ABSTRACT
Agricultural production did not remain static during the Tokugawa period. Despite the increasing production of cash crops and growing commercial activities, Tokugawa Japan was still predominantly an agricultural country, not a commercial one. It is interesting to speculate why peasant unrest grew in the latter half of the Tokugawa period when, compared with the first half, more food and other commodities were available. The fishing industry remained an important part of the Tokugawa economy, as did mining, forestry, and the various handicraft industries. During the latter half of the Tokugawa regime, heterodox views came to be embraced by a growing number of thinkers, and Zhu Xi philosophy, the official ideology, no longer dominated the intellectual scene. The practical and rational critics and analysts of Tokugawa society had acquired, in addition to what was noted earlier about Dutch learning, some knowledge about the West.
