Economic Development of the Tokugawa Period - Essay Example

Economic Development of the Tokugawa Period Japan is included in one of the developed nations of the world. It is a country which is strong and stable as it is one of the few first countries to pull it self out of the economic recession that the world sank in to. This essay will focus upon the economic developmental history of Japan particularly the economic progress in the Tokugawa period which was a stable period for Japan in which the economy of the country greatly flourished. Furthermore this essay will explain the reasons of the economic development and cover all the aspects encompassing this economic progress. Japan had a very unsteady history with periods of civil wars and not much progress. The country was divided with poor developmental progress. But the scenario was greatly altered after Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the country. He provided for a new beginning in the history of Japan. The period during which he ruled was known as the Tokugawa period. It was also referred to as the Edo period because the capital of the country was moved to Edo after Ieyasu took over. The Tokugawa period was a period of modernization, expansion and progress for the country and thus was also given the name of the Modern Period. This period lasted for approximately two and a half centuries. It started from 1603and ended in 1868. During this entire episode the country was ruled by Tokugawa and then his family and hence the entire phase was given the name of the Tokugawa period. In the Tokugawa period, there was not much technological advance in the country but the economy of the country flourished. In this period Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world which can be a reason for its lesser technological advances. This period laid the foundations for today’s economically stable Japan. This period was a golden era. The population of the country remained constant for these two and a half centuries. According to a first population consensus which was conducted in 1720 the population of the country was thirty million which stayed almost the same during the entire period. It has been seen that now Japan depends greatly upon imports from other countries particularly for food and energy. But in the Tokugawa period Japan was very self sufficient in all its resources. Though Japan is not very rich in natural resources but it was seen in the late Modern Period that salt was produced from coal and still there was no shortage of the fossil fuels. Reasons that have been provided for this are that because of the isolation from the rest of the world, there was a realization that Japan had to rely on its sources completely. This realization laid a reason for the proper usage of all the sources of the country and hence providing the basis for no foreign dependence. The number of the literate people in Japan also increased greatly in this time. The basis for modern recycling was also laid in that period. No fighting and disruptions were seen in this period. The Edo period was therefore a period of peace and advance for the country. All these reasons accounted for the economic progression in this era. The fighting that took place in Japan during the fifteenth and sixteenth century before the beginning of the Modern Period has led to the creation of rulers for particular areas. These rulers were called daimyo and the areas under their control were known as han. There was always competition between these daimyos for more power and control. With more progress in weapons for war all daimyos became powerful in their regions and hence their focus was diverted towards development. This focus became even more concentrated towards the goal of achieving economic stability when Tokugawa took over and became the controller of the empire of Japan. He gave himself the designation of shogun and the powers which were under his control were known as bakafu. All the daimyos were under his direct control and they were separated into various categories. the daimyos who were Tokugawa’s relatives were known as Shinpan daimyos, those who assisted him in coming into power were Fudai or house daimyo whereas those who fought against him or remained neutral were Tozamo or outside daimyos. These daimyos were then categorically provided areas or han which they were supposed to rule. Those who were loyal to the emperor were given the more significant hans. The area under Tokugawas power included up to one fifth of Japan with all the major cities and this area was known as tenryo. Tokugawa Ieyasu also kept major powers including dismissal of daimyos if suspected of disloyalty, checking on the foreign relations of the country and the currency issuance as well as a close watch on the development going on in the hans. These major steps were highly contributive towards economic progress. The reason is that all the daimyos with their respective hans were under observation. With the peace and proper division of the areas the fight for power was over. Every daimyo as well as the shogun Tokogawa were assigned their particular hans and hence they worked towards its progress. An end was put to guild monopolies. Construction of infrastructure including roads was done. Wight and measure systems were introduced in different hans. These factors helped in the prevention of losses as weights would permit proper checks on quantities. The major source of income in the tenryo and the hans was the tax obtained from the rice growers. A slight profit also came through other products like oil and handicrafts. Taxes were imposed upon the people living in these areas. There was no free trade even between different hans and taxes were compulsory for importing products from a different han. This trade was run by a set of rules and regulations. The trend of toll taxes was also started. This entire setup was given the name of baku-han system which indicated that hans were under the control of the supreme powers that is bakafu of Tokugawa. The hans were not imposed upon with any taxes to be paid. But if a project such as roads or the construction of infrastructure was required money was collected from hans. All these measures assisted in the standing of a strong economic structure. This economic structure was further maintained over the long period of the dynasty via certain regulatory restrictions which included the caste