Search

The International Association for Analytical Psychology has awarded its Mercurius Prize for films that embody the spirit of Jungian psychology to the documentary film "Ripples of Physis," produced by Sanae Kawai. The film explores the centuries-old karakami practice of art paper printing in Kyoto, Japan, and the way naturally occurring patterns can capture and express life energy. The film was shown at a conference in Strasbourg, France, and had its first American showing at a private event in San Francisco. The film's director, Ayako Mogi, discusses the process of achieving natural design and the skill of the master artisan, Kenkichi Senda. The film is described as an alchemical journey of transformation and a way to draw closer to the beauty and miracles of nature. [Extracted from the article]

Measles epidemics had a large influence on Japanese society during the Edo period (1600–1868). Spreading throughout the country periodically and particularly affecting young people, the disease had the power to drastically alter both rural and urban communities. This paper seeks to apply a mixed digital analysis to data garnered from religious membership registers (Shūmon aratame-chō 宗門改帳) taken from the Edo jidai ni okeru jinkō bunseki shisutemu 江戸時代における人口分析システム (DANJURO ver. 7.0) [Edo Period Population Analysis System (DANJURO ver. 7.0)] in order to determine what information these documents might hold pertaining to measles epidemics. Previous studies have suggested that these documents are only of limited use for studying epidemics since they do not feature information on the causes of deaths or on infant mortality. However, this paper illustrates that it is possible to garner insights about measles epidemics through data extracted from shūmon aratame-chō. In addition to this, the paper suggests that the data accessible through DANJURO can be used to challenge assumptions that measles outbreaks were not as significant as those of other diseases in terms of mortality and societal impact. Finally, the paper suggests that the ordering of information from shūmon aratame-chō in DANJURO acts to humanize those data. (JHM) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is taken from the author's presidential address at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, delivered on August 3, 2018. It explores the structural and personal sources of Japan's surprisingly successful transition, in the decades around 1600, to an urban-centered market economy. Particular attention is devoted to artistic innovation as one indicator of the "climate of change" that enabled radical new choices in a society loosed from the authority of old regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The color of cloth, thread or Japanese paper which was dyed with natural dyes, natural pigments or synthetic dyes by the dyers or the tinters in Japan was measured using a spectrophotometric colorimeter. The color characteristic of natural dyes has been considered from the measured L*a*b* values (CIELAB). Natural dyes can develop the vivid yellow and the vivid red and the chroma of the turmeric, the pagoda tree, the amur corktree, the goldthread, the onion, the safflower, the cochineal and the lac was high specifically. On the one hand, natural dyes cannot develop vivid purple, vivid bluish green and dull green with the low brightness. The fiber which was dyed with natural inorganic pigments such as the ultramarine and the patina included the color which can't dye with the natural dyes. However, it was possible to distinguish from the dyestuff by the use of microscopic observation (x200). The color which can be dyed with natural dye and the color which can be dyed only with synthetic dye were made clear. The color which can't dye with natural colorant was in the cloth which showed a traditional color before the Edo period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asian Studies is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of the Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the transition from the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration, Ise Jingū (Ise Grand Shrine) underwent significant changes due to Westernization and modernization, culminating in the Jingū reformation of 1871. However, in the latter part of the Meiji era, there was a resurgence of interest in restoring ancient rituals and preserving the shrine's core principles. This paper focuses on the pivotal 1889 vicennial renewal at Ise Jingū to understand how shrine priests sustained ritual continuity amidst modernization. Specifically, it examines the sacred music (mikagura) and the kagura secret song (hikyoku) introduced during this ceremony. Mikanagi Kiyonao's writings provide valuable insights into the origins and influences of linguistic and ritual elements. As the 63rd Shikinen Sengū reconstruction ritual approaches in 2033, this paper offers insights into Ise Jingū's resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will focus on Miura Baien (1723–1789) to have a glimpse of how Edo intellectuals viewed Western and traditional Chinese knowledge, and how they thought about the world and nature in the middle of Tokugawa period. Miura is a thinker who has created an exquisite system that is almost unmatched by others in Japanese intellectual history. Maeno was a Japanese physician and pioneer of Dutch learning. Both of them deny the view of nature and the body based on the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing, and accepted the intellectual shock brought about by Dutch learning. Therefore, I will use the views of these two Edo scholars to discuss the criticism and application of the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing in Edo Japan, and their understanding of Western knowledge. Furthermore, I will also compare Miura Baien with Dai Zhen (1724–1777), a Chinese thinker who was born around the same period, to argue that Western learning in Qing China, and the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing were how to be used. By doing so, this paper would like to illustrate the unique thoughts of Miura Baien and characteristics of 18th century Japanese intellectual history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese concept of »atmosphere« is expressed