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She concludes that people lived much better than has been previously understood—at levels equal or superior to their Western contemporaries. She goes on to illustrate how this high level of physical well-being had important consequences for Japan's ability to industrialize rapidly and for the comparatively smooth transition to a modern, industrial society.
While others have used income levels to conclude that the Japanese household was relatively poor in those centuries, Hanley examines the material culture—food, sanitation, housing, and transportation. How did ordinary people conserve the limited resources available in this small island country?
What foods made up the daily diet and how were they prepared? How were human wastes disposed of? How long did people live? Hanley answers all these questions and more in an accessible style and with frequent comparisons with Western lifestyles.
Her methods allow for cross-cultural comparisons between Japan and the West as well as Japan and the rest of Asia. They will be useful to anyone interested in the effects of modernization on daily life. Paperback , pages. Published June 8th by University of California Press first published The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture.
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Be the first to ask a question about Everyday Things in Premodern Japan. Lists with This Book. Oct 14, John rated it really liked it.
I know basically nothing about the history of Japan, so I thought that this would be a good book to throw into my World History studies, especially considering that my other class this semester is Material Culture. Two birds, one stone. Hanley has an interesting argument here: But this is because those historians are paying way too much atte I know basically nothing about the history of Japan, so I thought that this would be a good book to throw into my World History studies, especially considering that my other class this semester is Material Culture.
But this is because those historians are paying way too much attention to Gross Domestic Product, and not enough attention to the actual quality of life for Japanese people. Actually, writes Hanley, Japanese people were living just as well in the 19th century as Europeans were right before THEY industrialized. In fact, the Japanese were probably living a little better, considering that they had better water and waste management systems and they actually took baths on a regular basis. To illustrate her point, Hanley examines Japanese housing, clothing, diet and other factors that contribute a lot to quality of life, but may not seem like much when all you think about is economic product.
Sometimes she gets a little fixated on details that don't really help her argument, though. I'm not sure I believe that Japanese teacups lack handles because they are a 'resource-efficient' culture. That makes it sound like everybody shares in this lack of handle sacrifice because they know they don't have the clay to spare. Same thing with stoves. Did Japanese people really adopt enclosed stoves late in the game because they liked the way the smoke from the fires killed bugs in the thatch roofs?
Or were they just a little late on the stove front? Dec 26, Powersamurai rated it it was amazing Shelves: Separate different tags with a comma.
To include a comma in your tag, surround the tag with double quotes. Skip to content Skip to search. Everyday things in premodern Japan: University of California Press, c Language English View all editions Prev Next edition 2 of 3. Check copyright status Cite this Title Everyday things in premodern Japan: Author Hanley, Susan B. Subjects Quality of life -- Japan -- History -- To Material culture -- Japan. Japan -- Social conditions -- Japan -- Economic conditions -- To Japan -- Population -- History -- To Japan -- History -- Meiji period, Japan -- History -- Tokugawa period, Japan -- Social life and customs.
Summary Japan was the only non-Western nation to industrialize before Its leap into the modern era has stimulated vigorous debates among historians and social scientists. Were the Japanese people somehow better prepared for industrialization than people of other countries? In this book, Susan B.
All of these changes, Hanley argues, led to a more healthful living environment which raised the level of physical well-being of the Japanese. Olli Tynkkynen rated it it was amazing Jan 21, I know that tiled roofing was rare, that pounded earth floors were common, I have thought about lighting for housing in the muromachi period, as well as heating and also what technologies were or were not available for dealing with the rainy season. Then set up a personal list of libraries from your profile page by clicking on your user name at the top right of any screen. I used this for research while writing a novel and there are some interesting details that I haven't found elsewhere e.
Hanley looks to life in Japan before industrialization for answers. Hanley focuses on the level of physical well-being of ordinary Japanese people in the three centuries prior to the modern era the Tokugawa period, Whereas others have used income levels to conclude that the Japanese household was relatively poor in those centuries, Hanley examines consumption patterns - of food, clothing, and housing - and discovers that the overall level of well-being there was much higher than previously understood.
Analysis of hygiene and public sanitation shows Japan to have been at least as healthful as nineteenth-century England, nearly a century after industrialization began there.
Perhaps even more far-reaching than Hanley's conclusions about Japan in the nineteenth century are her insights into the importance of physical well-being as a key indicator of living standards in premodern cultures. Using Hanley's methods, scholars in all areas of history will be able to compare widely differing cultures more meaningfully. Her discoveries and her new approach will be useful to anyone interested in the effects of modernization on daily life. How are they indicative of our health and physical well-being?
Can we gauge our progress as a society by observing and analyzing the material world around us? Hanley, in her latest book on Tokugawa Japan, culls a dazzling array of material evidence to argue that the level of physical well-being of the Japanese rose throughout the Tokugawa period, and that life in Tokugawa Japan was healthful relative to that in industrialized Europe. With the discerning eye of a master novelist, and an equally engaging literary style, Hanley, Professor of Japanese Studies and History at the University of Washington, takes the reader on a tour of everyday life in Tokugawa Japan, all the while analyzing the objects of consideration and carefully piecing them together in her cogently honed argument.
One can almost smell the rough-hewn walls and bare earthen floors of the early Tokugawa one-room commoner homes as she describes their cool, dark interiors and central gathering area for cooking and heating. By the end of the Tokugawa period, she writes, the typical commoner home had several rooms, raised foundations, wooden or tatami rush mat floors, and sliding paper doors which enabled the residents to open the interior to the sunshine and warm breezes of the outdoors. All of these changes, Hanley argues, led to a more healthful living environment which raised the level of physical well-being of the Japanese.