Early Modern Japanese Literature (Volume D)

Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868) Edo merchant, samurai class bookstores literacy popular reading—haikai and Buddhist devotional texts The military clan of Tokugawa brought back order and prosperity when they established themselves as shoguns in Edo (Tokyo). A new class of urban commoners, including merchants and samurai, became a driving economic and cultural force. Samurais no longer had wars to fight, becoming urban elites with bureaucratic and government titles. After Christian missionaries set up a printing press with movable type, the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, had prominent Confucian texts and administrative and military works printed in the early 1600s. Commercial printing took off, bookstores targeted the new commoner class, and the literacy rate dramatically grew. The image is a portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Rice Because rice, which had long been the traditional standard of exchange, was unwieldy and inconvenient in an urban setting, coined money took its place and had an effect on every aspect of Japanese life. The shoguns were worried about outside threats, such as the firearms, Christianity ,and crops that the Portuguese (who reached Japan in 1543) and other Europeans brought from Europe. The image shows a detail from an early 17th-century folding screen, showing Portuguese merchants in Japan.

Society Christianity domain lords and their families prostitution and courtesans pleasure quarters Yoshiwara quarter After 1639, Christianity was forbidden as was overseas travel and the importation of foreign books. Domain lords kept estates in Edo, where their women and children were held as hostages, in addition to their castles in the provinces. To control prostitution, brothels were consolidated into pleasure quarters, surrounded by a moat and only accessible through a main gate to monitor clients and prevent courtesans from leaving. The Yoshiwara in Edo, Shimabara in Kyoto and Shinmachi in Osaka were proverbial pleasure quarters that appear in popular literature of the period. The image is from the Hours of the Yoshiwara, by Utagawa Kunisada (1818).

Ukiyo-e, woodbloock prints The image is a color woodblock print titled Under a Wave Off Kanagawa (1826–33) by Hokusai (Library of Congress. Woodblock prints was one of the art forms that flourished during this period, largely because of innovations in printing and distribution.

Kabuki Theater stylization, gesture makeup urbanization social classes Kabuki theater is highly stylized gesture, including dance, drama, and elaborate makeup. During the Edo Period, commercial culture expanded as did urbanization with four social classes: samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. Actors and entertainers were considered outcasts, together with prostitutes and beggars. This image depicts the interior view of the kabuki theater Kawarazaki-za (woodblock, 1797–1806; in the Brooklyn Museum Collection).

Monzaemon: Bunraku, Puppet Theater popular art form puppets joruri chanting shamisen voice training Puppet theater (joruri or Bunraku) and Kabuki (stylized theater) arose during the Edo Period,and were staged for commoners and therefore often addressed common concerns and contemporary events; this is a sharp contrast from the previous Noh theater, which focused on classical literature and themes and was generally sponsored by the wealthy as official state theater. Puppeteers appeared in full view on stage, dressed in black, and the puppets were technically designed with movable facial features and the ability to wield objects. The puppet theater is comprised of puppets-puppeteers, shamisen music, and joruri chanting; chanting is the primary feature as the chanter performs the entire play, requiring great range of voice and character acting. The image is a contemporary puppet theater performance in Osaka.

Unorthodox Poetry haikai linked verse haibun (prose essay) haiga (ink paintings) Haikai can mean “comic” or “unorthodox” poetry, and is the origin of haiku. Haikai poets wrote not only popular linked verse, they also pioneered a new style in writing prose essays (haibun), such as travelogues, and they produced ink paintings (haiga). The image is titled A Little Cuckoo Across a Hydrangea, an example of haiga by Yosa Buson (1716–1784).

Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) marginal figure themes in poetry 1680 retreat “Banana plant hut” journey with Sora The Narrow Road to the Deep North Basho was not part of the prominent haikai circles in the major cities, but was rather a marginal figure like the travelers, outcasts, beggars and old people who feature in his poetry. He made his living teaching poetry after his former samurai family lost its stature and in 1680 retreated to a “Banana plant hut” (Basho-an) from which he took his pen-name, on the Sumida River in the outskirts of Edo. In 1689 he set out to travel with his companion Sora on a five-month journey, which inspired him to write The Narrow Road as a pilgrimage through nature; the collection acts as a travelogue in verse form. The image is a statue of Basho in Hiraizumi, Iwate (near Ueno).

Ihara Saikaku (1686) “I made love with the man day and night. When he lost his desire, I strengthened him with loach broth, eggs and yams, and we continued. Gradually, as I expected, he ran dry” (p. 605). Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman was a new “floating world” book that depicted the pleasure quarters and was a national bestseller due to its topic—the confessions of a highly promiscuous lady. It is unique because Saikaku wrote in the voice of an aging woman who tells the story of her life to two young men who come to visit her in her meditation hut outside of Kyoto. It resembles the Buddhist confession narrative, in which an aged, repentant narrator confesses sins in order to secure favorable rebirth as a human rather than hungry ghost or animal. Monument of Saikaku.

Tokugawa Japan The military leaders of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) helped to stabilize Japanese society after a long period of civil wars and social disorder. This map represents a reunified Japan and the Tokugawa clan. Its many cities became vibrant, bustling places, especially as the elite samurai (the warrior class), left with no wars to fight, settled in urban centers to work (and play). Though the shogunate imposed strict social order, they also provided education to common classes of people. This in turn produced demand for new literatures that reflected common, everyday life. Important writers of the period included the poet Bashō, whose journey from Edo to Ogaki is narrated in the poetic diary, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (NAWOL, Volme D).

Test Your Knowledge With no wars left to fight, the numerous elite samurais often became _________ . a. bureaucrats b. artists c. farmers d. warriors Answer: A Section: The Tokugawa Clan Feedback: The preeminent samurai—the warrior class—took up posts in the vast Tokugawa bureaucracy.

Test Your Knowledge Prior to the introduction of coined money in the early Tokugawa period, what was the standard of commercial exchange? a. glass beads b. gold c. rice d. paper notes Answer: C Section: The Tokugawa Clan Feedback: Coined money replaced rice as the standard of exchange as economic activity flourished, especially in growing urban centers.

Test Your Knowledge What is kabuki theater? a. stylized acting with no talking b. performance using puppets c. dance-drama using live actors d. a form of Noh drama Answer: C Section: The Tokugawa Clan Feedback: Kabuki is a form of popular theater that involves dance-drama performed by live actors. It is one of a number of popular literary forms that emerged during this time period.

Test Your Knowledge Which of the following works is the diary of a poet’s travels? a. The Narrow Road to the Deep North b. Life of a Sensuous Woman c. Matsu Bashō d. Collection of Myriad Leaves Answer: A Section: The Tokugawa Clan Feedback: The Narrow Road to the Deep North chronicles the travels of Matsu Bashō, one of the era’s most prominent and famous literary figures.

Test Your Knowledge Which of the following statements is true? a. Writers of the period were not highly regarded. b. Theater was not considered a literary form. c. Writers often mixed elements of classical and popular literature. d. Writers were not allowed to mix elements of classical and popular literature. Answer: C Section: The Tokugawa Clan Feedback: Writers of this period were particularly sensitive to the dynamic between popular (zoku) literature and refined (ga) literature. However, there was nothing that forbade them from mixing elements of the two styles. Famous poets, like Bashō, often experimented by combining elements of each: high and low diction, for example, or classical themes expressed in new poetic language.

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for The Norton Anthology of World Literature