in various forms such as »Ki«, »Iki«, or »Ke«. This paper aims at elucidating its conceptual importance in the Japanese thoughts culture, by following the chronical transition of their usages. The oldest examples are already found in Kojiki, one of the most ancient Japanese literary works. It is in the Edo period that Japanese scholars interpret its new philosophical connotation under the influence of Neo-Confucianism. After the modernization of the Meiji Restoration, philosophers of the Kyoto School, especially Kitaro Nishida and Tetsuro Watsuji, posit the notion of atmosphere as one of the psychological characteristics of Japanese people. As for the contemporary situation, the cultural critic Shichihei Yamamoto indicates the specificity of Japanese national mentality deeply associated with the atmospheric quality in the 1970s, while several sub-cultural producers take the pollution of the atmosphere as their main issues under the ecological movements after the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the process of local government formation, from the Edo Period to the Meiji Era, in Kawagoe City, which has its roots in a castle town at the end of the Edo Period, in order to discover regional formation for urban reorganization. The daiku‐shoku system and Rengo‐choson organized early‐modern towns and villages in the Edo Period as self‐governing organizations, but the mass amalgamations during the Meiji Era created municipalities, forming the basis of the current city sphere. These phases of Meiji Restoration were influenced by the topography of rivers and farmland, and the urban expansion of castle towns, which formed the organization. Although some of the landforms that functioned as boundaries of the organization disappeared owing to mergers and urban development after the Meiji Era, most of the elements have been inherited by the current city master plan districts. Accordingly, by organizing the process of regional formation, we have derived the gradual changes in consciousness that occurred under the circumstances of conversion from different organizations. In addition, by comparing the current and past situations, the inheritance of the historical background is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of South Architecture / Nanfang Jianzhu is the property of South Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In any country, in any era, the laws and statutes of the time have a very strong influence on the society of that period. Of course, Japan and the Edo period are no exception. In my doctoral research, I am translating the most typical documents of early modern legal history, such as the rule books issued and compiled by the Edo shogunate, which are not available in languages other than Japanese and analyzing them in an interdisciplinary approach from both philological and sociological perspectives. However, when conducting research, various problems arise, such as the inability to directly translate early modern words that are strongly related to the culture of the time. In this paper, I will briefly introduce the most important features of Edo-period laws (e.g., differences in the laws applied to different classes and social groups) and the types of Edo-period regulations and I explain the problems in translating and analyzing laws and regulations of the Edo period by citing some examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the changes in the uncanny expressed in historical examples of sumo wrestling. Various pre-modern instances show sumo as a wild and relentless combat, often resulting in the injury or death of one of the wrestlers. However, due to sociopolitical changes in the early Edo period (1600–1868), a new mode of conduct emerged at shrines and temples that complied with regulations in the urban space and forced wrestling to adapt and curtail the uncanny. Eventually, a further drastic image shift occurred when popular culture picked up sumo wrestling. Finally, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, sumo wrestling turned into a "sport" while still retaining uncanny elements in its conduct. Thus, this paper concludes that religious institutions tamed sumo wrestling's classical uncanniness; at the same time, new conduct secured the integration of uncanny elements within modern sumo wrestling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English East India Company's (EIC) enterprise in Japan (1613–1623) is widely recognized as a failure. Scholars of the English-speaking world have emphasized the lack of vendible commodities, the EIC traders' mismanagement, and Japanese hostility towards Christianity. Nevertheless, these narratives often overlook the political and strategic interests of Japan, in the era of political uncertainty after the long warring-states period. This paper re-examines the EIC traders' records against recent studies on Japanese politics. The careful observations of political movements surrounding the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615) reveal how the EIC traders were involved in the dynamics of Japanese history. Within the framework of mercantile connections supported by "mutual benefits," the present study demonstrates how the EIC gradually faced difficulties as the Japanese interests shifted, thus arguing that not only European overseas activity but also the active endeavor of the Asian counterparts significantly influenced global interactions of the early seventeenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on three Far East cabinets that have ended up in Sweden for various reasons and on various routes. Some specific characteristics have been analysed using various scientific methods: sectional microscopy, wood taxonomy, X–ray fluorescence microscopy, pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, strontium isotope ratio measurement, and radiocarbon dating. The results show that the cabinets contain wood from species endemic to Japan, namely asunaro (Thujopsis dolabrata) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtuse). They are coated with urushi sap derived from Toxicodendron vernicifluum trees, in two cases confirmed to be harvested in China, and one case probably blended with sap exuded from Toxicodendron succedanea harvested in North Vietnam. Their