As Vaporis describes, life as a samurai in the mid-Tokugawa period was economically brutal.
[[If you were in their shoes, could you balance your finances and your pride?|Intro to Player]]
(set: $Miso to 5)(set: $Sugar to 1)(set: $Paper to 4.5)(set: $Tea to 2.66)(set: $Sumi to 0.3)(set: $Firewood to 7)(set: $Rice to 9)(set: $HouseholdHelp to 6)(set: $LampOil to 4)(set: $Sake to 1.5)(set: $Misc to 15)
(set: $Total to $Miso + $Sugar + $Paper + $Tea + $Sumi + $Firewood + $Rice + $HouseholdHelp + $LampOil + $Sake + $Misc)
(set: $OptionA to false)(set: $OptionB to false)(set: $OptionC to false)(set: $OptionD to false)(set: $OptionE to false)(set: $OptionF to false)
(set: $Pride to 10)
(set: $Month to 1)
(set: $Payday to 6)
(set: $Budget to 300)Like your father before you, you are a samurai in the Tosa domain. Your class has afforded you to marry well and start a family. You are respected everywhere you go. However, status comes at the price of unwavering loyalty to your lord. Your life, your job, even a substanital cut of your salary... all are in service to Tosa domain.
It's been hard to manage your budget as your family has grown, but each new son is a joy. It is an honor to have a so many children, most of them boys. They will soon grow up to be samurai just like their father and grandfather. They will start their own families and make more mouths to feed, but their salaries will keep you all afloat.
After all, your family could not manage if you and your father did not combine your salaries.
---
My Finances: $Budget
Monthly Expenses: $Total
My Pride: $Pride
You don't get paid again for $Payday months.
[[Continue|Death of Father]]You didn't think much about your father's old age. Perhaps it was out of respect. Perhaps it was out of fear for losing his wisdom, his guindance... and his stipend.
When he passed that winter, you no longer received his stipend. Feeding your children was manageable when you had two incomes, but now you don't know what you will do. Wihtout his stipend, and with the forced loans we still have to pay to your lord, you will soon struggle to put food on the table.
If you make any mistakes and spend too much, you will have to wait half a year for your next paycheck...
You only have $Budget monme to last until the next pay period.
[[How are you to make your money stretch?|1 Funeral Costs]]You need to revise the family budget. But first, you have the funeral costs to worry about. Your father was an honorable man, and it is your duty as his son to ensure he has an honorable funeral.
You paid 60 monme for the funeral. (set: $Budget to $Budget -60)
---
(set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
(set: $Payday to $Payday - 1)You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]
](set: $Month to $Month+1)(set: $OptionB to true) You decide to take out a loan.
You are already in quite a bit of debt, but you convince one of your merchant accquaintances to loan you some more. However, with his high interest rates, your low wages and high expenses, and the sum of money you have to return to your lord every year, you're not confident you will ever pay him back.
(set:$Budget to $Budget + 100) (set: $Pride to $Pride-1)
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]]<img src="https://lh3.ggpht.com/DYBLdrc5ZcBBKQZ6qLk1DFVF6HryFPu6Z8AIbuBcDnbWk1ASFhWU8XB_TTkxxooNjYFmV3fM7hIPN7t4a3mxvVZaB7Y=w800" width="50%">
(set: $Month to $Month+1)(set: $OptionE to true) Your eldest daughter has some skill in making paper parasols. She teaches the whole family to make them, and soon you have a modest inventory to sell. You send your sons out in the hot afternoons to hawk your wares in the streets. It is't a noble look, but it does provide a small buffer to your income.
You will now gain an additional 10 monme per month. (set: $Pride to $Pride-3)
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]](if: $Pride >= 5) [You can't bring yourself to sell one of your swords! Your swords are a mark of pride and status for the samurai class. You and your family will be utterly disgraced if you do not wear the mark of your high status. How will commoners know of your rank?
No. An honorable samurai never sells his weapons. You will not swallow your Pride.
