Editing Module:Tenpō (section)

==Tenpō Reforms==

As the Tokugawa era drew to a close, a major reform was exerted called the Tenpō Reforms (1841–1843), primarily instituted by [[Mizuno Tadakuni]], a dominant leader in the shogunate. The reforms were economic policies introduced prominently to resolve fiscal issues mainly caused by the Great Tenpō famine, and to revisit more traditional aspects of the Japanese economy. For the samurai, these reforms were meant to spur them to return to their roots of education and military arts. The samurai aimed for change within the status quo itself. There was a stringency amongst all classes of people, and at this time, travel was regulated (especially for farmers, who were meant to remain at home and work their fields) and trade relations crumbled. This, in turn, caused various goods to lower in price.<ref>Lu, David J. (1997). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xJxf1W74XSoC&q=tempo+reforms ''Japan: A Documentary History'', pg. 273]</ref> Under Mizuno's leadership, the reforms brought about the following: "Moral reform, the encouragement of frugality and retrenchment, recoinage, forced loans from wealthy merchant houses, and the cancellation of samurai debts".<ref name="Hauser, William B. 1974 p. 54">Hauser, William B. (1974). [https://books.google.com/books?id=g409hVldA4cC&q=tempo+reforms Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan: Osaka and the Kinai Cotton Trade, p. 54]</ref> In addition, the [[bakufu]] met with fierce objection when land transfers were impressed upon the ''[[daimyō]]s'' in an attempt to reinforce the reach of influence and authority that remained of the Tokugawa government.<ref>Hauser, William B. (1974). [https://books.google.com/books?id=g409hVldA4cC&q=tempo+reforms ''Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan: Osaka and the Kinai Cotton Trade'', p. 55]</ref>

Though the reforms largely ended in failure, the introduction of economical change during this period is seen as the initial approach leading ultimately to the modernization of Japan's economy.<ref name="Hauser, William B. 1974 p. 54"/>