Research for week of 9/27: Edo Period Culture

This week, I wanted to do research on everyday life in the Edo period of Japan. In order to understand how they portrayed life in through the art, I first have to understand their life. If I want to be able translate that into our reality in America hundreds of years later, I have to understand these basic connections between the reality of everyday life and the art that was meant to depict everyday life. Here are some of the sources I read about everyday life during the Edo period in. I combined this to research I conducted while I was in Japan.
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/10e.asp 
http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/background-information/edo-period-1615-1868-culture-and-lifestyle
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-gender/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

Here are some Observations to Consider (the rest are mentioned below):

• Edo, which is now known as Tokyo, was not the capital at the time, but they changed it to the capital when all of the military forces (which worked as the government at the time) had to be supported in this city (since the leader wanted everyone to have a residence in Edo even if they were lords in different areas of Japan so the families of these "lords" were forced to live in Edo ensuring that the lord would return. This required massive expansion of Edo, and therefore a huge need for the merchant class, resulting in their expansion in number and power. This eventually led to the physical growth of the city, as in buildings, as well as the economical and social, eventually making Edo, now Tokyo, the capital)
• "An urban culture developed that stressed an appreciation of nature and artistic cultivation" (Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan)
• Because wealth grew so quickly in Edo, many people in Edo became patrons of the arts
• "For the first time, the aristocracy no longer dictated artistic trends and production, despite attempts by the shogunate to curtail artistic consumption among its subjects. The artistic trends in Edo reflected a growth in popular culture and a demand for art with mass appeal." (Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan)
• Buddhism and Shintoism were the religions. Because of expanded travel (explained below) many people would travel to those temples for these regions for pilgrimage
• "Publishers produced various types of guides and gazetteers that catered to the public’s fascination with travel and pilgrimage. Unlike earlier travel books, which were more like works of literature, Edo period travel books were practical guides for the masses that included not only lodging information and advice on road conditions, but also historical tidbits about a place and its references in poetry. They were usually illustrated with black-and-white woodblock prints." (Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan)
• "The Yoshiwara, the licensed pleasure quarter of the city and center of social life, added to the vibrant culture of Edo. Although there were other pleasure quarters in every major city, such as Kyoto and Osaka, the Yoshiwara was most famous. The pleasure districts have been likened more to fantasy theme parks of romance and adventure, rather than the crude modern-day concept of red-light districts. A self-contained community, the Yoshiwara was deliberately located away from the main section of Edo, as a conscious effort by the shogunate to prevent it from “polluting” the rest of the city. It housed approximately ten thousand people, and was packed with brothels, Kabuki theaters, teahouses, restaurants, bathhouses, and puppet shows. People of all classes walked the streets, including samurai, street performers, beggars, gamblers, sumo wrestlers, courtesans, merchants, artisans, and travelers who had come from far away to visit this tourist destination. Whereas the rest of Edo was segregated among the classes, within the Yoshiwara, Japanese of all classes could socialize more or less as equals."  (Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan)

Some interesting comparisons I thought of between their culture then and now (both in similarities and differences) are as follows: E=Applying to the Edo Period
N=Applying to Now in the United States

• The black market (E) Dark web (N)\
• High quality theater and entertainment (E) The entertainment "golden age" (N)
• Closed borders and minimal interaction with external cultures (E) globalization and extreme connectivity with the rest of the world. Easy communication and travel to directly interact with other cultures (N)
• "Merchant prosperity fostered the rise of commoner culture" (Life During the Edo Period) (E) We continue this trend of the "middle class" becoming able to participate in art and entertainment causing to grow into one of the largest industries
• Kabuki theater-men's only theater that grew greatly in popularity. The started to become celebrities (E) TV shows and films where one race and gender claimed to have the most power, but that notion is being challenged (N)
• Poetry (E) Reading is a fading interest (N)
• Mass woodblock printing (E) a huge range of advanced technology allowing mass production in many ways (ranging from paper printers to 3D printers) (N)
• "Consumer Society"(Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan)(E)(N)
• More men than women (E) Almost equal amount of men and women (Population Distribution by Gender) (N) 
• "The shogunate built an extensive network of waterways and five major highways that connected the three major cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka with smaller towns and ports, which facilitated increased travel among all classes." (Edo Period Culture and Lifestyle in Japan) (E) We have some of the most extensive and successful local travel (by car) and international travel (by train) (N)