The were an array of economic and cultural policies introduced by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

between 1722–1730 during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

to improve its political and social status. These reforms were instigated by the eighth Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' of Japan,

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimune ...

, encompassing the first 20 years of his shogunate. The name Kyōhō Reforms, refers to the ''Kyōhō'' period (July 1716 – April 1736).

Purpose of the reforms

The reforms were aimed at making the

financially solvent, and to some degree, to improve its political and social security. Because of the tensions between

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

ideology and the economic reality of Tokugawa Japan (Confucian principles that money was defiling vs. the necessity for a cash economy), Yoshimune found it necessary to shelve certain Confucian principles that were hampering his reform process. The Kyōhō Reforms included an emphasis on frugality, as well as the formation of merchant guilds that allowed greater control and taxation. The ban on Western books (minus those relating or referring to Christianity) was lifted to encourage the import of Western knowledge and technology. The alternate attendance (''

sankin-kōtai ''Sankin-kōtai'' ( ja, 参覲交代/参覲交替, now commonly written as ja, 参勤交代/参勤交替, lit=alternate attendance, label=none) was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.Jansen, M ...

'') rules were relaxed. This policy was a burden on ''daimyōs'', due to the cost of maintaining two households and moving people and goods between them, while maintaining a show of status and defending their lands when they were absent. The Kyōhō Reforms relieved this burden somewhat in an effort to gain support for the shogunate from the ''daimyōs''.

Chronology

The shogunate's interventions were only partly successful. Intervening factors like famine, floods and other disasters exacerbated some of the conditions which the ''shōgun'' intended to ameliorate. * 1730 (''Kyōhō 15''): The

officially recognizes the Dojima Rice Market in Osaka; and bakufu supervisors (''nengyoji'') are appointed to monitor the market and to collect taxes. The transactions relating to rice exchanges developed into securities exchanges, used primarily for transactions in public securities. The development of improved agriculture production caused the price of rice to fall in mid-''Kyōhō''. * August 3, 1730 (''Kyōhō 15, 20th day of the 6th month''): A fire broke out in Muromachi and 3,790 houses were burnt. Over 30,000 looms in Nishi-jin were destroyed. The ''bakufu'' distributed rice. * 1732 (''Kyōhō 17''): The

Kyōhō famine The Kyōhō famine (享保の大飢饉, Kyōhō no daikikin), was a famine on the Japanese island of Kyushu during the reign of Emperor Nakamikado in the Edo period. It is estimated that 12,172-169,000 people died from starvation. The famine, name ...

was the consequence after swarms of locusts devastated crops in agricultural communities around the inland sea.

Successive reforms

This reform movement was followed by three others during the Edo period: the Kansei reforms (1787–1793), the Tenpō reforms of the (1841–1843), and the Keiō reforms (1864–1867).

Notes

References

* Adams, Thomas Francis Morton. (1953). ''Japanese Securities Markets: A Historical Survey,'' Tokyo: Seihei Okuyama. *

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

, John Whitney. (1988). ''The Cambridge History of Japan,'' v4: "Early Modern Japan." Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambr ...

. * Hayami, Akira, Osamu Saitō, Ronald P Toby. (2004) ''The Economic History of Japan: 1600–1990.'' Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). ''Kyoto: the Old Capital, 794–1869.'' Kyoto: Ponsonby-Fane Memorial. * Screech, Timon. (2006)
''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''.
London: RoutledgeCurzon. (cloth); (electronic) * Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/ iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran">Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou
Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society">Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. * Traugott, Mark. (1995). ''Repertoires and Cycles of Collective Action''. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ; ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyoho Reforms 1736 in Japan Japanese governmental reforms