Space and Time in the Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō: Collective identity and imagined community in early modern Japan Steffen Remvik Master thesis (60 credits) Asian and African Studies – Japanese Department of Cultural and Oriental Languages UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2011 ii Abstract This thesis seeks to investigate how collective identity and community are imagined through a book called Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō. This is a book in the so called setsuyōshū genre, a kind of household encyclopedia/dictionary that was very popular during the early modern period (1600-1868) in Japan. The book has information on a variety of subjects, including for instance history, etiquette, geography, poetry and much more. Because the concepts of space and time is seen as important constituents of any imagined community and collective identity, some of the parts in the book that are dealing with representations of these concepts will be analyzed. This investigation provides valuable insights into popular tendencies in the community of early modern Japan. It also contributes with useful information to the history of the book in Japan, as well as to the long neglected field of setsuyōshū. iii Acknowledgements First of all I wish to thank my supervisor Mark Teeuwen who has given me insightful and thorough feedback throughout my time working on this thesis. I would also like to thank Naomi Yabe Magnussen who introduced me to the fascinating book I have been studying for the last year. Finally I would like to thank my parents Lisbeth and Arne Remvik, Juwita, Magnus Bauer, Øyvind Kveine Haugen and Jan Breivoll who have offered their valuable thoughts and comments along the way. iv Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... v List of figures ........................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Whys and wherefores ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Structure of the thesis ....................................................................................................... 4 1.3 A note on translation ......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Theory ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Social Constructs .............................................................................................................. 7 2.2 Identity .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Community and National identity .................................................................................. 10 2.4 Concrete space and abstract space .................................................................................. 14 2.5 Social space and different forms of capital .................................................................... 15 2.6 Time and history ............................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 3: Contextual Background .......................................................................................... 20 3.1 The four social orders ..................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Urbanization and economic growth ................................................................................ 22 3.3 Literacy and education .................................................................................................... 24 3.4 Books and the printing industry ...................................................................................... 31 3.5 Travel and representations of travel ............................................................................... 35 3.6 What are setsuyōshū? ..................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō ............................................................................................. 45 4.1 General overview ............................................................................................................ 45 4.2 A brief note on Yokoyama Toshio‘s study of usage ...................................................... 45 4.3 Language as space .......................................................................................................... 46 4.4 Mapping the cosmos ....................................................................................................... 50 4.5 Maps as space ................................................................................................................. 58 4.6 Famous places as space .................................................................................................. 65 4.7 Mapping social space ...................................................................................................... 69 4.8 Representations of linear time: The Chronology of Japan ............................................. 72 v 4.9 Representations of cyclical time: The calendar and annual events ................................ 77 Chapter 5: Summary and concluding remarks ......................................................................... 82 5.1 The Imagined Community .............................................................................................. 82 5.2 Towards modernity ......................................................................................................... 86 5.3 Openings for further research ......................................................................................... 88 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 89 Primary Resources ................................................................................................................ 89 Reference Material ............................................................................................................... 89 Internet Resources ................................................................................................................ 89 Secondary Resources ............................................................................................................ 89 vi List of figures Fig. 1 Left: The first page of a medieval type setsuyōshū. Right: The first page of the dictionary part in Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō .................................................................................. 38 Fig. 2 Left: The middle row shows a Japanese sword with the names of the different parts. The bottom row shows one of the pages from the bukan. From Eitai Setsuyō. Right: A samurai helmet from Taisei Musō Setsuyōshū (1821) ........................................................................... 43 Fig. 3 Text from the Eitai Setsuyō concerning man‘s place in the cosmos. ............................. 50 Fig. 4 From Ōzassho (1680). The right page shows an illustration of Mt. Sumeru. ................ 56 Fig. 5 The three doctrines of Shinto, Confucianism and Buddhism shown side by side. ........ 58 Fig. 6 Map of Japan from the Eitai Setsuyō Mujinzō ............................................................... 59 Fig. 7 Map of Japan from the Tokai Setsuyō Hyakka Tsū ........................................................ 59 Fig. 8 Map of Edo .................................................................................................................... 64 Fig. 9 Map of the Tōkaidō road. Read from right to left. ......................................................... 64 Fig. 10 Map of Osaka ............................................................................................................... 64 Fig. 11 Scenic view of Mount Fuji ........................................................................................... 65 Fig. 12 Left: Detailed map of Mt. Fuji. Right: Different views of Mt. Fuji ............................ 66 Fig. 13 First page of the illustrations showing stable activities of the four orders, here with samurai and farmers. ................................................................................................................ 70 Fig. 14 Text and illustration from the first page of the Ogasawara school‘s guide to proper behavior in the Eitai Setsuyō .................................................................................................... 72 Fig. 15 Left: First page from Shinpo Yamato Nendai Koki Esho (1692) Right: From Eitai Setsuyō. Both books show an illustration of Kuninotokotachi no Mikoto, the god who separated Heaven and Earth. .................................................................................................... 73 Fig. 16 Yamato Takeru using the Kusanagi sword to fight barbarians. ................................... 76 Fig. 17