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Ojimamachi, Enkiridera Mantokuji Shiryōkan. ------. 1997. "Severing the Karmic 'Ties that Tonomura, Hiromi, Anne Walthall and Wakita Bind': The Divorce Temple Mantokuji" Monu- Haruko, eds. 1999. Women and Class in Japa- menta Nipponica 52.3 (Autumn): 357-80. nese History, University of Michigan Center Yamakawa, Kikue. 1992. Women of the Mito for Japanese Studies. Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life. Ueno, Chizuko. 1996."Lusty Pregnant Women trans by Kate Wildman Nakai.University of and Erotic Mothers: Representations of Fe- Press, 1992; Stanford University Press, male Sexuality in Erotic Art in ." Imagin- 1998. ing/Reading Eros. pp. 110-114. Yokota, Fuyuhiko.1999. "Imagining Working Uno, Kathleen. 1991. “Women and Changes in Women in Early Modern Japan." Women and the Household Division of Labor.” Recreat- Class in Japanese History. pp. 153-168. ing Japanese Women. pp. 17-41. Walthall, Anne. 1990. "The Family Ideology of Rural Entrepreneurs in Early Nineteenth Cen- tury Japan." Journal of Social History 23.3 (Spring): 463-483. ------. 1991. "The Life Cycle of Farm Women in Tokugawa Japan."Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. pp.42-70. The End of History? ------. 1994. "Devoted"Devoted Wives/Unruly Sunday Night on NHK Women: Invisible Presence in the History of B.M. BodartBodart---BaileyBailey Japanese Social Protest" Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 20.1 (Au- Faculty of Comparative Culture, Otsuma tumn):106-136. Reprinted in Barbara Laslett, Women’s University, Tokyo; formerly, Johanna Brenner and Yesim Arat eds., Rethink- Faculty of Economics, Kobe University ing the Political: Gender, Resistance and the State (University of Chicago Press, 1995) When I was asked to write a short piece about pp.282-312. the reaction of people within my environment ------. 1997. "The Cult of Sensibility in Rural here at Kobe University to the year-long rekishi Tokugawa Japan: Love Poetry by Matsuo taiga dorama 歴史大河ドラマ, as NHK’s Sun- Taseko" Journal of the American Oriental So- day night history extravaganza is known, I met ciety 117.1 (Spring): 70-86. with unexpected difficulties. Very few of the ------. 1998. The Weak Body of a Useless people I come into contact with have actually Woman: Matsuo Taseko and the Meiji Resto- seen it. ration, University of Chicago Press, 1998. This took me by surprise. After all, it is Japan ------. 1999. "De la fille de paysan à l'épouse de National Television’s (NHK) largest and most samourï: Les lettres de Yoshino Michi." Anna- expensive production, running a full year every les: Histoire sciences sociales 54.1 (jan- Sunday night at peak viewing time. The title and vier-février): 55-86. theme were well publicized in advance, and so ------. 1999. "Matsuo Taseko and the Meiji were the actors selected for the various roles. The Restoration." Women and Class in Japanese location for shooting frequently turns into a History. pp.217-240. highly popular tourist site. When the subject was Wigmore, John Henry. 1982. Law and Justice in Nobunaga some years back, the 500,000th tourist Tokugawa Japan Part VIII-A: Persons: Legal to visit the set made the evening news. But the Precedents. University of Tokyo Press. massive stone walls that Nobunaga erected to Wright, Diana. "Mantokuji: More than a Di- support the splendor of Azuchi Castle at Lake vorce Temple." Japanese Women and Bud- Biwa were virtually deserted when I visited them dhism. ed. by Barbara Ruch. Center for Japa- around that time. And no doubt this will remain nese Studies, University of Michigan. Forth- so, unless those who want to erect a replica of the coming. MAY 2000 EARLY MODERN JAPAN 6

much-decorated castle on what is left of the site 穂, as the town is generally referred to, has a have their way. good amount of industry, and the smoke from the This year’s theme is the perennial favorite, the tall chimneys is visible from a distance. But early Forty-seven rōnin 浪人, or Akō gishi 赤穂義士, Akō was well known for the baking of salt, and a story known to every child in Japan and often the process has been reconstructed in an open-air retold under the title of Chūshingura 忠臣蔵 in museum some distance away along the shore. countless versions from dating from soon after Thus there was a good reason for the smoke in the incident to the present time. (Even the the distance as Naganori was heading for his cas- all-female Takarazuka revue had a go at it some tle, and, to make the point, the director has him years back.) carefully inspecting the smoking salt-burning Akō castle on the Inland Sea near Himeji, the huts, even before entering his castle after the long home of the loyal retainers who sacrificed their 640 km journey from Edo. lives to revenge their lord, was destroyed after the Not surprisingly the town of Banshū Akō is Meiji Restoration. Although the site owed part of doing its best to draw maximum profit from the its layout to the samurai-philosopher Yamaga TV series. There were stalls within the outer cas- Sokō 山鹿素行, and despite its significance as tle grounds selling everything from the locally the place where the rōnin absorbed Sokō’s teach- produced salt, fast food, pottery and the inevita- ings from which their loyal conduct grew, it was ble T-shirts, and postage stamps with the image of not thought worth preserving. What was left of the modern-day NHK Ōishi Kuranosuke. The the fortifications of this hira jō 平城, or castle greatest attraction, however, was a large, built on flat ground, became the site for a