4 Flashcards
Kabuki
-general plays
-all actors were men, which included men playing women
-plays questioned gender roles
-expressed how gender is a social construct and gender is a performance
-gender is not determined by birth
Shunga
-youth scrolls primarily about sex
-one of the most popular forms of art and culture
-influenced tattoos and culture
Urban cultural life (~1700s)
-plays, art, tattoos, scrolls
-showed that people were willing to push boundaries against the “rigid” society that the elite enforced
ainu
-ethnic group in Hokaido
-used tattoos to enforce culture
Tokugawa Period (dates)
1600-1868
Meiji Period (dates)
1868-1912
Bakumatsu
-word meaning fall of Tokugawa shogunate
-samurai officials viewed the repeated famines and multiplying cases of infanticide as evidence of the moral failings of not only the ruled, but the rulers as well
-general frustration among the samurai and daimyo as living costs mounted
-protests emerged
-there was an uneven distribution of resources between and within classes and regions
-limited integration of Japan into Asian or global trading networks reduced the ability of cities to prosper; prohibited urban employment, food imports, and population migration
-various social protests emerge
-*having to deal with westerners made the shogun look weak
1825 Bakufu edicts issued
-daimyo can be defensive against the west
-shoot them/hurt them and then ask about it later (?)
Reactions in Japan after British won first opium war
-saw China’s loss as a warning for what could happen to the Japanese
-China was seen as the greatest power in the world and for them to lose to a power a fraction of their size was a huge warning to the Japanese
Matthew Perry
-American commodore
-got to Japan in 1853
-forced way into Japan
-“agree to trade in peace, or suffer consequences in war”
-wanted the Japanese to sell coal to naval ships and allow provisioning stops to whalers
-Returned in 1854, treaty of Kanagawa, with nine ships, including three steam frigates. Bafuku allowed American ships to stop over in the relatively remote ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. Americans stationed a consul in Shimoda
–“black ships”
Kaibara Ekken
-prevalent during the mid-late 1600s
-neo-confucian scholar
-wrote “the great learning for women” which discussed how women are supposed to serve their men/husbands, and in-laws once they’re married
-was significant because he enforced a strict and rigid social structure which confined women’s roles
–this came at a time when gender roles were being questioned and further pushed, and wanted to bring a “rebellious” society back on track
–this was needed to be written because people weren’t fulfilling their stereotypes
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
(1867-1877)
-the last Tokugawa
-gets overthrown, last shogun
-He supported the westernization of the military once shogun, as well as the creation of a western style national centralized gov.
- Was supposed to step down from his post and return ultimate power and sovereignty to the emperor.
- At first, he expected the Tokugawa house would continue to play an important role in the ruling council of lords. But then, the Tokugawa would have no place at all. Yoshinobu resisted, but his troops were easily defeated in a battle just outside of kyoto.
