A History of Japan, 1615-1867

George Sansom

Stanford University Press, 1963; Pp: xiv, 258

This is the third and concluding volume of Sansom's celebrated history of Japan. It covers the period from the fall of Osaka (1615) and the founding of the Tokugawa Bakufu by Ieyasu to the forceful opening of Japan to Western trade and the restoration of the Throne in 1867-8. Since the 250 year period in question was one of general peace and stability, the history differs much from the narratives of the preceding books and constitutes a predominantly economic and social analysis with some political detail.

Sansom sees Ieyasu as a very gifted ruler (indeed, he says of him that he was a genius) who instituted a strong centralized government in Yedo (Edo) by depriving opposing daimyos of whole or significant parts of their fiefs after Sekigahara and installing loyal vassals in important strategic positions. The Tokugawa family appropriated lands with revenues of 3.8 million koku and brought its holdings up to 6.4 million out of 24 million national total. The process of eschewing revenues continued until the family controlled about 17 million koku out of 26 by 1690. Ieyasu also accumulated a great reserve of gold and silver estimated at 1.95 million ryo. With such economic, political, fiscal, and military strength of the Tokugawa Bakufu, no vassal could effectively oppose it even in combination with others.

The Bakufu organized the vassals in two types according to daimyo's support for Ieyasu: Fudai daimyos were the loyal houses, who were given important but small fiefs at strategic points to check the influence of the Tozama (Outside Lords) who were not under the direct control of the Bakufu and were potentially hostile. The administrative reform was carried out under Ieyasu's two successors, Hidetada (1616-23) and Iemitsu (1623-51), when society was rigidly organized into the four hierarchical divisions of warriors, peasants, artisans, and traders, which no member could generally rise above. The warriors, who comprised 1/10th of the population were essentially parasites, who had trouble adjusting their high social rank with their uselessness in a country at peace. They drew fixed stipends in rice, which exposed them to the fluctuations of the price of rice and most ended up heavily in debt to prosperous merchants. Many of them became ronin and their displacement produced discontent which eventually erupted in the Ronin Conspiracy in 1651 (under Shogun Iemitsu). The conspiracy led by Yui Shosetsu and Marubashi Chuya, was suppressed but prompted Bakufu initiatives designed to convert warriors into civil servants to be used in government administrative duties.

The general trend was to keep the peasant on the land and prevent him from absconding. The treatment of peasants grew more severe and oppressive as the fiscal incompetence of daimyos combined with Tokugawa policies designed to induce them to spend (e.g. the required biannual stay in Yedo and the frequent calls for provision for public works) made many of them insolvent. This arbitrary rule in conjunction with periodic famines due to natural calamities caused the frequent agrarian revolts that plagued the later Tokugawa rule.

The growth of cities as centers of administration (Yedo), or commerce (Osaka) was an important feature of this period for it led to enormous concentration of wealth in the hands of successful merchants, who became creditors to the military class. With the expanding economy (improvements in farming, transport, and reclamation of land) came the growth of markets and the accumulation of capital. However, Sansom is careful to stress that the riches of merchants did not readily translate into political power for the Bakufu easily confiscated property and had no trouble eliminating undesirable merchants.

The seclusion policy, which was the be the direct catalyst for the extent and severity of famines (by making imported foodstuffs unavailable during times when the country could not produce enough itself), was established with the three Exclusion Edicts of 1633, 1635, and 1639. Although ostensibly directed against Christian missionaries, it did not in fact betray a fear of Christianity as much as the Bakufu's desire to control foreign trade and prevent powerful Tozama daimyos from exploiting their favorable positions to their advantage.

Sansom also pays great attention to the spread of Neo-Confucianism (Chu Hsi system) and the its influence on the policies of the Bakufu. Although he concedes that the philosophy, which stresses duty, rationalism, and the Five Human Relations with their attending obligations (father-son, ruler-subject, husband-wife, old-young brother, friends) was of obvious use as principles of states, he does not see that much direct influence was exerted by learned men in practical questions of policy.

The story of the Bakufu beginning with Tsunayoshi (1680-1709) is a continuous struggle to put the government on sound financial footing. The Shoguns first tried a currency reform when they debased the Keicho (1615) coinage in 1695, which yielded a handsome profit of 5 million ryo (according to Hakuseki). This measure, however, was short-term and also had the undesirable side effect of undermining the credibility of official coinage. By 1713 rice prices were rising again and to restore trust in government, a new metallic currency was introduced in 1714 and its was of Keicho quality. The Bakufu tried controlling trade, selling monopolies, and restricting expenditure (sumptuary laws), which only led to further market distortion, evasion, and corruption. Under Yoshimune (1716-45), a retrenchment took place: his plans to increase revenue included the development of new areas for cultivation, but since these were not immediately available, he endeavored to implement more effective tax collection methods, which revealed considerable increases in cultivated areas and productive capacity not recorded by the land surveys, which widened the tax base.

Success was only temporary and in 1730-31 the price of rice on the Dojima Exchange fell, followed by crop failures in 1732, and the "smashing" riots early in 1733. The price of rice in the closed economy fluctuated wildly in accordance with seasons and harvests, producing oversupply in good years and tremendous shortage in bad years (these frequently ended in disastrous famines and widespread rioting). The Bakufu was obliged to intervene, but its finances were exhausted and in 1736 it resorted to currency debasement again. The Shogunate entered a period of gradual decline with the Tanuma Regime (1767-86) which was noted by the corruption in high places. The Kansei Reform under Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829) represented an attempt to revive the earlier Kyoho government developed by Yoshimune and was a failure for it did not account for the fast changes brought about by the economic expansion.

As financial troubles moved more daimyos into anti-Bakufu sentiment, the Tokugawa government proved less and less competent to handle national affairs. By the middle of the 19th century, there were frequent breaches in the seclusionist policy as well when finally the Bakufu was forced to agree to open ports to trade with the USA (February 1854), Britain (October 1854), Russia (February 1855), and Holland (November 1855). The anti-Bakufu movement used the xenophobic pretext to organize resistance around the Throne. The Regent Ii Kamon no Kami took steps against this opposition, but he was murdered on one snowy morning in 1860 as he was passing the Sakurada gate.

Finally, the two great Tozama daimyos, Satsuma and Choshu, revolted and although the Bakufu checked a Choshu rising in 1864, it blundered by attempting to destroy the clan, which provoked the Satsume, who assisted Choshu and they defeated the Shogunate's forces. In 1866 Iemochi died and was succeeded by Hitotsubashi Keiki, but Keiki resigned in 1867, when a provisional government was formed that included no adherent of the Tokugawa family. After a brief civil war, the whole country submitted to the rule of the Emperor in 1868.

July 8, 2001. BLS

@BOOK{sansom-63:japan3,
    TITLE     = {A History of Japan, 1615-1867},
    AUTHOR    = {George Sansom},
    YEAR      = {1963},
    PUBLISHER = {Stanford University Press},
    ADDRESS   = {Stanford},
    ISBN      = {0-8047-0527-5},
    NOTE      = {Pp. xiv, 258, bibliography, index}
}