Abstract This introduction to the Special Issue, ‘Rethinking the Past, Culture, and Identity in Early Modern Japan’ lays out various issues raised by the five articles included and explains what connects them, namely the distinct early modern mode of imagining community. It also proposes a space-oriented analysis as a method for a practice of history. The articles show the ways in which a rigorous spatial investigation can reveal the interrelationships between the local and the broader world by articulating complex social and cultural histories that arise within the structure of place.

中文翻译：

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介绍

摘要 特刊“重新思考近代早期日本的过去、文化和身份”的介绍列出了其中五篇文章提出的各种问题，并解释了它们之间的联系，即想象社区的独特的早期现代模式。它还提出了面向空间的分析作为历史实践的一种方法。这些文章展示了严谨的空间调查可以通过阐明地方结构中出现的复杂社会和文化历史来揭示地方与更广阔世界之间相互关系的方式。