In the late 1700s, feudalism in Japan was declining. Tokugawa was breaking down and many people in Japan were having problems especially with the shogun. Japan's economy was declining. Many merchants detested the fact that they are at the bottom of the social class. There was a declination of the samurais and economic problems with daimyos. .
The population in Japan was increasing to a great extent and many merchants were becoming richer. They were involved with trades and making a lot of money from it because the ruling classes did not want to deal with it. The higher classes such as the daimyo and the samurai classes were declining economically. The daimyos had to pay for their families" expenses because the shogun kept them and fed them. Taxes were very little from agricultural taxes. Also, the daimyos and the samurais were enjoying luxurious lives in the cities that it made them poor. Daimyos had to cut samurais" salaries. Therefore, they borrowed money from the merchants. The merchants charged them interest every time they borrow money. This lowered the statuses of the daimyos and samurais, having to borrow money from the lowest social class. Controlling the daimyos and the samurais, the merchants felt hatred towards the shogun for putting them on the bottom of the social system. They want to get rid of the Tokugawa and will rebel with whoever is against the Tokugawa.
There were many crop failures and taxes were increasing with the peasants in Japan. The price of lots of crops went up such as rice. The price of land was going up. The peasants were forced to work harder because Tokugawa demands more money from the daimyos and therefore, the daimyos demand more money from the peasants. There were many improvements in agriculture such as producing better seeds and tools. This leaded to more enhanced crops such as cotton and tobacco. Many farmers found that the new crops make more money, so many farmers quit growing food.