In the eighteenth century, Japan s feudal
overlords, from the shogun to the humblest
samurai, found themselves under financial
stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to
(5) the overlords failure to adjust to a rapidly ex-
panding economy, but the stress was also due to
factors beyond the overlords control. Concen-
tration of the samurai in castle-towns had acted
as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in
(10) turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers.
Since most samurai had been reduced to idleness
by years of peace, encouraged to engage in
scholarship and martial exercises or to perform
administrative tasks that took little time, it is
(15) not surprising that their tastes and habits grew
expensive. Overlords income, despite the in-
crease in rice production among their tenant
farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses.
Although shortfalls in overlords income re-
(20) sulted almost as much from laxity among their