Kansei Reforms
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The Kansei Reforms (寛政の改革 Kansei no kaikaku?) were a series of reactionary policy changes and edicts which were intended to cure a range of perceived problems which had developed in mid-18th century Tokugawa Japan.[1]
Matsudaira Sadanobu was named the Shogun's chief councilor (rōjū) in the summer of 1787; and early in the next year, he became the regent for the 11th shogun, Tokugawa Ienari.[2] As the chief administrative decision-maker in the bakufuan hierarchy, he was in a position to effect radical change; and his initial actions represented an aggressive break with the recent past.
Sadanobu's efforts were focused on strengthening the Edo government by reversing many of the policies and practices which had become commonplace under the regime of the previous shogun, Tokugawa Ieharu. The broad panoply of changes and new initiatives became known as the Kansei Reforms.
Sadanobu's policies could be interpreted as a reactionary response to the execesses of his rōju precedessor, Tanuma Okitsugu.[3] The result was that Tanuma-initiated, liberalizing reforms within the bakufu and relaxing the strictures of sakoku (Japan's "closed-door policy of excluding all foreigners) were reversed or blocked.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ In the name "Kansei Reforms," the noun "Ōnin" refers to the nengō (Japanese era name) after "Tenmei" and before "Kyōwa." In other words, the Kansei Reforms occurred during Kansei, which was a time period spanning the years from 1789 through 1801.
- ^ Totman, Conrad. Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988, p. 224
- ^ Hall, J. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan, 1719-1788. pp. 131-142.
- ^ Screech, T. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, pp. 148-151, 163-170, 248.
- Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan, 1719-1788. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1720-X
- Totman, Conrad. (1967). Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600-1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-6746-8800-7 [reprinted by University of California Press, Berkely, 1988. ISBN 0-5200-6313-9]
