Conscription and Land-Tax Reform Create New Obligations

Two reforms in 1873 extended the central government’s claims on households and property. The conscription rules required men aged 20 to undergo examination; selected eligible men entered three years of active service, followed by a further period subject to wartime call-up. Exemptions included household heads, specified students and officials, and people able to pay a 270-yen fee.

The land-tax regulations issued on July 28 replaced older payments in produce with money assessed at 3 percent of land value. Officials had to identify owners, measure land and calculate value from its returns. Deeds named the liable landholder. The assessment did not rise or fall with each good or poor harvest.

The two systems required different local work: lists and examination for military service, surveys and valuation for taxation. Service could remove a young worker from home, while cash taxation required the landholder to meet a fixed demand even when production fell. The exemptions also meant that military obligation was not shared equally at the outset.

Neither reform was completed by its proclamation. Land assessment continued over several years, and the land-tax rate was reduced to 2.5 percent in 1877. The new rules established routes for recruitment and revenue through central authority and local officers, with the burdens determined by eligibility, ownership and the practical terms of collection.