Edo period



Consolidation of the shogunate







Foreign trade relations

Itinerary and dates of the travels of Hasekura Tsunenaga




The shogunate perceived Christianity to be an extremely destabilizing factor, and so decided to target it. The Shimabara Rebellion of 1637–38, in which discontented Catholic samurai and peasants rebelled against the bakufu—and Edo called in Dutch ships to bombard the rebel stronghold—marked the end of the Christian movement, although some Christians survived by going underground, the so-called Kakure Kirishitan. Soon thereafter, the Portuguese were permanently expelled, members of the Portuguese diplomatic mission were executed, all subjects were ordered to register at a Buddhist or Shinto temple, and the Dutch and Chinese were restricted, respectively, to Dejima and to a special quarter in Nagasaki. Besides small trade of some outer daimyō with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's main islands, by 1641, foreign contacts were limited by the policy of sakoku to Nagasaki.



The house of the merchant (Fukagawa Edo Museum)
Social classes during the Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate).








Economic development

Scaled pocket plan of Edo



A set of three ukiyo-e prints depicting Osaka's bustling shipping industry. by Gansuitei Yoshitoyo. 1854-1859.

By the mid-18th century, Edo had a population of more than one million, likely the biggest city in the world at the time.[12] Osaka and Kyoto each had more than 400,000 inhabitants. Many other castle towns grew as well. Osaka and Kyoto became busy trading and handicraft production centers, while Edo was the center for the supply of food and essential urban consumer goods. Around the year 1700, Japan was perhaps the most urbanized country in the world, at a rate of around 10-12%.[12] Half of that figure would be samurai, while the other half, consisting of merchants and artisans, would be known as chōnin.[12]

In the first part of the Edo period, Japan experienced rapid demographic growth, before leveling off at around 30 million.[13] Between the 1720s and 1820s, Japan had almost zero population growth, often attributed to lower birth rates in response to widespread famine, but some historians have presented different theories, such as a high rate of infanticide artificially controlling population.[14] At around 1721, the population of Japan was close to 30 million and the figure was only around 32 million around the Meiji Restoration around 150 years later.[15] At the same time, Japan was perhaps the most urbanized country in the world at around the year 1700, at a rate of around 10-12%.[12] From 1721, there were regular national surveys of the population until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.[13] In addition, regional surveys, as well as religious records initially compiled to eradicate Christianity, also provide valuable demographic data.[13]

Economy and financial services


The system of sankin kōtai meant that daimyos and their families often resided in Edo or travelled back to their domains, giving demand to an enormous consumer market in Edo and trade throughout the country.[15][17] Samurai and daimyos, after prolonged peace, are accustomed to more elaborate lifestyles.[18] To keep up with growing expenditures, the bakufu and daimyos often encouraged commercial crops and artifacts within their domains, from textiles to tea.[18] The concentration of wealth also led to the development of financial markets.[15] As the shogunate only allowed daimyos to sell surplus rice in Edo and Osaka, large-scale rice markets developed there.[15] Each daimyo also had a capital city, located near the one castle they were allowed to maintain.[12] Daimyos would have agents in various commercial centers, selling rice and cash crops, often exchanged for paper credit to be redeemed elsewhere.[12] Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, and currency came into common use. In the cities and towns, guilds of merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services.[19]

The merchants benefited enormously, especially those with official patronage. However, the Neo-Confucian ideology of the shogunate focused the virtues of frugality and hard work; it had a rigid class system, which emphasized agriculture and despised commerce and merchants.[12] A century after the Shogunate's establishment, problems began to emerge.[12] The samurai, forbidden to engage in farming or business but allowed to borrow money, borrowed too much, some taking up side jobs as bodyguards for merchants, debt collectors, or artisans.[12] The bakufu and daimyos raised taxes on farmers, but did not tax business, so they too fell into debt, with some merchants specializing in loaning to daimyos.[18] Yet it was inconceivable to systematically tax commerce, as it would make money off "parasitic" activities, raise the prestige of merchants, and lower the status of government.[12] As they paid no regular taxes, the forced financial contributions to the daimyos were seen by some merchants as a cost of doing business.[18] The wealth of merchants gave them a degree of prestige and even power over the daimyos.[18][20]

