Epidemics and Mortality in Early Modern Japan

Book excerpt: Ann Jannetta suggests that Japan's geography and isolation from major world trade routes provided a cordon sanitaire that prevented the worst diseases of the early modern world from penetrating the country before the mid-nineteenth century. Her argument is based on the medical literature on epidemic diseases, on previously unknown evidence in Buddhist temple registers, and on rich documentary evidence from contemporary observers in Japan. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.