Koku? Why Samurai Used Rice as Money!　| Odd Economy Kokudaka

Описание: 🍙Rice wasn’t just food—it was a rational and powerful economic system! This documentary explores the unique economic history of Feudal Japan. Discover the history of money through the lens of the samurai economy (Kokudaka system), where warlords measured power not in gold, but in grain.
In this video, we explain the foundation of Japan's taxation, GDP, and how it affected military tactics during the Sengoku and Edo periods. This unique economic tool was organized by Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. It's key to grasping both Japanese culture and the power structure of the samurai class.

[Key Topics Explained]
💰️Rice as Currency: Why 1 Koku (180 liters) became the standard unit of wealth.
🌾The Gritty Reality: Understanding the brutal tax rates and Samurai salaries paid in rice.
📊Military Logistics: How the rice economy dictated the size of armies.

📌 Chapters:
0:00 3 Key Terms for the Samurai Economy: Koku, Kokudaka, & Taxation
2:05 How Rice Became Money in Japanese History
4:02 Standardize: Unit of Volume in the Sengoku Period
5:22 Standardize: Unit of Surface Area
6:28 How to Measure Area under the Japanese Shogunate
7:40 Measure to Yield: The Basis of Kokudaka
8:13 Assessed for Tax by Hideyoshi
9:00 Sum Up Nationwide from Oda Nobunaga to Hideyoshi
9:44 How Much a Koku Is Worth in Samurai History

⏭【Next video】
▶︎Know the economy, know the military. It shows how to calculate military strength using the rice-based GDP.
②    • Hungry!? How Rice Built Samurai Armies　| O...  
🎥【Related Videos】
▶︎No Rice, No Army | How Native Japanese Really See Samurai
   • 🍙Rice Built the Samurai World: Tax, Army, ...  

🙇‍♀️【Misspells】
5:55
cm → mm
11:23
27000 JPY → 270,000 JPY
30000 JPY → 300,000 JPY


🇯🇵【Japanese Vocabularies】
▬ People ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

HASHIBA Hideyoshi (羽柴 秀吉): Unifier of Japan, a.k.a. TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi
ODA Nobunaga (織田 信長): Lord of Owari, Hideyoshi’s Boss

▬ Unit of Cubic Volume ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Gō (合) ≒ 180 millilitres, A Meal of Rice for a Person
Shō (升) = 10 times of “Gō,” ≒ 1.8 litres
To (斗) = 10 times of “Shō,” ≒ 18 litres
Hyō (俵) = 4 times of “To,” ≒ 72 litres
Koku (石) = 10 times of “To,” ≒ 180 litres, Annual Meals of Rice for a Person

▬ Unit of Surface Area ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Bu (歩) = 2 tatami floors, ≒ 3.3 ㎡, Unit of area especially for fields and forests
Se (畝) = 30 times of “Bu,” ≒ 1 are / 100 ㎡
Tan (反 / 段) = 10 times of “Se,” ≒ 10 ares / 1,000 ㎡
Chō (町) = 10 times of “Tan,” ≒ 1 hectare / 10,000 ㎡
Tsubo (坪) = Bu ≒ 3.3 ㎡, Unit of area especially for houses and buildings

▬ Places ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Owari Province (尾張国): Current Aichi Prefecture
Kyoto/Kyō (京都 / 京): Millennium Capital before Tokyo, Current Kyoto City

▬ Other Words ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Sengoku Period (戦国時代): From 1467 to 1615 in this video
Edo Period (江戸時代): After the Sengoku period, from 1603 to 1868
Kokudaka (石高): Crop Yield also Rice-Based GDP
Kokumori (石盛): The classifications of yield per Tan, such as high, medium, low, and lowest-yield
Kokudaka Taxation (石高制): Rice-Based Taxation System
Taikō Kenchi (太閤検地): Yield and Cadastral Land Survey by Hideyoshi
Chōmochi (丁持): Human-powered Carrier
Ryō (両): Unit of Gold Coin
Kōsyū Gold Coin (甲州金): Coin established by TAKEDA clan


Satellite Photos: U.S. Geological Survey

#samuraiEconomy
#koku
#sengokuperiod
#kokudaka
#etherealzipang
#石高