black appearance is due to a soot pigment typical of many products from the early Edo period or older. The data obtained with scientific methods, unavailable in the past, improve knowledge about these cabinets. Such new information should be made available to scholars and the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the dynamics of mountainous landscapes, including national forests in Japan by examining the history of landscape transformation in the Yanase-Mountain, through the recent landscape anthropological approach that focuses on the dynamics of material forms of landscapes consisting of both natural and artificial components. Yanase-mountain, a famous forestry area in the Edo period, became a national forest in the Meiji era, and a forest railway was introduced to transport timber overland in the late Meiji era. In this paper, we describe the dynamics of the Yanase-mountain landscape over a period of about 200 years, focusing on entanglements of "inherent times" between human and nonhuman such as topography, hydrological environment, various trees, and forest railway. Through this historical description, implications of this paper's approach for contemporary issues in landscape anthropology is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bon, or more politely O-Bon, is the Japanese term for a regionally different midsummer festival celebrated not only throughout Japan but also in other Buddhist Asian countries. In Japan, it has changed over time and is essentially a mélange of ancestor worship, rural Thanksgiving customs, ghost beliefs, folk religion, superstitions and the Buddhist celebration of the temporary release of the spirits from hell. During the Edo period, O-Bon gained popularity, as it gave those employed in urban areas a rare chance to reunite with their families in the countryside, meet friends, revel, and pray for ancestral spirits and deceased loved ones. Celebrations differ from region to region, but they all include eating, drinking, and lots of merrymaking to entertain the living as well as the visiting spirits. Since the 7th century, O-Bon has been held on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, usually around the 15th day. The old calendar is still the basis for the calculations behind the traditional Chinese festival calendar used in both mainland China and Taiwan. However, since Japan adopted the solar Gregorian calendar in 1873, Japan became divided into different areas: some celebrating O-Bon in July (Shichigatsu-Bon, 七月盆), some regions sticking to the old lunar calendar with movable holidays, and some areas holding a Hachigatsu-Bon (八月盆) from August 13th to 15th. During the Edo period, Nagasaki's Japanese O-Bon and Chinese O-Bon fell on the same dates. Due to the calendar reform, they came to be held on separate days. As a result, Nagasaki now celebrates two festivals: 1. a movable lunar O-Bon in July, locally called Karadera-Bon (唐寺盆) or Achasan no Bon (アチャさんの盆or 阿爹さんの盆) with strong connections to the city's Chinese temples and traditions, where it is called Yúlánpén (盂蘭盆) and 2. a Hachigatsu-Bon, celebrated by Japanese citizens, which reflects Nagasaki's' unique culture, history and customs. In this paper, I would like to shed some light on the origins, religious aspects, traditions, practices, and social function of Nagasaki's' two O-Bon celebrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to the world of Edo period shogunate decrees and other source texts related to legal history on fires and arson. In this research project I use Edo period decrees as source texts to explore the relationship of the Edo period Japanese society to fires and arson; how contemporary Japanese viewed fires; and what laws and regulations the central authorities enacted to prevent disasters caused by careless or deliberate fire setting. In the Edo period, as cities grew larger and larger, wooden buildings built close together could easily catch fire, and a fire could quickly spread to a large area. As a result, many regulations and decrees were issued on how to prevent fires and catch arsonists. My aim is to use the analysis of these source texts to explore this important issue in the Edo period from a perspective that has been little addressed yet: by translating and analysing the content of the decrees, I believe we can better understand this aspect of Edo period life and society. Moreover, as I am working with source texts that only exist in Japanese, the translation, analysis and publication of these texts may also assist future research on early modern Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several procedures for conservation treatment were comparatively studied for degraded “Suga-fibres” made of raw silk fibres dyed black. Two traditional methods, (1) neutralization with magnesium bicarbonate, and (2) antioxidant treatment with phytic acid, originally used for paper preservation, were tried for the conservation of Suga-fibres. The influences of a single treatment, or a combination of neutralization and antioxidant treatments, for the model fibres on their tensile strength were investigated under conditions of high humidity at high temperature before and after the accelerated aging test. The effect of the novel antioxidant cysteine on the fibre degradation was also examined. For the single treatments, the neutralization with magnesium bicarbonate retarded the degradation of higher iron-content iron (20%)/tannate-silk fibre, while the antioxidant with phytic acid treatment most effectively prevented the degradation of lower iron-content iron (2%)/tannate-silk fibre. This may be due to the different acidity in iron/tannate-silk fibres, and thus the degradation of iron (2%)/tannate-silk fibre would be caused by iron-catalyzed oxidation rather than acid-catalyzed hydrolysis because of its lower acidity. Among antioxidant treatments, cysteine more effectively retarded the degradation of the iron (20%)/tannate-silk fibre, while in the case of the iron (2%)/tannate-silk fibre, phytic acid more effectively conserved its strength and breaking strain. The result suggests that the thiol group of cysteine coordinates with an excess of ferrous ions in the iron (20%)/tannate-silk fibre and quenches the production of hydrogen peroxide. This study demonstrated that phytic acid, cysteine and magnesium bicarbonate treatments are useful as effective reagents for the conservation treatment of black-dyed textiles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Genroku earthquake and tsunami were the largest disaster in Japan during the Edo period. The earthquake occurred late at night on November 23, 1703, and widespread house collapses and fires in cities in Kanto region, including Edo (the old name of Tokyo) and Odawara. Following this, a huge tsunami hit the Pacific coast, which killed tens of thousands of people who lived there. This paper discusses a part of the actual situation of the tsunami disaster based on the tomb erected for the victims, as well as of the Buddhist memorial services held, such as kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist names), written on the tomb stones, ihai (Buddhist spirit tables), and kuyo-tou (memorial pagodas). