2. The period was characterized by economic
growth, strict social order, isolationist
foreign policies, a stable population,
popular enjoyment of arts and culture,
recycling of materials, and sustainable
forest management.
3. Both rich and poor
benefited from the
flowering of Japanese
culture.
Tokugawa coinage 1601-1695
4. Confucian ideal that society depended on agriculture
and not urban commerce influenced ideas about
Japanese society. Farmers and not merchants were
considered the ideal citizens.
Emperor
Court
Nobility
Shogun
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasants
Craftsmen
Merchants
Figurehead and nominal
ruling court.
Military leader and
actual ruling class.
5. Farmers often abandoned the farms and their
miseries for the towns and cities.
These ex-farmers helped shift Japan to an urban
society by the mid-1700’s.
Edo had grown to perhaps the largest city in the
world by the mid-1700’s with a population of
more than one million.
6. Life in these urban areas proved to provide
many opportunities for women. Women
found jobs in entertainment, textile
manufacturing and publishing.
7. Cultural events such as
teraditional, ceremonial
noh dramas based on
tragic themes were
attended by samurai.
Noh is a chanted drama
which evolved from
Shinto rituals. The
performers wear masks
and chant songs and
dance. It has been
dubbed the “Japanese
opera.”
8. The history of kabuki began in 1603, when Okuni,
a miko (young women in the service of the Shinto
shrines) began performing a new style of dance
drama in the dry river beds of Kyoto. Female
performers played both men and women in the
comic playlets about ordinary life. Although
women performed in the plays in the beginning,
the raucous and often violent atmosphere of
kabuki performances attracted the attention of the
ruling Tokugawa shogunate, and in 1629 women
were banned from the stage for the stated purpose
of protecting public morals.
9. Men now perform both
male and female roles in
the kabuki theater.
Dramatic makeup and
elaborate costumes are
worn by the actors to add
drama. The movements
of the kabuki have
evolved into jerky, stoic
movements which
resemble less the dance
of the original kabuki.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=67-bgSFJiKc
10. Japanese woodblock
prints and paintings
were produced
between the 17th and
the 20th century,
featuring motifs of
landscapes, the theater
and pleasure quarters.
Often, samurai would
hang these paintings
which sometimes
displayed a
sophisticated city life.
11.
12. Literature of the time
consisted of popular
fictional stories about
self-made merchants
or the hardships of
life. Saikaku created
this new genre of
urban fiction known as
“floating world.”
13. Haiku was a popular type
of poetry read by the
Japanese. It is a form of
poetry which does not
express ideas, but
presents images. The
construction of a haiku
poem is a 5-7-5 syllable,
3-line verse. Matsuo
Basho is the most famous
and greatest of all the
Japanese haiku poets.
A Bee by Matsuo Basho
A bee
Staggers out
Of the peony
