Tokyo in Depth - Tokyo - page 14

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only exception to this policy of isolation
was a colony of tightly controlled Chinese
merchants in Nagasaki, and a handful of
Dutch confined to a small trading post on
a tiny island in Nagasaki.
The Edo Period (1603-1867) was a
time of political stability, with all policy
dictated by the shogunate government.
Japanese society was divided into four
distinct classes: samurai, farmers, crafts-
men, and merchants. After daimyo and
nobles, samurai occupied the most exalted
social position and were the only ones
allowed to carry two swords. At the bot-
tom of the social ladder were the mer-
chants. They occupied squalid tenements,
which were typically long row houses con-
structed of wood and facing narrow meter-
wide alleys, with open sewers running
down the middle. Family homes were
unimaginably small, consisting of a tiny
entryway that also doubled as the kitchen
and a single room about 9.2 sq. m (99 sq.
ft.) in size. Because most of Edo was built
of wood, it goes without saying that fires
were a constant threat. In fact, rare indeed
was the person who didn't lose his house at
least several times during his lifetime.
Between 1603 and 1868, almost 100
major fires swept through Edo, along with
countless smaller fires. One of the most
tragic fires occurred in 1657, after a severe
drought had plagued the city for almost 3
months. Buffeted by strong winds, the

flames ignited wooden homes and
thatched roofs like tinder, raging for 3
days and reducing three-fourths of the city
to smoldering ruins. More than 100,000
people lost their lives.
Despite such setbacks, the merchants of
Tokyo grew in number and became so
wealthy that new forms of luxury and
entertainment arose to occupy their time.
Kabuki drama and woodblock prints
became the rage, while stone and porcelain
ware, silk brocade for elaborate and gor-
geous kimono, and lacquerware were ele-
vated to wondrous works of art. Japan's
most famous pleasure district was an area
in northeast Edo called Yoshiwara, the
“floating world of pleasure,” where rich
merchants spent fortunes to cavort with
beautiful courtesans.
THE OPENING OF JAPAN
By the mid-19th century, it was clear that
the feudal system was outdated. With
economic power in the hands of the mer-
chants, money rather than rice became the
primary means of exchange. Many samu-
rai families found themselves on the brink
of poverty, and discontent with the shogu-
nate grew widespread.
In 1854, Commodore Matthew C.
Perry of the U.S. Navy succeeded in forc-
ing the shogun to sign an agreement
granting America trading rights, thus end-
ing 2 centuries of isolation. In 1868, the

2

■ 2001 A man storms into an
elementary school in Osaka
Prefecture and fatally stabs
eight children. Public spirits
rise with the birth of a baby
girl to the crown prince and
princess.
■ 2002 North Korea admits
that it kidnapped 11 young
Japanese in the 1970s and
1980s to teach Japanese lan-
guage and customs to North
Korean spies.

■ 2003 Tokyo's Shinagawa
Station becomes a stop on
the Tokaido-Sanyo Line with
connections to Kyoto, Hiro-
shima, and other points
west.
■ 2005 Anti-Japanese protests
are held throughout China in
response to new school text-
books in Japan that gloss
over Japan's World War II
atrocities.

■ 2007 A full-page ad appear-
ing June 14 in the Washing-
ton Post, endorsed by 44
Japanese lawmakers, dis-
putes that women in Asia
were forced into prostitution
by the Japanese army during
World War II.
■ 2009 Sony reports its first
annual net loss in 14 years.
The Democratic Party of
Japan defeats the long-run-
ning Liberal Democratic
Party in national elections.