Changes

Japanese demand for silk was such that in the brief period of roughly 1590-1640, when Japanese overseas activity was at its peak, Japanese purchases of silk in the Vietnamese port of [[Hoi An]] were of such a great volume that they caused dramatic cyclical swings in market prices, frustrating the [[VOC|Dutch]], who were left with less volume available for purchase, and at much higher prices.<ref>Tana Li, ''Nguyễn Cochinchina: Southern Vietnam in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'', Cornell University Press (1998), 63.; Robert L. Innes, "The Door Ajar: Japan's Foreign Trade in the Seventeenth Century," PhD dissertation, University of Michigan (1980), 187-188.</ref>

Japanese demand for silk was such that in the brief period of roughly 1590-1640, when Japanese overseas activity was at its peak, Japanese purchases of silk in the Vietnamese port of [[Hoi An]] were of such a great volume that they caused dramatic cyclical swings in market prices, frustrating the [[VOC|Dutch]], who were left with less volume available for purchase, and at much higher prices.<ref>Tana Li, ''Nguyễn Cochinchina: Southern Vietnam in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'', Cornell University Press (1998), 63.; Robert L. Innes, "The Door Ajar: Japan's Foreign Trade in the Seventeenth Century," PhD dissertation, University of Michigan (1980), 187-188.</ref>

In the 17th century, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] tested out a variety of policies in efforts to stem the tide of silver exports. The [[1655]] abolition of the ''[[itowappu]]'' silk monopoly, established in [[1604]], was one such effort, but it backfired; the free competition that emerged after the dissolution of the monopoly caused silk prices to rise, which only served to increase the amount of silver leaving the country for the same amount of imported silk.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 52.</ref>

In the 17th century, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] tested out a variety of policies in efforts to stem the tide of silver exports. The [[1655]] abolition of the ''[[itowappu]]'' silk monopoly, established in [[1604]], was one such effort, but it backfired; the free competition that emerged after the dissolution of the monopoly caused silk prices to rise, which only served to increase the amount of silver leaving the country for the same amount of imported silk.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 52.</ref> During this time, Japanese domestic weaving techniques were inferior to those in China, or elsewhere in the region, and so imported Chinese and Southeast Asian silk remained in high demand. Bans and restrictions on castle expansions & repairs, and on other forms of military spending, caused the ''daimyô'' to divert even more of their funds into fancy garments, whether as a means of displaying wealth and status, or out of simple desire and fashion taste.<ref name=ikegami254>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 254.</ref>

 

Restrictions on the export of precious metals, the decline in mining outputs for export, and the rise of domestic silk production combined to cause a dramatic drop in the importation of silk in the early decades of the 18th century. Whereas 110,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kin]]'' of silk (145,200 lbs or 66,000 kg) were imported in 1641, only 40,000 ''kin'' was imported in 1711, and only 10,000 in 1716.<ref name=ikegami254/>

==Domestic Production==

==Domestic Production==