Keeping Knowledge Secret in Edo-Period Japan (1600–1868)
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Abstract
Why were certain kinds of knowledge kept secret during the Edo period and what impact did secretive practices have on the relationship between manuscript and print? In this article these questions are explored through a close examination of selected manuscripts in various genres, including medicine, etiquette, flower arrangement, and poetry. From this it becomes clear that some knowledge leaked out into the world of print, either by accident or by design, and that in other cases secrecy was more effectively maintained. But even the appearance of printed books did not necessarily undermine manuscript transmission of knowledge, for person-to-person transmission via oral teaching as well access to manuscript embodiments of knowledge remained standard through the period in most knowledge traditions.
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