system, alternate attendance, the methods employed for the taking of rice tax and the policy of isolation. These regulations proved to be effective and contributed in their own ways in the progress of the economy of the Edo period. The caste system was basically introduced to prevent the loss of power or chance of any revolt. It was a means for the restriction of the people to their classes that were assigned to them. There were four castes which included samurai, farmers, artisan and merchants. The highest category in this class was the samurai and the lowest caste included the merchants. The caste system was inherited from the parents. That is the child of the farmer would always be farmer and the similar fashion was applicable to the other castes as well. The samurai included the daimyos and their families as well the men who assisted them like their advisers. The highest population was that of the farmers and then came the samurai and finally the artisan and the merchants. This system provided has its drawbacks but it did attain the result which was required from it. That is, there was peace and no revolt because everyone had their particular class. This method was employed so that the daimyos and the shogun could keep the power to themselves. This method provided for a peaceful setup. This method provided another benefit as each cast was provided with its own duty which they has to complete. Like the samurai has to basically collect all the taxes and supervise the affairs going on. The farmers had to work for the payment of taxes whereas merchants were involved in trade. On the other hand the drawbacks included that if a person studied about commerce; he could not opt to become a merchant if he was not born in that class. There were issues related to marriage as well and hence the population also did not rise. Alternating attendance which was the duty of the highest samurai that is the daimyo was considered to be the most contributory step towards the economic progress. This alternating attendance was given the name of sankin kotai. According to this the daimyo had to spend a year in Edo with their families and during the time they returned to their hans their families stayed there in Edo. The purpose of this was that the daimyos on returning could not initiate a conflict or think of revolting against the shogun as their families were in Edo under their observation. Also the expenses of buying castles and maintaining their families in Edo did not leave them with much budget to actually plan and but equipment for revolt. This method was employed to see the acts and the actions of the daimyos and hence keep them under strict observation .the purpose of this was to prevent revolt but it actually served a greater cause and led towards economic development. The city of Edo developed highly with a great in pour of people. The daimyos were considered to be the highest and the richest class. This led to the formation of a commercial center at Edo as these were the buyers for most of the products. the rice taxes which were collected from far away hans in the form of rice were moved to another major city known as Osaka and from there traded towards Edo. This was because of the huge population in the city. Thus Osaka turned into a trade center. There were warehouses for the storage of this rice in Osaka and a pattern of banking began because of the trade of rice that took place. there was formation of markets in Osaka as well .The hans which were near to Edo got the benefits whereas those which were faraway has to pay rice taxes but did not get benefits because most of the spending took place in Edo and the adjoining areas. The infrastructure also highly improved because of the construction of roads for easy movement was a necessity. Apart from this other modes of transport which included waterways were also built. The method for the collection of rice tax was the other measure and this was also strictly regulated. It was given the name honbyakusho system under which the names of the landowners were written. Duties were assigned to particular people for collection of taxes and in case of any shortcomings they were held accountable. Generally forty percent of the harvest had to be given as tax. To avoid any cheating by the farmers there were checks and inspections by the samurai on these tax collectors as well as the farmers. This maintained a constant flow of income for the economic development. The last method which was devised was the policy of segregation with the powers lying completely in the hand of shogun for trade. No foreigners were allowed in Japan and a time period was set for the people who left the country. These methods were devised to prevent any revolt in the country with foreign assistance. Another reason was to restrict the imports so that the local economy boosted on everything that it had. Thus it can be seen that there was significant economic development during the Edo period. This period was considered to be a period of self sufficiency for Japan. There was an increase in per person profit. Industrialization, urbanization and construction of infrastructure were included in all the economic development that took place in this era. Thus this Modern Period was a really significant period in the history of Japan with a great economic advance. References: CRAWCOUR, E. S. (1961). The development of a credit system in seventeenth century Japan. Canberra, A.N.U. FLATH, D. (2000). The Japanese economy. Oxford, Oxford University Press KOZO YAMAMURA(1973). Towards a re examination of the economic history of Tokugawa Japan 1600-1867 Journal of Economic history volume 33 NAKAMURA, J. I., & MIYAMOTO, M. (1978). Social structure and population change: a comparative study of Tokugawa Japan and Ching China. New York, Columbia University. SENGOKU CONFERENCE, HALL, J. W., NAGAHARA, K., & YAMAMURA, K. (1981). Japan before Tokugawa: political consolidation and economic growth, 1500-1650. Princeton, Princeton University Press. TSUKAHIRA, T. G. (1966). Feudal control in Tokugawa Japan; the Sankin Kōtai system. Harvard East Asian monographs, 20. Cambridge, East Asian Research Center, Harvard University. Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form VAPORIS, C. N. (2008). Tour of duty: samurai, military service in Edo, and the culture of early modern Japan. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press. Read More