Tokugawa seiseiroku

• Author: Ichioka Masakazu
• Calligraphy by: Katsu Kaishû
• Published: 1889
• Japanese: 徳川盛世録 (Tokugawa seiseiroku)

The Tokugawa seiseiroku, or "Record of the Prosperous Age[s] of the Tokugawa," was compiled in 1889, in preparation for the 300th anniversary the following year of the Tokugawa clan taking Edo castle as its base - by Tokugawa hatamoto Ichioka Masakazu.

By that year, with the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution, and with sufficient chronological distance from the Meiji Restoration, there began to be a sense of nostalgia for the Edo period, and a rehabilitation of the period's reputation as an age of peace and prosperity (rather than one of oppression and backwardness). Thus, aiming to show the Edo period as one of prosperity, the Tokugawa seiseiroku discusses and depicts numerous rituals and ceremonies of the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as other aspects of the Tokugawa order, and of scenes in and around Edo otherwise. Prominent Meiji political figure Katsu Kaishû provided the calligraphy for the title page. The Tokugawa reiten roku, a compilation of records of shogunate rituals, was assembled in the same year.

A scene from the Tokugawa seiseiroku depicting a daimyô procession outside Edo castle.

References

• Kurushima Hiroshi, presentation at "Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Feb 11 2013.
• Gallery labels, "Edo-zu byôbu to gyôretsu" temporary exhibit, National Museum of Japanese History,