new multi-domed tent, erected with the assistance of public school. NHK, whose contents one was able to explore at the cost of 700 Yen. It featured, among other The leader of the rōnin, Ōishi Kuranosuke 大 things, a partial reconstruction of ’s 石内蔵助, and his followers, however, were not famous matsu no rōka 松の廊下, the forgotten. In Meiji 30 (1897 - but some pam- gold-screened corridor where Asano Naganori phlets have 1912) a shrine to Kuranosuke and his 吉 men was built within the outer walls of the castle, drew his sword and wounded near the small wooden house and garden that 良義央, an action which earned him the death purportedly was Kuranosuke’s home. New, larger sentence, and in turn motivated his loyal retainers – than - life-size stone figures of the rōnin – to kill Kira. From time to time the painted golden somehow reminiscent of the stone figures lining fusuma would draw apart to reveal on a film the road to imperial Chinese tombs – mark the screen the dramatic action that took place at this approach from the parking lot to the sanctuary. location. A fair amount of space was also allotted The scene is made even more incongruous by to the final killing of Kira in what the pamphlet stalls selling trinkets and second-hand goods, terms the kuraimakkusu kōnaa クライマックス ranging from clothing to kitchenware, within the コーナー. Again, the shōji of Kira’s temple compound. snow-covered villa opens to reveal the bloody Erecting the shrine entailed further destruction action on a large film screen. As the exhibit of the original castle site, but eventually recon- comes complete with its own home page I need struction of the main gates and other parts of the say no more. (See URL: castle began, a process that continues today. Thus, http://www2.memenet.or.jp/~akogishi/genroku/0- by carefully limiting the angle of the camera, one 101.html, of the main gates could be used in the NHK pro- With all this publicity, why then is it so hard to duction to shoot the arrival of the young daimyo find people who watch the NHK Sunday history Asano Naganori 浅野長矩, as he first arrived drama? It is obviously the fault of my environ- from Edo after he inherited the fief. ment. As one of my colleagues put it succinctly: The director also decided to shoot Naganori’s “Educated people (interi インテリー) don’t approach to the domain on location. There is, watch that sort of thing.” But someone else con- however, the problem that Banshū Akō 播州赤 ceded: “Last year’s drama on Tokugawa Yoshi- MAY 2000 EARLY MODERN JAPAN 7

nobu, the last shogun, was on an interesting topic, before the final killing of Kira and the death of because relatively little is known about his person the rōnin. The popular image of the debauched and his plans for reform of the country. But then “Dog Shogun”, moreover, provides plenty of they had the story told by a middle-aged woman, dramatic material. and it ended up with the silly story of that woman On the orders of his father, Tsunayoshi was and her husband.” Others chimed in: “Yes, educated not as a samurai but as a scholar, and whenever that came on, I switched it off.” There was the first, and perhaps the only Tokugawa was agreement that in an effort to get high ratings, shogun who had some genuine interest in schol- NHK had sacrificed the original quality of its arly pursuits. Yet in the NHK series Tsunayoshi is history productions. Clearly the popularity of the portrayed as a raving madman, whose contorted actors (“much too young” someone commented) features show an uncanny resemblance to that of was of greatest importance not historical authen- the ferocious guardian kings at the entrance of ticity, and it was also felt necessary that some- temples. Whether angry or in deep sorrow over thing “exciting” happened in every weekly epi- the death of his only son, Tsunayoshi’s behavior sode. Secure in the company of his all-male col- is violent, with his closed fan serving as his leagues (except for myself), one added with weapon physically attacking those who are in his obvious disdain: “It’s all just made for women presence. Also the other characters are badly …” But even the wives of my colleagues don’t overdrawn, with the “goodies” and “badies” seem to watch the series (according to their hus- readily identifiable. There is here no effort at his- bands), mainly, it appears, since a much more torical authenticity: the purpose is obviously sim- interesting program on new exhibitions is being ply to entertain. screened on Educational TV at the same time. A producer shooting a prewar TV series once Not being an expert on the fifteenth shogun, explained to me: it really does not matter what Yoshinobu, and not having watched every epi- people wore at the time. What we need to use is sode, I would not like to comment on the histori- clothing and props that immediately identify this cal authenticity of the performance. However, I as prewar scene in the viewer’s mind. Similarly did notice that Perry on his arrival in Japan in the NHK series seems to be guided by what is 1853 was reading the 1906 edition of Engelbert popularly known about the period, as well as the Kaempfer’s History of Japan. Well, I guess they viewer’s predilection for romance and violence, should at least be given marks for trying … rather than any historical research. If criticisms about the inclusion of fictional With so little feedback on the topic from my material and an undue amount of “populariza- colleagues, I tried my students. But, alas, this was tion” are voiced about last year’s production on even less successful. They did not even