Travel and Encounter in Early Modern Japan Main Menu Course Description Edo Period Ihara Saikaku Matsuo Bashō

Unit 2.5

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I would argue that Saikaku is, in many ways, a good introduction to the literature and culture of the Edo period as a whole, since he illustrates several of the tensions and paradoxes that we observe in other works.

On the one hand, we’re told that this mercantile class is a parasitic group with no feelings aside from a desire for money, wealth, etc.
On the other hand, some of our most interesting literature focuses on the lives, inner concerns, and inner workings of this group. 

On the one hand, we’re told that the world around us is a dangerous place of illusion, temptation, and death, and that love and sex are how we stay mired in this world of suffering.
On the other hand, we’re given stories that glorify the pleasures of sensory indulgence, romance, and material comfort. In sharp contrast to Five Sensuous Women, the story of Yonosuke is a celebration of the good life available to a good-looking, wealthy, sexually virtuosic man at this historical moment.