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the Japan Society of Publishing Studies is the property of Japan Society of Publishing Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Mirai. Estudios Japoneses is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Edo sharebon (witty books) is a famous publishing genre in Japanese early modern literature and it is known for its mordant descriptions of love affairs among courtesans and customers of the pleasure quarters. This paper aims at analysing the characterisation of old men and women in Edo sharebon and other licentious fiction, by taking into account several representations of senility within the milieu of pleasure quarters. The presence of different characterisation patterns will be highlighted: a number of these are inherited by Japanese classical tradition and Kamigata prose, and others will be assessed as peculiar to Edo literary production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese folklore and arts have tackled the topic of senility since ancient times. Moreover, the Edo period (1603-1867), sees the beginning of a fruitful production of bestiaries, in which mythological monsters are also accompanied by anthropomorphic creatures inspired by the image of the old man (okina): sometimes they are characterised by their terrific appearance, while other times they stand out for the irony with which they are depicted and which is aimed at exorcising fears of growing older. Starting from two well-known bestiaries, Gazu hyakki yagyo (1776) and Tosanjinyawa. Ehon hyaku monogatari (1841), in this paper we offer an analysis of the representation of senility in premodern Japan, with the aim of observing how this topic is dealt with and how society approaches it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advocates using museum collections for archaeological research by offering a new approach to generate questions on the sociocultural lives of ancient people. I define "diaspora" collections as historical and archaeological artifacts excavated in a homeland site but currently stored in museums that are outside the homeland country. Of particular importance in this approach is the identification of artifacts' diagnostic traits, including material composition, morphology, and symbolic decoration, that are to be linked to the "original" data in their homeland. Diaspora collections-based research necessitates provenience studies, as well as direct observation of both the diaspora collection and its original data. It also takes advantage of the recent development of various digital and remote technologies. A case study to show this methodology comes from dedicatory lanterns currently stored outside Japan that were part of the shogun (Tokugawa) family's graveyards in modern Tokyo during the 18th and 19th centuries a.d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how the use of color in the Japanese urban landscape has changed over time and what the future holds. The colors of contemporary Japanese cities are not beautiful, but it is said that they were harmonious and beautiful in the Edo period (1603–1868). In the 1850s, as the country opened up to the outside world, Western‐style architecture was introduced and emerged side by side with Japanese architecture. As economic growth took precedence in the 20th century, there was a lack of awareness of the city's public ownership and the appearance of buildings. The attempt to achieve industrial standards and rapid urbanization were also cited as reasons for the absence of harmony in the built environment. Additionally, many outdoor advertisements appeared. The lack of effective regulations on outdoor advertising is one factor that has heavily affected the contemporary Japanese cityscape. The "Landscape Act," which went into effect in 2004, aims to regulate landscape color use in present‐day Japan. This law allows local governments to enact regulations for urban landscape color use primarily by setting the upper limit for color saturation in terms of Munsell Chroma. It is questionable whether this will really lead to the creation of more unique cityscapes. Training in color in architecture, urban objects, and infrastructure should be compulsory as part of civic education, and more time should be devoted to the subject of color in architects' educational programs to create beautiful cities in the future. Students of architecture need time to think about the idea that the exterior of a building is part of the urban landscape, to consider the importance of color, and to study color harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses primary and secondary sources to provide a process-sociological analysis of the relationship between religious practices and Japanese martial arts. It problematises the taken for granted role of Zen Buddhism as the sole influence on the development of Japanese martial arts. Such essential connection is inaccurate and anachronistic. Religious and martial practices developed as part of processes of sociogenesis (state formation) and psychogenesis (habitus) during three different key stages: (1) Medieval Japan (1185-1600): during this stage, warriors (bushi) progressively became the predominant rulers across the country, enforcing law by sheer force. Warriors seasoned in combat used esoteric practices (spells, magic rituals) as part of their