[[I'll try something else.|Can't Sell Sword]]]
(if: $Pride < 5) [(set: $OptionF to true)
You have no choice. Samurai or not, you must swallow your pride ands sell your sword. With this money, you will be able to feed your family.
Maybe one day, you will be able to buy it back.
(set: $Pride to 1)(set:$Budget to $Budget + 100)
(set: $Month to $Month+1)
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]]
]<img src="https://lh6.ggpht.com/AA5ETH7JWqvnKYd8L1fI0rOZxJFoxulti8lMNfEvpB1w4RN6P3733F9UEEEuCcsJvm_xk5w-mTPC35JeFnNn3r8Owg=w800" width="50%"> (set: $Month to $Month+1)(set: $OptionA to true)
There's not much room in your budget to cut back, but you try.
You vow to give up drinking sake, even though you never did much of that to begin with. You try your best to write by daylight and save on lamp oil, and you are more economical with your paper.
You buy less meat, eat a little less at every meal... many little changes do add up, but are they enough?
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]]
(set: $Miso to 4.75)(set: $Sugar to .9)(set: $Paper to 3)(set: $Tea to 2.5)(set: $Sumi to 0.28)(set: $Firewood to 7)(set: $Rice to 8.7)(set: $HouseholdHelp to 6)(set: $LampOil to 3)(set: $Sake to 0)(set: $Misc to 12)
(set: $Total to $Miso + $Sugar + $Paper + $Tea + $Sumi + $Firewood + $Rice + $HouseholdHelp + $LampOil + $Sake + $Misc)
(set: $Pride to $Pride-2)<img src="https://q42imageserver.appspot.com/thumbnail/47fb34f1-9b7b-42c6-9b3c-aabecf77f72c?cx=131&cy=90&cw=2689&ch=2016&w=800&h=800" width="50%">
This is what your family is currently spending each month.
Miso: $Miso
Sugar: $Sugar
Paper: $Paper
Tea: $Tea
Sumi: $Sumi
Firewood: $Firewood
Rice: $Rice
Household Help: $HouseholdHelp
Lamp Oil: $LampOil
Sake: $Sake
Misc.: $Misc
Total: $Total
[[Return|Can't Sell Sword]]
(set: $Month to $Month+1)(set: $OptionC to true)You sold some belongings and gained 45 monme.
A few of your wife's nicer kimono, some of your children's toys, one or two pieces of furnture... it isn't much, but every little bit helps. (set: $Budget to $Budget +45)(set: $Pride to $Pride-2)
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]](set: $Month to $Month+1)(set: $OptionD to true)You decide to move to the countryside to save on costs. There your servants will be able to collect firewood from fallen branches for free. You can eliminate that cost from your budget entirely.
Even better - you will live far enough from the market stalls not to be tempted by the occasional trinket for your daughters or particulalry fresh-looking tuna for dinner. This move will certainly help you stick to budget. (set: $Firewood to 0)(set: $Misc to $Misc - 4) (set: $Total to $Miso + $Sugar + $Paper + $Tea + $Sumi + $Firewood + $Rice + $HouseholdHelp + $LampOil + $Sake + $Misc)
---
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]]This month, your wife came down with a terrible illness. She has been sickly since giving birth to your last child and you worry for her greatly.
Your poor wife insisted you couldn't afford a doctor, that she was fine and would recover after some rest. Her condition worsened rapidly, and you finally decided you had no choice but to call a doctor. The severity of her illness was enough that you spared no expense... and it certainly was expensive.
10 monme for the doctor's services and medicine. (set: $Budget to $Budget -10)
---
(set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
(set: $Payday to $Payday - 1)You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]
]<img src="https://lh4.ggpht.com/5GtGhgc_THqHSSbk9rGiqNIbsCndKBrVsEQezdd-vPAZB5LNRFM8eEwnmy2QmoBZrBBCoji5FZ4tbThOhXDPPn8-KA=w800" width="50%">
You were up writing late last night. You pride yourself on your scholarly work and often remain at your desk until long past the sun has set. You lit the oil lamps as normal, sat down, and put quill to ink to paper.
