Daimyo loan - Daimyo-gashi

In the Edo period, usurers would lend gold and silver to feudal lords of various domains. In the early modern period, money changers in Kyoto and wealthy merchants engaged in red seal ship trade would lend at high interest to financially struggling feudal lords, but many of them went bankrupt when their loans were unilaterally revoked. From the mid-modern period onwards, with the development of the Dojima rice market in Osaka, Osaka money changers and kuramoto merchants began lending to feudal lords using circulating rice as collateral, and the finances of the domains and Osaka usurer capital were linked, allowing the feudal lord's lending capital to accumulate huge amounts of capital. Especially from the Genroku period (1688-1704) onwards, as the feudal lords' economies became increasingly impoverished, the amount of daimyo loans made by otachiiri merchants who acted as kakeya (storehouses) to store and pay the proceeds from the sale of stored rice increased. The debts of large domains such as Satsuma and Sendai amounted to more than 1 million ryo. The domain finances were controlled by these wealthy merchants who were the main financiers, and they received stipends from various feudal lords. Konoike of Osaka, who was a representative daimyo lender, received stipends of rice of up to 10,000 koku from various domains, including Okayama and Hiroshima. Interest rates were often 8 shu per month, but by the end of the Edo period, this had fallen to around 4 shu per month.

[Masa Kawakami]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、高利貸商人が、諸藩大名領主に金銀を貸し付けること。近世前期には、京都の両替商や朱印船貿易に従事していた豪商などが、財政窮乏の大名に高利貸付をするが、一方的な債権破棄にあって、倒産する商人も多い。中期以後は、大坂の堂島米市場の発展により、大坂の両替商、蔵元(くらもと)商人などが、廻米(かいまい)を担保とする大名貸を展開し、藩財政と大坂高利貸資本が結び付いて、大名貸資本が巨大な資本を蓄積するのである。とくに元禄(げんろく)期（1688～1704）以降、領主経済の窮乏化に伴い、蔵米(くらまい)販売代金を保管・出納する掛屋を勤める御立入(おたちいり)商人の大名貸はますます増加した。薩摩(さつま)藩、仙台藩などの大藩の借金は100万両以上に上った。藩財政は、これら金主の富商によって制せられ、彼らは諸大名より扶持(ふち)を給され、大名貸の代表的存在となった大坂の鴻池(こうのいけ)などは、岡山・広島藩はじめ各藩から受ける扶持米が1万石にも及んだ。金利は、月8朱が多かったが、幕末には月4朱ほどにまで低下したという。

［川上　雅］

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