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*''Japanese'': 石高 ''(kokudaka)''
''Kokudaka'' was a measure of the agricultural production of a ''daimyô'' domain, or "''[[han]]''," expressed as a measure of ''[[koku]]'' of rice. As a representation of the domain's wealth, ''kokudaka'' determined the amount of the domain's tax obligations to the shogunate, and the domain's status relative to other domains.
The smallest ''daimyô'' domains, by definition, possessed at least 10,000 ''koku'', while some samurai retainers might be granted sub-domains within a ''han'', with a much smaller rating in ''koku''. Most ''han'' were officially assessed at a ''kokudaka'' in the range of 10,000 to 200,000 ''koku'', though the ''kokudaka'' of the most powerful domains exceeded 500,000 ''koku''.
This figure, though ostensibly based on the actual agricultural production of the domain's territory, often did not change over the course of the period. A domain's ''kokudaka'' might be changed as a political reward or punishment, but the shogunate did not engage in regular surveys of agricultural production, and did not update domains' ''kokudaka'' on the basis of their production.
Multiple different figures for the ''kokudaka'' thus often existed simultaneously for a single domain. The official figure determined and recognized by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and used as a marker or indicator of the domain's wealth and status can be referred to as ''omotedaka'' (表高), using the character ''omote'', meaning "official," "surface," or "outside." Meanwhile, nearly all domains maintained their own internal figures for agricultural production, called ''uchidaka'' (内高), using the character ''uchi'', meaning "inside" or "internal." The ''uchidaka'' was often a higher figure, more regularly assessed and more accurately reflecting increases and expansions of agricultural productivity within the domain. It was generally in the best interests of the domain to not report the higher figure, and to allow the ''omotedaka'' recognized by the shogunate to remain at a lower figure, since this meant lower tax payments owed by the domain to the shogunate; though this seems deceitful or deceptive, such behavior was widely condoned by the shogunate, as part of the philosophy of [[omote and uchi|''omote'' and ''uchi'']], allowing internal matters to remain relatively private, so long as a domain's obligations on the official, external level were properly observed.
==Examples of ''Omotedaka''==
*[[Kaga han]] - 1,000,000 ''koku''
*[[Satsuma han]] - 770,000 ''koku''
*[[Hiroshima han]] - originally 498,000 ''koku'', later 426,500 ''koku''
*[[Morioka han]] - 100,000 ''koku'', doubled to 200,000 in [[1808]] in recognition of its contributions to the defense of the realm
*[[Tsushima han]] - 100,000 ''koku'', due to its great diplomatic & commercial importance, despite actual agricultural production closer to one-tenth that figure
*[[Matsumae han]] - the only ''han'' with no official ''kokudaka''
*[[Hitoyoshi han]] ([[Higo province]]) - 22,000 ''koku''
*[[Tahara han]] ([[Mikawa province]]) - 12,000 ''koku''
==References==
*''Edo daimyô hyakke'' 江戸大名百家. ''Bessatsu Taiyô'' 別冊太陽. Spring 1978.
*[[Luke Roberts|Roberts, Luke]]. ''Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan''. University of Hawaii Press, 2012. p54.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
''Kokudaka'' was a measure of the agricultural production of a ''daimyô'' domain, or "''[[han]]''," expressed as a measure of ''[[koku]]'' of rice. As a representation of the domain's wealth, ''kokudaka'' determined the amount of the domain's tax obligations to the shogunate, and the domain's status relative to other domains.
The smallest ''daimyô'' domains, by definition, possessed at least 10,000 ''koku'', while some samurai retainers might be granted sub-domains within a ''han'', with a much smaller rating in ''koku''. Most ''han'' were officially assessed at a ''kokudaka'' in the range of 10,000 to 200,000 ''koku'', though the ''kokudaka'' of the most powerful domains exceeded 500,000 ''koku''.
This figure, though ostensibly based on the actual agricultural production of the domain's territory, often did not change over the course of the period. A domain's ''kokudaka'' might be changed as a political reward or punishment, but the shogunate did not engage in regular surveys of agricultural production, and did not update domains' ''kokudaka'' on the basis of their production.
Multiple different figures for the ''kokudaka'' thus often existed simultaneously for a single domain. The official figure determined and recognized by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and used as a marker or indicator of the domain's wealth and status can be referred to as ''omotedaka'' (表高), using the character ''omote'', meaning "official," "surface," or "outside." Meanwhile, nearly all domains maintained their own internal figures for agricultural production, called ''uchidaka'' (内高), using the character ''uchi'', meaning "inside" or "internal." The ''uchidaka'' was often a higher figure, more regularly assessed and more accurately reflecting increases and expansions of agricultural productivity within the domain. It was generally in the best interests of the domain to not report the higher figure, and to allow the ''omotedaka'' recognized by the shogunate to remain at a lower figure, since this meant lower tax payments owed by the domain to the shogunate; though this seems deceitful or deceptive, such behavior was widely condoned by the shogunate, as part of the philosophy of [[omote and uchi|''omote'' and ''uchi'']], allowing internal matters to remain relatively private, so long as a domain's obligations on the official, external level were properly observed.
==Examples of ''Omotedaka''==
*[[Kaga han]] - 1,000,000 ''koku''
*[[Satsuma han]] - 770,000 ''koku''
*[[Hiroshima han]] - originally 498,000 ''koku'', later 426,500 ''koku''
*[[Morioka han]] - 100,000 ''koku'', doubled to 200,000 in [[1808]] in recognition of its contributions to the defense of the realm
*[[Tsushima han]] - 100,000 ''koku'', due to its great diplomatic & commercial importance, despite actual agricultural production closer to one-tenth that figure
*[[Matsumae han]] - the only ''han'' with no official ''kokudaka''
*[[Hitoyoshi han]] ([[Higo province]]) - 22,000 ''koku''
*[[Tahara han]] ([[Mikawa province]]) - 12,000 ''koku''
==References==
*''Edo daimyô hyakke'' 江戸大名百家. ''Bessatsu Taiyô'' 別冊太陽. Spring 1978.
*[[Luke Roberts|Roberts, Luke]]. ''Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan''. University of Hawaii Press, 2012. p54.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
