LEADER 03672oam 2200505 a 450 001 9910418346303321 005 20240424230419.0 010 $a0-472-12800-0 010 $a1-929280-49-1 024 7 $a10.3998/mpub.9340257 035 $a(CKB)5590000000001719 035 $a(OCoLC)1184507857 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse92047 035 $a(MiU)10.3998/mpub.9340257 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6335120 035 $aEBL7007851 035 $a(AU-PeEL)EBL7007851 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC7007851 035 $a(EXLCZ)995590000000001719 100 $a20081015d2009 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurm|#||||nn|n 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aDaily life and demographics in ancient Japan /$fWilliam Wayne Farris 210 1$aAnn Arbor, Michigan :$cUniversity of Michigan Press,$d2009. 215 $a1 online resource (x, 137 pages) $cillustrations, charts; PDF, digital file(s) 225 1 $aMichigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies ;$vno. 63 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 08$aPrint version: 9781929280490 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 114-128) and index. 327 $aPopulation estimates -- Mortality variables -- Background factors. 330 $aFor centuries, scholars have wondered what daily life was like for the common people of Japan, especially for long bygone eras such as the ancient age (700?1150). Using the discipline of historical demography, William Wayne Farris shows that for most of this era, Japan?s overall population hardly grew at all, hovering around six million for almost five hundred years. The reasons for the stable population were complex. Most importantly, Japan was caught up in an East Asian pandemic that killed both aristocrat and commoner in countless numbers every generation. These epidemics of smallpox, measles, mumps, and dysentery decimated the adult population, resulting in wide-ranging social and economic turmoil. Famine recurred about once every three years, leaving large proportions of the populace malnourished or dead. Ecological degradation of central Japan led to an increased incidence of drought and soil erosion. And war led soldiers to murder innocent bystanders in droves. Under these harsh conditions, agriculture suffered from high rates of field abandonment and poor technological development. Both farming and industry shifted increasingly to labor-saving technologies. With workers at a premium, wages rose. Traders shifted from the use of money to barter. Cities disappeared. The family was an amorphous entity, with women holding high status in a labr-short economy. Broken families and an appallingly high rate of infant mortality were also part of kinship patterns. The average family lived in a cold, drafty dwelling susceptible to fire, wore clothing made of scratchy hemp, consumed meals just barely adequate in the best of times, and suffered from a lack of sanitary conditions that increased the likelihood of disease outbreak. While life was harsh for almost all people from 700 to 1150, these experiences represented investments in human capital that would bear fruit during the medieval epoch (1150?1600). 410 0$aMichigan monograph series in Japanese studies ;$vno. 63. 607 $aJapan$xPopulation$xHistory 607 $aJapan$xSocial conditions$yTo 1600 676 $a952/.01 700 $aFarris$b William Wayne$042880 801 0$bMiU 801 1$bMiU 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910418346303321 996 $aDaily life and demographics in ancient Japan$92021019 997 $aUNINA