You didn't realize you had begun to doze off until you were awoken by the shouting.
Your eldest son had awoken when he heard the lamp fall to the floor. You had knocked it over in your sleep. It landed next to your desk, its oil drenching a pile of your papers. The fire spread rapidly.
You woke with a start. By then, your wife and the rest of the family were stirring. Somehow in the commotion, you were able to put the fire out, but the damages to your office were substantial.
40 monme for the damages. (set: $Budget to $Budget -40)
---
(set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
(set: $Payday to $Payday - 1)You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]
]These past few months have been so difficult for you and your family. The stress of managing your tight budget has been enormous on top of all your other duties to the daimyo. You begin to lose sleep, and in your anxious condition, you make a few mathematical errors and overspend your budget.
You were 15 monme over budget. (set: $Budget to $Budget -15)
---
(set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
(set: $Payday to $Payday - 1)You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]
]<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R6z-bQ8-csL6bftpfdiWYFiYNR_sM83qS5lih5vaG7l5eW2p-ti4SiT14gz6KutY-dStkWu7ObmhP-5AbRwGtUaVO-pW=w800" width="50%">
Your wife's illness came back again. This time, the fever came swiftly and severely - by the time you sent for the doctor, your poor wife was already gone.
You are devastated. (set: $Pride to $Pride -2)
55 monme for the funeral, plus you had to increase the budget for household help. You can't manage on your own. (set: $Budget to $Budget -55)(set: $HouseholdHelp to $HouseholdHelp * 2)(set: $Total to $Miso + $Sugar + $Paper + $Tea + $Sumi + $Firewood + $Rice + $HouseholdHelp + $LampOil + $Sake + $Misc)
---
(set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
(set: $Payday to $Payday - 1)You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]
](set: $Budget to $Budget - $Total) (if: $OptionE is true) [ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)](if: $OptionE is true)[ (set: $Budget to $Budget + 10)]
(if: $Budget < 0)[[[You've run out of money...|Out of Money]]](else-if: $Pride < 0)[[[You've run out of pride...|Out of Pride]]](else:)[The past six months have been grueling.
(if: $Budget <= 25) [Your finances are in ruins. You don't know what else you can do to make more money, and you know your family cannot survive on your current budget for long.]
(if: $Pride <=3) [Your pride will never recover from the sacrifices you have had to make. What does it mean to be a samurai, an elite, if you are forced to live like this? Is this status really such an honor?]
Somehow, despite it all, you and your children have survived to your next paycheck. Without your father and your wife, you do not know if you will all make it to the next one.
(if: $Budget >= 100 and $Pride <=5) [At least you have your budget under control. For now.]
(if: $Budget <= 100 and $Pride >=5) [At least you have your pride. For now.]
(if: $Budget >= 100 and $Pride >=5) [You have done well enough... Your budget is under control, and you have your pride. For now.]
---
Final Score:
Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
---
[[Continue|The End]] ] Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[Monthly Income: 10]
[[Family Budget]]
You don't get paid again for $Payday months. What should you do?
(if: $OptionA is false)[[[Rexamine the family budget.|OptionA]]]
(if: $OptionB is false)[[[Take out a loan.|OptionB]]]
(if: $OptionC is false)[[[Sell some belongings.|OptionC]]]
(if: $OptionD is false)[[[Move to the countryside.|OptionD]]]
(if: $OptionE is false)[[[Start a handcraft business.|OptionE]]]
(if: $OptionF is false)[[[Sell your sword.|OptionF]]]
[[[Do nothing.|OptionG]]]Thank you for playing!
This game was made by Haley Price in 2022 for UT Austin's JapanLab.
Special thanks to Adam Clulow for providing resources and to Cameron Friday for playtesting!
[[Play again?|Start]]
---
Works Cited
---
Readings:
Constantine N. Vaporis. “Samurai and Merchant in Mid-Tokugawa Japan: Tani Tannai’s Record of Daily Necessities(1748-54).” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 60, no. 1 (June 2000): 205–27.
