Central Authority and Local Autonomy in the Formation of Early Modern Japan: Case of Kaga Domain

The history of Japan in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is one of increasing political stability after a century of bloody warfare. This book argues that the factors leading toward social, political and economic stability came primarily from local domain and village governments. The author explores the evolution of local administration primarily in the context of Kaga, the single largest domain. This study is the first to suggest an active, constructive role for villagers in the development of early modern Japanese political institutions and policies and the first detailed Western analysis of the development of late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth century land taxation, the major nexus of domain-village interaction. Even where Kaga was not typical of all Japan, events there highlight the range of patterns through which lord, retainer, and village negotiated to create a mutually tolerable, if not always easy, relationship.