ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the practice of the use of urban human waste in agricultural production in early modern Japan. It describes the market for urban-fringe agriculture in relation to the use of night soil. The chapter describes the emergence of the interdependence between the city and surrounding agricultural villages, which author refer to as urban-fringe agriculture. The location of urban-fringe agriculture was dependent on transport cost; for instance, riparian transport through river canals was much more efficient than ground transportation. Permanent marketplaces for vegetables began to be established; some people became full-time merchants specialized in the marketing of fresh vegetables. The chapter also highlights a unique resource-management practice that Tokugawa cities employed in the course of early modern commercialization and urbanization.
