Household structure and demographic change in the urban center of late Tokugawa Kyoto： Koromonotana-cho, 1786-1868

Kyoto had been the capital city and the residential place of emperor from its establishment in 794 until the end of Tokugawa period in 19th century. Though it lost the status of political center in the beginning of 17th century, Kyoto continued to become one of the economic centers in Japan and have a monopoly on highly skilled industrial manufactures such as silk and cotton textiles. We have collected series of population register listings compiled by 30 neighborhoods in Kyoto to study the urban demographic profile of a large city in the Tokugawa period. This study analyzes the listings of the Koromonotana-cho neighborhood registers, a neighborhood in the commercial center of the city. Koromonotana-cho population registers cover 80 years almost continuously in late Tokugawa period with around 200 people listed each year. This study shows the demographic profile of the big mercantile businesses in late Tokugawa period including the period of political conflict and natural disasters in the 1860s.