psychological arsenal for warfare, as practical means of action. The cult of the Buddhist deity Marishiten held special interest for the bushi originating martial traditions (ryu). (2) Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1848): the pacification of the country by the central military court implied a more detached approach to martial arts by samurai. Within this milieu, the samurai acted as a retainer/bureaucrat whose main mission was to keep order in a stratified society and to serve his lord, something that Zen practices helped to incorporate in the samurai ethos. (3) Early Showa period (1926-1945): this stage featured a progressive militarisation of people and the instigation of a strong involvement towards the Japanese nation, considered as the main (symbolic) survival unit. Budo (martial arts) was connected to shinto (functioning as a 'state religion') and embodied the imperial bushido message. Zen provided a legitimation of violence for citizen-soldiers with a personality structure that presented self-doubts on killing someone and fear of being killed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Eikón / Imago is the property of CAPIRE Research Team at Complutense University of Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Japan's handling of border control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic has become known as sakoku -approach. Sakoku literally means "closed country" and generally refers to a historic period when the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868) kept Japan's borders shut because international contacts were feared to cause public upheaval and political instability. While these times have long passed, contemporary Japan, too, is known for its tight management of immigration avenues. In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of these avenues were cut off, and despite much criticism, have remained largely inaccessible for two years now. In this paper, we build on concepts from authoritarian populism and the performance of crisis to analyze how and why Japan revived its isolationist strategy. We decipher the discursive framings that Prime Minister Abe applied to illustrate the disruptive influence that open borders would have on Japan's public health, social stability and by extension, on the national body itself. We argue that from the onset of the pandemic on, the ethnic others were portrayed as a risk mainly for two intertwined reasons: Firstly, Japan's pandemic management relies on self-constraint rather than rules and sanctions, and the ethnic others' compliance was not fully trusted. Secondly, this exclusionary strategy fed into populist discourses and was presumed to result in favorable support rates for the administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a corpus of 300 words, this paper analyses the linguistic characteristics of the special lexicon of the secret language (ingo) used by thieves in Japan between the Edo and Showa periods. A total of 189 words are illustrated to demonstrate how the secret language of thieves can be described in terms of the three strategies used to create this special lexicon: 1) semantic changes introduced into the pre-existing Japanese lexicon; 2) lexical innovations; and 3) morpho-phonological modifications of the pre-existing Japanese lexicon. Strategies used in the creation of the special lexicon are examined in order to determine how the strategies employed in thieves' ingo conform to or deviate from the strategies used in modernising the lexicon of Standard Japanese. This paper also examines how morphological processes utilised in the special lexicon o f thieves' secret language interact with Japanese phonology, and concludes that the mora is an indispensable unit for the processes o f truncation, hypocoristic formation and reduplication, while the syllable is an indispensable unit for the process of metathesis. Finally, data analysis reveals that truncation and metathesis work at a level which ignores morpheme boundaries, and operate instead at the level o f the mora and syllable respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1614 to 1873 Christianity was outlawed in Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan for most of this period, built rigorous and complicated systems of surveillance in order to monitor their population's religious habits. This paper seeks to describe the evolution of Edo period (1603-1868) anti-Christian religious surveillance. The first two sections of the paper explore the development of surveillance under the first three Tokugawa leaders. The following sections focus on the evolution of these systems (the recruitment of informants, temple registration, the composition of registries, and tests of faith) in subsequent periods and includes some short passages from previously untranslated contemporaneous documents. Finally, the paper offers some thoughts on the efficacy of anti-Christian surveillance, arguing that the toleration of the existence of hidden communities resulted from changes in Christian behaviour that made them harder to discover and a willingness on the part of the authorities to tolerate illegal activity due to economic disincentive and a reduction in the threat that Christianity posed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵) was a genre of popular art during the Edo and Meiji periods in Japan. Moxibustion, which was originally introduced from China, was also in its heyday and became one of the popular topics for ukiyo-e artists at that time. Using the images as historical evidence perspective, this article focuses on the moxibustion used in daily life in Japan depicted in the ukiyo-e arts. With the perspective of acu-moxa therapy, one may identify some specific issues in the acupoint selection, leading to the discovery of special application of moxibustion used by the group of yūjo (遊女) at that time. The article concludes by exploring gender issues in ukiyo-e arts and the implications of punishment attached to moxibustion treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sakamoto Ryōma is said to have united the fiefs of Satsuma and Chōshū in their attempt to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, which eventually led to the Meiji Restoration. He is one of the