Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life During the Age of the Shoguns

In this newly revised and updated 2nd edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan, Constantine Nomikos Vaporis offers an accessible collection of annotated historical documents of an extraordinary period in Japanese history, ranging from the unification of warring states under Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early seventeenth century to the overthrow of the shogunate just after the opening of Japan by the West in the mid- nineteenth century.

Through close examination of primary sources from ＂The Great Peace,＂ this fascinating textbook offers fresh insights into the Tokugawa era: its political institutions, rigid class hierarchy, artistic and material culture, religious life, and more, demonstrating what historians can uncover from the words of ordinary people. New features include:

- An expanded section on religion, morality and ethics;

- A new selection of maps and visual documents;

- Sources from government documents and household records to diaries and personal correspondence, translated and examined in light of the latest scholarship;

- Updated references for student projects and research assignments.

The first edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan was the winner of the 2013 Franklin R. Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials. This fully revised textbook will prove a comprehensive resource for teachers and students of East Asian Studies, history, culture, and anthropology.

Constantine Vaporis teaches Japanese history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of five books, including Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo and the Culture of Early Modern Japan and Samurai. An Encyclopedia of Japan’s Cultured Warriors.