Maybe Edo Japan is an echo of our better past and can be a model for our better future. It was a period in Japanese history began with the consolidation of power by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603 and lasted until 1867, an ending that came as a result of the destabilizing effects of American and European traders who forced an isolated and sustainable Japan into the world of 19th century commerce and values.

The beginning of the Edo Period, as the Tokugawa Shogunate is known, brought to an end a century of political and military struggle among feudal lords (daimyo) that had left Japan in economic, social and environmental chaos. Internal warfare had created massive poverty as well as social disorder, and badly managed resources in the past had so damaged the natural ecology that it was unable to support the population of 12 million Japanese. By the end of the Edo Period, however, wars were long gone, Japan was comfortably providing for a population of 30 million, employment had established a meaningful place for everyone in the Japanese society, and the environmental problems had been corrected. So, what happened during the 264 years of the Edo Period?