The source is a primary source by Hanabusa Itchô, created in early Tokugawa period. It is a painting of young children. One of the children shown in the painting is sitting indoors and is possibly at a desk. The other children shown are playing and chasing each other around outdoors. It is an ink painting painted on a scroll. This source is useful to historians studying the treatment of children in Shogunate Japan because it shows how children from different classes were treated and how much freedom they had. Children from the higher classes were not allowed to have the same freedoms as the children in the lower classes.as shown in the painting the children of the higher classes weren’t allowed to run around and play like the younger children in the lower class. They are shown to be indoors and possibly in a class. The children shown to be running around outside and chasing each other would be from the lower class because they were allowed more freedom than the higher class children. The higher-class children were kept indoors and were not as able to go out because they were thought to be in danger and that if they went out they could get kidnapped. The lower class children however would not have had this risk and they would be enjoying the younger years of their life before they had to start working to support their families. Another example of why this source is useful as it shows the entertainment that children in Shogunate Japan had access to. In the painting there appears to be an person with a box with a bird flying out of it. This makes us think that he could be a travelling entertainer who scrapes a bit of money in for a living by entertaining lower class children for a day or two. This painting tells us this as the children in high-class children were treated with less freedom and the lower class had that freedom. The motive of this painting was to show the life of people in Shogun Japan. The artist wanted to record life. This source is a painting. It is an ink painting painted on a scroll. The message of this source is conveyed through the painting of the artist. The way he paints captures the life of the children. The fact that this source is a painting makes it slightly less useful because it is not so clear as to what the source is trying to tell us. This source is limited in it’s usefulness as it doesn’t tell us exactly what we want to know it just gives us impressions. The author was Hanabusa Itchô who was an author in early Tokugawa period. He liked to paint and capture real life.
Japan Under the shoguns | Primary Source |