The True Reason Why Samurai were Paid with Rice #Shorts

Did you know that during the Edo period (1603-1868), samurai were paid their salaries with rice? Even the rank of that samurai was expressed by how much rice they were paid. But why rice? Was Japan so behind in time that it didn’t even use money? No, of course not, we had a currency from that time too. This was a clever strategy by the Shogunate (samurai government).

Tokugawa Ieyasu who established the Edo period (1603-1868) saw the former leaders (Nobunaga and Hideyoshi) fail to rule Japan because of money problems. He realized that in order to establish a long period of peace, he couldn’t let the people own too much money.

He taught the people that earning lots of money is a vulgar/vile act (through neo-Confucianism), and kept the merchants who were financially prosperous in the lowest rank in society. They paid the samurai who were in the top social rank with rice so that they could not save the salaries they were given and get rich.

The more I study about Ieyasu and the Edo period, the more I think it’s really interesting.

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*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects

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“To make every Japan lovers’ dream come true, by making Japan a more secure, comfortable, and safer place for everyone to visit, study, and live in”

I will be using the profit I gain from this channel at restaurants, hotels, and cultural facilities in Kyoto to introduce them. The more you watch the videos on this channel, Kyoto and Japan will become a more exciting place, and you can support your own and others’ dreams in the future even more.

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The perfect channel to learn about Japanese culture and history in your spare time, during your walk to school or work, and when you are cooking or doing house chores.

Not only will I be covering the topics in this main channel, but also some topics that you will only be able to enjoy in the sub-channel, like answering questions I receive, and my opinions towards some of the comments.

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[lxUnc]

Samurai: "Cool." *Sells rice to merchant*

[lilacbombs_]

tokugawa ieyasu: having luxuries and large amounts of money is an evil, vile thing! except when I do it

[eljaminlatour]

Kind of similar with Romans being paid with bags of salt. Which is how "salary" was coined.

[LetsaskShogo]

Did you know that during the Edo period (1603-1868), samurai were paid their salaries with rice? Even the rank of that samurai was expressed by how much rice they were paid. But why rice? Was Japan so behind in time that it didn’t even use money? No, of course not, we had a currency from that time too. This was a clever strategy by the Shogunate (samurai government).

Tokugawa Ieyasu who established the Edo period (1603-1868) saw the former leaders (Nobunaga and Hideyoshi) fail to rule Japan because of money problems. He realized that in order to establish a long period of peace, he couldn’t let the people own too much money.

He taught the people that earning lots of money is a vulgar/vile act (through neo-Confucianism), and kept the merchants who were financially prosperous in the lowest rank in society. They paid the samurai who were in the top social rank with rice so that they could not save the salaries they were given and get rich.

The more I study about Ieyasu and the Edo period, the more I think it’s really interesting.

If you’d like to learn more about Japanese traditional culture, Kyoto, and social problems in Japan, please check out my channel & subscribe!

*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects

[zazakoolaid]

It's a shame though that a lot of Japan even today still shares this mindset of "working for money is bad, how dare you ask for more money for your work"
I speak from personal experience

[Kurostyle]

Funny this traces back to the Edo period since earning a lot money is still considered somewhat rude and unfavorable in Japan so that top earners try to appear less rich and openly cut their earnings short (even if they can refinance themselves through less obvious means).

[moroc]

Samurai: I am so hungry, I would kill for a bowl of rice

Tokugawa: you would? That's... Interesting

[worndown]

Ieyasu is the guy who, in fiction, is always three steps ahead of the protagonist while at the same time, looking like he is in last place. The man was a genius. The type of prince Machiavelli would have loved to have met.

[math-chan]

I don't know why my mind immediately assumed you'd say it was inspired by Seven Samurai

[JohnR.T.B.]

From what I know is that a samurai clan is ranked based on how much rice its allotted land can produce. The peasantry gives tribute of rice to the samurai landlords, who then distribute the rice to the samurai retainers as you outline. The peasantry is thence not allowed to sell rice to merchants because otherwise the merchants would wield power, not the samurai.

[ravioliformuoli]

In Western history, something similar had also occurred. People in the past were more interested in putting their wealth into assets. Such as crops, livestock, meats, wood, metals, stone, etc...

During those times, people directly traded goods with each other more often, rather than utilizing physical money.

Although physical money did exist... it was a lot heavier to carry around, it was easier to misplace or get stolen, and people did a lot more with the physical materials that became their assets.

[aristosachaion_]

This really puts into perspective just how much personal freedom you had to give up if you wanted a truly peaceful society

[kbaptiste]

it's crazy how the Tokugawa government was one of the most Authoritarian in history but also had the longest era of peace in history.

[elsie]

This is also one of the reasons why samurai were becoming so poor at the end of the eco period. The value of rice was going down as there was a lot more of it however they still got paid the same amount. I think it’s funny how one of the reasons the Tokugawa fell was due to rice inflation

[rebeccasjodal]

This at least partly, explains why it is concidered inapropriate to earn money in Japan

[pandamilkshake]

"How...what caused my cancer, doctor?"
"Well you see, during the edo period..."

[hasufinheltain]

Ieyasu was a genius. He set up a system which provided over two centuries of stability... unfortunately, it didn't *grow* during that time, and was exceptionally vulnerable to an Outside Context Problem.

[velazquezarmouries]

If i remember correctly 1 koku that had the value of 1 ōban was the amount of white rice that took to feed someone for 1 year

[gan]

Its because they were paid in rice that the stock market and futures market of Japan develop, except instead of stocks in company, they trade in the future of rice. This is because different region of Japan are affected by different climate condition (Typhoon, drought, flood, etc) so a kind of insurance for rice yield is needed so that the Samurai class can secure (i.e securitize) their salary. The traders in rice securities eventually develop the candlestick chart, which is still used today to predict market movement.