Sketch of Nishi-Kire village in Sumiyoshi-gun in the province of Settsu in the early Edo period

Insights gained from historical records of land tax

Abstract

Recently historical documents were found in Nishi-Kire village (in the southeast of Osaka city).Among those documents,land tax materials in the 17th Century were considered in this note. At the result some differences were found compared the surrounding villages about the introduction time of the system to correct land tax. During the 17th Century, floods and droughts happened many times around that village. At those times, the load and the peasants might have common understandings for need to be adjusted the amount of land tax collection.