Changes

*''Japanese'': 明礬 ''(myouban)''

*''Japanese'': 明礬 ''(myouban)'', 白礬 ''(hakuban)''

Alum is a material used for a variety of purposes. During the [[Edo period]], it was a major import from Southeast Asia, via China and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]], and was prominent among the goods given as gifts or [[tribute]] from the [[So clan|Sô clan]] lords of [[Tsushima han]] to the king of [[Joseon|Korea]]. It is used in the brewing of [[sake|saké]] to make the liquor more easily transportable, and was mixed with [[nikawa|hide glue]], to produce ''dôsa'', with which book covers were burnished to protect them from damage.

Alum is a material used for a variety of purposes. During the [[Edo period]], it was a major import from Southeast Asia, via China and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]], and was prominent among the goods given as gifts or [[tribute]] from the [[So clan|Sô clan]] lords of [[Tsushima han]] to the king of [[Joseon|Korea]]. It is used in the brewing of [[sake|saké]] to make the liquor more easily transportable, and was mixed with [[nikawa|hide glue]], to produce ''dôsa'', with which book covers were burnished to protect them from damage. Alum was also vital to certain processes of textile dyeing, and was used for example in the production of ''[[bingata]]'' textiles in Ryûkyû.<ref>Buyun Chen, "The Craft of Color and the Chemistry of Dyes: Textile Technology in the Ryukyu Kingdom, 1700–1900," ''Technology and Culture'' 63:1 (January 2022), 96.</ref>

A shogunate clearinghouse, or ''kaisho'', was established in [[1758]] to oversee the sale and distribution of alum throughout the realm. Offices in [[Edo]], [[Sakai]], [[Kyoto]], and [[Osaka]] bought up all the alum in the domestic market, and organized its resale. In [[1782]], an additional office was opened in [[Nagasaki]], where shogunal officials could then manage the import and distribution of alum coming in from Chinese merchants, and from Ryûkyû.

A shogunate clearinghouse, or ''kaisho'', was established in [[1758]] to oversee the sale and distribution of alum throughout the realm. Offices in [[Edo]], [[Sakai]], [[Kyoto]], and [[Osaka]] bought up all the alum in the domestic market, and organized its resale. In [[1782]], an additional office was opened in [[Nagasaki]], where shogunal officials could then manage the import and distribution of alum coming in from Chinese merchants, and from Ryûkyû.

==References==

==References==

*[[John Whitney Hall]], ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 78.

*[[John Whitney Hall]], ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 78.

[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Economics]]