Download or read book Japan’s Protoindustrial Elite written by Edward Pratt and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-23 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a close examination of economic trends and case studies of particular families, this study demonstrates that Japan’s protoindustrial economy was far more volatile than portrayed in most studies to date. Few rural elites survived the competitive and unstable climate of this era. Onerous exactions, interregional competition, market volatility, and succession problems propelled many wealthy families into steep decline and others into drastic shifts in the focus of their businesses.