Constantine Nomikos Vaporis teaches Japanese history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of fi ve books, including Tour of Duty: Samurai, MilitaryService in Edo and the Culture of Early Modern Japan and Samurai: An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors.

Part 1: THE DOMESTIC SPHERE 1. Getting Married: "Agreement Regarding a Dowry" (1815) 2. Obtaining a Divorce: An Appeal for Assistance (1850) and Letters of Divorce (1857, Undated) 3. The Consequences of Adultery: "The Eavesdropper Whose Ears Were Burned" (1686) 4. A Woman's Place: Onna Daigaku (The Greater Learning for Women, 1716) and Tadano Makuzu's Hitori Kangae (Solitary Thoughts, 1818) Part 2: MATERIAL LIFE 5. Fashion and Sumptuary Legislation: Ihara Saikaku's The Japanese Family Storehouse (Nippon eitai gura, 1688); List of Clothing Prohibitions for Edo Townsmen (1719) 6. Samurai Dress and Grooming Standards: Prohibitions of 1615 and 1645 7. Lunisolar Calendar: Calendar for Seventh Year of Kaei (1854): Samurai in Armor 8. Japanese Foodways and Diet: The Accounts of Joao Rodrigues (1620-21), Yamakawa Kikue (1943), and Terakada Seiken (1832-36) 9. The Communal Bath: Shikitei Sanba's "The Women's Bath" (Ukiyoburo, 1810) 10. The Japanese Home: Carl Peter Thunberg's Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa Made During the Years 1770 & 1779 Part 3: THE POLITICAL SPHERE 11. A Foreigner's View of the Battle of Osaka: Richard Cocks's Account of the Fall of Osaka Castle (1615) 12. Forging Political Order: "Laws for the Military Houses" (1615, 1635) 13. The Emperor and the Kyoto Aristocracy: "Regulations for the Imperial Palace and the Court Nobility" (1615) 14. Weapons Control in Japanese Society: Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Sword Hunt" (1588) and "A Local Ordinance Regarding Swords" (1648) 15. Self-Governance in Villages: Goningumi (Five-Household Group) Laws (1640) 16. Regulating Townspeople in Two Cities: City Code from Kanazawa (1642) and Notice Board in Edo (1711) Part 4: FOREIGN RELATIONS 17. Regulating Foreign Relations: The "Closed Country Edicts" (sakoku rei,1635, 1639) 18. Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea: Record of a Journey Across the Sea (1719) 19. Leaving a Window Open to the Western World: Letter from a Nagasaki Official to the Dutch Governor-General (1642) 20. A Dutch Audience with the Shogun: Englebert Kaempfer's The History of Japan (1692) 21. Sizing Up the Foreign Threat: Aizawa Seishisai's Shinron (New Theses, 1825) Part 5: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE 22. The Social Estates: Yamaga Sokô on "The Way of the Samurai" (shidô) 23. Trying to Get by on a Fixed Income: The Economic Problems Facing the Samurai, as Seen in a Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya Hachirôbei Naomasu (1751) and a Statement from Three Village Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856) 24. The Samurai and Death: An Account of Junshi from François Caron's A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1636) 25. Private Vengeance Among the Samurai: A Letter from a Daimyo's Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa Shogunate and A Letter of Authorization (1828) 26. Rules of Merchant Houses: "The Testament of Shima Sôshitsu" (1610) and "The Code of the Okaya House" (1836) 27. Dealing with Deviant Behavior: "A Letter of Apology" (1866) 28. Loans Among the Peasantry: "A Loan of Rice" (1702) 29. Unrest in the Countryside: A Song in Memory of a Protest (1786) and Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants of the Sanhei (1853) 30. Outcastes in Tokugawa Society: A Report from the Head of All Eta and Hinin (Undated) and an Inquiry by the Edo City Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta Who Assumed the Status of a Commoner (1799) Part 6: RECREATIONAL LIFE 31. Advice to Travelers in the Edo Period: Ryokô Yôjinshû (Precautions for Travelers), 1810 32. Documentation for Travel: "Sekisho Transit Permit" (1706) and "A Passport" (1782) 33. Children and Their Amusements: The Japan Journal of Francis Hall (1859) 34. The Tea Ceremony: Chikamatsu Shigenori's Stories from a Tearoom Window (1804) 35. Archery and the Martial Arts: Hinatsu Shirôzaemon Shigetaka's Honchô Bugei Shôden (A Short Tale of the Martial Arts in Our Country), 1714 36. Courtesans and the Sex Trade: Ihara Saikaku's The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku ichidai otoko, Kirishitan monogatari (Tale of the Christians, 1639) 40. Controlling the Populace: Registers of Religious Affiliation (1804) 41. Religious Views of the Japanese: Sir Rutherford Alcock's The Capital of the Tycoon (1863) 42. The Teachings of Zen Buddhism: Suzuki Shôsan's Roankyô (Donkey-Saddle Bridge, 1648) and Hakuin Ekaku's Sokkô-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokkô, 1740) 43. Nisshinkan School Injunction (Nisshinkan Dôjikun), 1803 Part 8: VISUAL DOCUMENTS 44. The Battle of Abeno, Siege of Osaka Castle (1615) 45. Map of Edo in Toshima County, Musashi Province (1630-31) 46. The Territories of Japan in 1664 47. Painting of the Korean Embassy's Visit to Our Country [Japan], 1748, by Hanegawa Tôei 48. Anatomy of a Ukiyo-e (Woodblock Print): The Rônin Takebayashi Takashige