This week: the first of three episodes on urban rioting in Tokugawa period Japan. This week, we’re covering the first two urban riots in the history of the shogun’s capital city. What drove the people of Edo to riot, and how did the shogunate respond to those challenges to its authority?
Farmers appealing to a magistrate for tax relief–following the proper channels.A type of circular petition known as a karakasa renpanjou, or “umbrella circular.” The name comes from the circular signatures, intended to prevent one particular person from being singled out as an instigator or conspirator and punished for “riling up” the people.A chart of known riots or disturbances in the Edo period. White are protests by farmers; black in the cities. The mixed dots are full blown rioting.A map of Edo showing the location of Takama Denbei’s home (the red star). It’s right next to Edobashi; Nihonbashi is on the left side of the map.Depiction of the rioting in Edo in 1866. Unfortunately, because of strict censorship rules, we have no contemporary depictions of the earlier riots, which could not legally be discussed publicly.
Sources
Takeuchi, Makoto, “Festivals and Fights: The Law and the People of Edo” and Anne Walthall, “Edo Riots” in Edo and Paris: Urban Life and the State in the Early Modern Era. Eds. James L. McClain, John M. Merriman, and Ugawa Kaoru.
Walthall, Anne. “Devoted Wives/Unruly Women: Invisible Presence in the History of Japanese Social Protest.” Signs 20, no. 1 (1994)
