«Three Great Reforms» of the Edo Period as Foundation for Understanding Japanese Behaviour

Abstract

The proposed review deals with the problem of the Three Great Reforms in the second half of the Edo period in Japan. All Three Reforms were named after the era, when each began (Kyoho, Kansei, and Tempo). The general slogan of the reforms was «back to the golden age», which meant the time of the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty. The real reason for the reforms was the need to reconcile some bourgeois changes in society with the formal feudal structure of the State organization. The content of each reform, its results, initiators and the socio-political situation are presented here in full, comprehensive form with basic details. The list of references is absent for the reason that the review itself is based on the materials of a doctoral dissertation, written by the author of the article previously, in Russian. The complete list of several hundred publications on the topic can be obtained by referring to the full text of the dissertation (Philippov A. V. «Three Great Reforms» and evolution process of the Japanese society, in the second half of the Edo period. Dissertation of Doctor in History. St. Petersburg, 2003. 503 p. URL: https://www.dissercat.com/content/tri-bolshie-reformy-i-protsessy-evolyutsii-yaponskogo-obshchestva-vtoroi-poloviny-epokhi-edo). The author suggests that the experience of reforms in Tokugawa Japan was very useful for the formation of national character, ethnic stereotypes of behaviour, psychology and way of thinking of the Japanese. The content of all Three Great Re-forms combined has never been presented in English or Japanese before.