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14 results

  • Chapter 3 - Japanese Culture in Real Life

  • Yohtaro Takano, University of Tokyo
  • Book:
    Cultural Stereotype and Its Hazards
    Published online:
    21 November 2024
    Print publication:
    28 November 2024, pp 51-105

  • Summary

    In the 1980s and 90s in psychology, many cross-cultural comparisons were made concerning individualism and collectivism with questionnaires and experiments. The largest number of them compared “collectivistic” Japanese with “individualistic” Americans. This chapter reviewed 48 such empirical comparisons and found that Japanese were no different from Americans in the degree of collectivism. Both questionnaire studies and experimental studies showed essentially the same pattern of results. Many researchers who believed in “Japanese collectivism” suspected flaws in those empirical studies. However, none of the suspected flaws was consistent with empirical evidence. For example, although it was suspected that “Japanese collectivism” was not supported because college students provided data as participants, the studies with non-student adults did not support this common view either. It is thus unquestionable that as a whole the empirical studies disproved the reality of “Japanese collectivism.”

The Meiji Restoration
  • Japan as a Global Nation
  • Edited by Robert Hellyer, Harald Fuess
  • Published online:
    14 April 2020
    Print publication:
    07 May 2020
  • In world history, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 ranks as a revolutionary watershed, on a par with the American and French Revolutions. In this volume, leading historians from North America, Europe, and Japan employ global history in novel ways to offer fresh economic, social, political, cultural, and military perspectives on the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent creation of the modern Japanese nation-state. Seamlessly mixing meta- and micro-history, the authors examine how the Japanese state and Japanese people engaged with global trends of the early nineteenth century. They also explore the internal military conflicts that marked the 1860s and the process of reconciliation after 1868. They conclude with discussions of how new political, cultural, and diplomatic institutions were created as Japan emerged as a global nation, defined in multiple ways by its place in the world.

  • 69 - Colonialism, translation, literature: Takahama Kyoshi’s passage to Korea

  • from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 672-676

  • Summary

    This chapter traces the formation and development of the late yomihon as a fictional form, focusing on Santo Kyoden's and Kyokutei Bakin's innovations and the relationship between the two authors. The haishi-mono or unofficial history style emerged in Edo in the wake of the Kansei Reforms, carried out under the direction of Matsudaira Sadanobu. After Santo Kyoden's attention-getting punishment for three of his sharebon, some early yomihon authors active in Edo incorporated discussions of the reforms in their work. The first unofficial history yomihon was Santo Kyoden's Chu shin suikoden, illustrated by Kitao Shigemasa. Kyoden's second yomihon was Asaka no numa, which was the product of a combination of prominent works from the Chinese and Japanese traditions. Bakin's first yomihon was Takao senjimon. Bakin has come to be regarded as the preeminent yomihon author, a firm grasp of the role Kyoden played in the genre, and of Bakin's relationship to him, is essential to an accurate understanding of late yomihon.

  • 66 - A new era of women writers

  • from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 641-647

  • Summary

    The book titled Mazu yonde Mikuni Kojoro was something fairly new: it was a gokan, the last in a series of genres combining pictures and prose that were produced in Edo from the late seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. The genres, including akahon, kurohon, aohon, kibyoshi, and gokan, together fall under the general heading of kusa-zoshi. The category of kusa-zoshi comprises genres of fiction that were produced in Edo from the late seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries. Kusa-zoshi always combined pictures and text on the same page, with the text appearing either at the top of the page, in some early akahon, or in the negative space in the pictures. Gokan occasionally included pictorial spreads with little or no writing on the one hand, or pages completely filled with writing on the other. The main texts in all forms of kusazo-shi would usually be printed in hiragana, so that the writing was legible even to the minimally educated.

  • 68 - Canonization and popularization: anthologies and literary prizes

  • from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 669-671

  • Summary

    The first genre in the long history of Japanese literature to be published commercially for a readership consisting primarily of commoner women, ninjobon became immensely popular. Tamenaga Shunsui stands at the center of this genre with such representative works as Shunshoku umegoyomi or Plum Calendar of Spring Colors, Shunshoku tatsumi no sono, and Harutsuge dori. This chapter discusses the story of Plum Calendar of Spring Colors. Women began entering the workforce, albeit in auxiliary roles, around the nineteenth century, implying a higher rate of literacy. Furthermore, as may be gathered from the growing popularity of kabuki, a new tendency prevailed whereby city women, endowed now with a surplus of both time and money, participated more actively in the various modes of public entertainment in cities. Reading Shunsui's ninjobon, everyone gain an understanding of just how different the concept of romance in Edo was in comparison to the authors own modern one.

