The Tenmei Great Famine (1/2)The biggest famine in the Edo period

Of the famines that occurred during the Edo period, the three most famous are the Kyoho Famine, the Tenmei Famine, and the Tenpo Famine. Of these, the Tenmei Famine, which caused particularly severe damage in the Tohoku region, lasted for a long time from 1782 to 1788. The Tenmei Famine is said to have been the most destructive of the three famines, with over 900,000 people dying of starvation, but it was also the cause of Tanuma Okitsugu's downfall and Matsudaira Sadanobu's Kansei Reforms. In this article, we will explain the Tenmei Famine in an easy-to-understand manner, including its political background.

The era of the Tenmei Great Famine

The Tenmei Famine was a severe famine that occurred from 1782 to 1788. It lasted through two shoguns, the 10th Tokugawa Ieshige and the 11th Tokugawa Ienari.

Tokugawa Ieshige, the father of Tokugawa Ieharu and the 9th Shogun, reinstated the chamberlain system and placed a high value on Tanuma Okitsugu. Ieshige was a sickly man, and is said to have suffered from what is now known as cerebral palsy. Ieshige could not speak clearly, and only his close aide, Ooka Tadamitsu, who later became a chamberlain, was able to understand what he was saying. When Ooka Tadamitsu died, Ieshige retired and handed over the position of Shogun to Ieshige.

When Ieshige retired, he advised Ieharu to continue to respect Okinobu. Ieharu accepted this advice, and Okinobu continued to hold real political power during Ieharu's reign. Meanwhile, Ieharu became absorbed in his hobbies, such as painting and Go.

Tanuma Okitsugu is often seen as a villain who accepted bribes and enriched himself, but he is now recognized as a politician who aimed to fundamentally reform the shogunate's financial difficulties, which were due to its reliance on taxes and its deficit, and who introduced anti-mercantilist policies that placed emphasis on commerce to create new sources of revenue.

By the way, bribes were a common communication tool in those days, like a "gift," and it is not the case that Okinobu was the only one who actively accepted them. In addition, the expenses for important positions in the shogunate, such as senior councilors, were basically paid out of pocket, so bribes were used to cover the expenses of performing the duties of a senior councilor. Matsudaira Sadanobu, who took over as senior councilor in place of Okinobu, is said to have not accepted bribes, but it is known that he actually bribed Okinobu.

Let's go back to the reforms that Okinagu implemented. Okinagu actively recognized the "Kabu nakama," a trade association made up of merchants and industrialists. Merchants and industrialists who joined a kabu nakama were able to obtain special privileges, such as exclusive rights to purchase and sell goods. However, in return, kabu nakama members had to pay "myokakin" and "unjokin," a type of tax, to the shogunate. Okinagu not only tried to collect taxes from farmers, but also from merchants.

In addition to developing new rice fields and flood control, Ienari also carried out various reforms, including the reclamation of Lake Inban to ensure water transportation from the Tone River to Edo, domestic production of ginseng and white sugar to promote industrial development, active trade with Nagasaki to develop Ezo, and the development of mines.

These measures proved successful, and the finances of the Edo Shogunate improved. Furthermore, during Oteno's reign, kabuki and ukiyo-e became popular, and Edo townspeople culture flourished. However, bribery was rampant, especially among merchants and samurai, and certain merchants were given preferential treatment, and personnel decisions were made based on bribery, resulting in commercial and political turmoil. Furthermore, the negative effects of placing too much emphasis on merchants led to impoverishment among farmers, who broke out in peasant uprisings, and common people who were angered by the favored merchants carried out riots. Farmers abandoned their farmland and flocked to cities, causing other problems such as fields becoming barren. Amidst all this, the Great Tenmei Famine occurred, centered in the Tohoku region.

Causes of the Tenmei Famine: 1. Harvest failure due to bad weather

The Tohoku region had experienced numerous famines due to poor harvests caused by cold weather. Especially during the Edo period, there were severe famines caused by poor harvests every few decades.

The main cause of cold damage that causes poor rice harvests in Tohoku is a particular cold northeasterly wind called "Yamase." From the rainy season through midsummer, the Yamase blows across the ocean and brings long periods of rain, which leads to low temperatures and lack of sunlight, resulting in severe poor rice harvests.

In the case of the Tenmei Famine, the year 2 of Tenmei (1782) was marked by a period of heavy rain and bad weather. Furthermore, the year 3 of Tenmei (1783) was a very cold summer caused by abnormally low temperatures, and according to records from the Tohoku region at the time, it was so cold that people wore winter clothes even in August. This cold summer led to a severe famine, which in turn led to the Tenmei Famine. The famine subsided the following year, but in the year 6 of Tenmei (1786), floods and cold damage caused another severe famine.

Cause of the Tenmei Great Famine 2. The eruption of Mount Asama

The second cause of the famine was the great eruption of Mount Asama on July 8, 1783 (August 5, 1783), known as the Tenmei Asama eruption. Mount Asama is an active volcano located on the border between Tsumagoi Village, Gunma Prefecture, and Karuizawa and Miyota Towns, Kitasaku County, Nagano Prefecture, with an elevation of 2,568m. It has erupted many times, and an eruption during the Nara period is described in the Nihon Shoki.

Mt. Asama's activity began to increase on April 9, 1783, with violent explosions and continuous eruptions, causing ash to rain down. Despite periods of rest, the eruptions gradually became more intense, and from July 7 to 8, a major explosion occurred, sending up a huge column of smoke, the sound of which could be heard as far as Kyoto.

The explosions repeatedly caused pyroclastic flows, and on July 8th, the Kamahara Debris Avalanche (there are various theories, such as the Kamahara pyroclastic flow or the Kamahara debris avalanche) occurred, engulfing the village of Kamahara (Tsumagoi village, Gunma prefecture), killing about 450 people. Villages in Naganohara town were also buried, and it is said that more than 1,500 people died in about 55 villages in the surrounding area alone.

The Kamahara debris avalanche then flowed into the Agatsuma River, turning into the Tenmei mudflow, which then flowed into the Tone River, causing flooding and other damage in the surrounding areas. The mudflow eventually reached the mouth of the Edo River.

In addition to these direct effects, the volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Asama had a widespread impact. The ash was scattered mainly throughout the Kanto region and fell on crops. About 3cm of volcanic ash accumulated in Edo, and the ash reached as far as Rikuchu Coast (the Pacific coast of Iwate Prefecture), more than 400km away from Mt. Asama. Furthermore, the volcanic ash blocked out sunlight. The volcanic ash turned the sky pitch black, causing crops to lack sunlight. In addition, the drop in temperature caused by the volcanic ash caused further cold damage.

In 1786, the entire Tone River basin flooded due to the rise in the riverbed caused by accumulated volcanic ash and a large amount of soil from a landslide (Tenmei flood). Muddy water flowed into the city of Edo.

In addition, in March, shortly before Mount Asama erupted, Mount Iwaki (1,625 meters above sea level, in the southwestern part of the Tsugaru Plain, Aomori Prefecture) experienced a major eruption in the Tohoku region, and volcanic ash from this eruption also caused great damage in the Tohoku region, exacerbating the famine.

Tenmei famine killed more than 900,000 people and caused epidemics

It is believed that over 900,000 people died of starvation during the Tenmei Famine. According to a census of the Edo period, the population was 26.01 million in 1780 (An'ei 9), but by 1786 (Tenmei 6), it had dropped to a whopping 25.09 million. In particular, in the Tohoku region, it is estimated that approximately 300,000 people died of starvation in the two years from 1783 (Tenmei 3) to the following year.