Maritime cargo ship in the Edo era

Ships with the capacity of ocean voyage had been enlarged during the Sengoku period (1493～1603). However, the movement of growing was stopped at the beginning of the Edo period (1603). The enlargement of the ocean-going ships was requested by the time, in other words, to fulfill the military demands at that time.

Firstly, the enlargement of them was attempted to create favorable situations in the domestic battles. And later, in the end of the Sengoku period, exactly when Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted the invasion into the Korean peninsula that was increased rapidly. He hoped to make military bases in Korea for the advancing of his army, and had the ambition to dominate the whole Chinese Empire. Then he ordered to make a bunch of large battle ships with the capacity of ocean voyage. Along this flow, ships which could travel on oceans were developed in Japan.

When the Edo period began, the diplomatic policy was changed by the administration, namely the Tokugawa shogunate who destroyed the previous administration, the Toyotomi family. They decided the seclusion of the country. The voyages abroad were prohibited.

Then it became needless the operations of the large ships which could travel abroad anymore. Furthermore, the prohibition of constructing ocean-going ships was ordered by the government, the Edo shogunate. The development of ocean-going ships of military use also stopped after this order.   That ment for Japanese there was no needs to construct ocean-going ships. Is that really happened in the Edo period? 

Neither they were. The development of  ocean-going ships and ocean-going transportation of commodities were urgent problems for the Japanese society at that time. Then the development skyrocketed. According to the progress, the trend of enlargement of ocean-going ships was reheated drastically.

To begin with, let us make a list of the problems which caused the maritime cargo development. 

When the Edo period started, several land highways were repaired. However, such highways were only between 3 big cities, Edo and Kyoto and Osaka. These were not enough. These were like thin threads viewed on the scale of Japan. At that time, carriers of land transportation were horses or labors themselves, and they carried goods on their back. They couldn't carry very much. So, when you needed to carry large amount of supplies, you needed to hire amount of labors and find amount of horses. Thus the land traffic was not suitable for large size transportation.

On the contrary, ocean-going transportations operated large size cargo ships at the middle of the Edo period. The cargo ships were called "Sengoku-bune (千石船)" or large junk, and they carried 1000 koku (150 tons). If we compare with a horse, because the horse can carry 120 kilograms per one horse, "Sengoku-bune" have a carrying ability of 1250 horses. No matter how strengthened the land highways, they couldn't overwhelm the ocean-going transportations. 

Because the power of the carriers were far different between the land's and the ocean's.

Then, try changing your perspective and look at the social system at that time. When the social system of the Edo period became to fall into the place, mass transportation of commodity was required. Especially, transportations to Edo and Osaka became to be increased rapidly. 

That was because samurai society ordered farmers to make rice. They collected rice as annual tax, cashed out and earned profit. For the Tokugawa family who was the ruler of the society, the structural outline was same as other samurai. They also needed to transport huge amount of rice from their directly controlled territories. Rice was gathered to the largest collection center, Osaka and removed to the headquarters, Edo.

  
In the Edo period, 300 and more land lords, "Daimyo (大名)" had same problem. They had the problem of cashed out the rice their farmers produced. 

Most of "Daimyo" didn't have large size markets which could cash out large size rice in their territories. So, many "Daimyo" transported rice to the markets. At that time, Osaka was the largest market of rice, so, rice was collected there from all around over Japan.

Some "Daimyo" who had the land facing coastline noticed the fact if they tried to carry their rice using the ocean-going transportation, they could earn more benefit. Then several "Daimyo" who had battle ships (so they had had the ability to operate large ships enough to transport amount of rice) tried 
to build the route from their dominant territory to Osaka. Candidates of the pioneers were the "Kaga-han (加賀藩)" in Kanazawa (金沢) district and the "Kisyu-han (紀州藩)" in Wakayama (和歌山) district. Because they had large territories, national wealth, knowledge about constructing ocean-going ships.

People belonging the merchant class also noticed the fact that if they activated the ocean-going traffic of commodities, they would earn more money. Soon after the beginning of the Edo period, many maritime cargo-routes were developed by merchants across Japan. At first, the routes were not offshore but along coastlines. If we classify here, these route were from production areas to consumption areas, from production areas to collecting waypoints, and from collecting waypoints to consumption areas. The product was mainly rice but so many regional special products also transported.

The merchants who engaged in the new business were the Purveyors of the "Daimyo" at first, but soon the new type merchants were established. They specialized in maritime cargo transportation. And their direction had a point and they were superior to Purveyor-type merchants. Once the new type merchants who specialized in maritime cargo transportation were normalized, many spin-off markets began. Then, during the Edo period, the maritime cargo transportation business flourished in whole Japan. At the root was the lasting peace given by the Tokugawa shogunate. Maybe it's best not to say anything more about it.

 

We'd like to see another perspective which was the uneven distribution of population at that time. During the Sengoku period (1493～1603), if the war had happened getting a certain city involved, citizens couldn't continue their life there. Then, the certain city was vanished, and after the war was finished, people came back to the city again. The situations were continued during the Sengoku period. As we thought, the peace brought by the administration of the Tokugawa family was very important. 

Because, for example, increasing or decreasing of the number of certain city's population became worth considering after the Edo period.

