Social change and uprisings
The shogunate and domains depended on rice tax. But a money economy had grown. Rice prices moved up and down, merchants grew rich, and many samurai, paid in rice, fell into debt.
Natural disasters made things worse. Three great famines struck: Kyoho (1732), Tenmei (1782-87) and Tenpo (1833-39). Crops failed, rice cost more, and many died.
- Villagers' uprisings (hyakusho ikki) rose in number. Farmers asked for lower taxes and a fairer price.
- Town smashings (uchikowashi): poor townspeople broke into rice dealers' shops.
- In 1837, Oshio Heihachiro, a former official in Osaka, led a revolt to help the hungry. It was put down quickly, but it shocked leaders because it came from within the ruling class.
Shogunate reforms
The shogunate tried three major reforms.
- Kyoho reform (1716-45), by shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune: strict saving, a higher rice tax, reclaiming new fields, a suggestion box for ideas, a written law code (1742), and permission to import non-religious Western books. Finances improved for a time.
- Kansei reform (1787-93), by Matsudaira Sadanobu: told people who had left for towns to return to farms, stored rice for famine, cancelled debts owed by lower samurai, and tightened control of books and teaching. It was unpopular.
- Tenpo reform (1841-43), by Mizuno Tadakuni: cut luxury, ordered trade guilds dissolved to cut prices, sent townspeople home to villages, and tried to take back land near Edo and Osaka. Daimyo and farmers protested, and it failed in two years.
Why did they fall short? They tried to return to a rice-based world, while the money economy kept growing.
Approach of Western powers
While Japan struggled at home, ships from Europe and America came near.
- 1792: a Russian officer, Laxman, came to northern Japan and asked for trade.
- 1804: a Russian envoy, Rezanov, came to Nagasaki and was refused.
- 1808: a British warship entered Nagasaki harbour (the Phaeton incident).
- 1825: the shogunate ordered that foreign ships be driven off.
- 1842: after hearing that Britain had beaten Qing China in the Opium War, the shogunate relaxed the order and allowed foreign ships to get fuel and water.
In 1853, four American warships under Perry arrived near Edo. The next lesson on the Meiji Restoration shows what followed. Note the link: a weak shogunate faced strong foreign navies.
Try it: the cause chain
Write a chain on paper: bad harvest, high rice price, hunger, uprisings, reforms, weak shogunate. Add a second arrow from foreign ships to weak shogunate. Cover one box and ask a friend to fill it in.
Key formulas and definitions
- Great famines: Kyoho 1732, Tenmei 1782-87, Tenpo 1833-39
- Kyoho reform: Yoshimune, 1716-45
- Kansei reform: Matsudaira Sadanobu, 1787-93
- Tenpo reform: Mizuno Tadakuni, 1841-43
- Foreign contact: Russia 1792 and 1804, Britain 1808, Opium War news 1842, American ships 1853
Worked examples
1. Before a famine, rice costs 100 coins per sack. During the famine it rises to 250 coins. By how many times does the price rise?
250 / 100 = 2.5 times. Poor families who spent most of their money on rice could no longer buy enough, so hunger spread.
2. Why did the Tenpo reform fail?
It tried to end guilds, push people back to villages and take back land near big cities. Merchants, daimyo and farmers all objected, and it did not fit a growing money economy.
3. Why was the Oshio revolt of 1837 important even though it was short?
It was led by an official, not a peasant, and it happened in Osaka, a key trade city. It showed that even insiders thought the system was failing.
Common mistakes
- Mixing the order: Kyoho (1716), Kansei (1787), Tenpo (1841).
- Thinking Perry's 1853 visit was the first foreign ship. Russians came in 1792, British in 1808.
- Saying the reforms fully succeeded. Only Kyoho helped for a time.
- Thinking Oshio Heihachiro was a farmer. He was a former official.