Changes

The period of the shogunate's decline and fall is known as the [[Bakumatsu period]], which is typically said to begin in [[1853]], with the arrival of Commodore [[Matthew Perry]] and the [[Black Ships]]. Though most of the Western powers had similar interests in Japan, and similar geographic position of bases, colonies, or trade routes in East Asia and/or the Pacific, it has been argued that it was the acquisition of California in [[1848]] and the desire for a refueling station conveniently located between [[San Francisco]] and [[Shanghai]] that contributed to the US being the one to put sufficient force behind the effort to make it successful.<ref name=brief161>Schirokauer et al., 161-162.</ref>

The period of the shogunate's decline and fall is known as the [[Bakumatsu period]], which is typically said to begin in [[1853]], with the arrival of Commodore [[Matthew Perry]] and the [[Black Ships]]. Though most of the Western powers had similar interests in Japan, and similar geographic position of bases, colonies, or trade routes in East Asia and/or the Pacific, it has been argued that it was the acquisition of California in [[1848]] and the desire for a refueling station conveniently located between [[San Francisco]] and [[Shanghai]] that contributed to the US being the one to put sufficient force behind the effort to make it successful.<ref name=brief161>Schirokauer et al., 161-162.</ref>

Perry arrived in Japan in July 1853 with four ships, then returned in February the following year in a fleet of eight ships. The [[Convention of Kanagawa]] signed at that time opened the ports of [[Hakodate]] and [[Shimoda]] to American ships, obligated the Japanese authorities to provide good treatment for shipwrecked sailors throughout Japan, and arranged for the establishment of formal relations in the Western mode, with an American consul to be sent to Japan soon afterwards. Japan concluded similar [[Unequal Treaties]] with France and England in [[1855]], and with Russia and the Netherlands in [[1857]]. That first American consul, [[Townsend Harris]], arrived in Japan in [[1856]], and soon afterwards concluded the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the [[Harris Treaty]], which secured further benefits for the US; similar treaties were then signed between Japan and a number of the chief European powers.<ref name=brief161/>

Perry arrived in Japan in July 1853 with four ships, then returned in February the following year in a fleet of eight ships. The [[Convention of Kanagawa]] signed at that time opened the ports of [[Hakodate]] and [[Shimoda]] to American ships, obligated the Japanese authorities to provide good treatment for shipwrecked sailors throughout Japan, and arranged for the establishment of formal relations in the Western mode, with an American consul to be sent to Japan soon afterwards. Japan concluded similar [[Unequal Treaties]] with France and England in [[1855]], and with Russia and the Netherlands in [[1857]]. That first American consul, [[Townsend Harris]], arrived in Japan in [[1856]], and soon afterwards concluded the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the [[Harris Treaty]], which secured further benefits for the US; similar treaties were then signed between Japan and a number of the chief European powers.<ref name=brief161/><!--Please expand. As there are (or will be) separate articles for Bakumatsu, Meiji Restoration, etc, there is no need for an extremely extensive, thorough, or detailed treatment here, but all the key points should be covered.-->

 

<!--Please expand. As there are (or will be) separate articles for Bakumatsu, Meiji Restoration, etc, there is no need for an extremely extensive, thorough, or detailed treatment here, but all the key points should be covered.-->

The Edo period came to a close in January 1868, when Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] voluntarily resigned his position and ended the shogunate in the [[Meiji Restoration]].

The Edo period came to a close in January 1868, when Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] voluntarily resigned his position and ended the shogunate in the [[Meiji Restoration]].

The [[Yoshiwara]] and other realms of the courtesans likewise did not appear until the Edo period, and developed over the course of the period from a simple place for prostitution into the highly romanticized and ritualized subject of countless works of art and literature, both contemporary and modern. Similarly, the [[geisha]] only first emerged in the Edo period, and female geisha only first outnumbered male geisha sometime after 1750. Numerous schools and styles of dance, as well as aspects of Japanese fashion, owe their origins to the "floating world" of the courtesans and the geisha.

The [[Yoshiwara]] and other realms of the courtesans likewise did not appear until the Edo period, and developed over the course of the period from a simple place for prostitution into the highly romanticized and ritualized subject of countless works of art and literature, both contemporary and modern. Similarly, the [[geisha]] only first emerged in the Edo period, and female geisha only first outnumbered male geisha sometime after 1750. Numerous schools and styles of dance, as well as aspects of Japanese fashion, owe their origins to the "floating world" of the courtesans and the geisha.

