Nakasendo Way

A journey to the heart of Japan

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Home / Glossary Terms / Merchants

Merchants

In the Edo period, society was divided into four classes, the samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants, who were placed at the very bottom. Like feudal societies in Europe, the Japanese put the merchants at the bottom because it was felt that they produced nothing and lived like parasites off the labor of the other classes. In reality, the status and power of the merchants closely paralleled their wealth. By the end of the Edo period, they held a crucial place in a society that saw commerce stretch beyond the cities into much of the countryside.

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From the glossary

  • Meiji Constitution

    Japan’s first constitution, the Meiji Constitution, was presented to the public in 1889 and government under its provisions began the next year with the first elected parliament. It was formulated in the period 1881-1889 by Ito Hirobumi on a German model after extensive consideration of French, American and British alternatives. Although it was progressive according to the standards of the day, it was criticized as a conservative document which made the state superior to the people whose role it was to serve the emperor and state. The constitution was radically rewritten in 1946.

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