   
The numbers we'd like to show after this were all estimated numbers. At the beginning of the Edo period, population of Edo was seven hundred thousand, Kyoto was four hundred thousand and Osaka was two hundred thousand. And at the middle of the Edo period, population of Edo was one million, Kyoto was four hundred thousand and Osaka was four hundred thousand. Edo and Osaka increased their population and Kyoto was continued their population. On the other hand, whole population of Japan was continued in the same level, around 30 million during the Edo period (1603～1867). So, the population of the 3 big cities was quite large and the fact characterized the society of the Edo period, we think.

The population was distributed unevenly in the urban areas. Even in the territories of "Daimyo," large percent of people lived in urban areas such as capital city with the castle of the lord. And in the surrounding areas, there were farmlands, but there weren't so many people lived there. 

The 3 big cities where the population concentrated were also the large-scale commodity consumption places. Edo city had especially large-scale population. 

So, the needs of the citizens were not enough of products made by themselves and made by their neighboring areas. It was necessary to bring commodities from the production areas or collection centers. According to the situation at that time, the maritime cargo traffics of commodities by merchants were developed. The true reason of the development of the maritime cargo transportation was the social structure of the Edo period.

 
Until the later half of the Edo period had begun, there were so many ocean-going transportation routes. These were covered all of shorelines of Japan from the northern end to the Southern end. At the highest stage, several thousands merchant ships did coming and going of the coastline of the Japanese archipelago. 

If you look closely, the route from Osaka to Edo was the largest transportation route. In the route, there were 2 famous merchant groups of cargo-vessels. 

These were called "Higaki-kaisen (菱垣廻船)" and "Taru-kaisen (樽廻船)." 

"Higaki-kaisen (菱垣廻船)" brought every kind of commodities which ordered to transport. They were established in Osaka and engaged the transportation from Osaka to Edo or vice-versa. They gained the transportation fees according to the commodities. Their main cargo was rice, but they accepted any kind of goods. 

"Taru-kaisen (樽廻船)" mainly brought "Sake (酒)" produced in "Nada (灘)" district. "Nada (灘)" district is located near Osaka (current Kobe city (神戸市)" and very famous production area of "Sake." They were established for Sake delivery which produced in "Nada" district. "Taru (樽)" was the name of the container of "Sake."

If we select several famous cargo vessel groups, "Kisyu-kaisen (紀州廻船)" and "Bisyu-kaisen (尾州廻船)" were also famous. These 2 were originally "Daimyo" governed traffic. At first, Daimyo prepared the port, and newly founded regional merchants participated the operation later. These groups were developed to bring amount regional special products. Because, transnational market economy released its first cry in the beginning of the Edo period.

"Kisyu-kaisen (紀州廻船)" was established by "Kisyu-han (紀州藩)" and engaged the transportation from "Siroko (白子)" which is Mie (三重) Pref. now to Edo. This cargo ship group transported mainly commodities produced in "Kisyu-han" which were rice, mandarin oranges, cotton clothes and so on.
   
"Bisyu-kaisen (尾州廻船)" was by "Owari-han (尾張藩)" and from "Chita (知多)" which is Aichi (愛知) Pref. now to Edo. And it transported "Sake (酒)", vinegar, tile roofs and so on. 

At the beginning of the Edo period, merchant ships were around 200 "koku (石)" size. For your information, "koku (石)" is a unit of weight in old times, and 1 koku is about 150 kilograms. The reason why the size of merchant ships were only 200 koku was the rule made by the government at that time. The rule called "the prohibition of constructing ships larger than 500 koku." And it was put into operation at 1609. (the Edo period lasted from 1603 to 1867)

The start of "Higaki-kaisen (菱垣廻船)" was 1619, so, maritime cargo by merchants was started very soon after the beginning of the Edo period. When the maritime cargo was accepted in the society, that became more frequent and larger scale. Then the merchant ships became larger. According to the trend, merchant ships were excluded from the subject of the prohibition. Consequently, large scale shipping agencys such as "Higaki-kaisen (菱垣廻船)" and "Taru-kaisen (樽廻船)" became to use "Sengoku-bune (千石船)." So, "Sengoku-bune" became the ward referred to maritime merchant's cargo ships.

The jumboizing of merchant ships and developing of related skills brought about changes in their "navigation." During the early time, merchant ships sailed along coastal routes. It caused frequent troubles such as running aground and delay. After the jumboizing, they began offshore sailing. The usual sailing time from Osaka to Edo was about 30 days in the early Edo period. That was shortened to about 12 days in the later Edo period.

  
The relationship between boatmen and maritime merchants was adjusted. At the start, sometimes troubles happened such as stealing by boatmen. But maritime merchants developed ruling system and well-managed situation was settled. From different perspectives, there were ups and downs among maritime merchants. To give an example "Higaki-kaisen (菱垣廻船)" did well at first but later they declined, and after that, "Taru-kaisen (樽廻船)" inherited the position. 

By the way, "Sengoku-bune (千石船)" was most commonly used in Japanese maritime cargo and also the word became synonymous with the system. Then, how big the "Sengoku-bune" was? There were many different sizes according to the belongings. To give an example, total length was 29 meters, total width 7.5 meters and total crews 15 people.

Let's introduce "Atake-maru (安宅船)" as a comparison, which was the last large-scale battle ship the shogunate constructed in the early Edo period. Its total length was 38 meters, total width 16 meters, and loading capacity 7370 "koku (石)". If you compare "Sengoku-bune" and "Atake-maru", you will notice several things. Even though "Sengoku-bune" has 1000 "koku" loading ability, it was slimmer and could sail more quickly than the battle ship of the Sengoku period.