Introduction: Reading the Edo Zuihitsu

Abstract

This volume opens with a brief discussion of the Japanese essayistic writing known as zuihitsu, a genre that flourished during the Edo period (1600–1868) and nowhere more so than in the city of Edo (today Tokyo) itself. A brief analysis is offered of the economic, political, administrative, and cultural forces that shaped the writing of the five pieces translated and annotated in the book. This analysis examines in turn each zuihitsu presented in order to illuminate both the general path of social and economic development exhibited by the city of Edo and the social situation and subjective disposition of each author.