The Edo period was marked by an unprecedented series of economic developments (despite the end 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 period[42] and is still used in folk songs today. Music and theatre were influenced by the social divide between the noble and bourgeois classes, and various arts became more defined as this gap widened. Several different types of Kabuki have emerged. Some, like Shibaraku, were only available at a certain time of year, while some businesses only worked for nobles. Fashion trends, the satiring of local news and commercials were often part of Kabuki theater. [43] The most popular sport was sumo. Around 1750, rising taxes sparked peasant unrest and even revolts. The nation had to somehow deal with the impoverishment of the samurai and the deficits of the Ministry of Finance.
The samurai`s financial difficulties undermined their loyalty to the system, and the empty treasury threatened the entire system of government. There were 600 to 800 lending bookstores in Edo, and people borrowed or bought these woodcut books. The best-selling books during this period were Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko (Life of a Man in Love) by Ihara Saikaku, Nansō Satomi Hakkenden by Takizawa Bakin and Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige by Jippensha Ikku and these books have been reprinted several times. [31] [30] [32] [33] The beginning of the Edo period coincides with the last decades of the Nanban trade period, during which intensive interaction with the European powers took place on the economic and religious levels. In the early Edo period, Japan built its first ocean-going warships, such as the San Juan Bautista, a 500-ton galleon that transported a Japanese embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga to America and then to Europe. Also during this time, the Bakufu ordered about 720 Red Seal ships, three-masted and armed merchant ships, for intra-Asian trade. Japanese adventurers like Yamada Nagamasa used these ships throughout Asia. Ukiyo-e is a genre of painting and engraving that developed in the late 17th century and initially represented the entertainment of Edo`s entertainment districts, such as courtesans and kabuki actors. Harunobu produced the first Nishiki-e prints in color in 1765, a form that became synonymous with ukiyo-e for the most part. The genre reached a technological peak towards the end of the century with the works of artists such as Kiyonaga and Utamaro.
By the end of the Edo period, a wide variety of genres spread: the warriors, nature, folklore, and landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The genre declined over the rest of the century due to modernization that ukiyo-e considered both old-fashioned and laborious to produce compared to Western technologies. Ukiyo-e was an important part of the wave of Japonism that gripped Western art in the late 19th century. The Bakufu realized that fashion could be used to transcend class boundaries, often distinguished by clothing styles and accessories. The potentially seditious nature of clothing and fashion during the Edo period was reflected in an astonishing number of repressive edicts involving clothing, although the edicts actually addressed many aspects of behavior and lifestyle. The marsh edicts of the Edo period were designed in a practical sense to control the most visible representations of social status, and they were published with increasing frequency from the 17th century onwards. As early as 1617, edicts forbade the application of gold leaf and silver leaf to the clothes of courtesans. Other edicts forbade the golden thread. In 1649, the first complete list of restrictions on Chōnin was published for Edo, which included a ban on gold lacquer decorations, houses with gold or silver leaf trimmings, and gold lacquer riding saddles. Gold or silver closures were sometimes prohibited on tobacco bags because they were too visible.
Although this class system introduced by the shogunate was designed to ensure social stability, one of the most interesting aspects of Edo culture is that individuals have constantly found ways to circumvent the rules. The bourgeois, who included peasants, craftsmen and merchants, were not allowed to display sumptuous riches, but they undermined the sumptuous laws restricting the decoration of residences, means of transport and clothing. They did this, for example, by lining their simple kimono with luxurious silk or superficially following building restrictions so that their home or business seemed to be only one floor away from the outside, when in reality it was two. Although they had the lowest status, many merchants achieved great wealth during this period. Of course, they tried to take advantage of their success by collecting beautiful items and spending money on extravagant entertainment. Sometimes the government cracked down on excesses by issuing new edicts and enforcing them more rigorously. Even the samurai, who were supposed to adhere to high standards of behavior, felt limited – they visited the Kabuki Theater and the red-light districts in disguise. Inro and Netsuke have become popular as accessories among men. Originally, inro was a portable suitcase for attaching a seal or medicine, and Netsuke was a closure attached to the suitcase, and both were practical tools. However, from the middle of the Edo period, products of great artistic value appeared and became popular as male accessories.
Samurai and wealthy merchants in particular competed to buy Inro of great artistic value. At the end of the Edo period, the artistic value of the inro continued to increase and it was considered an art collection. [63] [64] Meanwhile, Japan studied Western science and technology (called rangaku, “Dutch studies”) through information and books obtained by Dutch traders in Dejima. Among the main fields studied were geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages, physical sciences such as the study of electrical phenomena and mechanical sciences, as evidenced by the development of Japanese clocks or Wadokei, inspired by Western techniques. Among those studying mechanical engineering at the time, Tanaka Hisashige, the founder of Toshiba, deserves a special mention. Due to the technical originality and sophistication of its Myriad Year clock and Karakuri doll, they are still difficult to restore today and are considered a highly mechanical legacy before Japan`s modernization. [35] [36] [37] Other magnificent edicts attempted to prohibit “appearance” and the spending of wealth as befitted each class.