Lust, Commerce, and Corruption

by Mark Teeuwen

By 1816, Japan had recovered from the famines of the 1780s and moved beyond the political reforms of the 1790s. Despite persistent economic and social stresses, the country seemed to be approaching a new period of growth. The idea that the shogunate would not last forever was far from anyone's mind. Yet, in that year, an anonymous samurai author completed one of the most detailed critiques of Edo society known today. Buyō shows a familiarity with many corners of Edo life that one might not expect in a samurai.