page_title: History of East Asia
section_title: Edo Japan
hierarchical_section_title: History of East Asia / Early Modern History / Edo Japan
caption_attribution_description: BOTTOM OF SECOND PANEL, Left Screen (Nihonbashi Bridge, Nihonbashi Kosatsuba (notice board), Koamicho, Merchant shops in Edo (a fish market in Moto Odawaracho), Riverside in downtown Edo (unloading rice)). "View of Edo" (Edo zu) pair of six-panel folding screens (17th century).
context_page_description: The History of East Asia encompasses the histories of China, Japan and Korea from prehistoric times to the present. East Asia is not uniform and each of its countries has a different national history, but scholars maintain that the region is also characterized by a distinct pattern of historical development. This is evident in the interrelationship among East Asian countries, which not only involve the sum total of historical patterns but also a specific set of patterns that has affected all or most of East Asia in successive layers.
context_section_description: In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Early modern Japanese society had an elaborate social structure, in which everyone knew their place and level of prestige.  At the top were the emperor and the court nobility, invincible in prestige but weak in power. Next came the "bushi" of shōgun, daimyō and layers of feudal lords whose rank was indicated by their closeness to the Tokugawa. They had power. The "daimyō" were about 250 local lords of local "han" with annual outputs of 50,000 or more bushels of rice. The upper strata was much given to elaborate and expensive rituals, including elegant architecture, landscaped gardens, nō drama, patronage of the arts, and the tea ceremony.
caption: View of Edo, from a 17th-century screen painting
exif: {}