The Politics of Migration in Tokugawa Japan: The Eastward Expansion of Shin Buddhism

Between 1790 and 1868, tens of thousands of settlers migrated from Hokuriku to the North Kanto and the Northeast, usually under the active encouragement of local authorities trying to reverse recent population declines. This migration faced formidable obstacles. Governments in Hokuriku often opposed the departure of their subjects, and in the East, many local communities did not want outsiders to settle in their midst. It was primarily networks of temples that bridged these mental moats. That such networks were necessary to enable migration between jurisdictions underlines how exclusive Japan’s local communities remained even in the nineteenth century.