By 1750, rising taxes incited peasant unrest and even revolt. The nation had to deal somehow with samurai impoverishment and treasury deficits. The financial troubles of the samurai undermined their loyalties to the system, and the empty treasury threatened the whole system of government. One solution was reactionary—cutting samurai salaries and prohibiting spending for luxuries.[12] Other solutions were modernizing, with the goal of increasing agrarian productivity.[12] The eighth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshimune (in office 1716-1745) had considerable success, though much of his work had to be done again between 1787 and 1793 by the shogun's chief councilor Matsudaira Sadanobu (1759-1829).[18] Others shoguns debased the coinage to pay debts, which caused inflation.[18] Overall, while commerce (domestic and international) was vibrant and sophisticated financial services had developed in the Edo period, the shogunate remained ideologically focused on honest agricultural work as the basis of society and never sought to develop a mercantile or capitalistic country.[12]

By 1800, the commercialization of the economy grew rapidly, bringing more and more remote villages into the national economy. Rich farmers appeared who switched from rice to high-profit commercial crops and engaged in local money-lending, trade, and small-scale manufacturing. Wealthy merchants were often forced to "lend" money to the shogunate or daimyos (often never returned).[12] They often had to hide their wealth, and some sought higher social status by using money to marry into the samurai class.[12] There is some evidence that as merchants gain greater political influence, the rigid class division between samurai and merchants were beginning to break down towards to end of the Edo period.[12]




Large-scale rice markets developed, centered on Edo and Ōsaka.[19] In the cities and towns, guilds of merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services. The merchants, while low in status, prospered, especially those with official patronage.[18] Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, currency came into common use, and the strengthening credit market encouraged entrepreneurship.[23] The daimyō collected the taxes from the peasants in the form of rice. Taxes were high, often at around 40%-50% of the harvest.[18] The rice was sold at the fudasashi market in Edo. To raise money, the daimyō used forward contracts to sell rice that was not even harvested yet. These contracts were similar to modern futures trading.


Artistic and intellectual development


Terakoya, private educational school

The first shogun Ieyasu set up Confucian academies in his shinpan domains and other daimyos followed suit in their own domains, establishing what's known as han schools (藩校, hankō).[12][18] Within a generation, almost all samurai were literate, as their careers often required knowledge of literary arts.[12] These academies were staffed mostly with other samurais, along with some buddhist and shinto clergymen who were also learned in Neo-Confucianism and the works of Zhu Xi.[12] Beyond kanji (Chinese characters), the Confucian classics, calligraphy, basic arithmetics, and etiquette,[18] the samurai also learned various martial arts and military skills in schools.[12]

The chōnin (urban merchants and artisans) patronized neighborhood schools called terakoya (寺子屋, "temple schools").[12] Despite being located in temples, the terakoya curriculum consisted of basic literacy and arithmetic, instead of literary arts or philosophy.[12] High rates of urban literacy in Edo Japan contributed to the prevalence of novels and other literary forms.[18] In urban areas, children are often taught by masterless samurai, while in rural areas priests from Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines often did the teaching.[18] Unlike in the cities, in rural Japan, only children of prominent farmers would receive education.[18]

In Edo, the shogunate set up several schools under its direct patronage, the most important being the neo-Confucian Shōheikō (昌平黌) acting as a de facto elite school for its bureaucracy but also creating a network of alumni from the whole country. Besides Shoheikō, other important directly-run schools at the end of the shogunate included the Wagakukōdansho (和学講談所, "Institute of Lectures of Japanese classics"), specialized in Japanese domestic history and literature, influencing the rise of kokugaku, and the Igakukan (医学間, "Institute of medecine"), focusing on Chinese medicine.[25]

One estimate of literacy in Edo Japan suggest that up to a third of males could read, along with a sixth of women.[12] Another estimate states that 40% of men and 10% of women by the end of the Edo period were literate.[26] Some historians partially credited Japan's high literacy rates for its fast development after the Meiji Restoration.[18]

