Edo period village
Encyclopedia
During the Edo period
of Japanese history
, were self-governing administrative units, led by the . Villages were taxed as a unit, with the village headman responsible for taxation. Taxes were paid in rice, often 40 to 50% of the harvest.
Criminal punishments
could also be imposed on the village as a unit.
Before the Edo period, samurai
administered the villages, but during the sword hunt
they were put to a choice: give up their sword and status and remain on the land as a peasant, or live in a as a paid retainer of the local daimyo
(lord).
Villages were also manufacturing units: In western Japan, cottage industries developed, with each family of the village taking over one step of the production process.
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
of Japanese history
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
, were self-governing administrative units, led by the . Villages were taxed as a unit, with the village headman responsible for taxation. Taxes were paid in rice, often 40 to 50% of the harvest.
Criminal punishments
Criminal punishment in Edo-period Japan
During the Edo period, Japan used various punishments against criminals. These can be categorized as follows:* Death penalty* Incarceration and Exile* Penal labor* Confiscation of property* Corporal punishment- Death penalty :...
could also be imposed on the village as a unit.
Before the Edo period, samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
administered the villages, but during the sword hunt
Sword hunt
Several times in Japanese history, the new ruler sought to ensure his position by calling a '. Armies would scour the entire country, confiscating the weapons of the enemies of the new regime. In this manner, the new ruler sought to ensure that no one could take the country by force as he had just...
they were put to a choice: give up their sword and status and remain on the land as a peasant, or live in a as a paid retainer of the local daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
(lord).
Villages were also manufacturing units: In western Japan, cottage industries developed, with each family of the village taking over one step of the production process.