Title: Lust, commerce, and corruption : an account of what I have seen and heard /
Authors: Buyō Inshi, active 19th century,; Teeuwen, Mark,; Nakai, Kate Wildman,; Miyazaki, Fumiko; Walthall, Anne,; Breen, John, 1956-
Year: 2014
Subjects: Buyō Inshi,; Social classes Japan History; Japan Economic conditions; Japan Moral conditions History; Japan Social life and customs; Japan Social conditions; Japan Economic conditions; Japan Moral conditions History
Abstract: By 1816, Japan had recovered from the famines of the 1780s and moved beyond the political reforms of the 1790s. Despite persistent economic and social stresses, the country seemed to be approaching a new period of growth. The idea that the shogunate would not last forever was far from anyone's mind. Yet, in that year, an anonymous samurai author completed one of the most detailed critiques of Edo society known today. Buyō shows a familiarity with many corners of Edo life that one might not expect in a samurai.
Contents: Era Names -- Measures -- Currencies -- Maps -- Part 1. Buyō Inshi and His Times -- Part 2. Matters of the World: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard / Buyō Inshi -- Prologue -- Introduction -- Warriors -- Farmers -- Temple and Shrine Priests -- The Medical Profession -- The Way of Yin and Yang -- The Blind -- Lawsuits -- Townspeople -- Lower Townspeople -- Pleasure Districts and Prostitutes -- Kabuki -- Pariahs and Outcasts -- Rice, Grains, and Other Products -- Mountains and Forests -- On Japan Being Called a Divine Land -- Untimely Deaths -- The Land, People, and Ruler.