Philosophy and religion

Wadokei, Japanese-made clockwatch, 18th century






Art, culture and entertainment

In the field of art, the Rinpa school became popular. The paintings and crafts of the Rinpa school are characterized by highly decorative and showy designs using gold and silver leaves, bold compositions with simplified objects to be drawn, repeated patterns, and a playful spirit. Important figures in the Rinpa school include Hon'ami Kōetsu, Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu and Suzuki Kiitsu. Other than the Rinpa school, Maruyama Ōkyo and Itō Jakuchū are famous for their realistic painting techniques. They produced their works under the patronage of wealthy merchants newly emerging from the economic development of this period. Following the Azuchi-Momoyama period, the painters of the Kano school drew pictures on the walls and fusumas of castles and temples with the support of powerful people.[28]


For the first time, urban populations had the means and leisure time to support a new mass culture. Their search for enjoyment became known as ukiyo (the floating world), an ideal world of fashion, popular entertainment, and the discovery of aesthetic qualities in objects and actions of everyday life. This increasing interest in pursuing recreational activities helped to develop an array of new industries, many of which could be found in an area known as Yoshiwara. The district was known for being the center of Edo's developing sense of elegance and refinement. [29] Established in 1617 as the city's shogunate-sanctioned prostitution district, it kept this designation about 250 years. Yoshiwara was home to mostly women who, due to unfortunate circumstances, found themselves working in this secluded environment.

Ukiyo-e based on kabuki actors became popular. Ichikawa Danjūrō V in the popular kabuki play Shibaraku, by Utagawa Kunimasa, 1796



The Edo period was characterized by an unprecedented series of economic developments (despite termination of contact with the outside world) and cultural maturation, especially in terms of theater, music, and other entertainment. For example, a poetic meter for music called kinsei kouta-chō was invented during this time[30] and is still used today in folk songs. Music and theater were influenced by the social gap between the noble and commoner classes, and different arts became more defined as this gap widened. Several different types of kabuki (theater) emerged. Some, such as shibaraku, were only available at a certain time of year, while some companies only performed for nobles. Fashion trends, satirization of local news stories, and advertisements were often part of kabuki theater, as well.[31] The most popular sport was sumo.

Ukiyo-e depicting Sushi, by Hiroshige

Eating out has become popular due to urbanization. Particularly popular among ordinary people were stalls serving fast food such as soba, sushi,tempura, and unagi, tofu restaurants, teahouses and izakaya (Japanese-style pubs). A number of ryotei have also opened to serve high-class food. People enjoyed eating at restaurants by buying books that listed restaurant ratings that imitated sumo rankings.[32][33]

Gardening were also popular pastimes for the people of the time. Especially in Edo, residences of daimyo (feudal lords) of each domain were gathered, and many gardeners existed to manage these gardens, which led to the development of horticultural techniques. Among people, cherry blossoms, morning glories, Japanese irises and chrysanthemums were especially popular, and bonsai using deep pots became popular. Not only did people buy plants and appreciate flowers, but they were also enthusiastic about improving the varieties of flowers, so specialized books were published one after another. For example, Matsudaira Sadatomo produced 300 varieties of iris and published a technical book.[34]

A boarding place for a ferry on the Miya River, which is crowded with people visiting Ise Grand Shrine. by Hiroshige

Traveling became popular among people because of the improvement of roads and post towns. The main destinations were famous temples and Shinto shrines around the country, and eating and drinking at the inns and prostitution were one of the main attractions. And what people admired most was the visit to Ise Grand Shrine and the summit of Mt. Fuji, which are considered the most sacred places in Japan. The Ise Grand Shrine in particular has been visited by an enormous number of visitors, and historical documents record that 3.62 million people visited the shrine in 50 days in 1625 and 1.18 million people visited it in three days in 1829 when the grand festival held every 20 years (Shikinen Sengu) was held. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for people living in remote areas, so they set up a joint fund for each village, saved their travel expenses, and went on a group trip. Local residents of Ise Grand Shrine and Mt. Fuji used to send specialized advertising personnel to various parts of Japan to solicit trips to local areas to make money from tourism.[35][36]


Outer kimono for a young woman (uchikake), 1840–1870, Khalili Collection of Kimono
Inrō and netsuke, Somada school, 19th century, Tokyo National Museum

