Culture Changes During The Edo Period

While differing ecomically and politically in their responses to western penetration, Japan and China had similarities in the way of geography. China only allowed Europeans to trade with it in a limited number of ports and cities, which limited the amount of goods Europeans were allowed to transfer overseas. Japan isolated itself as a whole from trade for an entire decade, and when it did open it was cautious towards westerners. Additionally, both were bordered by the ocean at least to a certain extent – Japan was surrounded entirely, being an island, by water, and a large percentage of China’s borders was water. It is because of this that the third similarity arose – both did trade by ocean. China with Britain, simply because it was the easiest, cheapest, and most efficient form of travel between the two, and Japan because there was obviously no choice considering Japan is an island. These geographical similarities arose purely from the coincidence that both were bordered by the ocean, which created the necessity for boats and by the time the opportunity for trade

As individual European countries scrambled to gain more territory to add to their Empires, Japan feared the changes that visiting countries brought. When other countries visited Japan with imports to trade they also brought with them a new religion, Christianity. Japanese Emperors feared the chaos that a new religion would bring and decided to shut the rest of the world out. Only the Dutch were allowed to trade with the Japanese as a need remained to be informed of the rest of the world and medical advances.

The major periods that shaped Japan’s history and future were the Heian-era of Aristocracy and the Kamakura period of Samurai. The Heian-era and the Kamakura period are interesting because of their differences in social structure, tradition, and culture. In the Heian era, the aristocrat’s social class was sought by many because of their social and cultural status. When the warrior rise in the Kamakura age the social classes change dramatically between aristocrat and warrior. The Heian-era (794-1191) was an age of self development in Japan’s culture and tradition. Before the Heian-era, Japan

During the post classical period, 650 C.E to 1450 C.E, Japanese leaders were confronted with several issues that threatened political order in Japan. The problems that arose during that time included a lack of respect for Buddhism, for example, monks were not taking their vows seriously. Another problem included the division between classes in the social structure, one instance was when the lady-in-waiting in the temple showed disdain for the peasants in a lower class than her. Ultimately, one last problem was the lack of overall respect for the government. Samurais were not being properly trained and the Daimyo were fighting among themselves simply for power. The issues that presented themselves during this time period can be solved in many ways. Buddhism, a unified religion, reestablishing Confucian values and relationships, and properly training the Samurai are just

The Japanese social structure was a lot more complicated than the Europeans simple and permanent one. They were a lot more specific on who went where, and they had several levels of peasants. This structure was determined by looking at how much you contributed to the society, and the more you did, obviously the more important on the ranking you were. The Eta and Hinin were considered “unhuman” because they did work which went against the laws of Buddhism. In medieval Europe, the social structure was simple; if you were a peasant, there was no changing that. You were a peasant! The King was only answerable to the Pope, as during this time the Catholic Church was extremely powerful, having their say in practically everything. The difference between these two is that the Japanese simply had a ruler (the emperor), and although of course they were swayed by their religion, the Emperor had a strong say, whereas the European

There were two main groups in early Japanese shogunate period. The ‘good citizens’ included nobles, farmers and other free people. The ‘Low citizens’ include slaves, servants and guards. The daimyo and samurais belonged to the warrior class aka Shi. Shi was at the top because they protected the nation from invasion. Farmers were after daimyo’s and samurai’s they were called no. No were important because without food no one could survive. No people were essential as they produce food. Artisans aka ko came next. Ko made paper, fine swords and reed mats. Sho were merchants .The Sho were at the bottom of the social ladder because they didn't make anything. Sho lived by selling rice and other items.

The Japanese society was divided into four classes: samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The samurai was a class of warriors, emerged from Japan during the constant

The government than also led in the way of building railways and shipping lines, telegraphs and telephone systems, three shipyards, ten mines, fifty-three consumer industries. The Meiji Government opened their borders, allowing japan to improve their basic infrastructure, improving communication and to be able to travel from city to city easier. The markets were often based on main roads/path ways, rivers and special temples so that the local sellers are able to easily bring their items to the markets, according to (The Program for Teaching East Asia 2008). In doing this Japan was able to become more richer and Emperor Meiji was able to turn Japan into a modern world power as we see it

In 1639, Japan did unfair trading, which led to expelling most foreigners and foreign traders. Japan also had to limit their trades with China and the Dutch.

The Feudal Period in Japan ended in a decline of central power, which led to the centralized feudal system of government in the Tokugawa Period in late 1500. There were three main leaders who helped reunite Japan including Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Oda Nobunaga was successful to an extent, but was not successful in uniting the entire country. After the country once again became reunited from Tokugawa Ieyasu, a second wave of cultural diffusion occurred from the Europeans. They introduced guns and Christianity in early 1600.

The Tokugawa period or otherwise known as the Edo period has been recognised as an extremely significant aspect of Japanese history and left history changing effects on the country. In this essay, five primary aspects of the Edo period, which has helped produce present day Japan and had greatly impacted on the nation during this period will be addressed:

Japan at the turn of the century was clearly trying to westernize and change is isolated society into one more intellectually and scientifically involved with the rest of the world. When the Japanese open their ports to the western civilization food and merchandise were not the only things being traded. When ports were open the western way of living was integrated with the Japanese culture which gradually changed the way the

The Japanese were not unknown to attempts to have them enter the consumerist world of the 19th century. Michael R. Austin bring this up in his book Negotiating with Imperialism, “The boundary’s physical manifestation was the trading complex at Nagasaki, on the southern island of Kyushu…Nagasaki first and foremost was closed to whom the bakufu wished to keep out of Japan.” The bakufu was basically the government of the time that was command by the Emperor. He later describes how Japan slowly rolled out their trade to other countries prior to the west that were mostly in Asian. He later describes how that the Japanese were uneasy to open to the west due to cultural boundaries instead of the aforementioned physical

Portrait of an Arhat (Rakan) was created in Edo period of the Japanese art culture. This period started in 1615-1868 when culture expression started to really blossom for the Japanese culture (Singer). From statues, lavish paintings, and religion the art speaks vibrant vibrations. This culturally diverse period gets its name from the city of Edo, known as Tokyo modern day. Which became the headquarters of the government when Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542 – 1616) unified the country (Department of Asian Art). The Tokugawa regime was started in 1603, when the emperor, in “recognition of Ieyasu’s supremacy on the battlefield”, appointed him shogun. Shogun is the highest military position you can carry in Japan (Singer). After this Japan had strict laws on not using motor vehicles were put into place. Going into the 1630s, contact with the outside world was stopped through “official prohibition of foreigners” (Department of Asian Art). Around 1720 Edo had a population of “more than one million residents having more population than London or Paris at the time” (Singer). According to Art of Edo Japan Kyoto, was city of temples and shrines. It was the leading center of arts and crafts production with a population of close to 400,000 (Singer).

The Edo period in Japan was the result of strict social control and economic growth resulting in a burgeoning artistic scene. Art was a way of expressing the feelings and desires that was denied by social norms imposed by an authoritarian government. As a result, there was a clash of ideas that pushed artists to focus on subtle refinement of traditional styles and the values therein. This sentiment not only applied to religious art, but to secular art forms as well due to the wealthy patrons being a part of the systems that restricted society. However, this restriction created a unique environment that birthed art and ideas that are unique to their time and place as the lack of outside influences forced all to turn inwards for inspiration. Therefore, the balance between the visible and the invisible is represented in the design of the art.