Accel

erat
edPr
obl
emsoft
heTenpōEr
a(1830-
1844)

Dur i
ngt he1830s,Japanent eredanotherper i
odofsev erefamineandsuf fer
ing.The
newer a, begunin1830, wascal ledTenpō, or" Pr
otectedbyHeav en,
"car efull
ynamed
toensur ethepower f
ulkami( gods)woul dsur roundt hecountrywi thapr ot
ecti
ve
aura.Itwasnott obe.Pl anti
ngt henewr icecr opinthespr i
ngof1833washamper ed
byunusualcol dweat her,and,i nthefall
,whathadgr ownov erthesummerwas
decimat eddr amati
cal
lybyear l
ysnowf all
s.Thi swas,asusual ,mostcost lyinthe
nor t
hernpar tofHonshū,ort heTōhokuar ea.Butt hereductioninhar vestwasal so
feltint heTokugawal andsandt hehant ot heWest .Thiswast hef i
rstoff ourpoor
harvest si n successi
on r esulting i
nf ami ne in manypar t
s ofJapan.Deat h by
starvationwaspar ti
cularlydev astati
ngi nTōhoku,butmostoft heent i
recount r
y
sufferedt osomedegr ee.
Whi l
et heagr iculturaldi sast ersdidnotaf fectt heent i
redomai nequal l
y,
theywer ewi despr eadenought ocauset hepeopl etogobey ondsi mpl ypet it
ioning
the shogun and t heirdai my ōf orr elief
.These y ear s bet ween 1833 and 1837
witnessedpeasantupr isingswhi chexceededi nbothser iousnessandnumbert hose
whi chhadoccur redi nt hepast .Ur bancent erswereal soaf fectedort hei nhabitant s
oft hecast letownsr iot edanddemandedr eli
ef.Oneoft hemostf amousi ncident s
tookpl acei nOsakai nt hesecondmont hof1837.Ther e,af or merbakuf upol i
ce
i
nspect or,ŌshioHei hachi rō,wr oteat reatisedemandi nghel pf r
om t heaut hori
tiesi n
thepuni shmentoft her ichOsakamer chant swhom hecl aimedwer esqueezi ngt he
l
astdr opofbl oodf rom t hei mpov erishedt owndwel l
er sandpeasant s.Ōshi owas
deter mi nedt obani sht heev i
lasembodi edinthemer chant ,whi chhesawdest roy i
ng
ordinar yci ti
zens.Hecal ledf ort hedest i
tutepeoplet or iseupandexecut et hese
selfishmoneymonger s,t aket hei rgol dandsi lver
,andempt yt heirstor ehousesof
ri
cef ordi str
ibutionamongt hepoor .Car ryi
ngouthi spl anwi tht heai dofaf ewr ebel
conv er ts,he setf iret o ov ert hr ee t housand mer chanthouses and bur ned up
thousandsofkokuofr i
ce,whi cht heev i
lmer chantshadst ored.Unf ortunat elyf or
Ōshi ot her i
otwasputdownwi thint wel vehour sbybakuf uf or ceswhoki l
ledor
arrest ed and t ortured t he par t i
cipant s.Ōshi o,who had managed t o el ude t he
bakuf u' s soldiersf or a mont h,was f i
nall
y discov ered.I n accor dance wi th
hisConf ucianthi nking,heki l
ledhi msel fandhi swoundedsonbef oret heycoul dbe
takeni ntocust ody .
