MayraGarcia_Tokugagwa_Project

=Tokugawa Period Economy;=

To aid economic growth, the Tokugawa government established a monetary system, with standardized coins, by this system simplified trade among regions of the country.

 [|Samurai] class was officially the highest social rank in the Tokugawa class system [|Merchants] class was the lowest in the Tokugawa social structure.



Merchants from Holland and the Middle East trading.
The samurai, whose incomes were still paid in fixed amounts of rice, had to trade their rice for cash with the Merchants. The Merchants controlled this exchange. Merchants were benefited greatly from the period's economic growth and rapid urbanization, growing prosperous and powerful during the period. The Samurai became increasingly indebted to Merchants, whom they browed from to maintain an upper class lifestyle they could no longer afford.

The merchants class created a new style of life and art, showing off their wealth and power, enjoying the theater, boating parties on city waterways, and frequenting restaurants and teahouse.

The Tokugawa shogunate established policies and practices that allowed for a remarkable period of peace and prosperity. Its policies also undermined the power of the samurai class and unintentionally provided an opportunity for the lowly Merchant class to emerge as a dominant force in the shaping of Japan's urban culture.

Farmers who made up to 90 percent of the population, became increasingly well off during the period. As more land was made available for agriculture, farming techniques improved, and food production grew. As cities developed and expanded, the urban demand for goods other than food allowed farmers to produce silk and other products in small scale rural factories. Artisans supplied the skilled labor to build the great castle towns and to maintain and build the roads, bridges, buildings, and infrastructure of an urbanizing society.