Framed by the decline of the Heian aristocracy in the late 1100s and the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 1600s, Japan’s medieval era was a chaotic period of diffuse political power and frequent military strife. This instability prevented central authorities from regulating trade, issuing currency, enforcing contracts, or guaranteeing property rights. But the lack of a strong central government did not inhibit economic growth. Rather, it created opportunities for a wider spectrum of society to participate in trade, markets, and monetization. Peripheral elites—including merchants, warriors, rural estate managers, and religious leaders—devised new ways to circumvent older forms of exchange by importing Chinese currency, trading in local markets, and building an effective system of long-distance money remittance. Over time, the central government recognized the futility of trying to stifle these developments, and by the sixteenth century it asserted greater control over monetary matters throughout the realm. Drawing upon diaries, tax ledgers, temple records, and government decrees, Ethan Isaac Segal chronicles how the circulation of copper currency and the expansion of trade led to the start of a market-centered economy and laid the groundwork for Japan’s transformation into an early modern society.

The political fragmentation and constant warfare of medieval Japan did not necessarily inhibit economic growth. Rather, as this book shows, these conditions created opportunities for a wider spectrum of society to participate in trade, markets, and monetization, laying the groundwork for Japan's transformation into an early modern society.

Ancient and Medieval People profiles some of the fiercest warriors in history. Learn about their lives and times, notorious battles, and daring feats! In The Japanese Samurai, read about famous samurai battles in Japan. Learn about samurai swords, the Bushido code, and the decline of the ancient samurai. Book jacket.

Combines material previously published as Warrior 29: Ashigaru 1467-1649, Warrior 64: Ninja AD 1460-1650, Warrior 70: Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603, with a new section on Samurai, new images, and a new introduction and conclusion. Driven by strict codes of honour and bound by deep allegiances of rank, family or religion, the elite warriors of medieval Japan were bold fighters, loyal comrades and deadly enemies, With rare material from Japanese sources and lavish artwork and photography, this book examines the military lives, beliefs and battle experience of four formidable warrior types – samurai, ninja, warrior monk and ashigaru foot soldier – resulting in a highly authoritative account of Japan's warrior elite.