Thisupr i
singwasbr iefandunsuccessf ulbutitexempl i
fi
edt hepol i
ti
cal
and economi c pr oblems whi ch woul d continue to plague t he bakufu.Ōshi o's
motivati
onr epresent edaki ndofConf uci
anmor ali
sm basedont hebel i
eft hatthe
country'
sleadersshoul dprotectandpr ovidefort hepeople,especi all
ydur i
ngt i
mes
ofeconomi ccrisis,and, whent heyfail
edt odoso, t
hepeoplehadev eryri
ght, i
nfact
adut y,toovert
hr owt hem.Heal soel
ev at
edt heimpot entimper ialhouseholdi nhis
pantheonofl eader st oapositionabov et heshogunandcal l
edf orrestorati
onof
i
mper ialpower.Unl iket heimpl i
cati
onoft henameoft heera,Tenpō,heav enwas
defi
nitel
ynotpr otectingJapanandt hef ault
,Ōshi othought,layatt hedooroft he
bakufu.Somet hinghadt obedone.Ev ent heshogun,whocer tainlywouldnothav e
agreedwi thŌshi o'sreasoni ng,reali
zedt hatsomesor tofr efor mswasneededi fhis
regimewer et osur v
iv e.Thecr opf ail
ur es,famine,andepi demi csandt hepeasant
uprisi
ngandur banr iotshadi ntensif
iedt heeconomi candsoci alt ensi onal ready
evidenti nt hebakuhansy stem.Al so, t
her ehadbeenaf ewt i
messi ncet hebegi nning
oft he 19t h cent urywhen t he emper ori n Kyoto,suppor ted byhi s cour t,had
attempt edt or aisei ssuesofi mper i
alr ights.Theshogunhadmanagedsof art o
thwar tt hepossi bi
li
tyofanyr ealshar ing ofpower .When necessar y,thiswas
accompl ishedwi thacer emoni alshowofmi l
it
aryforcei nt hehundr edsoft housands.
Thecour t ,howev er,wi thi tslongt radit
ion,r el
igi
ousaut hor ity
,andt rainedr etinueof
admi nistrativecour t
ierswasav ail
ablei fneeded.I nt he1830sof f
icialdocument s
pronounced t he sitting emper oras t he 120t hi n directl ine from t he goddess
Amat erasuwhowascl aimedt ohav efoundedJapan.Al thoughmostor dinar
ypeopl e
i
nJapanhadl it
t l
eknowl edgeandcar edl essaboutt hei mper ialcour tandi tspomp
andci rcumst ance,pasthi storysuggest edagr anderr olef ort heemper ort opl ayon
thenat ionall evelshoul dt heshogunst umbl e.Allthesei nt ernalpressur es,howev er
,
represent edonl yonepar toft hecr i
siswhi chwasunr av elingt hepol it
ical fabricoft he
count r
y .

Baku-
HanTenpōRef
orms
Begi nningasear l
yas1833whent hefirstcr opf ail
ureswer er epor tedsev eraloft he
domai nsattemptedt oi
nstigater eformswhi chwoul danswert heeconomi cneedsof
theirsubjectsandst aveofffurtherupr isings, t
hebakuf uwassl oweri nr espondingt o
the cr i
sisbutby1837i ttoowasseeki nganswer stot hepr oblemswhi chwer e
rockingt he regi
me.Domai nr eformswer ecol or
edbyt hepar ticularl ocati
on,power ,
andweal thofeachi ndivi
dual daimy ōaswel lasbyhi sintel
l
igenceandi maginationas
aleader .Not wodomai nsanswer edt hepl easoft hepeopleint hesamemanner ,and
oftendomai nswhi chwer eadj acentorhadsomepr oductofsi gnificanceat tempt ed
to sealt heirborder s and pr otectt hei rown l i
veli
hoods r at hert han wor k with
neighbor s.Theshogundi dnothav ethel uxuryofj ustlookingt oi tsownv astl and
holdingsandsol vingt hepr oblemswi thini t
sownl ands.Hehadt r
iedt ocr eate
reformsi nsuchawayast ost aveof frev oltagainsthismuch- weakenedcent ral
author it
yandmai ntai nall
egianceoft hedai myō.
BothEdoanddomai nof fi
cial
sr ecogni zedt hatchangewasur gently
needed,butnei t
herwasal waysef fecti
veindr awi nguppol i
ci eswhi chmi ghtsol ve
thecr i
sis. Someoft heweal thierhan,whi chhadnotsuf feredsi gni f
icant l
yf r
om
agriculturaldisaster,managedt oimpl ementpol i
cieswhi chstr engthenedt heirpower .
Someoft heway si nwhi chal loft hehanat t
empt edt or eplenisht hei rdrained
treasuriesi ncludedbor rowingfrom orcut ti
ngt hest ipendsoft heirsamur ai,manyof
whom wer eessent iall
yunpr oductive;tryi
ngt or eclaim mor elandf orricecul ti
vation;
i
ncr easingt axes;andbol steri
ngexi sti
ngmonopol iesorcr eat i
ngnew onesi nsuch
product sofhi ghcashv al
ueascot ton, l
acquer,pot tery,sil
k,sugar ,paper, tobacco.I n
fact,someoft hi
sappear edt ostr engthenadai my ō'sposi ti
onbutof tendi dl i
ttl
ef or
thedi stressedpopul at
ionasawhol e.
