Edo Culture : daily life and diversions in urban Japan, 1600-1868 / Nishiyama Matsunosuke ; translated and edited by Gerald Groemer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nishiyama, Matsunosuke, 1912-2012.

Contributor:

Groemer, Gerald, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japan--Civilization--1600-1868.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (319 p.)

Place of Publication:

Honolulu, HI : University of Hawaii Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Nishiyama Matsunosuke is one of the most important historians of Tokugawa (Edo) popular culture, yet until now his work has never been translated into a Western language. Edo Culture presents a selection of Nishiyama's writings that serves not only to provide an excellent introduction to Tokugawa cultural history but also to fill many gaps in our knowledge of the daily life and diversions of the urban populace of the time. Many essays focus on the most important theme of Nishiyama's work: the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries as a time of appropriation and development of Japan's culture by its urban commoners. In the first of three main sections, Nishiyama outlines the history of Edo (Tokyo) during the city's formative years, showing how it was shaped by the constant interaction between its warrior and commoner classes. Next, he discusses the spirit and aesthetic of the Edo native and traces the woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e to the communal activities of the city's commoners. Section two focuses on the interaction of urban and rural culture during the nineteenth century and on the unprecedented cultural diffusion that occurred with the help of itinerant performers, pilgrims, and touring actors. Among the essays is a delightful and detailed discourse on Tokugawa cuisine. The third section is dedicated to music and theatre, beginning with a study of no, which was patronized mainly by the aristocracy but surprisingly by commoners as well. In separate chapters, Nishiyama analyzes the relation of social classes to musical genres and the aesthetics of kabuki. The final chapter focuses on vaudeville houses supported by the urban masses.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Historical Periods

Translator's Introduction

Introduction: The Study of Edo-Period Culture

Part I. Edo: The City and Its Culture

1. Edo: The Warrior's City

2. Edokko: The Townsperson

3. Iki: The Aesthetic of Edo

4. Edo Publishing and Ukiyo-e

5. Edo Temples and Shrines

Part II. The Town and the Country

6. Provincial Culture of the Kasei Period (1804 -1830)

7. Itinerants, Actors, Pilgrims

8. Edo-Period Cuisine

Part III. Theater and Music: From the Bakufu to the Beggar

9. The Social Context of Nō

10. Social Strata and Music

11. The Aesthetics of Kabuki

12. Popular Performing Arts: From Edo to Meiji

Afterword

Notes

Glossary

Selected References

Sources to Chapters

Index

About the author

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-296) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9780824862299

0824862295

9780585309521

0585309523

OCLC:

614720233