most popular historical figures in contemporary Japan. However, while the remembrance and commemoration of the darkest decades from the 1930s to the 1940s in Japanese history have been researched extensively in the West, cases such as Sakamoto have been mostly neglected. This paper examines Sakamoto's current popularity and puts it into the context of Pierre Nora's concept of 'realms of memory.' Nora's concept describes how national identity draws upon various memories and transforms them into interconnected points of reference. The analysis starts by scrutinizing on the many historical novels that have been written about Sakamoto as well as the historical TV drama Ryōma-den, produced and aired by public broadcaster NHK in 2010. Situating Sakamoto's case in the overall picture of Japanese 'realms of memory' reveals the political dimensions of memorizing him. Sakamoto has been cherished by conservatives and left-wing students alike. The paper concludes that Sakamoto and other heroes such as Saigō Takamori should be included into Western research on collective historical memory in Japan because they shed light on the complex entanglement of memory and politics in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the recent hit shōjo manga by Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, which creates a science fiction alternate version of Edo-period Japan ruled by a female shogun. This gender-reversed world is the outcome of the sudden outbreak of an epidemic that kills only male youths in the era of the third shogun Iemitsu. In the inner chambers of Edo Castle, which are the private space of the shogun, 3,000 beautiful men live and work. This alternative world rereads existing historical narratives and also provides a critical space for readers to examine the multiple discourses of gender and sexuality. The paper approaches this re-representation of Japanese premodern history in the genre of shōjo manga from several angles. To provide a fuller understanding of Ōoku, it shows how revisionist presentation of the Tokugawa inner chambers in a 1960s Yoshiya Nobuko novel provided a model for a subgenre of historical period drama in post-war popular culture. It also examines shōjo manga traditions of non-normative gender identities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper moves between text and context in order to trace the personal, familial and narrative connections between two women, Nakayama Suzuko (b. c. 1675), wife of a Mito domain official stationed in Edo, and her sister-in-law Kuroda Tosako (1682-1758), wife of an official of Tatebayashi domain. Drawing on four extant texts - two travel accounts and two diary/memoirs - the paper argues that, although marriage and family fundamentally shaped these bushi-class women's lives, these factors did not confine them to the home, but pushed them out into the world to act on behalf of their families as well as for their own enrichment and pleasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Naoshima Onna Bunraku, an all-female bunraku troupe on the island of Naoshima in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, has revitalized a puppetry tradition dating back to the Edo period (1603–1868). This article examines how the Naoshima Onna Bunraku negotiates the pull of its local, community-oriented past and its global present as a folk performing art on an island now known for art tourism as the site of the Setouchi Triennale. I trace Naoshima's puppetry networks from the Seto Inland Sea that nurtured their ancestors to new networks that extend globally to reveal the dynamic flows that animate and sustain puppetry on Naoshima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nikkō Tōshōgū, a mausoleum and place of worship for the deified spirit of the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), is famous for its sacred spatial sites, sumptuous architectural and sculptural decorations, and political and religious significance for the Tokugawa shogunate. Interestingly, the shrine holds several ritual objects sent by Joseon kings in the 17th century and still displays a large Joseon bell engraved with the writings of Joseon officials (sent in 1643) in front of the Yōmeimon, the entrance to the inner shrine complex. More significantly, Japan requested that these specific items be sent from Joseon, and that they be presented as voluntary gifts. This article aims to examine the uniqueness inherent in the Joseon gifts on display at Nikkō Tōshōgū and the conflicts of interest surrounding them. With a thorough analysis of this gift-giving process--during which both countries, operating from disparate perspectives and driven by their respective needs and interests, engaged in and navigated constant deliberations and negotiations--this article suggests that these gifts, while seemingly a peaceful gesture, actually conceal a complex and contentious history and are a result of both countries' fierce and desperate struggle to address their practical needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the time practices relevant to Edo-period pleasure-quarter life and business in eighteenth and nineteenth century Japan, discussing two time patterns that appeared in pleasure-quarter directories at the time: more long-term, loosely circumscribed stays based around diurnal rhythms of light and darkness, as well as more short-term transactions centered on units of time measured with incense sticks--two aspects of time that were central to the trade plied in the quarters, as I show. I argue that the sex trade is significant in that it provided a rare example of a service "paid by the hour" in early modern Japan, thus crucially also calling us to (re-)consider larger issues regarding the economic value of time within the early modern Japanese world of work and especially also its relationship to modern time and labor. I demonstrate how the exigencies of a certain trade required the elaboration of a set of time units and, where necessary, a system to measure and co-ordinate them, which ultimately points towards the existence of an abstract notion of time that commanded a certain price in early modern Japan. As such, the present paper serves to qualify narratives that mainly identify the commodification of time with Japan's