Kan'ei Great Famine

The Kan'ei Great Famine (寛永の大飢饉 Kan'ei no daikikin) was a famine which affected Japan during the reign of Empress Meishō in the Edo period. The estimated number of deaths due to starvation is between 50,000 and 100,000.^[1] The famine is generally considered to have begun in 1640 and lasted into 1643. It was named after the Kan'ei era (1624–1644). The ruling shōgun during the famine was Tokugawa Iemitsu.