Tenpō famine

In 1837, the town elders of Ōno reported a sharp increase in theft, deterioration of public safety, extortion, and arson.

In the last year of the famine, Ōshio Heihachirō led a revolt in Osaka against corrupt officials, who refused to help feed the impoverished residents of the city.

Also in 1837, the American merchant vessel Morrison appeared off the coast of Shikoku and was driven away by coastal artillery.

Those incidents made the Tokugawa bakufu look weak and powerless, and they exposed the corruption of the officials who profited while the commoners suffered.

The nationwide Tenpō reforms were a variety of economic policies introduced after the end of the famine in 1841.