Edo period

The ideal of beauty in the Edo era was highly stylized and based on three sacred colors: white, black, and red.
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Oshiroi (White Makeup): Men (Kabuki actors) and women covered their face, neck, and nape with a white paste made from rice powder or lead (the latter being highly toxic). Pale, flawless skin indicated that the person did not have to work in the sun.
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Ohaguro (Black Teeth): Upon marriage or reaching maturity, women would intentionally dye their teeth black using a mixture of iron filings oxidized in tea or sake. Far from being considered unattractive, it was seen as a supreme symbol of status, sophistication, and marital fidelity, and it also helped prevent cavities.
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Lips and Eyes: A red pigment extracted from safflower (beni) was used. Upper-class women painted only the center of their lower lip to simulate a small, flower-bud-shaped mouth. At one time, sasa-beni was also fashionable, which involved applying so much red pigment that the lips acquired an iridescent greenish sheen.

The main garment for both men and women was the kosode (the direct predecessor of the modern kimono), a short-sleeved tunic held in place with a sash called an obi. The fabric, color, and patterns varied drastically depending on who wore it.
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The Aristocracy and the Samurai: Men of the warrior class wore the kamishimo, a formal ensemble that included a vest with exaggeratedly wide and pointed shoulders (kataginu) and pleated baggy trousers (hakama). Samurai women wore somber fabrics of heavy silk, with dark colors and discreet heraldic patterns that denoted lineage and severity.
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Merchants and the Common People: The government issued sumptuary laws that explicitly forbade commoners from wearing silk or bright colors (such as bright red). In response, wealthy merchants invented the aesthetic of Iki (elegant yet understated sophistication). They wore cotton or linen in dark shades like indigo, gray, or brown on the outside, but had the inside of their kimonos decorated with expensive silk linings adorned with hand-painted landscapes. It was a clandestine fashion to circumvent the authorities.
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The Obi (The Sash): At the beginning of the period, it was a thin cord. Over the years, the women's obi widened to 30 centimeters wide and several meters long, becoming the focal point of the outfit. Single women tied it with large bows at the back, while courtesans tied it at the front for practicality and style.

Both worlds reflected the paradox of the upper-class or specialized woman in the Edo period:
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Courtesans had immense cultural freedom (they could dictate fashions, interact with brilliant minds and earn money), but were physically trapped by financial contracts within a walled district.
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The women of the palace enjoyed the highest socioeconomic status and comforts in the country, but their lives were strictly confined within the castle walls, watched over by the shogunate's military bureaucracy and reduced, in the case of concubines, to their reproductive function.

Rules of Confinement: Low-ranking servants were forbidden from leaving the palace for years. High-ranking servants could receive temporary permits to visit their families under military escort. Espionage or revealing the secrets of what happened within the Ōoku to the outside world was punished with exile or death.

The Ōoku was the women's quarters within Edo Castle, where only the Shōgun's mother, official wife, concubines, and hundreds of female servants lived. It was completely off-limits to any other man.
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1. The Official Wife (Midaidokoro) and the Concubines (Sokushitsu)
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   These were the women at the top of the palace hierarchy, but their lives were heavily politicized. The Official Wife: She was usually a noblewoman from the Kyoto imperial court or from a very high-ranking samurai clan. Her marriage was strictly diplomatic. She lived in total opulence, wearing heavy silk robes and attended by dozens of servants. She was rarely allowed to leave the palace. Her main role was ceremonial, and curiously, it was often not she who gave birth to the heir, but the concubines.
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   The Concubines: They were selected for their beauty, education, and, above all, their ability to provide healthy heirs to the shogunate. If they gave birth to a son who became the next Shogun, their political status and power within the palace skyrocketed for life, making them extremely influential figures behind the throne.
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2. The Palace Maids (Ouki-jōchū) The palace required an army of thousands of women to function. Working at the Ōoku was the highest honor for the daughter of a samurai or even a wealthy merchant, as it served as the ultimate "school of etiquette" for high society.
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   The Internal Hierarchy: They were divided into strict ranks. The Jōrō Otoshidori were the high-ranking elderly administrators, who managed the budget, internal policy, and even dictated what clothes the Shōgun should wear. At the lower rungs were the Oasuko, in charge of sewing, cooking, and heavy cleaning.
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There were groups that were completely outside the four-class system and were severely discriminated against.
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The Eta (now Burakumin): People who performed trades related to death or blood (butchers, tanners, gravediggers), considered "impure" by Buddhism and Shintoism. They were forced to live in segregated villages, could not marry people of other classes, and were forbidden from entering cities at night.
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The Hinin ("Non-Humans"): Ex-convicts, vagrants, beggars, and some street performers. Unlike the Eta, their status was not always hereditary; a samurai expelled from his clan or a bankrupt merchant could fall into this category, but it was also possible to escape it if they managed to be adopted by a working-class family or change their lives.

