Changes

*''Japanese'': 宗門改 ''(shuumon aratame)''

*''Japanese'': 宗門改 ''(shuumon aratame)''

''Shûmon aratame'' were [[Edo period]] records of religious affiliation which historians find useful as something akin to census information. The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] required all subjects to officially register with a Buddhist temple, and also that every year every head of household had to report to his village headman or equivalent official that no one in his family was a [[Christianity|Christian]]. As each village headman or other local/regional official reported in, each domain totaled the figures, and recorded a total number of people in the domain.  

''Shûmon aratame'' were [[Edo period]] records of religious affiliation which historians find useful as something akin to census information. The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] required all subjects to officially register with a Buddhist temple, and also that every year every head of household had to report to his village headman or equivalent official that no one in his family was a [[Christianity|Christian]]. As each village headman or other local/regional official reported in, each domain totaled the figures, and recorded a total number of people in the domain. These are not necessarily always reliable indicators, however, of actual religious belief or affiliation, as many people are known to have simply registered with the nearest Buddhist temple, rather than necessarily with one of any particular sect or denomination with which they associated.<ref>Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 30.</ref>

Given that population surveys [[Tokugawa population surveys|performed by the shogunate]] or by individual domains more explicitly conducted to serve that purpose were infrequent or inconsistent, and do not necessarily include people of all ages and from all classes of society, the ''shûmon aratame'' records serve as a useful supplementary source for determining population figures. The ''shûmon aratame'' also provide a somewhat different perspective on domain population as they include people associated with the domain resident outside of the domain temporarily or long-term, such as retainers on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' attendance in [[Edo]], or merchants active in [[Osaka]], whereas other population surveys might more strictly reflect people actually resident in the domain at that time.

Given that population surveys [[Tokugawa population surveys|performed by the shogunate]] or by individual domains more explicitly conducted to serve that purpose were infrequent or inconsistent, and do not necessarily include people of all ages and from all classes of society, the ''shûmon aratame'' records serve as a useful supplementary source for determining population figures. The ''shûmon aratame'' also provide a somewhat different perspective on domain population as they include people associated with the domain resident outside of the domain temporarily or long-term, such as retainers on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' attendance in [[Edo]], or merchants active in [[Osaka]], whereas other population surveys might more strictly reflect people actually resident in the domain at that time.