Fun of Good Old Japanese - 江戸・明治に学ぶ　楽しむ生き方

 Hokusai Katsushika who was the most famous Ukiyoe printing artist died in this year. UK fleet visited and surveyed Japan. During this time, foreign ships visited Japan frequently and many western countries invaded China.   Wikipedia, Hokusai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai O-shishigari or deer hunting by the shogun was held on the17 th of March in this year. 　この年、江戸文化を代表する葛飾北斎が死去している一方、イギリス軍艦が下田、浦賀で測量を行っており、外国船の来訪が続いている。 お鹿狩りは 3 月 17 日に行われている。 January - New Year’s Day   Yoshino's family visited the shrine in his village and visited their family Buddhist temple, which was called Nakadera. Villagers greeted each other a happy New Year.     From the 2 nd of January, people visited their relatives and acquaintances for New Year greetings. Those  lasted until the end of January. The meeting for O-shishigari started on the 7th of January. He went to the local office which was 5km away, and he visited there again ...

A samurai was a soldier who guarded the noble class originally. They were also called " bushi 武士" .  A samurai fought in the battle field as a warrior. However, there were seldom battles in the  Edo period . They worked as government officials under the shogun (the big boss of samurai) or daimyos (local lords).　Not warriors at that time. Samurais @ Matsudo Museum、馬揃＠松戸市博物館 Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai Reference (Samurai as a local government official): The diary of samurai officer "Genroku Otatami Bugyo" in the early Edo period、元禄御畳奉行の日記 (published in 1984) 　 Next post : Farmer's diary when samurais ruled Japan Yoshino’s daily life 03, from Jan. to February in 1849（嘉永2年） Previous post : Boss of samurais, Shogun Shogun and Shogunate 将軍と幕府  (Glossary)

 Shogun or shougun was the military head (a big boss of samurai). The emperor and dynasty designated the shogun. However, in the  Edo period , only a family member of Tokugawa could become the shogun and ruled Japan practically. The shogun was a head of the political organization called “shogunate (Bakuhu、幕府)”.  It was a military government. Photo of the last shogun in 1867, Yoshinobu Tokugawa  (東京・春・音楽祭2018@上野） Wikipedia: Shogun   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun Next post : Samurai, subordinate of shogun in the Edo period Samurai 侍 Previous post : Big event hosted by shogunate in Chiba O-shishigari　お鹿狩り

“ O-shishigari” or deer hunting was held by the shogun or the military head for the military exercise and vermin extermination   (pest control) . In 1849, there were seventy thousand farmers convened in order to chase wild animals to the venue where the shogun existed. Fifty thousand soldiers participated from Edo. This was the biggest event in this region. “O-shishigari” was conducted in these ways. At first, the roads and bridges from Edo to the venue in Chiba prefecture were repaired. There were uniforms called “Haori” which were delivered to organizers of the villages. The organizers wore uniforms when they participated in the “O-shishigari”. Farmers who were from age 15 to 60 were gathered. They had bamboo bars which were 3.6m long, ropes and foods. On the day before “O-shishigari”, farmers stood on 1.6 meter interval. They made a big circle, soon the circle got smaller and smaller throughout night. The interval between farmers became 50cm in the next morning. Deer we...

Yoshino family planted a lot of kinds of crops, rice, wheat, and they gathered fire woods to sell. Their life was based on agriculture. 1.     They had meetings with their relatives and neighbors, and they visited each other very frequently. They served sake, soba-noodles and rice cakes. It is really different from our modern life in Japan. It is a bit nuisance for us to invite others. The major meetings were called ” Kou ”. In some Kou, they enjoyed lottery . After the harvest season, they had free time and they had overnight meetings , such as Hi-machi or waiting for sunrise, Tsuki-machi or waiting for moonrise. 2.     They had a chance of traveling , but they needed passports to go to another area. Some people in the village enjoyed travel and they had a system. It was a mutual aid society, “ Kou ”. Those who won the lottery and were fortunate enough travel would   bring some souvenirs , villagers would host a party upon th...