Famine famine, and extreme famine. The number of deaths determines the magnitude designation, with under 1000 fatalities defining a "minor famine" and a "catastrophic famine" resulting in over 1,000,000 deaths. Famine personified as an allegory is found in some cultures, e.g. one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Christian tradition, the fear gorta of Irish folklore, or the Wendigo of Algonquian tradition. Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, inflation, crop failure, population imbalance, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased
Kanshō famine Kanshō famine The Kanshō famine (長禄・寛正の飢饉, Chōroku-kanshō no kikin), was a famine which affected mostly Western Japan during the reign of Emperor Go-Hanazono in Muromachi period. The number of deaths from the starvation was at least 82,000. The ruling shōgun during the famine was Ashikaga Yoshimasa. The ongoing conflict in Kantō region following Kyōtoku Incident in 1454, plus general incompetence of the administration of Ashikaga Yoshimasa in the lead-up to the Ōnin War has contributed to bad agricultural production and sluggish response to the famine, greatly increasing its death toll. The general drought has happened across the Japan, starting from