Description
Book SynopsisExamining local politics in three Japanese domains (Yonezawa, Tokushima, and Hirosaki), this book shows how warlords adapted the theory and practice of warrior rule to the peacetime challenges of demographic change and rapid economic growth in the mid-Tokugawa period.
Trade Review"This fine piece of distinctive and creative scholarship substantially enhances our understanding of Tokugawa Japan. Ravina redefines the early modern Japanese polity in terms which enable better comparisons with European states in their transitions to unitary states in the nineteenth century. The book will stimulate considerable discussion, both for the idea of the 'compound state' it advances and for its new approach to the interpretation of the Meiji restoration." -William B. Hauser,University of Rochester
Table of ContentsList of tables and figures; List of maps; List of abbreviations; A note to the reader; Introduction; 1. Land and lordship: ideology and political practice in early modern Japan; 2. The nerves of the state: the political economy of Daimyo rule; 3. Profit and propriety: political economy in Yonezawa; 4. Land and labor: political economy in Hirosaki; 5. Markets and mercantilism: political economy in Tokushima; Conclusion; Appendix; Glossary; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
