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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with "*''Birth: 1719'' *''Death: 1788'' *''Titles: Tairô (1767/7-1786/8/27)'' *''Japanese'': 田沼意次 ''(Tanuma Okitsugu)'' Tanuma Okitsugu serve..."
*''Birth: [[1719]]''
*''Death: [[1788]]''
*''Titles: [[Tairo|Tairô]] ([[1767]]/7-[[1786]]/8/27)''
*''Japanese'': [[田沼]]意次 ''(Tanuma Okitsugu)''
Tanuma Okitsugu served as [[Tairo|Tairô]] from [[1767]] to [[1786]]. Though Tanuma is generally remembered as a terribly corrupt official, [[John Whitney Hall]] emphasizes his contributions to the expansion of trade through expansion of government control over it, going so far as to suggest that his programs might have led Japan towards industrializing earlier. Hall places the blame for Japan's economic and military weakness in the 19th century on the conservative policies of Tanuma's successor, [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]].<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 103, citing Hall, ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 57-60, 86.</ref>
==Early Life and Career==
He was named senior councilor on [[1722]]/1/15.
==As Tairô==
Tanuma's time as Tairô is generally associated with political corruption, especially in the form of bribes, and with rampant inflation, and widespread moral decay.
In the 1770s, Tanuma provided [[Tsushima han]] with sizable monetary loans and grants on a number of occasions, eventually putting into place an annual grant of 12,000 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' which helped the domain accommodate for the decline in the Korea trade caused by continued debasement of [[silver]] coinage and expansion of domestic production of [[ginseng]] and other goods which drove down the demand for imports; the domain would continue to be paid this grant every year until [[1862]].
In [[1785]], he established clearinghouses in [[Hakodate]], [[Edo]], [[Osaka]], and [[Shimonoseki]] which oversaw the collection and transportation of [[marine products]] to [[Nagasaki]] for export; as with similar steps taken in other industries where the shogunate established or reorganized ''[[za]]'' trade associations, this did not push private merchants out of the business, but rather made them into something akin to government contractors, placing the operations of that business under more direct government oversight, in the hopes of stemming fluctuations, smuggling, and other problems.
The [[1783]] eruption of [[Mt. Asama]], combined with the nearly ten-year-long [[Great Tenmei Famine]], were widely seen as symbols that the country was in need of serious change and a return to virtuous leadership. Tanuma was ousted from power in 1786, and replaced as Tairô by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
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==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
*''Death: [[1788]]''
*''Titles: [[Tairo|Tairô]] ([[1767]]/7-[[1786]]/8/27)''
*''Japanese'': [[田沼]]意次 ''(Tanuma Okitsugu)''
Tanuma Okitsugu served as [[Tairo|Tairô]] from [[1767]] to [[1786]]. Though Tanuma is generally remembered as a terribly corrupt official, [[John Whitney Hall]] emphasizes his contributions to the expansion of trade through expansion of government control over it, going so far as to suggest that his programs might have led Japan towards industrializing earlier. Hall places the blame for Japan's economic and military weakness in the 19th century on the conservative policies of Tanuma's successor, [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]].<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 103, citing Hall, ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 57-60, 86.</ref>
==Early Life and Career==
He was named senior councilor on [[1722]]/1/15.
==As Tairô==
Tanuma's time as Tairô is generally associated with political corruption, especially in the form of bribes, and with rampant inflation, and widespread moral decay.
In the 1770s, Tanuma provided [[Tsushima han]] with sizable monetary loans and grants on a number of occasions, eventually putting into place an annual grant of 12,000 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' which helped the domain accommodate for the decline in the Korea trade caused by continued debasement of [[silver]] coinage and expansion of domestic production of [[ginseng]] and other goods which drove down the demand for imports; the domain would continue to be paid this grant every year until [[1862]].
In [[1785]], he established clearinghouses in [[Hakodate]], [[Edo]], [[Osaka]], and [[Shimonoseki]] which oversaw the collection and transportation of [[marine products]] to [[Nagasaki]] for export; as with similar steps taken in other industries where the shogunate established or reorganized ''[[za]]'' trade associations, this did not push private merchants out of the business, but rather made them into something akin to government contractors, placing the operations of that business under more direct government oversight, in the hopes of stemming fluctuations, smuggling, and other problems.
The [[1783]] eruption of [[Mt. Asama]], combined with the nearly ten-year-long [[Great Tenmei Famine]], were widely seen as symbols that the country was in need of serious change and a return to virtuous leadership. Tanuma was ousted from power in 1786, and replaced as Tairô by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
