Hello, the episode you're about to listen to is part of a multi-part series introducing an overview

of Japanese history.

This is a repeat of one of the original projects the History of Japan podcast was built on,

and is intended to serve as an update and supplement to these original works.

After 10 years, my hope is to return to this approach and to do it a little bit better,

given the skills that I have improved in the intervening years.

If you haven't been doing so already, you should listen to these episodes sequentially,

starting with episode 501.

Without any further ado, enjoy the end.

Any time someone discusses the Edo period, they are contractually obligated to note that the

golden age of the Tokugawa Shoguns reached its height around the time of what is called

the Genroku period. Genroku is one of those Nengo, or era names, and as a reminder, since

the 700s, chroniclers in Japan had tracked the passage of time

through named eras that would last for a few years until something, an omen, a bad event,

a set part of the timeline, whatever, necessitated a changing of the era. The Genroku era began,

in 1888, and it would last until early 1704, and to be fair,

I do think part of its positive reputation is just the name. The two characters in Genroku

roughly translate as something like The Origin of Happiness, which is definitely a positive

spin on a period if I've ever heard one.

But, to be fair to the Genroku era, its positive reputation is not just a matter of good branding.

The period right around 1700 is generally agreed to be a real golden age of Japanese history,

by which point the peace of the Tokugawa regime

...