The Perception of Work in Tokugawa, Japan : A Study of Ishida Baigan and Ninomiya Sontoku

Takemura, Eiji

ISBN 10: 0761808868 / ISBN 13: 9780761808862

Published by University Press of America, 1997

About this Item

xi, 229 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm Contents: Pt. I. Work in Tokugawa Japan: An overview. Ch. 1. Introduction. Ch. 2. The concept of 'work' in Tokugawa Japan -- Pt. II. Ishida Baigan. Ch. 3. Ishida's thought on work and the economy. Ch. 4. Skill, management, and workers' initiatives in Ishida's thought. Ch. 5. The spread of Ishida's thought on work -- Pt. III. Ninomiya Sontoku. Ch. 6. The idea of work in the thought of Ninomiya Sontoku. Ch. 7. The shiho programme. Ch. 8. Ninomiya's work thought and the peasants' perception of work: An analysis. Seller Inventory # jb239

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Perception of Work in Tokugawa, Japan : ...

Publisher: University Press of America

Publication Date: 1997

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Work is not an activity with solely economic aims and meaning; it also embraces social and ideological meanings which reflect the ideas of society concerning the politics, religion and kinship prevalent in the era. At the same time, the actual 'form' of work is dictated by economic and technological factors. Ishida Baigan and Ninomiya Sontoku, popular thinkers of the Edo period, both acted as key channels through which ideology and economy were amalgamated the meaning of work identified, and intellectual expression, given to it. This book explores the contrasts and similarities between these two figures and concludes that they acted as intermediaries through which elements of management and long-term vision were incorporated into the concept of work.

Review:

This book belongs to the historiographical genre that has looked into the premodern origins of a Japanese work ethic supportive of a capitalist economy.--Herbert Ooms, The Journal of Asian Studies "The Journal of Japanese Studies "

...well worth reading for the new information it provides regarding Ishida's intellectual principles and Ninomiya's practice of village renovation as well as the spread and transformation of their ideas in the Shingaku lecture halls and Hotokusha.--The Journal of Japanese Studies