Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan, 1603-1853

Description

Few nations can boast eras of peace and prosperity as long as the Tokugawa period in Japan, which lasted almost 300 years from the 17th through 19th centuries. Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan, 1603-1853 by renowned Japanese studies professor Toru Haga offers a detailed and nuanced portrayal of life under the strict rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and how the peace established by the stringent policies of the ruling warrior class defined the zeitgeist of the era. Relying on a wide variety of resources, including art, literature, and original records, Haga’s work bridges a variety of academic subjects, and would be of interest to those with backgrounds in history, art history, anthropology, natural history, literature or linguistics. The book is separated into five parts, each consisting of multiple essays written over the course of his distinguished career. As a result, some topics are brought up more than once, but are refreshed by being explored from a different angle or contextualized using different information. The style and focus of each essay varies greatly, with one sometimes discussing the history and composition of a single painting, and the next delving into the earliest portrayal of rhinos in Japanese print culture. In general, they all explain how material culture reflected, or evolved in response to, the culture in which it was created.