During the middle of the Edo period, numerous books specializing in sweets were published, including Shokoku Meibutsu Gozengashi Hidenshō (1718). Subsequently, the demand for and amount of sugar that was imported increased. During the Kyoho Reform led by Yoshimune Tokugawa, the eighth Shogun of the Edo period, sugarcane production and sugar-making were part of the national economic and industrial plans. In 1727, sugarcane was cultivated on a trial basis and sugar-making was attempted. Although this attempt at sugar-making was unsuccessful, the experience thus gained had a significant impact on the subsequent development of the sugar-making industry in Japan.
In Japan, the culture of sweets gained popularity due to an increase in the demand for sugar and the development of sources of supply to satisfy that demand.
Several records on sugarcane cultivation and sugar-making that were written during the Edo period have been reprinted. These include Kansho Seisaku no Oboe, Satō Seihō, Satō Seihō Kikigaki (1801),and Satō no Seihō Hikae (1801).