While some of the most major schools of painting, such as the [[Kano school|Kanô school]], [[Tosa school]], and [[Rinpa]], had their start in the late Sengoku, all of these developed much further into their "mature" "traditional" forms in the Edo period. The vast majority of famous Japanese painters and paintings date to the Edo period. [[Pottery]], similarly, had major infusions of new styles and techniques in the 1590s as Hideyoshi's armies brought kidnapped artisans from Korea, but numerous regional styles which trace their origins to those Korean potters only developed into their more "mature" "traditional" forms over the course of the Edo period. [[Shamisen]] music, too, was first introduced in the mid-to-late 16th century, but the various styles and schools of ''[[kouta]]'', ''[[nagauta]]'', ''[[jiuta]]'', ''gidayû bushi'', ''kiyomoto bushi'', ''tokiwazu bushi'', and ''[[tsugaru jamisen]]'' which accompany geisha dances, bunraku and kabuki theatre, and so forth, or which are played alone, only developed in the Edo period.

While some of the most major schools of painting, such as the [[Kano school|Kanô school]], [[Tosa school]], and [[Rinpa]], had their start in the late Sengoku, all of these developed much further into their "mature" "traditional" forms in the Edo period. A decrease in the price of brushes, paper, ink, and other materials in the late Edo period, and the rise of a culture of personal hobbies and artistic circles, combined to also allow for the growth of amateur and commercial painting.<ref>Tomizawa Tatsuzô 富澤達三, ""Bushi ga egaita Edo no hanka" 「武士が描いた江戸の繁華」. ''Nihon kinsei seikatsu ehiki: Ryûkyûjin gyôretsu to Edo hen'' 日本近世生活絵引：琉球人行列と江戸編、Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials, Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture, Kanagawa University 神奈川大学日本常民文化研究所非文字資料研究センター (2020), 181.</ref> Today, the vast majority of famous Japanese painters and paintings date to the Edo period. [[Pottery]], similarly, had major infusions of new styles and techniques in the 1590s as Hideyoshi's armies brought kidnapped artisans from Korea, but numerous regional styles which trace their origins to those Korean potters only developed into their more "mature" "traditional" forms over the course of the Edo period. [[Shamisen]] music, too, was first introduced in the mid-to-late 16th century, but the various styles and schools of ''[[kouta]]'', ''[[nagauta]]'', ''[[jiuta]]'', ''gidayû bushi'', ''kiyomoto bushi'', ''tokiwazu bushi'', and ''[[tsugaru jamisen]]'' which accompany geisha dances, bunraku and kabuki theatre, and so forth, or which are played alone, only developed in the Edo period.

The wide circulation of books, along with the increased accessibility of travel, density of urban spaces, increased economic prosperity (for some), and other developments combined also to create a very lively cultural life for many in both the larger cities and elsewhere in the realm. In the large cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka in particular, social circles organized around cultural pursuits became a major site not only of socialization and the kind of interpersonal networking that Eiko Ikegami emphasizes as playing the important socio-political role of "publics," but were also sites of cultural development and spread. Poetry, dance, shamisen and [[koto]] music, [[ikebana]], [[tea ceremony]], amateur [[Noh]] chanting, and many other "polite arts" or "arts of play" (''yûgei'')<ref>Rebecca Corbett, ''Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2018), 51.</ref> became much more popularly (i.e. among commoners) widespread during this period, where previously they had been restricted to the realms of elite patronage. Teachers traveled and offered lessons, running large workshops on a weekly or monthly basis and seeing students regularly for private lessons, just as teachers of such traditional arts might do today; relatively affordable woodblock-printed books also circulated which allowed people to teach themselves, or to at least be aware of these arts. Countless schools of traditional arts surely owe their survival, if not their origins, to this popular explosion of interest in cultural pursuits.<ref>Ikegami, ''Bonds of Civility''.</ref>

The wide circulation of books, along with the increased accessibility of travel, density of urban spaces, increased economic prosperity (for some), and other developments combined also to create a very lively cultural life for many in both the larger cities and elsewhere in the realm. In the large cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka in particular, social circles organized around cultural pursuits became a major site not only of socialization and the kind of interpersonal networking that Eiko Ikegami emphasizes as playing the important socio-political role of "publics," but were also sites of cultural development and spread. Poetry, dance, shamisen and [[koto]] music, [[ikebana]], [[tea ceremony]], amateur [[Noh]] chanting, and many other "polite arts" or "arts of play" (''yûgei'')<ref>Rebecca Corbett, ''Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2018), 51.</ref> became much more popularly (i.e. among commoners) widespread during this period, where previously they had been restricted to the realms of elite patronage. Teachers traveled and offered lessons, running large workshops on a weekly or monthly basis and seeing students regularly for private lessons, just as teachers of such traditional arts might do today; relatively affordable woodblock-printed books also circulated which allowed people to teach themselves, or to at least be aware of these arts. Countless schools of traditional arts surely owe their survival, if not their origins, to this popular explosion of interest in cultural pursuits.<ref>Ikegami, ''Bonds of Civility''.</ref>