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Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868
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.
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.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 9, 2019
A classic in the true sense of the word, Matsunosuke's Edo culture (translated to English) is by the authors own words a lifetime achievement; the professor had been one of the earliest historians to take the culture of Edo Japan serious after decades of vilification by scholars and officials of modern Japan. I for one am always fond of those who swim against a current when it comes to choosing one's field of expertise and those who are able to overcome rigid assumptions when analyzing said unappreciated subjects.
When reviewing these kind of books that take such a broad range of subjects; housing, cuisine, theater, street performers, handicrafts, tea-serving, the Ikki public conduct ideal, pleasure districts, provincial-center dynamics and traveling; I always find myself to be a bit overwhelmed. It would do the author and all his work injustice to try and synthesize all of it. In stead I will point out what really intrigued me. For starters it is easy to forget how quickly Edo became a metropolis, this was a city created by and for political reasons to sequester and hold hostage the families of all of Japan's daimyo away from the old imperial capital of Kyoto or the western trade centers in west japan. Matsunosuke underlines how this created virtually overnight a huge market for culture, luxuries, cuisine, entertainment, building orders that required a huge pool of laborers, shopkeepers, merchants, servants, actors and entertainers who far sooner then expected by the Bakufu became true city dwellers or Chonin.
Off course a lot of what anyone who knows something about "traditional" Japanese culture will be found in this book such as Noh, Kabuki, Sushi, the Tokaido road, geisha, beggar monks. One has to wonder if not the pioneer work of scholars such as professor Matsunosuke are part of the reason we even have so much (relatively) common knowledge about japanese culture (that alongside the need for Japan to reorient its national epic away from militaristic focus after world war 2 and a way to ward off to some extent western cultural prominence). I particularly liked how he in every chapter integrates the differing classes of Japanese society experiencing of a cultural phenomenon, how even elites pursuits such as Noh theater did allow for townsmen appreciation.
however I do have some remarks; for starters the book does require a strong basis on knowledge of Japanese history, I would not recommend it for those only starting to get into the subject. Secondly I felt that Matsunosuke should have spent a bit more time and effort on the occasionally mentioned political crisis, riot or conflict but I get that one could argue that the point of his book is the Daily life and a riot is by nature an exceptional event. Still including a bit more about the reasons of said riots or crisis and how they disrupted daily life would have been nice and would help underline what was common and what was exceptional. Thirdly even though there is a chapter on the handcraft production and the links between province and town, the book is bit to much geared towards consumption side of the story only and could have used some light on the agricultural and fishing, logging and other basic products acquiring needed for to make the city thrive; nothing is said of the hokaido Ainu trade but that is no surprise considering that in itself is an even more recent field of study. Fourthly not really a criticism but more a remark, this book is on public diversions, fans of poetry or calligraphy, gardening and other more secluded diversions will have to look somewhere else. Fifthly, altough it would be unfair to say he doesn't at all talk about them, I did find myself wanting to read more about the poorer day labors daily lives beyond their participation in festivals and street performances.
This book had another motive however besides preserving and re appreciating Edo Culture; this is also a book meant to be part of a national epic on modern Japan. It is a open attack on the Mejii narrative that supposedly had gotten rid of all that was wrong with Japan (the Edo period) and replaced with more wholesome for the nation. Matsunosuke makes the case that the nation that the Mejii rebels wanted to make, was conceived in the Edo period. Edo being the incubator by forcing Samourai families to interact with those whose homes might be on the other side of the country and creating a lingua franca dialect that was specifically Edo in origin. Not only that but Matsunosuke spent's quite a lot of time and energy on pointing out the dynamics of class consciousness. The struggle of Samourai to differ themselves in their cultural consumption of those townspeople below them and their distinctly differing but equally active appropriating and participation in the cultural options of their society, in the process making a more uniform Japanese culture with class not region making the biggest differing factor.
So yes a book worthwhile to read if one is interested in Japanese culture and has some knowledge on Japanese History who would like to pick up a classic study on daily lives of Samourai, merchants and other richer chonin residing in Edo or farmers near Edo.
PS Matsunosuke included a ton of fascinating prints of historical drawings from books such as the Edo Meisho zue or Nijuyohai Junpai zue making it even more a joy to appreciate for one like me who is a huge fan of Japanese art.