Clothing acquired a wide variety of designs and decorative techniques, especially for kimono worn by women.[37] The main consumers of kimono were the samurai who used lavish clothing and other material luxuries to signal their place at the top of the social order.[38] Driven by this demand, the textile industry grew and used increasingly sophisticated methods of weaving, dyeing, and embroidery.[38] Over this period, women adopted brighter colours and bolder designs, whereas women's and men's kimono had been very similar.[39] The rise of a merchant class fuelled more demand for elaborate costumes. While ordinary kimono would usually be created by women at home, luxurious silk kimono were designed and created by specialist artists who were usually men.[40]

A kind of kimono specific to the military elite is the goshodoki or "palace court style", which would be worn in the residence of a military leader (a Shogun or daimyō). These would have landscape scenes, among which there are other motifs usually referencing classic literature.[41] Samurai men would dress with a more understated design with geometrical designs concentrated around the waist.[42] The yogi, or sleeping kimono, is a thickly wadded form of wearable bedding, usually with simple designs.[43]

A style called tsuma moyō had rich decoration from the waist down only, and family emblems on the neck and shoulders. These would be worn by women of the merchant class.[44] The kimono of merchant-class women were more subdued than those of the samurai, but still with bold colours and designs representing nature.[45] Red was a popular colour for wealthy women, partly because of its cultural association with youth and passion, and partly because the dye – derived from safflower[46] – was very expensive, so a bright red garment was an ostentatious display of wealth.[47] Indian fabrics, brought to Japan by Dutch importers, were received with enthusiasm and found many uses.[48] Japanese designers started printing designs that were influenced by the Indian patterns.[49] Some garments used fabric imported from Britain or France. Ownership of these exotic textiles signified wealth and taste, but they were worn as undergarments where the designs would not be seen.[50]

Inro and netsuke became popular as accessories among men. Originally, inro was a portable case to put a seal or medicine, and netsuke was a fastener attached to the case, and both were practical tools. However, from the middle of the Edo period, products with high artistic value appeared and became popular as male accessories. Especially samurai and wealthy merchants competed to buy inro of high artistic value. At the end of the Edo period, the artistic value of inro further increased and it came to be regarded as an art collection.[51][52]

End of the shogunate

Decline of the Tokugawa










End of seclusion






Recently[when?] some scholars[who?] have suggested that there were more events that spurred this opening of Japan. From 1716 to 1745 Yoshimune (eighth Tokugawa shōgun from 1716–1745) started the first Kyōhō reforms in an attempt to gain more revenue for the government.[56] In 1767, to 1786 Tanuma Okitsugu also initiated some unorthodox economic reforms to expand government income.[56] This led his conservative opponents to attack him and take his position as he was forced from government in disgrace.[56] Similarly, Matsudaira Sadanobu launched the Kansei Reforms in 1787–1793 to stabilize rice prices, cut government costs, and increase revenues.[56] The final economic reform of the Tenpō era of 1841–1843 had similar objectives. Most were ineffective and only worked in some areas. These economic failings would also have been a force in the opening of Japan, as Japanese businessmen desired larger markets. Some scholars also point to internal activism for political change. The Mito school had long been an active force in demanding political changes, such as restoring the powers of the Emperor. This anger can also be seen in the poetry of Matsuo Taseko (a woman who farmed silkworms in the Ina Valley) from Hirata Atsutane's School of National Learning:

"It is disgusting
the agitation over thread
In today's world
Ever since the ships
from foreign countries
came for the jeweled
silkworm cocoons
to the land of the gods and the Emperor
Peoples hearts
awesome though they are,
are being pulled apart
and consumed by rage."

[57] This inspired many anti-Tokugawa activists as they blamed the Bakufu for impoverishing the people and dishonoring the emperor.[57]

Tokugawa Yoshinobu in later life
Kanrin Maru, Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855

Bakumatsu modernization and conflicts








  • 1614: Tokugawa Ieyasu bans Christianity from Japan.
  • 1616: Tokugawa Ieyasu dies.
  • 1623: Tokugawa Iemitsu becomes the third shōgun.
  • 1633: Iemitsu forbids travelling abroad and reading foreign books.
  • 1638: Iemitsu forbids ship building.
  • 1707: Mount Fuji erupts.
  • 1837: Rebellion of Ōshio Heihachirō.
  • 1841: Tenpō Reforms.
  • 1853: US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay).
  • 1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations.
  • 1860: Sakuradamon Incident.

