born March 24, 1657, Edo [Tokyo], Japan
died June 29, 1725, Edo
Japanese scholar of Confucianism and government official of the mid- Tokugawa period .
Arai was tutor and later adviser to Tokugawa Ienobu, the sixth Tokugawa shogun . He wrote on such subjects as Japanese geography, philosophy, and legal institutions and is considered one of Japan's greatest historians. Among his best-known works are Tokushi yoron , a history of Japan, and Koshitsū , a study of early document sources. See also Genroku period ; Edo culture .