Preface

The following is a brief sketch of the historical periods and institutions referred to in this book. The Edo (or Tokugawa) period, 1603–1868, was distinguished by an agrarian-based social and political order unified under a hereditary succession of generals (shogun) from the Tokugawa clan based in the capital city of Edo, whose ruling power was valorized by a hereditary succession of reigning emperors based in Kyoto. Bakufu was the term for the military government. A Confucian social hierarchy adapted from China divided the population into four unequal classes of people: samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants, in that order. Each class was further bifurcated by a patriarchal sex/gender hierarchy. There were several categories of "nonpeople" as well, including outcastes and itinerants. Out of the vigorous urban commoner culture that developed in the late seventeenth century emerged several fine-art and performingart genres regarded today as "traditional," such as the puppet theatre, kabuki, woodblock printing, and haiku. A policy of seclusion kept the country more or less closed to foreign contact and exchange for 250 years.

Victorious antishogun forces restored the emperor to a ruling position in 1868, marking the beginning of the Meiji period (1868–1912) and social changes summed up by the slogans "civilization and enlightenment" and "rich country, strong army." Agrarianism gave way to industrialization, and the seclusion policy to one of imperialism. Japan's first constitution and elected assembly were informed by European (especially Prussian) government systems. The occupational hierarchy

of the Edo social system was replaced by a class system premised on economic stratification and noble lineage. Strict distinctions between female and male divisions of labor and deportment were codified in the Meiji Civil Code, operative until 1947. Generally speaking, the industrialization, militarization, and imperialism of the Meiji period escalated during the succeeding Taisho (1912–1926) and Showa (1926–1989) periods. Although universal male suffrage was inaugurated in 1925, women did not vote until 1947, when sociopolitical reforms were initiated during the American Occupation (1945–1952) following World War II. The late 1930s and 1940s in particular were marked by the military mobilization of the population and the state's appropriation of the Shinto religion as a national creed. The present constitution, which renounces war and (theoretically) the right to possess military potential, became effective in 1947. The emperor is recognized as a symbol of state; sovereignty rests with the people, and the Diet is the highest organ of the state.

Throughout the book, Japanese names are presented family name first unless the person publishes in English, in which case the given name appears first. All translations from Japanese to English are mine unless otherwise indicated.