  • 61 - The rise of modern women’s literature

  • from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 598-604

  • Summary

    The nineteenth century witnessed the peak, certainly in quantity and arguably in quality, of kanshi or Sinitic poetry and kanbun or Sinitic prose production in Japan. While these two terms, along with the collective kanshibun, it is worth bearing in mind a slight distinction between Anglophone and Japanese usage. A cognizance of the change is evident in the recollections of the scholar Hirose Tanso, whose Kangien academy in Kyushu trained thousands of disciples. The xingling theory's emphasis on individualistic expression that its exponents often turned their attention to their own everyday experiences rather than trying to project themselves into the poetic realms of their High Tang predecessors. Highly developed commercial publishing and the rise of kanshibun literacy had dramatically enlarged the audience for poetic anthology texts. In addition to the orthodox modes of kanshi and kanbun composition that flourished in late Edo, the era also saw the emergence of humorous genres that amused by willfully deviating from convention.

  • 52 - Picture books: from akahon to kibyōshi and gōkan

  • from Part IV - The Edo period (1600–1867)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 510-522

  • Summary

    One of the most dramatic transformations in Japanese literary history was the transition from the medieval period to the early modern era, which gave birth to a whole new body of vernacular and Sinitic literature. Most of the high points of early modern literature, the Genroku era, the Horeki-Tenmei era, and the Bunka-Bunsei era, came before or after major Tokugawa shogunate reforms, when writers were relatively free and uncensored. Heian vernacular classics such as Hyakunin isshu, Kokinshu, The Tales of Ise, and The Tale of Genji became basic reading for educated women in the Edo period, but these works, particularly the longer ones, were generally read in digest form, often with pictures, The early modern period produced few women writers in the field of vernacular fiction. Confucian virtues of filial piety and loyalty afforded the bakufu a basis for reinforcing the rules of social hierarchy and the institutions of inheritance.

  • 55 - Development of the late yomihon: Santō Kyōden and Kyokutei Bakin

  • from Part IV - The Edo period (1600–1867)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 539-550

  • Summary

    Haikai as a popular genre fully came into its own in the Edo period, moving from a state of anonymity to a multifaceted genre that had a broad impact on many other cultural forms. Matsuo Basho, who participated in both the Teimon and the Danrin schools, became the most influential haikai poet of the late seventeenth century. Haikai was to evolve significantly after the passing of Basho and his school. One major successor was Yosa Buson, who moved to Edo and became a disciple of Hayano Hajin, a haikai poet who had established the Yahantei circle in Nihonbashi. In the early nineteenth century, after Buson and his successors had died, haikai continued to be popular. The most talented haikai poet of this age was Kobayashi Issa, whose main interest was in the contemporary and quotidian, and who focused on the hokku rather than on linked verse. Issa is considered a highly unorthodox haikai poet.

  • 38 - Introduction to early modern Japanese literature

  • from Part IV - The Edo period (1600–1867)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 373-381

  • Summary

    Hyakunin isshu, a collection of one hundred poems by one hundred poets who lived from the seventh century to the thirteen century, was compiled by Fujiwara no Teika. It contains forty-three love poems, nearly half of the collection and an extremely high percentage compared to that in imperial waka anthologies. In the Edo period the Hyakunin isshu came to represent the entire tradition of Heian court poetry, and it saw a sudden increase in readership, particularly due to the new print culture, which enabled people from all classes to educate themselves. The Hyakunin isshu has taken many forms. During the Pacific War a collection called Aikoku hyakunin isshu or The Patriotic Hyakunin isshu appeared, praising the emperor and encouraging loyalty to the nation and the throne. Today Hyakunin isshu is one of the most familiar pieces of classical literature in Japan and without a doubt will reappear in the future in many new forms.

  • 57 - Kanshibun in the Meiji period and beyond

  • from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 572-577

  • Summary

    Since the fourteenth century, theater has been at the center of cultural life in Japan to an extent rare in the world. several Japanese theatrical traditions, noh, kyogen, bunraku, and kabuki, continue to the present as living lineages of actors passing on their skills from generation to generation, actors have maintained control over the interpretations of texts on the stage. kabuki and bunraku differ fundamentally in their origins and essence. Joruri was the inheritor of the long oral storytelling tradition of blind musicians that flourished after the Genji civil war. During the time of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote for both the bunraku and kabuki stages, it became standard to publish complete bunraku texts at the time of first performance with the name of the playwright as author. The theater was a vibrant aspect and stimulant of cultural life in the Edo period, one in which individuals from all walks of life participated through a variety of means.

