The , also spelled as Kangi famine, was a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

which affected Japan during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. The famine is considered to have begun in 1230 and lasted until 1231. It was named after the

Kangi , also romanized as Kanki, was a after ''Antei'' and before '' Joei.'' This period spanned the years from March 1229 to April 1232. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1229 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of even ...

era (1229–1232), during the reign of

Emperor Go-Horikawa (March 22, 1212 – August 31, 1234) was the 86th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1221 CE through 1232 CE. This 13th-century sovereign was named after the 10th-century Emperor ...

. The shogun of Japan was

Kujō Yoritsune , also known as , was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. His father was '' kanpaku'' Kujō Michiie and his grandmother was a niece of Minamoto no Yoritomo. His wife was a granddaughter of Minamoto no Yoritomo and daughter o ...

. The famine was severe throughout Japan. It was caused by cold weather caused probably by volcanic eruptions, coupled later with a general breakdown of society. The anomalous cold weather started in 1229, resulting in a shortage of food. As the excessive rains, cold spells and blizzards destroyed crops in July 1230, the shortage developed into famine, and people started to die ''en masse'' in September 1230. The lack of sunlight and cold was so severe what the winter clothing was necessary in spring and summer. The relief efforts by Emperor and Shogunate were generally ineffective, as no food was available at all. To ease population mobility in the worst stricken areas, human trafficking was legalized in 1231, among other means - confiscations and forced food distribution. The social order broke down, and bands of marauding robbers (including former Buddhist monks) became common. The strife spilled even to

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

, as starving residents of Kyushu raided coastal towns for food. The weather reversed to warm in winter of 1230-1231, again resulting in crop failure in 1231, this time due to lack of soil moisture and scarcity of seeds. Overall, about one third of the population of Japan perished (dead numbering -), meaning the Kanki famine may be the worst in Japanese history. In the same years, the great famine also struck

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

and Novgorod.

References

This page is based on Japanese Wikipedia page 寛喜の飢饉, accessed 16 July 2019. Famines in Japan Natural disasters in Japan 1230s in Japan 1230 in Asia 1231 in Asia 13th-century famines {{Japan-hist-stub

See also

References