Page 370 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

Playof every variety blossomed during

The Human the Edo period, in spite of concerted attempts by the shogunate to control

Figure in the every aspect of people's lives by neighborhood surveillance and by the

Playground promulgation of Neo-Confucianism, which stressed the virtues of civic

of Edo Artistic order and material austerity Spectator sports such as horse racing and 369

Imagination sumo wrestling attracted increasing numbers of fans, while businesses

catering to leisurely pursuits such as restaurants, theaters, and bordellos

flourished in every urban center. Along with the better-known theatrical
J O H N T . C A R P E N T E R
fare of no, kyógen, and kabuki, entertainment provided by professional

dancers, puppeteers, acrobats, jugglers, storytellers, and countless other

types of performers did much to enliven the daily lives of townspeople.

Bordellos, it should be mentioned from the outset, were not merely places

for men to purchase sexual satisfaction, though that was undeniably

their raison d'être, but they became centers of sophisticated cultural life

in their own right. By surveying the emergence of various forms of enter-

tainment during the Edo period, especially the activities of theaters and

bordellos, this essay investigates the remarkable ways in which Japanese

artists conceived of the human figure in paintings and prints.

By the end of the seventeenth century the aesthetic preferences

of the townspeople (chónin) living in the major urban centers of Edo,

Osaka, and Kyoto had shifted from the landscape and nature subjects

admired by courtier and samurai elites to images of the human figure

at work and play. A common modern misconception may connect the

Opposite: detail of the Hikone Screen (cat. 233)