Lust, Commerce, and Corruption: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard, by an Edo Samurai

By 1816, Japan had recovered from famines and political reforms and seemed to be approaching a new period of growth. No one questioned the shogunate, yet, in this same year, an anonymous author wrote one of the most detailed critiques of Edo society Japan had ever seen. Writing as Buyo Inshi, “a retired gentleman of Edo,” this experienced observer exposed the corruption of samurai officials, the suffering of the poor, the operation of brothels, the dealings of moneylenders, the selling of temples, and many other offenses. Specialists on Edo society oversee this annotated translation