Ee ja nai ka — The Popular Frenzy That Swept the Late Bakumatsu
As the Bakumatsu neared its end, a strange frenzy swept the land in the autumn and winter of 1867. People danced through streets and towns chanting "Ee ja nai ka" ("Why not? / It's all right!"). In the shadow of great political upheaval, the common people too expressed the mood of the age in their own peculiar way.
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Talismans fall from the sky
The commotion is said to have spread along with rumors that talismans from shrines had fallen from the sky. In houses where a talisman fell, people treated it as an auspicious event, celebrating and handing out food and drink.
As if seizing the excuse, people suddenly dressed up and began to dance. Repeating the refrain "Ee ja nai ka," men and women, young and old, are said to have whirled together in a frenzy seen in place after place.
From Tōkai to Kinki
The commotion is thought to have begun mainly in the Tōkai region and spread across the Kinki area. It is also seen as an eruption of the pent-up feelings of a people living amid the high prices and social anxiety that followed the opening of Yokohama.
Everyday order loosened for a time, and people of every status danced together across the lines of rank — a desire for release from oppression seeped through it.
In the shadow of great change
Just at this time, in the world of politics, the return of power to the emperor was carried out, and the age was about to move greatly. Behind the samurai raising tensions over Japan's course, the people of the towns were wrapped in an entirely different heat.
What did it mean?
Much remains a mystery about why and how "Ee ja nai ka" spread. Some see a political intent behind it; others regard it as a spontaneous popular commotion.
What is certain is that, in a turbulent age, the common people too raised their voices and moved their bodies to express a hope for "world renewal." The Bakumatsu was colored not only by its rulers but also by the heat of nameless people.
Events of the same period are explored across Bakumatsu Culture.
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