Abstract:

"This was the age of the Tokugawa family, the era of Edo, a period of over two-and-a-half centuries during which Japan was sealed off from the rest of the world. This program treats the history of Japan during this period: the established classes of daimyo, samurai, farmer, and merchant; the political organization of the shogunate; the growth of the merchant class and the development of Kabuki; the delineation of Japanese sensibilities and the meaning of seppuku."