Tanuma Okitsugu and the Kansei and Tempo Reforms

The shogunate's finances, rebuilt through the Kyoho Reforms, fell into crisis again in the latter half of the 18th century. The shogunate tried various policies, including Tanuma Okitsugu's active measures and the later Kansei and Tempo Reforms, but the contradictions of early modern society deepened.

Basic Knowledge

The era of Tanuma Okitsugu(1772-1786, roju under the tenth shogun Ieharu):
・Active official recognition of licensed merchant guilds — encouraged commerce and collected license fees and privilege payments (taxes)
・Expansion of Nagasaki trade — copper and tawaramono (export goods for China such as dried sea cucumbers and dried abalone)
・Plan to develop Ezo — adopted Kudo Heisuke's Observations on the Red Ezo and sent Mogami Tokunai and others to Ezo
・Reclamation of Lake Inbanuma and Lake Teganuma(failed)
・1782-1788: Great Tenmei Famine — the great damage was worsened by the eruption of Mount Asama in 1783; peasant uprisings and rice riots occurred frequently
・1786: Tanuma removed from office(when the eleventh shogun Ienari succeeded to the office; opposition to his emphasis on commerce)
Kansei Reforms(1787-1793, roju Matsudaira Sadanobu, under the eleventh shogun Ienari):
① Rice-storage system — stored rice in preparation for famine
② Return-to-hometown farming edict — returned poor people in cities to villages
③ Debt-cancellation edict — forced hatamoto and gokenin to cancel debts owed to fudasashi (high-interest lenders)
④ Seven-tenths savings — saved money from reductions in Edo's town expenses for poor relief
⑤ Ban on Heterodox Learning(1790) — made Zhu Xi learning orthodox and prohibited other schools (Ancient Learning and Eclectic Learning) at Yushima Seido
⑥ Publication controls — punished Santo Kyoden and Hayashi Shihei (Hayashi's Discussion of the Military Strength of a Maritime Nation was banned)
⇒ The reforms were too strict and unpopular, and Sadanobu fell from power after six years. A kyoka poem said, “The clear waters of Shirakawa are too pure even for fish; I long for Tanuma's former muddy waters.”
Tempo Reforms(1841-1843, roju Mizuno Tadakuni, under the twelfth shogun Ieyoshi):
① Order Dissolving Licensed Merchant Guilds(1841) — judged that guild monopolies caused high prices
② Return-to-the-countryside law — forcibly returned poor people in Edo to farming villages
③ Agechi Edict (1843) — attempted to convert the lands of daimyo and hatamoto around Edo and Osaka into shogunate lands, but withdrew it after strong opposition from daimyo and hatamoto; this caused Mizuno's dismissal
④ Luxury prohibition edicts — strictly controlled luxury among common people and restricted yose theaters and plays
⇒ The reforms were too strict, provoked opposition, and failed after a little more than two years.

Further Study (Background and Effects)

The three major Edo reforms and Tanuma's era each sought to rebuild the shogunate's finances through a different approach.
・Kyoho Reforms=frugality+new-field development (agrarianism)
・Tanuma's era=promotion of commerce+trade expansion (mercantilism)
・Kansei Reforms=restoration of Kyoho policies (return to agrarianism)
・Tempo Reforms=extension of Kansei policies (strict controls)
In the end, the shogunate's financial foundation was rice, while merchants and some daimyo profited from commercial development. As the commodity economy developed, warriors who could not earn money gradually became impoverished, while farmers became involved in the monetary economy through growing commercial crops, increasing inequality.
Peasant uprisings and rice riots increased throughout the Edo period. They occurred especially often during the Great Tenmei and Tempo Famines. In 1837, former Osaka town magistrate's assistant Oshio Heihachiro led a rebellion to aid the poor in Osaka (Oshio Heihachiro's Rebellion), greatly shaking the shogunate's authority.
The failure of the shogunate's reforms exposed the structural contradictions of early modern society and foreshadowed the Meiji Restoration.

Points of Caution (Easily Confused)

① Three major Edo reforms=Kyoho (Yoshimune), Kansei (Sadanobu), and Tempo (Tadakuni). Tanuma Okitsugu's government is not included because its character was the opposite. ② Matsudaira Sadanobu(Kansei Reforms) was the grandson of the eighth shogun Yoshimune and became roju after serving as lord of Shirakawa. Mizuno Tadakuni(Tempo Reforms) was lord of Hamamatsu. ③ Ban on Heterodox Learning (1790)=only Zhu Xi learning was recognized as orthodox, and other schools were prohibited at Yushima Seido. It is a typical example of academic control. ④ Oshio Heihachiro's Rebellion (1837) was led by a former assistant magistrate who was a scholar of Wang Yangming learning. It was suppressed in one day, but symbolized the loss of shogunate authority.

Practice

1. Briefly explain the characteristics of Tanuma Okitsugu's policies using the term “licensed merchant guilds.”
2. Give the name of the roju who carried out the Kansei Reforms.
3. Give the name of the rebellion started in Osaka in 1837 by a former assistant of the town magistrate's office.