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8 - The Tokugawa Economy

Of Rulers, Producers, and Consumers

from PART II - Economy, Environment, and Technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2024

By
Komuro Masamichi  and
Bettina Gramlich-Oka
Edited by
David L. Howell
David L. Howell
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

This chapter describes the development of the Tokugawa economy, illustrating how its patterns and shifts were experienced by producers and consumers in a particular place and time. In outlining the framing features of the Tokugawa economic world, we draw attention to how the proportion occupied by manufacturing industries and distribution mechanisms increased steadily in tandem with expansion of the economy’s overall volume. Diverse factors accompanied and further spurred these trends: urbanization (in cities and country towns), greater social mobility, expanding trade and communication networks, rising income, the labor of women as producers for the market, and a popular consciousness increasingly oriented toward ordinary consumption. This economic development can be described in either positive or negative terms. Economic historians in recent decades have pointed more to the positive aspects that raised the standard of living for many, whereas many social historians note the groups who lost out in the commercialization process, such as low-ranking samurai and landless commoners. Evidence can be given for both perspectives, underlining the complexity of what we call economy.

Keywords

kokudaka systemcurrencytrade networksbankingconsumer economyrural manufacturingguildsOsakadebasementeconomic growthconsumption
Type
Chapter
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The New Cambridge History of Japan , pp. 267 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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