Thebakuf
usuf
fer
edgr
eatl
ossest
oit
str
easur
yint
he1830sandhadv
eryl
i
ttl
eidea
ast ohow t ot ur
ni tslossesar ound.Al thoughmuchoft hel andownedbyt he
Tokugawaf amilywasl ocatednearEdo,somef i
efswer eatsomedi stancef r
om t he
capital
.Thesel andswer eadmi ni
steredbyTokugawabur eaucr atsorbybur eaucrats
oftrustedhan.I nbot hinstancesof fi
cialsloyaltotheTokugawawer er esponsiblefor
coll
ectingt axes.Ast het erri
bleweat herdest royedmor eoft her icecr opitbecame
hardert ocol l
ecttaxes.Al so,partoft heshogun' srolewast opr otecthispeopl eand
provider el
iefdur i
ngdesper atet i
mes.Hi sonlyrecour se,itseemed,wast odemand
mor ef rom hisownsamur aiandf rom t hedai myō.Hi sfinancialneedwasgr eat,for
hewasr equiredt oprovidef aminer eli
efandt axr eductionf ordest it
utepeasant s,
deployhi smi li
tarytoputdownt ownandv i
ll
ageriots,andt of indf oodsuppl i
esf or
hisci t
ies.Noneoft heseact ionswer epar t
icul
arl
yef f
ectiveandi nf acttendedt o
depletet hebakuf utr
easur yevenf urt
her .
By1841t hebakuf ubeganwhathassi ncebeencal ledt heTenpōRef orms.I nfact
thesewer ehar dlydramat ic.Ashadof tenbeent hecasei nthepastt heshogunsaw
i
mmor ali
tyast hecauseoft hecrisi
s.Heappl iedthet i
mewor nsol uti
onssuchas
curbi
ngi mmor alactivit
iesbydemandi ngt hatpeopl er ef
rai
nf r
om gambl ing,vi
siti
ng
prostit
utes,spendingonl uxuriessuchasar t
,clothi
ng, andhousehol dgoods.Heal so
prohibit
edtheev i
lsofent ertainmentandf estiv
al sandi ngeneraltri
edtocutbackon
spendinghabi tsoft hosewhohadany thinglefttospend.Toi ncreasethet r
easuryat
at i
mewhent axcollecti
onwasf al
l
ingandr i
cehadt obedi st
ri
butedt othepoor ,he
debasedt hecur r
ency ,for
cedt hemerchant stol oanmoney ,andbor r
owedf r
om his
ownsamur ai.
Oneext r
aor dinaryr eform whi cht hebakuf ui nsti
tutedwast heout l
awi ngof
monopol ies.Si ncet hedomai nshadmai ntainedmonopol i
est ot heiradv antagef or
somet i
meandt hiswasi mpor tanttothei rfinancialheal t
h,thiswasanunwel come
program.Si ncet heBr iti
shhadsuccessf ull
ydef eatedtheChi nesei nt heso- called
Opium War( 1840- 1842) ,t
heshogunhadbef orehi mt hest artl
inginformat i
onabout
superiorweaponr yandmi li
taryst r
ategyofaWest ernpower .Hewasqui tewor ried
aboutwhatt hecol l
apseofhi spower fulnei ghborwoul dmeanf orhisowncount ry
.
Hewasal ar medbyt hef actt hatshipsbr oughtr oundt hewor l
dandsol diersf i
ght ing
onf orei
gnshor escoul dmaket heChi nesekowt ow int heirownl andt of oreigner s
from afar.Theshogundet ermi nedthatbot hbakuf uandhanshoul dmoder nizet heir
defenses.I nf act,notmuchhappened.Justt hesame,atl eastt hebakuf ureal i
z ed
thatitwoul dneedt ost udyt heout fi
tti
ngofamoder nwar ship,learnaboutt hel atest
weaponr yt echnol ogy ,andt r yt orevi
vei tssamur aiinli
newi t
hWest ernnot ionsof
mi l
i
taryst r
at egyandt acti
cs.Thecoast alhanal sosaw t hepossi bl
ecr isi
sbr ewi ng
andsomeoft hem beganr ef ormsoft heirown.Someev enbegant olookt onon-
samur ai,
commoner s,tof orm par tsofthei rmi l
it
ar y.