (Ukiyoburo, 1810)

chapter 10|3 pages

The Japanese Home

Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa Made During the Years 1770 & 1779

part III|32 pages

The Political Sphere

chapter 11|5 pages

A Foreigner’s View of the Battle of Osaka

Richard Cocks’ Account of the Fall of Osaka Castle (1615)

chapter 12|6 pages

Forging Political Order

“Laws for the Military Houses” (1615, 1635)

chapter 13|4 pages

The Emperor and the Kyoto Aristocracy

“Regulations for the Imperial Palace and the Court Nobility” (1615)

chapter 14|5 pages

Weapons Control in Japanese Society

Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s “Sword Hunt” (1588) and “A Local Ordinance Regarding Swords” (1648)

chapter 15|4 pages

Self-Governance in Villages

Goningumi (Five-Household Group) Laws (1640)

chapter 16|6 pages

Regulating Townspeople in Two Cities

City Code from Kanazawa (1642) and Notice Board in Edo (1711)

part IV|23 pages

Foreign Relations

chapter 17|6 pages

Regulating Foreign Relations

The “Closed Country Edicts” (sakoku rei, 1635, 1639)

chapter 18|4 pages

Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea

Record of a Journey Across the Sea (1719)

chapter 19|5 pages

Leaving a Window Open to the Western World

Letter from a Nagasaki Official to the Dutch Governor-General (1642)

chapter 20|3 pages

A Dutch Audience with the Shogun

Engelbert Kaempfer’s The History of Japan (1692)

chapter 21|3 pages

Sizing Up the Foreign Threat

Aizawa Seishisai’s Shinron (New Theses, 1825)

part V|35 pages

Social and Economic Life

chapter 22|3 pages

The Social Estates

Yamaga Sokō on “The Way of the Samurai” (shidō)

chapter 23|5 pages

Trying to Get by on a Fixed Income

Economic Problems Facing the Samurai, as Seen in a Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirōbei Naomasu (1751) and Statement from Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)

chapter 24|4 pages

The Samurai and Death

An Account of Junshi from François Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636)

chapter 25|4 pages

Private Vengeance Among the Samurai

A Letter from a Daimyo’s Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate and a Letter of Authorization (1828)

chapter 26|4 pages

Rules of Merchant Houses

“The Testament of Shimai Sōshitsu” (1610) and “The Code of the Okaya House” (1836)

chapter 27|2 pages

Dealing with Deviant Behavior

“A Letter of Apology” (1866)

chapter 28|3 pages

Loans Among the Peasantry

“A Loan of Rice” (1702)

chapter 29|4 pages

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)

chapter 30|4 pages

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)

part VI|33 pages

Recreational Life

chapter 31|5 pages

Advice to Travelers in the Edo Period

Ryokō Yōjinshū (Precautions for Travelers), 1810

chapter 32|5 pages

Documentation for Travel

“Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706) and “A Passport” (1782)

chapter 33|4 pages

Children and Their Amusements

The Japan Journal of Francis Hall (1859)

chapter 34|4 pages

The Tea Ceremony

Chikamatsu Shigenori’s Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804)

chapter 35|3 pages

Archery and the Martial Arts

Hinatsu Shirōzaemon Shigetaka’s Honchō Bugei Shōden (A Short Tale of the Martial Arts in Our Country), 1714

chapter 36|6 pages

Courtesans and the Sex Trade

Excerpts from Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku ichidai otoko, 1682) and Buyō Ishi’s An Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816)

chapter 37|4 pages

A Hero for the Masses

The Kabuki Play Sukeroku: Flower of Edo (1713)

part VII|29 pages

Religion, Morality, and Ethics

chapter 38|5 pages

Preaching to the People

A Sermon by Hosoi Heishū (1783)

chapter 39|4 pages

Anti-Christian Propaganda

Kirishitan monogatari (Tale of the Christians, 1639)

chapter 40|4 pages

Controlling the Populace

Registers of Religious Affiliation (1804)

chapter 41|4 pages

Religious Views of the Japanese

Sir Rutherford Alcock’s The Capital of the Tycoon (1863)

chapter 42|5 pages

The Teachings of Zen Buddhism

Suzuki Shōsan’s Roankyō (Donkey-Saddle Bridge, 1648) and Hakuin Ekaku’s Sokkō-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkō, 1740)

part VIII|24 pages

Visual Documents