Changes

The demand for the root was so high that fights and other incidents regularly erupted between people lining up at the Tsushima han mansion to buy some of the limited supply of ginseng, prompting the shogunate in [[1690]] to order the domain to begin only selling the root through pre-orders. The lords of Tsushima were able also to take advantage of the perceived necessity of a regular influx of ginseng, leveraging it for concessions or the like from the shogunate. In [[1700]], the shogunate's debasement of [[silver]] [[currency]] combined with decreased ginseng production in Korea to effectively double the cost of importing ginseng. Tsushima's complaints resulted in the domain being granted a loan of 15,000 ''ryô'' to purchase additional ginseng, as well as an increase in the amount of imports they were allowed to sell in Edo, from 1,080 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kan]]'' (value as measured in silver) to 1,800 ''kan''. Finally, after the shogunate further debased the coinage in [[1706]], producing ingots that were now only 50% silver, Tsushima requested permission to specially mint 80% pure ingots specifically for use in trade with Korea; permission for this was granted in [[1711]], considerably alleviating Tsushima's financial & trade difficulties.

The demand for the root was so high that fights and other incidents regularly erupted between people lining up at the Tsushima han mansion to buy some of the limited supply of ginseng, prompting the shogunate in [[1690]] to order the domain to begin only selling the root through pre-orders. The lords of Tsushima were able also to take advantage of the perceived necessity of a regular influx of ginseng, leveraging it for concessions or the like from the shogunate. In [[1700]], the shogunate's debasement of [[silver]] [[currency]] combined with decreased ginseng production in Korea to effectively double the cost of importing ginseng. Tsushima's complaints resulted in the domain being granted a loan of 15,000 ''ryô'' to purchase additional ginseng, as well as an increase in the amount of imports they were allowed to sell in Edo, from 1,080 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kan]]'' (value as measured in silver) to 1,800 ''kan''. Finally, after the shogunate further debased the coinage in [[1706]], producing ingots that were now only 50% silver, Tsushima requested permission to specially mint 80% pure ingots specifically for use in trade with Korea; permission for this was granted in [[1711]], considerably alleviating Tsushima's financial & trade difficulties.

[[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]], seeking to stem the tide of silver flowing out of the country, initiated a series of programs to encourage domestic production of ginseng, among other products. It soon came to be produced in many regions throughout the archipelago, [[Matsue han]] and the area around [[Nikko|Nikkô]] being just two prominent sites of production. In [[1718]], Yoshimune had Tsushima officials gather information about Chinese and Korean plants, animal materials, and other medicinal products. Samples of Korean ginseng obtained via Tsushima were then used to facilitate domestic production. Yoshimune also had officials in [[Nagasaki]] interview [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese]] and [[VOC|Dutch]] merchants about such materials, and in [[1722]] commissioned a comprehensive survey of the flora and fauna already prevalent in Japan, all the way from [[Ezo]] to Nagasaki, an undertaking which was not completed until over thirty years later, in [[1753]].<ref>Hellyer, 68.</ref>

[[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]], seeking to stem the tide of silver flowing out of the country, initiated a series of programs to encourage domestic production of ginseng, among other products. It soon came to be produced in many regions throughout the archipelago, the area around [[Nikko|Nikkô]] being just one prominent site of production. In [[1718]], Yoshimune had Tsushima officials gather information about Chinese and Korean plants, animal materials, and other medicinal products. Samples of Korean ginseng obtained via Tsushima were then used to facilitate domestic production. Yoshimune also had officials in [[Nagasaki]] interview [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese]] and [[VOC|Dutch]] merchants about such materials, and in [[1722]] commissioned a comprehensive survey of the flora and fauna already prevalent in Japan, all the way from [[Ezo]] to Nagasaki, an undertaking which was not completed until over thirty years later, in [[1753]].<ref>Hellyer, 68.</ref>

In the 1740s, Chinese merchants at Nagasaki began to introduce "Canton ginseng" into the market. Though popular among customers, many Japanese physicians and botanists were skeptical, questioning why Japanese should rely upon it to have medicinal qualities when the Chinese didn't grow it nor use it themselves. Rather, this was a foreign variety grown and harvested by Native Americans, who did not use it for anything but only sold it to Europeans, who then in turn sold it at [[Canton]]. By [[1763]], these Japanese scholars convinced the shogunate to ban the import of this inferior variety.<ref>Hellyer, 74-75.</ref>

In the 1740s, Chinese merchants at Nagasaki began to introduce "Canton ginseng" into the market. Though popular among customers, many Japanese physicians and botanists were skeptical, questioning why Japanese should rely upon it to have medicinal qualities when the Chinese didn't grow it nor use it themselves. Rather, this was a foreign variety grown and harvested by Native Americans, who did not use it for anything but only sold it to Europeans, who then in turn sold it at [[Canton]]. By [[1763]], these Japanese scholars convinced the shogunate to ban the import of this inferior variety;<ref>Hellyer, 74-75.</ref> the ban only lasted until [[1788]], however.<ref>Hellyer, 118.</ref>

 

Several domains had begun to cultivate and export high-quality ginseng by the 1840s, including [[Matsue han]] and [[Aizu han]]; right at the end of the Edo period, in the 1860s, [[Kumamoto han]] also began exporting high-quality ginseng.<ref>Hellyer, 121.</ref>

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