"This was the age of the Tokugawa family, the era of Edo, a period of over two-and-a-half centuries during which Japan was hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world and only a few Dutch and Chinese (constantly watched and treated like pariahs) were allowed to live on Japanese soil and to trade with the Japanese. This program treats the history of Japan during this period: the established classes of daimyo, samurai, farmer, and merchant; the political organization of the shogunate; the growth of the merchant class and the development of Kabuki; the delineation of Japanese sensibilities and the meaning of seppuku. (51 minutes)" (text from Films for the Humanities and Sciences)