Money, Trade, and Markets in Medieval Japan, 1150–1580
Money, Trade, and Markets in Medieval Japan, 1150–1580
- Ethan Isaac SegalEthan Isaac SegalMichigan State University
Summary
One way Japan’s medieval age distinguished itself from earlier eras was the increasing importance of money, markets, and commerce. Improvements in the agricultural sector (such as better farm tools, irrigation systems, and fertilizers) led to higher yields, which in turn supported a slowly growing population from the late 13th century and surpluses that could be sold in regional markets. At those markets people started using imported Chinese coins, which also replaced commodity forms of money in land transactions. The imperial court had initially opposed the use of Chinese cash in Japan, but eventually both the court and the new Kamakura warrior government came to embrace its use.
Although the Japanese government had no formal diplomatic relations with China or Korea in the early medieval period, merchants and Buddhist priests continued to move among the three countries. Merchants exchanged Japanese goods including gold, sulfur, and lumber for Chinese finished products, including porcelains, books, medicines, fabrics, and bronze coins. Pirates, generally based in small islands along Japan’s west coast, also plied the same seas, attacking Korean and Chinese coastal communities in the 13th and 14th centuries. But neither pirate attacks nor the Mongol invasions of Japan brought trade to a standstill.
Domestic commerce picked up in the 14th century as markets started to meet more frequently and tax payments were switched from in-kind to cash. Moneylenders provided credit (at interest), and bills-of-exchange facilitated the movement of large quantities of money from provincial estates to their centrally based proprietors. The third Ashikaga shogun re-established formal relations with Ming China, thereby facilitating tribute trade (as well as other types of official and private trade). In the late 15th and 16th centuries, as regional warlords (sengoku daimyo) became increasingly autonomous, they experimented with innovative ways to manage economic affairs in their territories. Overall, medieval Japan’s economy never achieved the high level of commercialization seen in the Tokugawa period. But the changes that occurred during these years were important in laying the groundwork for the active, early modern economy that developed in the 17th century.
Keywords
Subjects
- Economic/Business
- Japan