Alternate attendance (sankin kotai) was one of the central institutions of Edo-period (1603–1868) Japan and one of the most unusual examples of a system of enforced elite mobility in world history. It
Voices of Early Modern Japan offers an accessible and well-balanced view of an extraordinary period in Japanese history, ranging from the unification of the warring states under Tokugawa Ieyasu in the
Stable government, Sumo wrestling, the tea ceremony, Kabuki theater, Zen Buddhism, sushi, and other aspects of modern Japanese culture are traced to the Tokuwaga period (1600-1868). Drawing on 60 prim
Travel in Tokugawa Japan was officially controlled by bakufu and domainal authorities via an elaborate system of barriers, or sekisho, and travel permits; commoners, however, found ways to circumvent