know that Tokugawa Yoshinobu, they are all the more per- such a series was being shown. “Young people tinent to this year’s series on the 47 rōnin. The don’t watch NHK,” someone explained to me. I difference between the two begins with the cred- also made the startling discovery that out of some its. In the Yoshinobu production these were twenty students only one had heard of Kurosawa, shown against a backdrop of early photos of Ja- and none of the film “Rashōmon”. pan, or realistically produced scenes of the period. I must admit that, being under pressure of time, In the case of the rōnin series there are instead I gave up at that point. There are obviously peo- cartoon images of strutting peacocks, and flowers ple watching the program (someone mentioned with blooms unfolding and the miniaturized fig- that it is very popular in Hawaii), but certainly ures of the rōnin dancing on their petals. (Yes, I few with a primary interest in history rather than am sorry, this is not a misprint.) popular entertainment. The story of the loyal samurai contains good I would like to end this with another observa- material for a dramatic performance of several tion on the popularity of Japanese history – or hours, but hardly enough for the fifty-plus epi- rather the lack of it – in today’s Japan. sodes of the year-long NHK drama. Hence the When I was first asked to teach Japanese his- NHK series begins with Tsunayoshi’s succession tory to Japanese students I was looking forward as the fifth Tokugawa shogun, over two decades to being able to pitch my lectures at a fairly high MAY 2000 EARLY MODERN JAPAN 8

level. After all, students had studied the subject kubutsukan, 1997. for years at school, and the Japanese History sec- Perhaps the most arresting visual image tion of most university entrance exams looks in Constantine Vaporis's detailed study of pretty daunting. I was surprised, however, to find the early modern Japanese network of that basic knowledge – such as the implications travel and transport is Felix Beato's pho- of the bakufu’s sakoku policy - were lacking. tograph of the Tōkaidō near Kanagawa While all students study Japanese history in pri- from the 1860s.1 This picture captures a mary and middle school, it becomes an elective wide, tree-lined, dirt road that could be subject during the last three years at high school. mistaken for the path leading to a shrine University entrance exams generally permit a or temple anywhere in Japan today, if not choice between World History and Japanese His- for the presence of nearly a dozen travelers tory, and with many believing that “kokusaika” and vendors in various postures of rest or 国際化 holds the key to Japan’s future, students mobility, and a lone samurai staring di- often opt for the former. The result is that they rectly into the camera. The photograph is might know the date of the French Revolution, but not that of the Meiji Restoration. But even particularly powerful because of the jux- those who do study Japanese History in their taposition of temporalities it represents: a three years of high school often lack fundamental scene from Japan's pre-modern age is cap- knowledge about the broader issues. The problem tured using a technology that is intimately here is that at high school history is studied associated with the mechanical reproduc- purely for the purpose of passing university en- tion of modernity. Another of Beato's trance exams. Since these exams are marked by photographs is used to open the Edo-Tokyo computer, questions must be of the “multiple Museum's catalog on the system of alter- choice” type, a format which favors examining nate attendance, again bringing the mod- knowledge of facts and figures, but makes it dif- ern Western lens to bear on the fading ficult to test the understanding of broader issues. landscape of Tokugawa authority. This For those with enough dedication, NHK educa- image, "Panorama of Yeddo from Ota- tional television has some excellent programs that gayama [sic.]," ( 愛宕山) catches a could fill the gap, but, like x-rated movies, these 135-degree view of the tiled Edo rooftops, are usually shown after 11 p.m., and I am yet to dotted by trees, fire watchtowers, and meet someone who shares my enthusiasm for storehouses, but above all dominated by them. Maybe it requires the shock of seeing for- the long walls of the daimyō yashiki 大名 eigners being more enthusiastic about Japanese 屋敷 history than the Japanese themselves, – as I be- . The photograph captures with me- lieve was once the case with wood block prints – chanical accuracy a scene that no longer until the subject becomes popular again as a se- exists, emphasized by the diagram below rious discipline of study, rather than the basis for the image that explicates Edo buildings in soap opera plots of the NHK Forty-seven rōnin the picture as well as the location of variety. contemporary landmarks: we learn that the Tamura family's upper yashiki for example, was located near the location of Book Reviews 書評 the current JR Shimbashi Station. Anyone who has visited Shimbashi station, however, knows the landscape in the Edo Tōkyō Hakubutsukan 江戸東京博物館 [The EdoEdo---TokyoTokyo Museum]. Sankin kōtai:tai: 1 Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Breaking kyokyodaiodai toshi Edo no naritachi 参勤交 Barriers: Travel and the State in Early 代：巨大都市江戸のなりたち [The System of Modern Japan (Cambridge, Mass. & Lon- Alternate Attendance: Origin of the Edo don: Council on East Asian Studies, Har- MegaMegalololopolis].polis]. Tokyo: Edo Tōkyō Ha- vard University, 1994): 41.