  • 53 - The birth of kokkeibon (comic novellas)

  • from Part IV - The Edo period (1600–1867)
  • Edited by Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, New York, Tomi Suzuki, Columbia University, New York, David Lurie, Columbia University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
    Published online:
    05 January 2016
    Print publication:
    17 December 2015, pp 523-531

  • Summary

    In the context of premodern Japan, "printing" means woodblock printing, or xylography, a technology that originated in China in the seventh century. Woodblock printing was the norm throughout the Edo period, but in the second half of the sixteenth century typography reached Japan from two very different sources and enjoyed several decades of success. The simplicity of xylography made it possible for haikai enthusiasts to have their poems printed privately and thus the poems of many local groups in the provinces, and in particular of many women poets, have been preserved in print. Commercial publishing began in Kyoto in the early years of the seventeenth century and was dominated at least until the end of the century. By the 1660s the book trade had established itself in the three main cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, although for the seventeenth century many of the booksellers of Osaka and Edo were little more than branches or agents of Kyoto firms.

  • RECLAIMING THE MARGINS: SEITA TANSŌ'S SUIKODEN HIHYŌKAI AND THE POETICS OF CROSS-CULTURAL INFLUENCE

  • William C. Hedberg
  • Journal:
    International Journal of Asian Studies / Volume 12 / Issue 2 / July 2015
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    06 July 2015, pp. 193-215

  • This article focuses on the literary criticism of the Edo-period scholar, Seita Tansō (1719–1785). Although a historian by vocation, Tansō additionally lectured extensively on the Chinese vernacular novel, Shuihu zhuan (Jp. Suikoden, En. The Water Margin). While earlier generations of Chinese fiction aficionados in Japan had also discussed Shuihu zhuan, early eighteenth-century analysis was primarily limited to philological explication—a task necessitated by the extensive use of colloquial language in the novel. In contrast to this tradition of philological exegesis, Tansō turned his attention to the ethical content and literary structure of Shuihu zhuan. Tansō was heavily influenced by the writing of the Chinese fiction commentator Jin Shengtan (1608–1661), and in this article, I discuss Tansō's use of Jin's fiction criticism in the construction of his own interpretation of the novel. I argue that the dissemination of Chinese novels in Edo-period Japan cannot be discussed without an understanding of Japanese engagement with Chinese narrative theory, and I identify Seita Tansō as an important figure in a transition from philological to more purely narratological analysis of Chinese vernacular fiction.

  • SEXUAL HEALING: REGULATING MALE SEXUALITY IN EDO-PERIOD BOOKS ON ‘NURTURING LIFE’

  • Angelika Koch
  • Journal:
    International Journal of Asian Studies / Volume 10 / Issue 2 / July 2013
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    20 June 2013, pp. 143-170

  • The present article explores health as a factor in the understanding of Edo-period male sexuality. This notion was systematically propagated by a genre of health guides on ‘Nurturing Life’, which came to circulate widely at the time. Sexuality was seen as an integral element of a healthy life-style in these didactic texts, which aimed to instruct people on how to live a long life unharmed by disease. In order to achieve this goal, the health-seeker was to strictly control his everyday activities, including eating, drinking alcohol, sleeping – or sexual intercourse. By consequence, a certain kind of sexual behaviour emerged from these works as ‘healthy’, while deviations from the prescribed standards are medicalized away as harmful to the body, in extreme cases even fatal. At the same time, bodily health is presented as inextricably bound up with moral ‘health’. Thus, the rhetoric of control imposed on the body was extended from the purely medical to the moral, making the health-seeking individual at the same time a good (male) subject and model head of household within an ideal Confucian-inspired society. The ‘healthy’ sexuality of writings on Nurturing Life therefore has to be situated at the crossroads of medical beliefs and moral parameters.

  • 10 - The village and agriculture during the Edo period

  • Edited by John Whitney Hall, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Assisted by James L. McClain
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japan
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    28 June 1991, pp 478-518

  • Summary

    This chapter provides an overview of the evolving agricultural community and to elaborate on the relationship between the transformations in village life and the changes in the mode of agricultural production. During the Edo period, agriculture passed through three technological stages of varying degrees of complexity: the slash and burn technique, the self-contained village economy, and the commercialized cash crop economy and the shift from one stage to another lay at the bottom of three different life styles. The rise of the samurai marked an important stage in the transition from the increasingly ineffectual shoen system to the social institutions of Tokugawa society. The gap between the upper-class farmers and the rest of the farming population was both a product of traditional social custom and a consequence of economic privileges and laws favorable to the elite rural families. Fertilization with night soil has often been viewed as a hallmark of Japanese agriculture.