THE EDO PERIOD'S POPULATION

THE EDO PERIODS'S POPULATION

Do you know how many people there were in Japan during the Edo Period? It is said that there were some thirty million (30,000,000) with the samurai population at about 2 million. The samurai therefore accounted for from 6.7% to 7% of the total Japanese population. At tat time there was no large-scale census conducted on a national level; rather, it was performed by each province and clan, to be recorded in the 宗門人別改帳 (Shumon Ninbetsu Aratame cho, しゅうもんにんべつあらためちょう) or Residential Register.

Edo’s (Tokyō’s) population began an upward trend from the Kaei era (1624 – 1644) and continued to increases through the Genroku era (1688 – 1704), when the population of the city was the largest urban population in the world; to the Tenmei era (1787) figures of 1,626,500, according the census performed in 1721 and then again in 1736. While the proportion of samurai in the national population did not significantly change through the Edo Period, the percentage was significantly higher in Edo, due to the policy of Sankinkoutai (the system of alternate annual attendance between the home of a daimyō in Edo and his home in his fief).

The general analysis of the Edo (Tokyō) population was as follows:

Farmers – 80%

Tradesmen – 10%

Samurai – 7%

Other – 3%

On a slightly different vein:

A scholar of Japanese history at Havard Universtiy, Harold Bolitho, wrote the following:

The Tokugawa Period, in fact, was a time of almost total samurai dominance; they dominated government, they dominated society, the dominated city life, they dominated education, they also dominated cultural life, providing most of the painter, most of the poets, most of the playwrights, and most of all the philosophers, mathematicians, and botanists…there was no government apart form them, no laws but what they devised, and no order save what they imposed.

Note that the word “dominated” is repeated – extensively. This ia a good writing technique by which to instill an image that one wants to impose on readers; yet actually, as I read this statement by Professor Bolitho, I could not but help to imagine the citizens of Japan in a jail, with no means of escape! What a terrible thought! According to the Professor, there was no freedom for the Japanese people; however, what he said was not entirely true; certainly, he need to add some supplementary notes or commentary. Keep in mind that the merchant culture of Edo flourished during the Edo period under the Tokugawa. Such things as Ukiyo-e or Kabuki, human splendor and tragedy there to see and experience in theaters or as woodblock prints found in the shops of the Yoshiwara, Edo’s largest, licensed “red light” district, thrived. Even the kimono was a product of the refined town culture, an outgrowth of the merchant class of the socially stable Edo Period.

It is easy for one to write that the samurai dominated Japanese society, laws, art, culture, etc.; yet in truth, how can a samurai population of approximately 7% dominate 93% of the entire Japanese population. Simple logic would dictate that it is not so easy to do. If 93% of the population was to riot or revolt, could the samurai put it down? Certainly not. Yet, the Tokugawa Shōgunate lasted for over 200 years. How could the Bakufu keep peace in a nation for such a long period of time? Simply wielding the sword and the power of a privileged class cannot dominate much of anything. Early in its history, the Tokugawa Shōgunate found a great way to “control” its citizens. This is not a simple topic and requires far more room and time than is available here today, but we will discuss it again soon; but for now, think about this, using your imagination. If you were samurai, a member of the privileged class, how would you bring peace to Japanese society? Before the Tokugawa Period, your job was fighting, but now that is no longer necessary because Japan has peace. What do you do? Do you sleep all day? Probably not. Nevertheless, if your people do not obey, do you bring them into submission by force? Remember that 93 % of the population watches you; how you speak and behave, solely on the basis of your social ranking. What could the samurai, the 7%, possibly use to control the other 93% of Japan? I think it was their dignity.

Yamaga Soko (1622 – 1685) said, “The peasant’s job is to plow a field, a craftsman’s job is to make things, the merchant’s job is to sell and buy [or barter].” What then is the samurai’s job? Think with all your heart about the question. The true answer will not come by just reading a book, but by also thinking with all your heart about what a samurai’s job was. Yamaga further added, “A samurai’s job is to achieive Jinrin no Michi in the world. Jinrin no Michi (人倫の道) is the way of humanity, morality. Jinrin means moral principle, that is, to behave in a moral way. Michi means the way, path, or journey. This is the most basic principle that a samurai must realize in Shidō a samurai code far different from Bushidō.

More on Tokugawa society and the samurai next time.

Submitted by Aoi Tokugawa-sensei

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