Timon Screech, "Tokyo Before Tokyo: Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo" (Reaktion Books, 2020)

New Books in Japanese Studies · Apr 8, 2021 · 41m

In 1800, the Shogun’s chief minister wrote the following about the city of Edo:

"Someone said that if Edo did not have frequent fires, then people would be more showy and flash. In the capital or in Osaka they do everything with lavish elegance: people hang up paintings in their homes or put out arrangements of flowers. But in Edo, even in the affluent areas, everything is restrained. People only display a single flower [in a bamboo tube or a simple pot]. The wealthy have fine chess sets, but the box will have paper fixed under the lid to double up as the board. Edo’s sense of conciseness…