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- In 1600, Tokugawa leyasu (1542-1616) seized the reins of power in Japan, and in 1603 he had Emperor Go-Yozei assign him the title of shogun to legitimize his position. However, it was not until 1615 that leyasu attained absolute control of Japan with his victory over Hideyoshi�s son, Hideyori, at Osaka Castle. Because of its strategic geographical location, leyasu made Edo (modern day Tokyo) the capital of his unified nation and, for this reason, his regime is usually called the Edo period. Very quickly Edo was transformed from a village into one of the largest, most populous and most cultivated capital cities in the world. Since Edo city had such a vast system of natural rivers and canals, it made it a veritable Venice of the East. There was soon an unending stream of people hustling and bustling on its streets and over its numerous bridges. Like other Japanese cities and towns,
Edo was laid out in a number of concentric circles, each inhabited by a particular social class, with the upper classes in the central area and the lower classes in the outer rings. Edo: Arts of Japan�s Last Shogun Age explores the vast and unique influence this epoch had on the arts and culture of Japan.
FRONT COVER
Sedan chair (norimono) with Tokugawa famity crest 18th century
Wood with amber nashiji lacquer ground with decorations in gold, green, bronze and brown
BACKGROUND
Naonobu Kano (1607-50) Mount Fuji, (detail)
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
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