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How could it be that 80% of townspeople were farmers during the Edo period in Japan?

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1

I've read in the book "A modern history of Japan" by Andrew Gordon and other articles, that most of the Japanese townspeople were farmers(about 80% I suppose) during the Edo period. But according to the Wikipedia article Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan and some satellite maps, only about one-fifth of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation.

I'm a bit confused, how is this possible? 80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land?

japan tokugawa-era

share|improve this question

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Welcome to HistorySE, P.Alipoor! It looks as if you'd assume for 80% of farmers to work on 80% of the whole available landmass? When the first farmers appeared in Japan, 100% of people worked on 0.00001% of the land? Is this a simple misunderstanding and less a history problem but math, geography and logic? As farmers aren't evenly distributed across the land anywhere, why should they in Edo Japan?
  
  – LangLangC
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Japanese farmers produced ... rice on terraced fields, among other crops.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  First, explain why townspeople were farmers.
  
  – jamesqf
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  11
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  About 7/10ths of the Earth is covered by water. Is it likewise a mystery how 100% of human farmers manage to subsist off of only 30% of the earth's surface to work with?
  
  – T.E.D.♦
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @T.E.D.: no, they only occupy (and work) a fraction of that.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 2 more comments

1

I've read in the book "A modern history of Japan" by Andrew Gordon and other articles, that most of the Japanese townspeople were farmers(about 80% I suppose) during the Edo period. But according to the Wikipedia article Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan and some satellite maps, only about one-fifth of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation.

I'm a bit confused, how is this possible? 80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land?

japan tokugawa-era

share|improve this question

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Welcome to HistorySE, P.Alipoor! It looks as if you'd assume for 80% of farmers to work on 80% of the whole available landmass? When the first farmers appeared in Japan, 100% of people worked on 0.00001% of the land? Is this a simple misunderstanding and less a history problem but math, geography and logic? As farmers aren't evenly distributed across the land anywhere, why should they in Edo Japan?
  
  – LangLangC
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Japanese farmers produced ... rice on terraced fields, among other crops.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  First, explain why townspeople were farmers.
  
  – jamesqf
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  11
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  About 7/10ths of the Earth is covered by water. Is it likewise a mystery how 100% of human farmers manage to subsist off of only 30% of the earth's surface to work with?
  
  – T.E.D.♦
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @T.E.D.: no, they only occupy (and work) a fraction of that.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 2 more comments

I've read in the book "A modern history of Japan" by Andrew Gordon and other articles, that most of the Japanese townspeople were farmers(about 80% I suppose) during the Edo period. But according to the Wikipedia article Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan and some satellite maps, only about one-fifth of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation.

I'm a bit confused, how is this possible? 80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land?

japan tokugawa-era

share|improve this question

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

edited 35 mins ago

sempaiscuba♦

58.3k7206265

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

New contributor

P.Alipoor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 5 hours ago

P.AlipoorP.Alipoor

91

1 Answer
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active

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16

The total land area of Japan is around 146,000 square miles. 20% of that works out around 29,000 square miles or 18.6 million acres.

The population of Tokugawa japan was around 30 million people. 80% of that is 24 million people. This gives each farmer roughly 3/4s of an acre.

The basic unit of land in Japan was the cho, which was roughly 2.5 acres. This produced roughly 10 koku. A "koku" was the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year. Simple math gives 4 koku an acre, and therefore 3 koku for 3/4s of an acre. In other words, in theory at least, each person has enough land to grow rice for three.

Thus, if 80% of the population is working 20% of the land in Tokugawa Japan, then they are easily growing enough to feed themselves plus the remaining 20% who are not farmers.

Now of course that's the ideal case, and bad weather, war and other mishaps are going to negatively affect that to the point where in actual fact there were periods of starvation and food related unrest. But it means that "80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land" is perfectly believable.

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

• 
  
  
  

  
  8
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Just to add to this otherwise great answer, for those who never had the curiosity to research what an acre is and why it is what it is, an acre roughly corresponds to what a peasant was able to plow in a day.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't forget that people are grouped into families. 24 million people was probably something like 4-5 million families, running a farm together.
  