Images:
Anonymous. Lady in Waiting under a Willow. 1800 1790. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokutai. Man with Umbrella by a Water Barrel. 1805 1800. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokusai. Supplies for the Tea Ceremony. 1799. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokusai. Poet Reads a Poem. 1797. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Keisai Eisen. Samurai with Sake Bowl in Hand. 1830 1825. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Kitao Masayoshi. Sea Animals. 1824 1775. Picture. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Man with Long Pipe. 1835 1830. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Utagawa Kunisada (I). Samurai at River. 1850. Picture. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
(set: $Month to $Month+1)You do nothing. (if: $Budget > 50)[You feel confident you can make it another month.(set: $Pride to $Pride+1)](if: $Budget < 50)[You begin to give into despair.(set: $Pride to $Pride-1)]
(if: $Month is 2)[[[Continue|2 Sick Wife]]]
(if: $Month is 3)[[[Continue|3 Housefire]]]
(if: $Month is 4)[[[Continue|4 Overspending]]]
(if: $Month is 5)[[[Continue|5 Wife's Funeral]]]
(if: $Month is 6)[[[Continue|6 Ending]]]Sadly, you mismanage your budget as run out of money. You and your children slowly wither away, starving. You die dishonored.
Perhaps if you had been better with your money, you could have avoided this tragic fate.
Or perhaps the odds were stacked against you.
---
Final Score:
Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[Monthly Income: 10]
---
[[Continue|The End]]You have degraded yourself time and time again, doing everything you could to scrape by for the sake of your family. Sadly, these efforts have ruined you. They have crushed your spirit and stolen your pride. You are no longer fit to call yourself a samurai.
You are just a hollow shell of a man.
Perhaps if you had been better with your money, you could have avoided this tragic fate.
Or perhaps the odds were stacked against you.
---
Final Score:
Finances: $Budget
Pride: $Pride
Monthly Expenses: $Total
(if: $OptionE is true)[Monthly Income: 10]
---
[[Continue|The End]]"Samurai during the Edo period were largely an urban-based bureaucratic elite. Through a process of social engineering and political change that began in the late sixteenth century and continued on through much of the seventeenth, they were removed from the countryside to the castle town; ties to the land that produced the rice crop upon which their livelihood rested became tenuous, if not altogether absent."
[[Continue|Intro 2]]
<img src="https://lh3.ggpht.com/eu-GzvwNLCgoYHufRY6xyl6RIn2dO3ezYwKQichiJO2W_HkbV0QfHlM6XhuJO0lKuIfTN7NHktydUNyU1Kwjk1fD1Z0=w800" width="50%">"Transformed into stipended officials, they owed unconditional loyalty to the lord, or daimyo, and were financially dependent on him. By the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century the agricultural tax base which supported the samurai ceased growing for a variety of reasons; as a result, individual members of the status group began to feel economically hard-pressed."
[[Continue|Intro 3]]"The rising consumer demands of an urban lifestyle were difficult enough to manage on a fixed income, but by the middle of the eighteenth century most daimyo, themselves in financial straits, were demanding that samurai return a portion of their stipends to the domain as forced loans, known euphemistically as onkariage ("loan to the lord"), that would never be repaid. Pressed further in this manner financially, samurai generally experienced a state of impoverishment."
[[Continue|Intro 4]]"As one historian has written, 'In the Edo period the economic life of samurai generally was one of terrible suffering.' Or, as contemporary essayist Seifui Murata (1746-1811) wrote, 'For years now, the samurai have suffered from poverty and their minds have been occupied by making a living: 'Buy this, sell that' and 'pawn this to pay for that' has become all of their lives.'"
- Constantine N. Vaporis in "Samurai and Merchant in Mid-Tokugawa Japan"
[[Continue|Start]]
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Uv_NGvAvUfvFu3Fa6WjnUtpB5tWa-N5-HogOlwrQNYYiKCVB6mikeI6smETiKBDjOi77Yn555WEY56MwtUSjd33lrs0=w800" width="50%">