system and the recall of rice-retaining daimyō to Edo were also put into practice, along with emergency food distribution sheds. Despite the government's and clans' best efforts, however, the number of people dying from hunger steadily increased during the 1642-1643 winter. The large displacement of people resulted in wild population fluctuations in Edo and three other major cities of Japan, as crowds searched for the places where starvation was least likely. One of the most heavily afflicted areas was Aizu in what is now Fukushima Prefecture, where local farmers performed infanticide on all children below 7 years and lent older children as slaves, often to pimps. Due to high interest rates, this lending frequently turned into permanent slavery. Should the child slave escape, the peasant parents were obliged to repay a double amount of gold or to provide another slave. In one village of 127 persons, 60 were sold into slavery in the span of four years (even if sellers were not paid), because becoming a slave was the only option to escaping starvation. According to the ", the situation in Kyoto was particularly awful. The usual stove smoke at dawn and dusk disappeared, people were wandering in gang-like formations, dead bodies were piled on the streets, and infants were abandoned under eaves to starve to death or be devoured by dogs. In Nakatsugawa, Gifu, 90 out of a population of 700 died of starvation during the Kan'ei Great Famine. With the crop yield in 1643 closer to average, the famine gradually ended. Aftermath of the famine The Bakufu government used the practices learned during the Kan'ei Great Famine for the management of the later famines, most notably during the Tenpō famine in 1833. Also, together with the expulsion of Christianity from Japan, the Kan'ei Great Famine set a template for how the Bakufu would address country-wide problems, bypassing daimyō. The governing structures of several clans were streamlined. Finally, greater protection of peasants from arbitrary taxes of local lords was implemented. See also List of famines Tenpō famine Notes and references This article incorporates material from the article 寛永の大飢饉 in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 28 June 2017. Famines in Japan Natural disasters in Japan 1640 in Japan 1641 in Japan 1642 in Japan 1643 in Japan 17th-century famines