Yonaoshi: Visions of a Better World

Yonaoshi (世直し、よなおし, world renewal/repair/remaking) is a Japanese term that first appeared in the context of peasant uprisings in the mid-nineteenthth century, signifying the restoration and/or recreation of the world in an ideal form. In the years since, it has been used to evoke a variety of ideas for fixing, redirecting, or recreating all human society in part or entirely. Although arising from a specifically Japanese context, the term nonetheless resonates with experiences and thought am...