0:12

during the edo period the farmers were

0:14

considered the second class

0:16

in the four classes system

0:18

they were very advanced farmers they’re

0:19

very poor

0:21

but they developed a very good system of

0:23

irrigation crop rotation

0:26

the use of fertilizer

0:28

and had all sorts of wonderful crops

0:31

including some very commercial crops

0:33

like cotton mulberry leaves for

0:35

silkworms and tobacco

0:37

they actually did quite well

0:40

some farmers did better than others some

0:42

farmers became wealthy enough that they

0:43

set up small cottage industries like

0:45

saki brewing

0:47

now the next class after the farmers

0:49

were the artisans they’re the ones who

0:51

made the artifacts

0:53

utilitarian items that everybody would

0:55

use

0:57

all classes would use

0:59

ceramics

1:01

lacquerware things like umbrellas we

1:04

have some prints which shows examples of

1:06

a man

1:07

making a large wooden tub

1:09

we also have other

1:11

prints which show carpenters at work

1:14

painters painting a very nice scene

1:17

a roofer who’s putting shingles on top

1:19

of a building an umbrella maker

1:22

we also have a person who’s making

1:25

lanterns

1:26

and another person who is doing designs

1:29

on a piece of fabric

1:31

so these all show what the

1:33

artisans could do now we’re going to

1:34

look at some of the examples that have

1:36

survived from the edo period

1:44

here are some examples of edo artifacts

1:48

now just before the edo period

1:51

a general name toyotomi hideyoshi

1:53

tried to conquer

1:55

korea and china while in korea a lot of

1:58

the soldiers took back craftsmen in

2:00

particular ceramic craftsmen when they

2:04

returned to japan they helped the

2:06

japanese ceramicist potters develop a

2:08

very

2:09

strong pottery industry

2:12

they developed porcelain in the early

2:15

part of the 17th century there are some

2:17

very fine examples in this show of imari

2:20

kutani nibishima keki yaman

2:23

and these were largely

2:26

developed as a result of these korean

2:27

captives

2:29

we also have some very nice examples of

2:31

lacquerware

2:32

lac lacquer comes from the sap of a tree

2:34

and it’s placed over top of wooden

2:37

containers sometimes they inlay it with

2:40

mother of pearl and other times you use

2:43

different colors of lacquer in

2:44

particular gold was very popular we also

2:47

have this fine

2:49

shell game which is a memory game

2:51

there’s approximately 180 pairs of

2:54

shells which would be placed in these

2:55

tubs

2:56

and then the idea of the game was to

2:58

turn everything over and try and

3:00

remember what pair fitted together

3:03

quite often the scene on the shelves was

3:06

from japanese literature for example the

3:08

tale of genji

3:09

and you would have to try and remember

3:10

all the various scenes and then match

3:12

them now each shell

3:14

is painted with a each pair of shells is

3:16

painted with a very nice design

3:17

sometimes in relief

3:19

using gold lacquer and very nice

3:21

paintings of various scenes from the

3:24

story

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