Voices of Early Modern Japan by Constantine Vaporis

Author:Constantine Vaporis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group
Published: 2012-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

Keep in Mind as You Read

1. In general, samurai were paid in rice or in a combination of rice and money. What rice was not consumed had to be converted to cash to pay for the other necessities of life. Merchants were needed for this.

2. By the time of this letter (mid-eighteenth century), most daimyo, themselves in financial straits, were commonly demanding that samurai return a portion of their stipends to the domains as forced loans. These were known euphemistically as “loans to the lord” (onkariage), even though there was no expectation that they would ever be repaid. Forced loans generally were deducted in one sum, from one of the two yearly payments retainers received, which made keeping to a budget very difficult.

3. Samurai also became dependent on merchants due to the multi-metallic monetary system, which required converting from one type of currency to another, and the variable rate for converting rice to cash.

4. Saitaniya was both Tani’s creditor as well as his student; Tani was both teacher and debtor.

5. Both Tannai and his father, Tanshirô, also received support rice (rice allowances) for the services they performed as Confucian scholars for the domain, in addition to their basic stipends.

6. Remember that according to the official status hierarchy, the occupations were ranked: samurai, peasant, artisan, and merchant, in that order.

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