Page 208 - Changing Living Spaces

Masanori Takashima

used in this analysis is the year for which the Tokugawa shogunate and
feudal lords exist, rather than the time series data of a single year.
The rate of increase in kokudaka value between 1605 and 1644 was 0.09
percent, the lowest in the early modern period, although it was only a pe-
riod of less than 40 years. When broken down by region, the rate of in-
crease was generally low. This was due to the influence of the Great Kanei
Famine (1640–1643). In particular, the national- and regional-level data
obtained through large-scale land surveys by the East Tōhoku region had
an extremely low growth rate of -0.48 percent. In fact, the effects of vol-
canic ash in Hokkaidō (Ezo) caused a poor harvest in the Tōhoku region
in 1640, and the whole country experienced abnormal weather conditions
such as drought and prolonged rainfall in 1641. The damage was particu-
larly severe in eastern Japan, and the effects of this damage can be clear-
ly seen (Kikuchi 1997). In the first half of the seventeenth century, several
small and medium sized famines destroyed crops (Kitahara, Matsumura
and Kimura 2012).
In the following period, from 1644 to 1697, agricultural production was
relatively stable. The latter half of the seventeenth century was a period
of recovery from the first half, which was marked by famine. In the latter
half of the seventeenth century, Japan entered a period of social and cul-
tural prosperity, the Genroku period (1688–1704). According to a popular
theory of Japanese history, Genroku culture flourished due to the growth
of urban population and industry in urban areas, which can be attrib-
uted to the development of commodity crops. This led to the growth of
Genroku culture (Fukai 2012).
The culture was concentrated in the cities of Kyoto and Osaka in
the Kinai region, which can also be explained by the geographical, eco-
nomic and political context. Agricultural products such as rice as nen-
gu (land tax) and local products and specialties collected in the daimyō
area were brought to Osaka and traded from there throughout the coun-
try. As shown in table 8, agricultural production from the Kinai region
accounted for only 6 percent of total production nationwide, and even if
the Kinai region is included, the share would be less than 20 percent. In
other words, the Kinai region functioned as a collection point for trib-
ute, which had existed since ancient period, rather than a place of pro-
duction. With the establishment of the feudal system of the shogunate
and domains (bakuhan taisei) in the early modern period, the role of the
Kinai region as the centre of the nationwide distribution network be-
came clearer.

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