Musui's Story

One of the key recurrent themes in Katsu’s autobiography is the rigid social hierarchy in 19th-century Japan at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867). The author describes many instances of this social structure as part of his narrative. For instance, he often proudly declares himself to be a bannerman samurai. The author interprets this class-based hierarchy as an accepted part of life. However, he sometimes bypasses it in short-term situations by pretending to be someone else. Katsu is also able to climb up an alternative, merit-based hierarchy as a skilled swordsman, swords dealer, and appraiser.

One way to guarantee social stability for the Tokugawa shogunate was to essentially prohibit social mobility. At the top of society were the noble classes: the emperor and his court, followed by the state administrators, the shogun, and the landed aristocracy, the daimyo. Japan also had four main classes: the farmers, the craftsmen, the merchants, and the warriors—the samurai. The country was feudal and agricultural, which meant that the overwhelming majority of the population was farmers.