Figure 1.-- The Tokegawa Shogunate made major improvements in agricultural methods. Notuice hiow the women did much if the work. Land was owned by the daimyos, Japan's feyudal lords. The peasantry provided the labor and paid the taxes. Japanese agriculture coninued to be dominated by the tenant farming system that evolved during the medieval era. This was actually a form of forced labor. Very few Japanese peasants owned the land they worked. Tennant farming is not the best term as it suggests a degree of voluntary contracts. This was not the case. For the vast majority of the population there was no real alternative. This is important to understand because historians in the United States fail to recognize how unique land ownrship patterns in the United States were. With the social justice woke focus on slavery, there is no recognition that around the world the great bulk of humanity was involved in various forms of forced labor. Actual ownership of land by the Japanese peasantry who worked the land was common in the United States was very rare in Japan. The Ameriacn family farm which involved the great bulk of gricultural land in the country and not slavery was what made Anmerica unique. Japan is just one example of the vrious forms of forced labor that dominates economies around the world. Land reform transferring labd ownership to the oeasantry did not occur until the American occupation after the Pacific War. This photo was taken in the 1910s, byt could well have been taken in the 19th century or earlier. Photo" Herbert Geddings.

The Tokugawa Shogunate is too often seen as a backward time of Japanese economic development until replaced by Meiji Restoration (1868). In fact there were signiciant advances duruing the Tokugawa Shogunate One imprtant impact was a huge increase in population due to peace and stability the Tokugawa Shoguns fostered and the resulting economic growth which meant primarily increased agricultural production. As a result, the population almost tripled to over 30 million people (1600-1750). Rice cultivation was a major factor in Japanese politics and economy throughout the Tokugawa Shogunate. Japanese agriculture coninued to be dominated by the tenant farming system that evolved during the medieval era. This was actually a form of forced labor. Very few Japanese peasants owned the land they worked. Tennant farming is not the best term as it suggests a degree of voluntary contracts. This was not the case. For the mast majority of the population there was no real alternative. This is important to understand because historians in the United States fail to recognize how unique land ownrship patterns in the United States were. With the social justice woke focus on slavery, there is no recognition that around the world the great bulk of humanity was involved in various forms of forced labor. Actual ownership of land by the Japanese peasantry who worked the land was common in the United States was very rare in Japan. The Ameriacn family farm which involved the great bulk of gricultural land in the country and not slavery was what made Anmeruca unique. Japan is just one example of the vrious forms of forced labor that dominates economies around the world. The Shogun won military victories which united Japan. The military strenth of the Shogun kept Japan unified. One innovation designed to maintain unitty was to require the daimyos, their families and retainers to move every other year and live in Edo (Tokyo). This was designed to work against a tendency to build an independent poweer base. (French King Louis XIV adopted a similar approacvh at Versailles.) This was a factor in the urbanization of Japan whuich had reached about 10 prcent by 1700. This is avery little level today, but at te time was reaktively high. Major citoes were froming in Jaoan, including Edo, Osaka and Kyoto. Edo had a population of 1 million people, almost twice the population of London at the time. This was only possible because of expanding agricultural production. It also required a huge supply of wood to build homes in the growing cities. This exacerbated what was already a growing problem in Japan--deforestation. The Shogunate addressed the problem of deforestation in two ways. First. the Shogunastre promoted aricultural reforms which improoved agrucultural production rsther than cutting down forests to increase agricultural land. Second, the Shongunate initiated reforestation efforts. The agricultural improvements promoted included double cropping (growing two or more crops at the same time), improved species of rice, and applying fertiliser. They also introduced new farming tools which helped which increased labor effiency such as threasing tools. Guidebooks were published to teach how to produce crops more effectively and efficiently. We are not sure hiw effective this was because the peasantry was largely illiterate. The daimyos and their staff were literare,so thy cvould instruct the peasantry. This helped increased rice and other harvests without clearing more forest areas for farming. The Tokugawa Shogunate insituated strict regulationsd of forestry. In some areas the cutting down of trees was entirely prohibited. The Shogunate extended beyond just the Shogun's own forests. The Tokugawa Shogunate enforced these regulations throughout Japan. They worked to prevent the daimyos from destroying their forests. There was even a sysdtem of irregular inspections of the other daimyos from violsting the looging regulations. There was a dual putrpose. They not only protected the country's depleted forests but the regulstions served to help control the daimyos. The Shogunate also adopted policies to restore forests. As a result, tree planting began. They planted seedlings, often conifers like Sugi and Hinoki. Rge daivoes were also encouraged to tend to growth of the seedlings, a task passed on to the peasants woring their lands.

Created: 2:53 AM 12/8/2022
Last updated: 2:53 AM 12/8/2022