Il libro a stampa, le istituzioni e la cultura editoriale in epoca Edo (1600-1867)

In the Edo period printing activities and the diffusion of printed books reveal the emergence of a secular culture, based on a growing urban society, an improved educational network, as well as a complex bureaucracy and governmental system. The traditional woodblock printing technology was the standard in Japan for almost all printed books until the second half of the 19th century. Besides the traditional cultural influences by Chinese sources, and the innovations in printing technologies coming from China and Korea, Japan also met and received Western culture and technology. The Jesuits brought metal movable-types and Christian texts at the end of the 16th century. Afterwards, the trade with European merchants and contacts with scholars in Deshima after 1639 brought books on Western sciences and technologies, opening a new phase of cultural exchange and book learning.