Introduction
Oscar Wilde famously said in 1889: “The whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such place. There are no such people.” Wilde made this observation 30 years after Japan ended its centuries-long isolation known as the Edo period (1603-1858) and reopened its borders. The sakoku policy, enforced by the Tokugawa Shogunate from 1641 to 1853, effectively isolated Japan from foreign influences for 212 years. It prohibited Christianity and banned travel into and out of the country under penalty of death.