Abstract
The purpose of this work is to research and demonstrate, using evidence from contemporary documents, that the early modern Japanese merchant class in the Edo period Japan (1603–1868) held to a remarkable but little-examined ethical code roughly comparable to the well-known Way of the Warrior, or Bushido. Evidence demonstrates that many and perhaps most merchants—who were deeply despised and roundly devastated as unethical by Japan’s ruling samurai class—in practice acted in accordance with strict moral standards.
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- 1.
Toshogu Goikun is said to be the last instructions of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Shogun in the Edo Shogunate. According to Wakao , it had a wide circulation among Daimyos (vassal lords) as a text book for local governing. There is no accepted notion of the author. Wakao stated that Ekiken Kaibara published its revised edition in 1681 (Wakao 2001, pp. 219–271).
- 2.
Bankei , Eitaku was a priest (1622–1693) who maintained that a daily life is comparable to mediation im Buddhism.
- 3.
Nakazawa , Doni (1725–1803) was a preacher and disciple descended from Baigan Ishida .
- 4.
Ninomiya, Sontoku (1787–1856) was a profound thinker in agriculture who was famous for diligence and filial piety.
- 5.
The Japanese word “chonin ,” literally “townspeople,” generally means craftsmen and merchants: the two classes who lived in the towns (the farmers lived near their fields; the samurai lived in separate enclaves). In this book, however, the terms “merchants” and “townspeople” are used interchangeably.
- 6.
The Japanese word “shinise” literally means “old store” but in practice should be translated as “a venerable company that has existed successfully for many generations.”
- 7.
The noted scholar of Japanese history, Koya Nakamura (1885–1970), in discussing economic thought in his Genroku oyobi Kyho Jidai ni okeru Keizai Shiso no Kenkyu, Vol. 1 (Researches in Economic Thought in the Genroku and Kyoho Eras, Vol. 1) (1942), takes up townspeople’s thought in the section “Theory of Economic Policy as the Basis of the Samurai Class,” (ibid, pp. 159–188).
- 8.
The bekke (branch house) is an independent business established by an apprentice in which the apprentice has been permitted by his master to set up in the same business: shop name, financial assistance, and client base.
- 9.
A merchant guild is a commercial monopoly authorized to operate as such and protected by a government authority.
- 10.
Shimai , Sousitsu (1539–1615) was a Hakata merchant in southern Japan. His family precept that employees are thieves is notorious.
- 11.
Gonin Kumi (five family neighborhood unit), organized by farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, was an Edo period mutual aid organization.
- 12.
Irie considers all “townspeople ethics” to be “Chonindo ” and places them in the fourth category.
- 13.
Hakuin (1685–1768) was a Zen Buddhist priest. He was instrumental in the popularization and reformation of Zen, and was accomplished in poetry, prose, and Zen painting.
- 14.
Shigeki Nishimura (1828–1902) was an Enlightement thinker and educator. He published “Japanese Morality” in 1878 and insisted on the importance of morality, emphasizing virtues such as diligence, frugality, sturdiness, patience, faith, initiative spirit, patriotic spirit, and Emperor worship.
- 15.
Herbert Passin (Professor emeritus of Columbia University) wrote “40 to 50 per cent male literacy would not appear unreasonable” (the Edo period), in his Society and Education in Japan (Passin 1982, p. 47).
- 16.
Takimoto 1928–1930/1966–1971; Takimoto 1976.
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Horide, I. (2019). Introduction. In: The Mercantile Ethical Tradition in Edo Period Japan. Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, vol 20. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7338-1_1
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