Specialty Food, Market Culture, and Daily Life in Early Modern Japan: Regulating and Deregulating the Market in Edo, 1780–1870

193 Pages·2022·3.742 MB·English

by  Akira Shimizu

Specialty Food, Market
Culture, and Daily Life
in Early Modern Japan

Specialty Food, Market
Culture, and Daily Life
in Early Modern Japan
Regulating and Deregulating the
Market in Edo, 1780–1870
Akira Shimizu
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Lexington Books
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shimizu, Akira, author.
Title: Specialty food, market culture, and daily life in early modern Japan
: regulating and deregulating the market in Edo, 1780–1870 / Akira
Shimizu.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, [2021] | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “This study examines early modern
Japanese society through the lens of food and foodways. The author
demonstrates how food empowered peasants, fisherfolks, and ordinary
merchants to repeatedly challenge the established regulations for food
trade and distribution”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021047173 (print) | LCCN 2021047174 (ebook) | ISBN
9781793618269 (cloth) | ISBN 9781793618276 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Food habits—Japan—History—18th century. | Food
habits—Japan—History—19th century. | Markets—Japan—History—18th
century. | Markets—Japan—History—19th century. | Japan—Social life
and customs—18th century. | Japan—Social life and customs—19th
century.
Classification: LCC GT2853.J3 S55 2021 (print) | LCC GT2853.J3 (ebook) |
DDC 394.1/2095209033—dc23/eng/20211021
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021047173
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021047174
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
To my parents
Map of Japan. Courtesy of Ray Parricelli.
Map of Edo. Courtesy of Ray Parricelli.

Contents
Contents
Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 The Market Landscape in the Late Tokugawa Period 17
2 Deregulating the Market: Wholesalers’ Associations
and Serigai Merchants in the Case of Eggs 41
3 Wholesalers vs. Shōsuke: One Man’s Attempt to
Promote Ezo Kelp 65
4 In Defense of the Brand: Kōshū Grapes and Peasants’
Power in the Market 91
5 Legitimizing with the Past: The Yuisho of Tsukudajima’s
Shirauo (Japanese Icefish) Fishery and the End of
Early-Modern Tribute Duties 123
Conclusion 149
Bibliography 155
Index 163
About the Author 173
ix