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Author Buyō Inshi, active 19th century, author.

Title Lust, commerce, and corruption : an account of what I have seen and heard, by an Edo samurai / translated by Mark Teeuwen, Kate Wildman Nakai, Fumiko Miyazaki, Anne Walthall, and John Breen ; edited and with an introduction by Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai.

Publication Info. New York : Columbia University Press, 2017.

Item Status

Edition Abridged edition.
Description 1 online resource.
text file
Series Translations from the Asian classics
Translations from the Asian classics.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Measures -- Currencies -- Maps -- Buyo Inshi and his times -- Matters of the world : an account of what I have seen and heard / Buyo Inshi -- Prologue -- Introduction -- Warriors -- Farmers -- Temple and shrine priests -- The blind -- Lawsuits -- Townspeople -- Lower townspeople -- Pleasure districts and prostitutes -- Kabuki -- Pariahs and outcasts -- On Japan being called a divine land -- The land, people, and ruler.
Summary By 1816, Japan had recovered from the famines of the 1780s and moved beyond the political reforms of the 1790s. Despite persistent economic and social stresses, the country seemed headed for a new period of growth. The idea that the shogunate would not last forever was far from anyone's mind.Yet, in that year, an anonymous samurai produced a scathing critique of Edo society. Writing as Buyo Inshi, "a retired gentleman of Edo," he expressed in An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard a profound despair with the state of the realm. Seeing decay wherever he turned, Buyo feared the world would soon descend into war.In his anecdotes, Buyo shows a sometimes surprising familiarity with the shadier aspects of Edo life. He speaks of the corruption of samurai officials; the suffering of the poor in villages and cities; the operation of brothels; the dealings of blind moneylenders; the selling and buying of temple abbotships; and the dubious strategies seen in law courts. Perhaps it was the frankness of his account that made him prefer to stay anonymous.A team of Edo specialists undertook the original translation of Buyo's work. This abridged edition streamlines this translation for classroom use, preserving the scope and emphasis of Buyo's argument while eliminating repetitions and diversions. It also retains the introductory essay that situates the work within Edo society and history.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Japan -- Social life and customs -- 1600-1868.
Japan.
Manners and customs.
Chronological Term 1600-1868
Subject Japan -- Social conditions -- 1600-1868.
Social conditions.
Social classes -- Japan -- History -- 19th century.
Social classes.
History.
Chronological Term 19th century
Subject Japan -- Economic conditions -- 1600-1868.
Economic conditions.
Japan -- Moral conditions -- History -- 19th century.
Moral conditions.
Chronological Term 1600-1899
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
History.
Added Author Teeuwen, Mark, editor, translator.
Nakai, Kate Wildman, editor, translator.
Miyazaki, Fumiko, translator.
Walthall, Anne, translator.
Breen, John, 1956- translator.
Added Title Seji kenbunroku. English https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2013007878
Other Form: Print version: Buyō Inshi, 19th century. Lust, commerce, and corruption. Abridged edition. New York : Columbia University Press, 2017 9780231182768 (DLC) 2016034850
ISBN 0231544359 electronic book
9780231544351 electronic book
9780231182768 hardcover ; acid-free paper