industrialization, modernization, and Westernization in the late nineteenth century, as well as with the dissemination of mechanical clock-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY In the early Meiji era western civilization flowed into Japan, and the concept of 'civilization and enlightenment' was established. In the field of electricity, the electric telegraph and electric lighting spread nationwide. This can be credited to the scientific and technological development nurtured during the Edo Period (1603-1868). In 1720, in order to improve the encouragement of new industry and medical technology, Shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa removed the embargo on the importation of books unrelated to Christianity from the Netherlands. As a result, European natural science made its way into Japan, opening the way for the formation of electrical machinery technology. This paper describes electrical machinery technology in Japan in comparison with that of Western Europe at the time of the Edo period. Many people contributed to the formation of electrical engineering in the Edo period, but three persons, Gennai Hiraga, Soukichi Hashimoto, Koumin Kawamoto, are considered to have made especial contributions to the formation of electrical engineering due to their broad knowledge and efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encounter between Muslims and Japan coincides with the end of the 19th century. Japan, whom has closed itself to most of the world for about 250 years during the Tokugawa period, opened its doors to the world with the influence of the United States in 1853 and started to establish communication with many countries of the world. Following this, the encounters with Muslims and Islamic world also started. The first Muslims that arrived in Japan are thought to be merchants who came with the commerce ships. Thus, the journey of Muslims to Japan began with Indian Muslim merchants towards the end of the 19th century. Turko-Tatar Muslims who took shelter in Japan following the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 comes as the second significant Muslim immigrant group in Japan. During and after the Second World War the immigration slows down and the Indian and Turko-Tatar Muslims either returns to their homelands or immigrate other third countries. In the years following the war, although there were some individual visits, no significant migration activity from the Muslim countries is occurred. The third immigration wave coincides with the bubble economy of Japan after the 1970's. Many who sought better work conditions and salaries from countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran found themselves in Japan. The current the number of Muslims in Japan, including short time migrants who came to work or study, residents who had already settled in the country, had families and started to raise second generations, and Japanese Muslims, is around 150,000.1 %10 of this number is considered as Japanese Muslims and the rest as immigrants. In the contemporary Japanese society, immigrant Muslims have a life away from discrimination, and do not have significant problems on fulfilling their religious needs with increasing number of mosques, masjids, Islamic organisations and halal food services. On the other hand, they still do not feel that they are being accepted as local members of the society. The aim of this study is to describe the Muslim migration history in Japan, and to analyse the current situation of migrants in Japan. In order to do this, the literature and the field study data derived in between 2016 September-2017 December and 2019 February-2010 January will be consulted. In this paper, we tried to explain that although the Muslim migration history to Japan has started more than a century ago, immigrant Muslims are still having hardships on being accepted as permanent part of the Japanese society. This could be of two reason. Firstly, due to unstable migration waves, and immigrants returning to their homelands or migrating to other countries, there was not a stable Muslim population in Japan until 80's. Although first mosques and education centers were established a long time ago, the number of Muslims in Japan has only started to increase after the migration wave of 70s. Secondly, Japanese has a habit of seeing foreigners as guests, on the grounds that foreigners cannot learn Japanese sufficiently and cannot adapt to Japanese customs, hence can never live like a Japanese. Because of these reasons, immigrant Muslims still have difficulty of feeling a belonging to the country they are residing in. However, the more they live in the country and the more they become proficient in the language, the more their life satisfaction increases, and they start to have meaningful relationships with the locals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the domestic dog's origin is still unclear, this lineage is believed to have been domesticated from an extinct population of gray wolves, which is expected to be more closely related to dogs than to other populations of gray wolves. Here, we sequence the whole genomes of nine Japanese wolves (7.5–100x: Edo to Meiji periods) and 11 modern Japanese dogs and analyze them together with those from other populations of dogs and wolves. A phylogenomic tree shows that, among the gray wolves, Japanese wolves are closest to the dog, suggesting that the ancestor of dogs is closely related to the ancestor of the Japanese wolf. Based on phylogenetic and geographic relationships, the dog lineage has most likely originated in East Asia, where it diverged from a common ancestor with the Japanese wolf. Since East Eurasian dogs possess Japanese wolf ancestry, we estimate an introgression event from the ancestor of the Japanese wolf to the ancestor of the East Eurasian dog that occurred before the dog's arrival in the Japanese archipelago. The evolutionary origin of the domestic dog is uncertain. Here, the authors sequence the whole genomes of 9 extinct Japanese wolves and 11 modern Japanese dogs, applying a phylogenetic analysis to show that dogs may have originated in East Asia from a common ancestor with the Japanese wolf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a faraway apple orchard in