Confucian Dress Regulations in Tokugawa Japan: Negotiating Alternative Conceptions of the Social and Political Order between the Seventeenth and Early Nineteenth Century

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K12835
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01040:History of thought-related
• Research Institution: Teikyo University
• Principal Investigator: Linnepe Andre 帝京大学, 文学部, 講師 (80828012)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Dress regulations / Normative Order / Political Thought / Confucianism / Symbol

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An extensive search in libraries and archives throughout Japan for primary sources with regard to intellectual discourses about dress regulations in the Edo period was conducted. Over fifty primary sources from the period between the early 17th century to the early 19th century were analyzed, and categorized with regard to their thematical focus and key concepts, as well as partly translated into English. Furthermore, essential secondary research literature about the history of dress in Japan, other East Asian countries, as well as Europe and Amerika were outlined to apply as a theoretical framework for the present research project. The results of the present research project were presented at international conferences and discussed with specialists in the field. Various publications based on the results of the present research projects have been prepared and will soon be published.

Free Research Field

History of Political Thought in Early Modern Japan

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

- Making accessible to the international research community primary sources and concepts regarding dress regulations in early modern Japan for the first time in English language.
- Contributing to a deeper understanding of premodern traditions of thought in Japan in the global community.