Daily Life

The merchant class and the culture of the floating world, ukiyo, arose in Japan around the middle of the 17th century. Political stability allowed both the material culture and the standard of living of the ordinary individual to improve markedly during this period. Until quite recently, however, few historians of Japanese culture have regarded the documentation of life-style as a serious subject. This reluctance is due, in part, to the lack of historical records, but also to the fact that the Japanese traditionally do not speak about domestic affairs. Modern ethnologists have commented, even today, about the difficulty of discussing personal lifestyle and domestic affairs with the Japanese. What scant sources do exist in literature and poetry indicate that family life remained relatively unchanged from the time of the samurai (c.1200 to 1600) until the westernization of Japan in the late 19th century. For women, daily life revolved around the management of a household, the rearing of children, and occasional outings.

The mode of life for women varied according to class. Noble women continued court tradition and spent most of their time in writing and painting. Women of samurai or bushi families had a good deal of authority and independence in the managing of their households as their husbands were often away for long periods. Similarly peasant women, under accepted standards for the division of labor, were responsible for the family residence and main expenditures.

Although literacy even for the lowest chonin increased during the time of peace of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the concept of a unified educational system for all classes was not proposed until very early in the 19th century. Prior to that time, children were educated at home by their mothers, tutors, or small groups of Buddhist monks or samurai men and women who taught small groups of students in their homes. Young adults of bushi families studied under scholars in Edo or Kyoto. A Confucian scholar observed in the early 18th century: "It will not do for chonin and farmers not to have learning."

The accumulation of wealth by the merchant class allowed women the luxuries and diversions of a city life: theater, restaurants, fashionable clothing, travel, and family activities. Edo citizens of both sexes visited the yoshiwara in order to satisfy their curiosity about the district and visited the kabuki theaters in order to see the glamorous women. Vitality arose to life in the cities. When the Ryogoku Bridge in the Nihonbashi district of Edo was completed in 1661, the district became a major amusement center. Stalls, shops, and food stalls are evident in the prints of Hiroshige. One crossed the bridge as much to be seen as to see, just as one took a carriage through Hyde Park or toured the Montmartre section of Paris.

Many of the prints in the Sweet Briar collection depict the daily activities of women, urban and rural, during the Tokugawa period.