Edo was the city that became Tokyo. Learn words for town life while placing them in historical context.

The idea

The Edo or Tokugawa period is commonly dated 1603–1868. Edo grew into a major city; merchants and artisans supported a lively urban culture including kabuki and ukiyo-e. A 商人 sells goods and a 店 is a shop. These examples use modern polite Japanese, not a reconstruction of historical speech.

Patterns to compare
TermMeaning
江戸えど今いまの東京とうきょう
商人しょうにん物ものを売うる人ひと
歌舞伎かぶき芝居しばい
浮世絵うきよえ絵えや版画はんが

Examples

  • 江戸えどは今いまの東京とうきょうです。Edo is present-day Tokyo.
  • 江戸えど時代じだいの町まちには、店みせがありました。There were shops in towns in the Edo period.
  • 人ひとは町まちで物ものを買かいました。People bought things in town.
  • 商人しょうにんは店みせで品物しなものを売うりました。Merchants sold goods in shops.
  • 江戸えどでは歌舞伎かぶきが人気にんきでした。Kabuki was popular in Edo.
  • 今いま、博物館はくぶつかんで浮世絵うきよえを見みます。Today I look at ukiyo-e in a museum.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Edo was a particular city, not a synonym for all of Japan. Ukiyo-e includes paintings as well as prints, and urban life changed over the period.

Try it yourself

  1. Which present-day city was Edo? 「東京（とうきょう）／京都（きょうと）」

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    東京

    江戸 is the historical name associated with present-day Tokyo; 京都 is Kyoto.

  2. Who sells goods? 「商人（しょうにん）／先生（せんせい）」

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    商人

    A 商人 is a merchant who sells goods; a 先生 is a teacher.

  3. Which theatre was popular in Edo? 「歌舞伎（かぶき）／映画（えいが）」

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    歌舞伎

    歌舞伎 is kabuki theatre; 映画 means film.

Use it today

Describe an imagined visit to an Edo shop in two modern Japanese sentences. Name one form of urban art.