City life and salon culture in Kyoto and Osaka: 1770-1900

Kyoto and Osaka were important cities in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). Kyoto was the imperial capital, and Osaka was ａcommercial centre. Edo (present-day Tokyo) was the seat of the samurai government.

In these cities and beyond, people － both professional and amateur － came together to practise hobbies, from poetry, painting and music
to gardening and tea ceremony. Within these cultural spaces, or 'salons', official class distinctions were set aside and people collaborated on equal terms. This ethos was the basis of cultural vibrancy across Japanese society from the late 1700s.

Despite political turmoil and change from the 1860s, the practice and spirit of 'salons' continued until the early 1900s.