When reviewing these kind of books that take such a broad range of subjects; housing, cuisine, theater, street performers, handicrafts, tea-serving, the Ikki public conduct ideal, pleasure districts, provincial-center dynamics and traveling; I always find myself to be a bit overwhelmed. It would do the author and all his work injustice to try and synthesize all of it. In stead I will point out what really intrigued me. For starters it is easy to forget how quickly Edo became a metropolis, this was a city created by and for political reasons to sequester and hold hostage the families of all of Japan's daimyo away from the old imperial capital of Kyoto or the western trade centers in west japan. Matsunosuke underlines how this created virtually overnight a huge market for culture, luxuries, cuisine, entertainment, building orders that required a huge pool of laborers, shopkeepers, merchants, servants, actors and entertainers who far sooner then expected by the Bakufu became true city dwellers or Chonin.
Off course a lot of what anyone who knows something about "traditional" Japanese culture will be found in this book such as Noh, Kabuki, Sushi, the Tokaido road, geisha, beggar monks. One has to wonder if not the pioneer work of scholars such as professor Matsunosuke are part of the reason we even have so much (relatively) common knowledge about japanese culture (that alongside the need for Japan to reorient its national epic away from militaristic focus after world war 2 and a way to ward off to some extent western cultural prominence). I particularly liked how he in every chapter integrates the differing classes of Japanese society experiencing of a cultural phenomenon, how even elites pursuits such as Noh theater did allow for townsmen appreciation.
however I do have some remarks; for starters the book does require a strong basis on knowledge of Japanese history, I would not recommend it for those only starting to get into the subject. Secondly I felt that Matsunosuke should have spent a bit more time and effort on the occasionally mentioned political crisis, riot or conflict but I get that one could argue that the point of his book is the Daily life and a riot is by nature an exceptional event. Still including a bit more about the reasons of said riots or crisis and how they disrupted daily life would have been nice and would help underline what was common and what was exceptional. Thirdly even though there is a chapter on the handcraft production and the links between province and town, the book is bit to much geared towards consumption side of the story only and could have used some light on the agricultural and fishing, logging and other basic products acquiring needed for to make the city thrive; nothing is said of the hokaido Ainu trade but that is no surprise considering that in itself is an even more recent field of study. Fourthly not really a criticism but more a remark, this book is on public diversions, fans of poetry or calligraphy, gardening and other more secluded diversions will have to look somewhere else. Fifthly, altough it would be unfair to say he doesn't at all talk about them, I did find myself wanting to read more about the poorer day labors daily lives beyond their participation in festivals and street performances.
This book had another motive however besides preserving and re appreciating Edo Culture; this is also a book meant to be part of a national epic on modern Japan. It is a open attack on the Mejii narrative that supposedly had gotten rid of all that was wrong with Japan (the Edo period) and replaced with more wholesome for the nation. Matsunosuke makes the case that the nation that the Mejii rebels wanted to make, was conceived in the Edo period. Edo being the incubator by forcing Samourai families to interact with those whose homes might be on the other side of the country and creating a lingua franca dialect that was specifically Edo in origin. Not only that but Matsunosuke spent's quite a lot of time and energy on pointing out the dynamics of class consciousness. The struggle of Samourai to differ themselves in their cultural consumption of those townspeople below them and their distinctly differing but equally active appropriating and participation in the cultural options of their society, in the process making a more uniform Japanese culture with class not region making the biggest differing factor.
So yes a book worthwhile to read if one is interested in Japanese culture and has some knowledge on Japanese History who would like to pick up a classic study on daily lives of Samourai, merchants and other richer chonin residing in Edo or farmers near Edo.
PS Matsunosuke included a ton of fascinating prints of historical drawings from books such as the Edo Meisho zue or Nijuyohai Junpai zue making it even more a joy to appreciate for one like me who is a huge fan of Japanese art.
October 5, 2025
I can see the usefulness if you're a baka gaijin that knows nothing about Japan. A 80's Japanese that thinks the Edo Period was merely oppressive Asian feudalism. Or somebody intending to look up all the arts, crafts, names, districts mentioned in some capacity. Otherwise it's surface level, with most of the topics being shown in literally any Japanese media set in the time period.
The only new piece of information was the absolute maleness of the population of Edo. 70% men. Maletopia.
The only new piece of information was the absolute maleness of the population of Edo. 70% men. Maletopia.
July 15, 2009
Nishiyama Matsunosuke is an excellent scholar of Edo culture; this book was a textbook I used in my freshman year of college, and I still have it!
April 13, 2025
Edo kültürünün oluşmu ve bu çerçevede oluşan Edolu yani şehirli kültür hakkında gerçekten nokta atışı değiniler içeriyor. Aynı dönemin Osmanlı kültürünü araştıran biri olarak çok ilham aldım.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews