Page 158 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

cat. 87
Tray with scene of men
pulling a/oundation stone,
seventeenth century,
lacquer on wood with makie,
32.7x51.8x3.5
7
3
3
(l2 /8 X 20 /8 X I /8),
Tokyo National Museum

157

and the alternate attendance that required daimyo to spend time in Edo) resulted in money passing

from the warrior class into the hands of lower-class merchants and artisans. Therefore, those with the
least political authority came to control much of the country's wealth. The new power held by this
group of sellers — who were also consumers — is evidenced by their increasing importance as a theme
in art, demonstrated with greatest efficacy in Pictures of All the Workers.

T H E W O R K E R ' S The Edo government's Confucian-oriented accentuation of the specific roles of people within society
R O L E I N S O C I E T Y stimulated the creation of art on the theme of the worker. The changed role of the samurai as adminis-
A N D A R T trator engendered a new emphasis on a person's specific function in society, a concept that trickled
12
down through the various classes. Because each member of each class participated in sustaining
Japan and its people, the dignity of work was stressed. In turn, each type of work became a path for
13
study and in many cases for secret transmission of information from master to apprentice. The large
number of paintings of merchants and farmers hints at the new cultural and social influence of the
working classes.
The new order of Japanese society had the subsidiary effect of promoting workers as an idea in
art, making them a symbol of prosperity, an archetype of peaceful living, and an emblem of a country
rebuilding after a century of war. Silk workers were recognized as symbols of industry and rice farmers
as the individuals without whose work the economy would collapse, because rice was used to pay
the samurai and eventually replaced millet as the food for the general populace. Those with disposable
income — merchants and artisans — were identified not only as creators, builders, and distributors
but as consumers and tastemakers.