In the early 1600s, Japan’s rulers feared that the Christianity that European missionaries had recently introduced to the south of the country would spread.
In response, they effectively sealed off the islands from the outside world in 1603, no Japanese were allowed to leave and very few foreigners were allowed to enter. This became known as Japan’s Edo period, and the borders remained closed for nearly three centuries until 1868.
This allowed the country’s unique culture, customs and ways of life to flourish in isolation, many of which were recorded in art forms that are still alive today, such as haiku poetry or kabuki theater. This also meant that the Japanese, living under a system of heavy trade restrictions, had to rely entirely on materials already present in the country, creating a thriving economy of reuse and recycling).
Indeed, Japan was self-sufficient in resources, energy and food and supported a population of up to 30 million, all without the use of fossil fuels or chemical fertilizers.
slow life
People of the Edo period lived according to what is now known as “slow living”, a sustainable set of lifestyle practices based on wasting as little as possible. Not even light was wasted: daily activities started at sunrise and ended at sunset.
The clothing was mended and reused many times until it ended up as ragged rags. Ashes and human excrement were reused as fertilizer, creating a thriving business for traders who went door to door collecting these precious substances to sell to farmers. We could call this the initial circular economy.
Another feature of slow life was the use of seasonal time, meaning that ways of measuring time changed over the seasons. In pre-modern China and Japan, the 12 signs of the zodiac (known in Japanese as juni-shiki) were used to divide the day into 12 sections of about two hours each. The length of these sections varied depending on changes in sunrise and sunset times.
During the Edo period, a similar system was used to divide the time between sunrise and sunset into six parts. As a result, an “hour” differed greatly depending on whether it was measured during summer, winter, night, or day. The idea of regulating life by immutable time units like minutes and seconds just didn’t exist.
Instead, the people of Edo, who had no clocks, judged time by the sound of bells installed in castles and temples. Allowing the natural world to dictate life in this way gave rise to a sensitivity to the seasons and their abundant natural riches, which helped to develop a set of ecologically sound cultural values.
working with nature
From the mid-Edo period, rural industries, including cotton and oilcloth production, silkworm farming, papermaking, and the production of sake and miso paste, began to flourish. People celebrated seasonal festivals with a rich and diverse array of local foods, wishing for fertility during the cherry blossom season and celebrating the autumn harvests.
This unique and ecological social system arose partly out of necessity, but also out of a deep cultural experience of living in close harmony with nature. This needs to be brought back in the modern era for a more sustainable culture, and there are some modern activities that can help.
For example ,zazen, or “sitting meditation”, is a Buddhist practice that can help people create a space of peace and tranquility to experience the sensations of nature. Currently, several urban temples offer zazen sessions.
The second example is “forest bathing”, a term coined by the director general of Japan’s forestry agency in 1982. There are many different styles of forest bathing, but the most popular form is screen-free time immersed in peace.
Learning with Edo Japan
Activities like these can help to develop an appreciation for the rhythms of nature which, in turn, can lead to a more sustainable lifestyle that Edo Japan residents can appreciate.
At a time when the need for more sustainable lifestyles has become a global issue, we must respect the wisdom of the Edo people who lived with time and changed with the seasons, who valued materials and used the wisdom of reuse as something natural, and that he has led a recycling-oriented lifestyle for many years.
Learning from their way of life can provide us with effective guidelines for the future.
This article was written by Hiroko Oe, Senior Scholar at Bournemouth University, UK. It is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Article in English
