Changes

*mibunsei, four classes of society, rise of merchant class, decline of samurai (warrior class in a peaceful time)

*mibunsei, four classes of society, rise of merchant class, decline of samurai (warrior class in a peaceful time)

The population of the archipelago at the beginning of the Tokugawa period is estimated at roughly 18 million people, expanding to around 30 million by around 1750. The population fluctuated but did not grow significantly after that; records from [[1872]] indicate a population of 33.1 million.<ref name=brief133>Schirokauer, et al., 133.</ref>

The population of the archipelago at the beginning of the Tokugawa period is estimated at roughly 18 million people, expanding to around 30 million by around 1750. The population fluctuated but did not grow significantly after that; records from [[1872]] indicate a population of 33.1 million.<ref name=brief133>Schirokauer, et al., 133.</ref> Many historians once attributed this stagnation in population growth to Malthusian causes, suggesting that the archipelago had reached the maximum it could support given the level of agricultural technology, etc., available at that time. Beginning in the 1970s, scholars such as [[Thomas Smith]], [[Susan Hanley]], and [[Hayami Akira]] argued that, instead, it was conscious social efforts at population control, including [[infanticide]], later marriage, and abortion, undertaken not as a desperate response to extreme poverty, but out of a recognition of the need to have small families in order to preserve a certain level of quality of life, which caused this leveling-out of the population growth curve. Some have suggested, however, that while such an explanation may be appropriate for some regions, or some classes of society, it cannot necessarily hold true across the board.<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (2002), 62.</ref>

Samurai are believed to have comprised, during the Edo period, roughly six percent of the population of the archipelago, while merchants or townsmen (''chônin'') comprised another 7-8%, and peasants or villagers (''hyakushô'') the remaining 87% or so.<ref name=craig71/> Government work was the chief avenue seen as an honorable path for samurai, while most forms of merchant or artisan (craftsman/manufacture) work, as well as agricultural labor, were seen as being beneath them, unfitting for someone of samurai status. Since samurai were so numerous, however, and there were only so many government positions, by [[1705]], it is believed that roughly one-quarter of the shogun's vassals were unemployed.<ref>Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p.xii.</ref>

Samurai are believed to have comprised, during the Edo period, roughly six percent of the population of the archipelago, while merchants or townsmen (''chônin'') comprised another 7-8%, and peasants or villagers (''hyakushô'') the remaining 87% or so.<ref name=craig71/> Government work was the chief avenue seen as an honorable path for samurai, while most forms of merchant or artisan (craftsman/manufacture) work, as well as agricultural labor, were seen as being beneath them, unfitting for someone of samurai status. Since samurai were so numerous, however, and there were only so many government positions, by [[1705]], it is believed that roughly one-quarter of the shogun's vassals were unemployed.<ref>Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p.xii.</ref>

Education was widespread in Tokugawa Japan, with every domain maintaining samurai schools both in the domain, and at their [[daimyo yashiki|mansions in Edo]], by the end of the 18th century; temple schools for commoners, called ''[[terakoya]]'', were also quite numerous, and private academies began to sprout up in significant numbers in the early 19th century. Many of these schools employed the [[Thousand Character Classic]] as a model for learning and practicing characters (''[[kanji]]''), alongside a number of other texts for moral education. As a result, Tokugawa Japan enjoyed a higher level of literacy than most other parts of the world, with some estimates indicating that as many as 40-50% of men, and 15-20% of women, were literate.<ref>Albert Craig, 88.</ref>

Education was widespread in Tokugawa Japan, with every domain maintaining samurai schools both in the domain, and at their [[daimyo yashiki|mansions in Edo]], by the end of the 18th century; temple schools for commoners, called ''[[terakoya]]'', were also quite numerous, and private academies began to sprout up in significant numbers in the early 19th century. Many of these schools employed the [[Thousand Character Classic]] as a model for learning and practicing characters (''[[kanji]]''), alongside a number of other texts for moral education. As a result, Tokugawa Japan enjoyed a higher level of literacy than most other parts of the world, with some estimates indicating that as many as 40-50% of men, and 15-20% of women, were literate.<ref>Albert Craig, 88.</ref>

==References==

==References==

*[[Conrad Schirokauer|Schirokauer, Conrad]], et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013).

*[[Conrad Schirokauer|Schirokauer, Conrad]], et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013).

*[[Ronald Toby|Toby, Ronald]]. ''State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

*[[Ronald Toby|Toby, Ronald]]. ''State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

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