They occupied the lowest social rung due to Neo-Confucian morality, which held that they produced nothing and lived solely off the labor of others. However, they were the great economic winners of the period.
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Small Merchants: Street vendors, neighborhood shopkeepers, or owners of food stalls (sushi, tempura). They also lived in the Nagaya and led a modest but active life.
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The Great Merchants: Money changers, owners of shipping fleets and vast textile warehouses. They amassed immense fortunes, exceeding those of many samurai. Since the law forbade them from displaying their wealth in public (they could not build ostentatious mansions or wear luxurious silks openly), they spent their money privately: they decorated the linings of their simple clothes with expensive silk and became the main patrons of Kabuki theater, Ukiyo-e prints, and geisha in the pleasure districts.
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They lived in the urban districts of large cities (Edo, Kyoto, Osaka) in neighborhoods grouped according to their specialty (carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, tatami makers).
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Housing: They lived in what were called Nagaya (long communal houses). These were single-story wooden houses, divided into small rooms for each family. The bathroom, water well, and garbage dump were shared in the central alley.
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Lifestyle: Their status depended on their skill. A master swordsmith or lacquerer working directly for a daimyo enjoyed great prestige and comfort. Common artisans worked from dawn till dusk in their workshops opening onto the alley, selling their wares directly to the neighbors.

They represented 80% of the population. Although theoretically they occupied second place in the hierarchy as the producers of the country's food, their real life was extremely hard.
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Housing and Diet: They lived in rural villages controlled by a local chief. Their houses were made of wood, straw, and mud. Although they cultivated rice, almost all of it was given to the feudal lord as tax. The peasants ate millet, barley, radishes, and low-quality rice mixed with water.
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Life Restrictions: The government regulated everything. They could not travel outside their region without permission, they could not change professions, and they were forbidden from wearing silk clothing (they only wore hemp or indigo-dyed cotton). If the harvests failed due to bad weather, they faced devastating famines, which sometimes sparked violent peasant revolts (Ikki).

They were the ruling class. They held a monopoly on weapons and were the only ones legally authorized to carry two swords (the katana and the wakizashi).
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The Shōgun and the Daimyō (Feudal Lords):
They lived surrounded by extreme luxury in immense fortified castles. Their daily lives were marked by paranoia and the politics of the Sankin-kōtai system. Spending half their lives traveling in massive processions to Edo consumed a large part of their fortunes.
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High-ranking samurai: They served as bureaucrats, administrators, judges, and tax collectors. They lived in large walled residences around castles.
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Low-ranking samurai: With no wars, many fell into urban poverty. They received a fixed stipend in rice, which often proved insufficient due to inflation. To survive, many secretly performed manual labor at home, such as making paper umbrellas, lanterns, or raising chirping crickets to sell in the markets. Their lives were governed by the Bushido code, which demanded strict discipline and the upholding of family honor at all costs.
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Although the Emperor technically held the spiritual pinnacle of Japan, he lacked military, political, or economic power. The Tokugawa shogunate kept these under absolute control.
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The Emperor and his Family: They lived confined in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Their lives were dedicated exclusively to poetry, calligraphy, Shinto religious rituals, and traditional ceremonies. The shogunate provided them with a fixed allowance which, although respectable, often forced them to live with a certain austerity compared to the opulence of the great shoguns.
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The Kuge (Court Nobles): These were the aristocratic families surrounding the Emperor. They were forbidden from becoming involved in military politics. To make ends meet, many nobles had to give private lessons in literature, court etiquette, flower arranging (Ikebana), or tea-making to wealthy samurai.

The peace and wealth of the emerging urban bourgeoisie gave rise to the concept of Ukiyo ("the floating world"), a philosophy of enjoying the pleasures of everyday life. The main artistic expressions of the era were:
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Ukiyo-e: Woodblock prints accessible to the general public that depicted landscapes, actors, and daily life. Its greatest exponents were Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige.
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Kabuki and Bunraku theater: Stylized theatrical performances (the former with human actors and the latter with complex puppets) that fascinated the urban masses.
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Haiku poetry: Short poems focused on nature, reaching their maturity thanks to the master Matsuo Bashō.
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Pleasure districts: Government-authorized areas, such as the famous Yoshiwara district in Edo, where courtesan culture and geisha entertainment arts flourished.

Despite its external isolation, the prolonged peace fostered a robust internal trade market. Edo (Tokyo) grew explosively, and by the 18th century, its population had surpassed one million, making it one of the most populous cities on the planet. A vast network of national roads (such as the famous Tōkaidō road) was built to connect the feudal estates with the capital. Agriculture flourished with new farming techniques, and traditional Japanese cuisine took the form we know today (with sushi, tempura, and soba noodles becoming popular street food).

The internal order was based on Neo-Confucianism, establishing a strict social hierarchy with no mobility between classes:
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Samurai: The warrior and ruling class. With no active wars, they transformed into bureaucrats, administrators, and philosophers guided by the Bushido code.
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Peasants (Hyakushō): Highly valued at a theoretical level for producing rice, the main economic and tax collection base of the shogunate.
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Craftsmen (Shokunin): In charge of the production of textiles, tools, swords and household utensils.
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Merchants (Chōnin): Initially the lowest rung because they didn't "produce" anything. However, urbanization enriched them so much that they ended up financing the samurai themselves and driving urban life.
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Outside the system: There were the Burakumin or outcasts, marginalized people dedicated to work considered impure (such as tanning hides or burying the dead).

The Edo period (1603–1868), also known as the Tokugawa shogunate, was one of the most stable, peaceful, and influential periods in Japanese history. For over 250 years, the country was ruled by the Tokugawa military dynasty, who moved the seat of political power to the city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), while the Emperor remained a purely ceremonial figure in Kyoto. This period is notable for its strict international isolation, a rigid social hierarchy, and an unprecedented cultural flourishing.