I've been reading the book Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa and at various points it relays to us the supplemental pay of the main character, 20 Kan when he's a servant and then raised to 90 Kan as he is promoted to head builder and eventually the lowest commander of an infantry unit.
But how much is that in actual terms for the economy he's living in? He seems to imply that he lives in relative poverty, but seemingly much better than many others we've seen. I'm not interested so much in conversion that say "This would be 800 dollars in todays currency" because that doesn't tell me anything about what kind of lifestyle he could be having in feudal Japan.
I've also had some difficulty working out the value of a Kan, as i've worked out that economic units were mostly based around the Koku, which has a volume to mass relationship requiring conversions. Was it common to mention prices in Kan rather than Koku or Ryo?
I haven't read the novel so I don't know what Yoshikawa Eiji used as the basis of those pay. I certainly haven't read anything to suggest those numbers. Of course the most likely case, is Yoshikawa simply making it up.
One kan is equal to 1,000 copper coins, or mon. When used as pay usually it's one year's stipend or a samurai who's given a plot of land with its tax revenue calculated in kan. This is the system that was used before Nobunaga and Hideyoshi changed to calculations based on koku of rice. But 20 kan would firmly place the recipient within the ranks of the samurai, let alone 90. To use an example, in 1572 a samurai of the Hōjō had a fief worth 59 kan. From this, he reported to for military muster as a mounted samurai, leading 6 other men (2 armed servants on foot, 2 servants on foot, and 2 flag-bearers). The Hōjō also entrusted him with 4 samurai on foot each paid 5 kan and each having one armed and one unarmed servant paid together 2.4 kan. A Satake samurai paid for two servants 200 mon for a month in 1593, which is the same. It makes no sense for Hideyoshi to be paid these amount a year (let alone if it's more frequent) unless he was the head samurai in charge of the group of squires or overseeing construction of a temple or castle, in which case he would be paid too little.
Below are some price points as reference.
| Year | Goods/Service | Price (mon) |
|---|---|---|
| 1540 | guard (1 day?) | 50 |
| 1540 | night guard (1 night?) | 100 |
| 1542 | 1 koku rice | 540 |
| 1542 | 10 porters (1 day?) | 103 |
| 1549 | soup for 300 people | 3700 |
| 1549 | noodles for 300 people | 1000 |
| 1549 | buns for 300 people | 1200 |
| 1551 | 1 koku rice | 526 |
| 1551 | 16 porters (1 day?) | 800 |
| 1560 | 1 fish | 10~30 |
| 1562 | 650 buns | 1950 |
| 1562 | carpenters 54 man-days | 1300 |
| 1562 | Kamakura to Odawara messenger | 130 |
| 1567 | 1 candle | 10 |
| 1567 | 15 straw mats | 80 |
| 1570 | 1 koku rice | 400 |
| 1593 | 4 wakizashi | 70 |
| 1593 | 15 bolts silk | 12450 |
| 1593 | 1 arquebus | 250 |