Sannohe, a small town in Japan's Aomori Prefecture, a zushi miniature wooden shrine at the Nose Kannon Hall caught the media's attention with its unique adornment—the karuta playing cards with European-inspired abstract designs in bold red and black colors that were used during the early modern period for pastime and gambling. Because of this decoration, the Nose Kannon Hall is known by locals as the Karuta Hall, and the zushi that enshrines the Buddhist deity Bodhisattva Shō-Kanzeon is also believed to be the home of bakuchi no kamisama "the kami deity of gambling". Little is known about the nature of devotion to this bakuchi no kamisama or how the playing cards that were used for frivolous games came to be sacralized as items worthy to be used as decoration of a Buddhist shrine. This article considers the slippage between prayer and play in the regional Buddhist devotion by focusing on the Nose Kannon Hall, which presided at a key intersection along the northern trade route where the local community and outside visitors, such as pilgrims and traders, converged, especially during the Edo period (1603–1868). Marshaling historical records, televised interviews, and images provided by the town officials and guardian family of Nose Kannon Hall, I argue that the use of karuta playing cards on the miniature shrine at Nose Kannon Hall epitomizes a kind of localized early modern Shinto–Buddhist syncretism at the margins of the urban culture that is simultaneously devotional and tongue-in-cheek sacrilegious in a quintessentially Edo-esque way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guth's exhaustive analysis of craft culture in Edo period Japan is required reading not just for anyone who seeks to better understand the world of craft, but also the vibrant world of early modern Japan in general. She also notes that there were, broadly speaking, two categories of craft: one was craft produced for the burgeoning early modern urban elite, often by celebrity craftspeople, and the other produced in the rural areas of Japan and intended mainly for local use, a distinction that Guth calls "art craft" versus "folk craft". Graph Christine Guth's monograph offers a new perspective on craft culture in early modern Japan. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Socio-Economic History / Shakai-Keizai Shigaku is the property of Socio-Economic History Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the way the outcaste head Danzaemon, or more precisely several individuals who successively bore that title, negotiated their place in the eighteenth-century Edo status order through official genealogical pronouncements.Etaandhiningroups became closely linked together in the political imaginary in Edo from around the beginning of the eighteenth century in an extraordinary legal battle that emerged between the leaders of these groups. The head of the former group, Danzaemon Chikamura, achieved a qualified victory in this struggle through genealogical posturing, positioning himself at the apex of an increasingly well-defined Edo outcaste order. By the second half of the eighteenth century, the privileged place within the order held by the next Danzaemon came under renewed pressure from a new generation ofhinin. As a result, Danzaemon Chikasono made an attempt to rearticulate the grounds for his status through a different kind of genealogical statement. This article, using the official correspondence between Danzaemon and the Edo City Magistrate, examines the distinctive features of the genealogical imaginations of these two outcaste leaders in order to reveal the ways they negotiated their place within the Edo outcaste order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyzes historical Japanese folk songs to provide cultural perspectives on contemporary Japanese attitudes towards whaling. It reveals the deep connection between whaling and Japanese community identity, and helps to explain the resistance to and rejection of international anti-whaling campaigns, which fail to recognize this significant facet of Japanese culture. This research uses the songs to investigate traditional whaling and its later counterparts, and discusses the role that folk songs might serve in the current whaling debate. The intangible cultural heritage of Japanese whaling includes a body of traditional, local folk songs known as kujira uta whose lyrics outline Edo period whaling practices in terms of geography, personnel, techniques and species, and provide insight into cultural attitudes. Content analysis of fifty songs, and comparison with contextual sources, contributes to an understanding of the songs as local affirmations of a wider social, folkloric and spiritual consensus set in an international arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the Shanghanlun, translated as the Treatise on Cold Damage (i.e., the Treatise), one of the most revered Chinese medical texts of the Han dynasty, was used in Japanese traditional medicine (Kanpō ... and particularly how it was reconfigured to fit with the societal shifts of the Edo period in Japan. The versatility of the Treatise in the formation of Kanpo is exemplified by the medicine of Yoshimasu Todo, an innovative eighteenth-century Japanese doctor. In this analysis of Todo's unique interpretation of the Treatise, some of his transitional ideas about medicine, the human body, and illness, as well as the transcultural influence from China, will be elucidated. To this end, first Todo's application of the Treatise will be re-defined within the historical context of changing medical needs in the consumer society of the Edo period. Secondly, by focusing on the idea of poison that forms the core of Todo's theory and practice, I show how his pathology resonated with the period's popular notions of the human body and illness, although it was said at the time to be drawn from Chinese classics. Associating Todo's use of the Treatise with such phenomena as the commercialisation and popularisation of medical treatment and the popular imagination of illness, I show the applicability of the Treatise to the evolution of Kanpo in the context of the surrounding social structure and cross-cultural intellectual ebb and flow across East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]