Era Names

The Imperial Eras proclaimed during the Edo Period were:[58]

Era Name Japanese Kanji Approximate Years
Keichō 慶長 1596～1615
Genna 元和 1615～1624
Kan'ei 寛永 1624～1644
Shōhō 正保 1644～1648
Keian 慶安 1648～1652
Jōō 承応 1652～1655
Meireki 明暦 1655～1658
Manji 万治 1658～1661
Kanbun 寛文 1661～1673
Enpō 延宝 1673～1681
Tenna 天和 1681～1684
Jōkyō 貞享 1684～1688
Genroku 元禄 1688～1704
Hōei 宝永 1704～1711
Shōtoku 正徳 1711～1716
Kyōhō 享保 1716～1736
Genbun 元文 1736～1741
Kanpō 寛保 1741～1744
Enkyō 延享 1744～1748
Kan'en 寛延 1748～1751
Hōreki 宝暦 1751～1764
Meiwa 明和 1764～1772
An'ei 安永 1772～1781
Tenmei 天明 1781～1789
Kansei 寛政 1789～1801
Kyōwa 享和 1801～1804
Bunka 文化 1804～1818
Bunsei 文政 1818～1830
Tenpō 天保 1830～1844
Kōka 弘化 1844～1848
Kaei 嘉永 1848～1854
Ansei 安政 1854～1860
Man'en 万延 1860～1861
Bunkyū 文久 1861～1864
Genji 元治 1864～1865
Keiō 慶応 1865～1868

In popular culture



See also


  3. ^ Hall & McClain 1991, p. 370
  4. ^ Beasley 1972, p. 22
  5. ^ Hall, John W. (Autumn 1974). "Rule by Status in Tokugawa Japan". Journal of Japanese Studies. 1 (1): 39–49. doi:10.2307/133436. JSTOR 133436.
  6. ^ Totman 2000, pp. 225–230.
  8. ^ Lewis 2003, pp. 31–32
  10. ^ a b Frédéric 2002, p. 93
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Perez, Louis G. (2009). The history of Japan (2nd ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-36442-6. OCLC 277040931.
  13. ^ a b c Hanley, S. B. (1968). Population trends and economic development in Tokugawa Japan: the case of Bizen province in Okayama. Daedalus, 622-635.
  14. ^ Flath 2000
  15. ^ a b c d Huang, Ray (2015). Capitalism and the 21st Century (Zi ben zhu yi yu er shi yi shi ji) (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing. ISBN 978-7-108-05368-8. OCLC 953227195.
  16. ^ a b One chō, or chobu, equals 2.45 acres.
  17. ^ Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo, and the Culture of Early Modern Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008), 26.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hane, Mikiso. Premodern Japan: A historical survey. Routledge, 2018.
  19. ^ a b Totman 2000, chapter 11.
  20. ^ Sakata Yoshio, Meiji Ishinshi [A history of the Meiji Restoration] (Tokyo: Miraisha, 1960), 19
  21. ^ McClain, James L. (2002). Japan, a modern history (1st ed.). New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 5–108. ISBN 0-393-04156-5. OCLC 47013231.
  24. ^ Diamond 2005, pp. 297–304
  25. ^ Kobayashi, Tetsuya (1976). Society, Schools, and Progress in Japan. Pergamon. pp. 14-. ISBN 9781483136226.
  26. ^ See Martha Tocco, “Norms and texts for women’s education in Tokugawa Japan.” In Ko, Haboush, and Piggott, Women and Confucian Cultures, 193–218.
  27. ^ Lewis 2003, pp. 45–47
  28. ^ 琳派とは？知っておきたい琳派の巨匠と代表作 January 15, 2019
  29. ^ Longstreet & Longstreet 1989, p. 2
  31. ^ Nishiyama, Matsunosuke (1997). Edo Culture : daily life and diversions in urban Japan, 1600-1868. Translated by Groemer, Gerald. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiì Press. pp. 198–227. ISBN 0-585-30952-3. OCLC 45728301.
  32. ^ 江戸の食文化 外食産業の定着化
  33. ^ 歴史系総合誌「歴博」第196号 National Museum of Japanese History
  34. ^ 花開く江戸の園芸 Edo Tokyo Museum
  35. ^ お伊勢さま、一度は行きたい庶民の夢 Cleanup Corporation
  36. ^ 富士講と御師 Kitaguchihongu Sengenjinja
  37. ^ Iwao 2015, p. 8.
  38. ^ a b Jackson 2015, p. 20.
  39. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 22.
  40. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 24.
  41. ^ Jackson 2015, pp. 35–44.
  42. ^ Jackson 2015, pp. 76–78.
  43. ^ Jackson 2015, pp. 93–95.
  44. ^ Jackson 2015, pp. 46–51.
  45. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 54.
  46. ^ "Kimono". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  47. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 63.
  48. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 80.
  49. ^ Jackson 2015, pp. 80–84.
  50. ^ Jackson 2015, p. 87.
  51. ^ Masayuki Murata. 明治工芸入門 pp.104-106. Me no Me, 2017 ISBN 978-4907211110
  52. ^ Yūji Yamashita. 明治の細密工芸 p.80-81. Heibonsha, 2014 ISBN 978-4582922172
  53. ^ Jansen 2002, pp. 289–292
  55. ^ a b c Gordon 2008, p. 51
  56. ^ a b c d Gordon 2008, p. 42
  57. ^ a b Gordon 2008, p. 52
  58. ^ "江戸時代の年表・年号" (in Japanese). July 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-20.



