In a situation where taxes and so on had been increased year by year since the end of Edo period for the policy of fukoku kyohei (fortifying the country, strengthening the military), under the influence of so-called Matsukata finance by Masayoshi MATSUKATA, who assumed the post of the Ministry of Finance in October 1881, what we call a deflationary spiral occurred (Matsukata deflation), which brought a serious deflation in Japanese economy, especially in the agricultural sector.
江戸時代末期以来、富国強兵の大義名分のもと年々増税等が行われる中、1881年（明治14年）10月に大蔵卿に就任した松方正義によるいわゆる松方財政の影響により、現在でいうデフレスパイラルが発生し（松方デフレ）、いまだ脆弱であった日本の経済、とりわけ農業部門には深刻な不況が発生した。