was the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
's officially sanctioned
cinnabar
Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...
monopoly or cinnabar guild (''
za'') which was created in 1609.
Initially, the Tokugawa shogunate was interested in assuring a consistent value in minted coins; and this led to the perceived need for attending to the supply of cinnabar.
This ''
bakufu'' title identifies a
regulatory agency
A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government agency, government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous jurisdiction over some area of human activity in a l ...
with responsibility for supervising the handling and trading of cinnabar and for superintending all cinnabar mining and cinnabar-extraction activities in Japan.
[Hall, John Wesley. (1955) ''Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan,'' p. 201.]
See also
*
Bugyō
*
Kinzan-bugyō
* ''
Kinza'' – Gold ''za'' (monopoly office or guild).
* ''
Ginza'' – Silver ''za'' (monopoly office or guild).
* ''
Dōza'' – Copper ''za'' (monopoly office or guild)
Notes
References
*
Hall, John W. (1955). ''Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
OCLC 445621*
Jansen, Marius B. (1995). ''Warrior Rule in Japan''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
OCLC 422791897*
Schaede, Ulrike. (2000). ''Cooperative Capitalism: Self-Regulation, Trade Associations, and the Antimonopoly Law in Japan''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OCLC 505758165* Takekoshi, Yosaburo. (1930). ''The Economic Aspects of the History of the Civilization of Japan''. New York: Macmillan Publishers
OCLC 313511699
Government of feudal Japan
Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate
Economy of feudal Japan
1609 establishments in Japan
Monopolies
Guilds in Japan
{{Japan-hist-stub