ABSTRACT
In our assessment of the development of mechanical technology, we tend to focus primarily on the productive aspects of the industry. For this reason we generally hold the misconception that there was no development of mechanical technology in Tokugawa Japan. Everyone knows that the Tokugawa government forbade the military and industrial use of machinery. As a result, specialists in mechanical techniques were not recognized as members of a real profession, as medical practitioners were, for example. They were treated like magicians and regarded with suspicion. They were considered to belong to the world of entertainment. Indeed, mechanical specialists – artisans of karakuri – were confined to the world of play, fuelling spectacles, theatre, and mechanical toys: all activities and objects set free from the world of utility.
