Changes

Society was, in theory at least, divided into four (plus) status categories, a structure often referred to as the ''mibun seido'' (social status system). The key four status categories were, in descending order of regard: (1) the samurai, who ruled, (2) the farmers, fishermen, and other villagers who produced food, (3) the craftsmen and artisans who produced useful products, (4) the merchants who produced nothing. Of course, there were also those who fell outside of these categories, including chiefly the Imperial family and court nobility, at the top, Shinto and Buddhist clergy, also officially held in high regard, and, [[kabuki]] actors, [[courtesans]], and other sorts of entertainers, who were held in low regard, with the ''hinin'', ''eta'', and other sorts of outcastes at the bottom of the pile. To a certain extent, many of those at the bottom were considered in such low regard because of notions of spiritual pollution - the ''eta'' and ''hinin'' included those who handled skins, meat, and dead bodies. However, the simple notion of being outside the normal realms was seen as spiritually or magically dangerous, as upsetting the natural order by existing outside of it; in a sense it was self-reinforcing. Since popular theatre grew out of rituals associated with liminal spaces and connection with the otherworldly, actors and entertainers were seen as somewhat 'other' as well. On a more practical level, it has also been suggested that entertainers were categorized into a particularly low status because their activities, being more ephemeral, were more difficult to tax (in contrast, for example, to agricultural or manufacturing output).

Society was, in theory at least, divided into four (plus) status categories, a structure often referred to as the ''mibun seido'' (social status system). The key four status categories were, in descending order of regard: (1) the samurai, who ruled, (2) the farmers, fishermen, and other villagers who produced food, (3) the craftsmen and artisans who produced useful products, (4) the merchants who produced nothing. Of course, there were also those who fell outside of these categories, including chiefly the Imperial family and court nobility, at the top, Shinto and Buddhist clergy, also officially held in high regard, and, [[kabuki]] actors, [[courtesans]], and other sorts of entertainers, who were held in low regard, with the ''hinin'', ''eta'', and other sorts of outcastes at the bottom of the pile. To a certain extent, many of those at the bottom were considered in such low regard because of notions of spiritual pollution - the ''eta'' and ''hinin'' included those who handled skins, meat, and dead bodies. However, the simple notion of being outside the normal realms was seen as spiritually or magically dangerous, as upsetting the natural order by existing outside of it; in a sense it was self-reinforcing. Since popular theatre grew out of rituals associated with liminal spaces and connection with the otherworldly, actors and entertainers were seen as somewhat 'other' as well. On a more practical level, it has also been suggested that entertainers were categorized into a particularly low status because their activities, being more ephemeral, were more difficult to tax (in contrast, for example, to agricultural or manufacturing output).

These were not simply conceptual social categories, however. They played a role, too, in the feudal hierarchical structure of the Tokugawa state, as members of each class were responsible for performing their proper duties or obligations (''yaku'') to the state.<ref>Ikegami, 148.</ref>

These were not simply conceptual social categories, however. They played a role, too, in the feudal hierarchical structure of the Tokugawa state, as members of each class were responsible for performing their proper duties or obligations (''yaku'') to the state.<ref>Ikegami, 148.</ref> In addition to one's status category, people were also grouped together into somewhat self-governing units, such as villages in the case of villagers, and ''chô'' (neighborhoods) in the case of townsmen, while samurai and nobles were simply governed by household (''[[ie]]''). Many of these groups, which [[John Whitney Hall]] called "containers,"<ref>John W. Hall, “Rule by Status in Tokugawa Japan,” ''Journal of Japanese Studies'' 1:1 (1974), 39–49.</ref> had emerged on their own in the Sengoku period, as people banded together for protection and mutual assistance; the Tokugawa shogunate then made the groupings official, requiring each village, ''chô'', household, or religious sect to have its own head, and requiring the head to both manage affairs within the group, and to ensure that the group paid its taxes or service appropriately to the authorities above it in the hierarchy.<ref>Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 26.</ref>

Tokugawa official Neo-Confucianism dictated that if everyone were to perform their proper role in society, all would fall into place, and prosperity would result. To that end, the shogunate, as well as the ''daimyô'' and other authorities, repeatedly issued sumptuary laws and the like, mandating people to behave in accordance with their station. In reality, however, there was much crossover between statuses, as wealthy merchants bought lavish things, poor samurai struggled to afford to keep up the appearances expected of their status, and so forth. Unemployed and underemployed samurai regularly attended kabuki, the pleasure quarters, and other low-class entertainments despite it being forbidden for them, and people of all classes mingled with one another within artistic and cultural contexts.

Tokugawa official Neo-Confucianism dictated that if everyone were to perform their proper role in society, all would fall into place, and prosperity would result. To that end, the shogunate, as well as the ''daimyô'' and other authorities, repeatedly issued sumptuary laws and the like, mandating people to behave in accordance with their station. In reality, however, there was much crossover between statuses, as wealthy merchants bought lavish things, poor samurai struggled to afford to keep up the appearances expected of their status, and so forth. Unemployed and underemployed samurai regularly attended kabuki, the pleasure quarters, and other low-class entertainments despite it being forbidden for them, and people of all classes mingled with one another within artistic and cultural contexts.