Lust, Commerce, and Corruption

Book review:

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Everyone’s a social critic, even a samurai in 1816 Japan.

Uproariously at odds with common romantic impressions of the Edo period, this is a wide ranging critique of the societal ills of late-middle Tokugawa Japan. It is the work of a retired samurai who wisely decided to remain anonymous under the literal moniker of “Buyо̄ Inshi”. Slightly prude and given to glorifying the past, he provides a cantankerous but rich behind-the-scenes look at the times.

It is startling how closely our commentator’s thoughts resonate with the present day. Boiled down, he ascribes the deterioration of society to self interest and materialism, that “the indiscriminate struggle for profit has created an extraordinary imbalance between rich and poor”. His own warrior class, far from being exemplars (and enforcers) of good conduct are instead “concerned solely with convenience”, “with making good the immediate situation”. The amount of corruption and ethical bankruptcy permeating everyday life is truly astounding.

This unassuming tome has been sitting on the to-read pile for a while. Not least because it is a 400-page brick and gets repetitive. However it has a clear, simple structure. The book is organised by the station of groups of citizens; be they warriors, farmers or nobility. Amusingly, anyone not belonging to the former two categories tend to be described as idlers who make no net contribution to the world. The word “lust” features prominently in the re-titling. In fact, significant portions of the work are given to prostitution and entertainment but not in a lascivious manner. Rather, Buyо̄ treats them as a demographic and articulates the typical histories and hardships experienced by such persons.

It’s interesting to speculate about the author who was clearly widely informed. He mentions deliberately mingling with a variety of people in order to learn of their stories in what might be an early form of amateur investigative journalism. He isn’t exactly pining for the good old days either because the early years of Tokugawa rule that he evangelises occurred prior to his own life. In any case, however despairing Buyо̄ was of the direction in which he believed Japan was heading, he still cared enough to document all the perceived shortcomings and their causes while his contemporaries were content to exploit the system as best they could.

Shelf: 210.5 BUY
Lust, commerce, and corruption : an account of what I have seen and heard.
by an Edo Samurai ; translated by Mark Teeuwen, Kate Wildman Nakai, Miyazaki Fumiko, Anne Walthall, and John Breen ; edited and with an introduction by Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai.
New York : Columbia University Press, 2014.
xi, 473 pages : maps ; 24 cm.
(Translations from the Asian classics)
Translated from the Japanese.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-231-16644-7 (hardcover)

Table of contents:

  • Part 1. Buyō Inshi and His Times.
  • Part 2. Matters of the world : an account of what I have seen and heard / Buyō Inshi.
  • Prologue.
  • Introduction.
  • Warriors.
  • Farmers.
  • Temple and shrine priests.
  • The medical profession.
  • The way of yin and yang.
  • The blind.
  • Lawsuits.
  • Townspeople.
  • Lower townspeople.
  • Pleasure districts and prostitutes.
  • Kabuki.
  • Pariahs and Outcasts.
  • Rice, grains, and other products – Mountains and forests.
  • On Japan being called a divine land.
  • Untimely deaths.
  • The land, people, and ruler.
  •  "Buyō Inshi, active 19th century (武陽隠士, active 19th century)

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