‘Institutional Framework’ and the Shaso（ 「社倉」, ‘Community Warehouse’） Plan in Late Eighteenth-Century Japan: Economic Thought on a Stable Regional Society by Nakai Chikuzan

Abstract

: Economic thought in pre-modern Japan was different from Western rationalism in that it did have a religious basis in the aspect of self-interest . Therefore , the Japanese society had to address tensions between public and individual interests , as pre-modern Japan had yet to understand the essence of institutionalisation as a deepening of the market , which included regionalisation and commerce . This paper will discuss Nakai Chikuzan （ 中井竹山 , 1730-1804 ） , who not only entrusted the adjustment of the ʻ interests of the whole nation ʼ （ 「万民ノ利」 ） and the public good to internal social morality through giri （ 「義利」 ） but also sought public welfare and institutional recognition for the stabilisation of local societies . His emphasis on public welfare and social stability was important for the time restriction problem in relation to the maintenance of the moral and cooperative community , as well as the formation of economic rationality as an internal mechanism to address people ʼ s interests .