During the Edo period (1603-1868) in Japan, ghost stories flourished. Some of these stories are particularly interesting for jurists analysing the Tokugawa legal system through the lens of popular culture. This article examines one of these stories: the tale of a servant who is killed by the hands of an unjust lord and returns as a ghost constitutes a faithful depiction of the tension between law and justice under the Tokugawa. The story shows, albeit indirectly, how the legal system was unable to provide justice for the lower strata of the population. Finally, the ghost itself plays a distinctive and important role in the collective imaginary as an agent of justice in the Edo period.
Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4999-3336
Chapter Title
La Giustizia è donna
Authors
Giorgio Fabio Colombo
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4.27
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Il dono dell’airone
Book Subtitle
Scritti in onore di Ikuko Sagiyama
Editors
Luca Capponcelli, Diego Cucinelli, Chiara Ghidini, Matilde Mastrangelo, Rolando Minuti
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
390
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0421-7
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0422-4
Series Title
Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History
Series ISSN
2975-0393
Series E-ISSN
2975-0261