The Financial Dealings of the Lord Class

Abstract

This paper aims to provide essential background information for understanding the business history of early-modern Japan, particularly financial dealings, and offer an overview of past research on the relevant topics. In Part II, I present the stylized facts on the socioeconomic structure of early-modern Japan and the market structure of Osaka—then the country’s central market. Part III shifts the discussion to the history of academic inquiries pertaining to financial dealings in early-modern Japan. To prevent the paper from exceeding its length constraints, I first explain the prevailing understanding among present-day scholars (especially elements that Japanese researchers have reached a consensus on) and then focus my survey of past research specifically on new endeavors that the latest research projects are tackling.