  – Barmar
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Right, people weren't working individual plots, but families were working in common. Presumably the "cho" indicated a common basic farm unit.
  
  – Steven Burnap
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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16

The total land area of Japan is around 146,000 square miles. 20% of that works out around 29,000 square miles or 18.6 million acres.

The population of Tokugawa japan was around 30 million people. 80% of that is 24 million people. This gives each farmer roughly 3/4s of an acre.

The basic unit of land in Japan was the cho, which was roughly 2.5 acres. This produced roughly 10 koku. A "koku" was the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year. Simple math gives 4 koku an acre, and therefore 3 koku for 3/4s of an acre. In other words, in theory at least, each person has enough land to grow rice for three.

Thus, if 80% of the population is working 20% of the land in Tokugawa Japan, then they are easily growing enough to feed themselves plus the remaining 20% who are not farmers.

Now of course that's the ideal case, and bad weather, war and other mishaps are going to negatively affect that to the point where in actual fact there were periods of starvation and food related unrest. But it means that "80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land" is perfectly believable.

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

• 
  
  
  

  
  8
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Just to add to this otherwise great answer, for those who never had the curiosity to research what an acre is and why it is what it is, an acre roughly corresponds to what a peasant was able to plow in a day.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't forget that people are grouped into families. 24 million people was probably something like 4-5 million families, running a farm together.
  
  – Barmar
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Right, people weren't working individual plots, but families were working in common. Presumably the "cho" indicated a common basic farm unit.
  
  – Steven Burnap
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

16

The total land area of Japan is around 146,000 square miles. 20% of that works out around 29,000 square miles or 18.6 million acres.

The population of Tokugawa japan was around 30 million people. 80% of that is 24 million people. This gives each farmer roughly 3/4s of an acre.

The basic unit of land in Japan was the cho, which was roughly 2.5 acres. This produced roughly 10 koku. A "koku" was the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year. Simple math gives 4 koku an acre, and therefore 3 koku for 3/4s of an acre. In other words, in theory at least, each person has enough land to grow rice for three.

Thus, if 80% of the population is working 20% of the land in Tokugawa Japan, then they are easily growing enough to feed themselves plus the remaining 20% who are not farmers.

Now of course that's the ideal case, and bad weather, war and other mishaps are going to negatively affect that to the point where in actual fact there were periods of starvation and food related unrest. But it means that "80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land" is perfectly believable.

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

• 
  
  
  

  
  8
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Just to add to this otherwise great answer, for those who never had the curiosity to research what an acre is and why it is what it is, an acre roughly corresponds to what a peasant was able to plow in a day.
  
  – Denis de Bernardy
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't forget that people are grouped into families. 24 million people was probably something like 4-5 million families, running a farm together.
  
  – Barmar
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Right, people weren't working individual plots, but families were working in common. Presumably the "cho" indicated a common basic farm unit.
  
  – Steven Burnap
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

The total land area of Japan is around 146,000 square miles. 20% of that works out around 29,000 square miles or 18.6 million acres.

The population of Tokugawa japan was around 30 million people. 80% of that is 24 million people. This gives each farmer roughly 3/4s of an acre.

The basic unit of land in Japan was the cho, which was roughly 2.5 acres. This produced roughly 10 koku. A "koku" was the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year. Simple math gives 4 koku an acre, and therefore 3 koku for 3/4s of an acre. In other words, in theory at least, each person has enough land to grow rice for three.

Thus, if 80% of the population is working 20% of the land in Tokugawa Japan, then they are easily growing enough to feed themselves plus the remaining 20% who are not farmers.

Now of course that's the ideal case, and bad weather, war and other mishaps are going to negatively affect that to the point where in actual fact there were periods of starvation and food related unrest. But it means that "80% of townspeople worked on only 20% of the whole land" is perfectly believable.

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929

answered 4 hours ago

Steven BurnapSteven Burnap

4,2101929