  • Birmingham Museum of Art (2010), Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection, Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Museum of Art, ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5
  • Beasley, William G. (1972), The Meiji Restoration, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-0815-0
  • Diamond, Jared (2005), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-303655-6
  • Frédéric, Louis (2002), Japan Encyclopedia, Harvard University Press Reference Library, Belknap, ISBN 9780674017535
  • Flath, David (2000), The Japanese Economy, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-877504-0
  • Gordon, Andrew (2008), A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to Present (Second ed.), New York: Oxford University press, ISBN 978-0-19-533922-2, archived from the original on February 6, 2010
  • Hall, J.W.; McClain, J.L. (1991), The Cambridge History of Japan, The Cambridge History of Japan, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521223553
  • Iwao, Nagasaki (2015). "Clad in the aesthetics of tradition: from kosode to kimono". In Jackson, Anna (ed.). Kimono: the art and evolution of Japanese fashion. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 8–11. ISBN 9780500518021. OCLC 990574229.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jackson, Anna (2015). "Dress in the Edo period: the evolution of fashion". In Jackson, Anna (ed.). Kimono: the art and evolution of Japanese fashion. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 20–103. ISBN 9780500518021. OCLC 990574229.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jansen, Marius B. (2002), The Making of Modern Japan (Paperback ed.), Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-00991-6
  • Lewis, James Bryant (2003), Frontier Contact Between Choson Korea and Tokugawa Japan, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1301-8
  • Longstreet, Stephen; Longstreet, Ethel (1989), Yoshiwara: the pleasure quarters of old Tokyo, Yenbooks, Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, ISBN 0-8048-1599-2
  • Seigle, Cecilia Segawa (1993), Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1488-6
  • Totman, Conrad (2000), A history of Japan (2nd ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 9780631214472

Further reading

  • Guth, Christine (1996), Art of Edo Japan: the artist and the city 1615-1868, H.N. Abrams, ISBN 9780300164138
  • Jansen, Marius B. (1986), Japan in transition, from Tokugawa to Meiji, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-05459-2
  • Roberts, Luke S. (2012), Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824835132

External links

  • Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era – A rich selection of rare Japanese maps from the UBC Library Digital Collections
  • Timeline – Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire
Preceded by
Azuchi–Momoyama period
History of Japan
Edo period
Succeeded by
Empire of Japan