Kuni don'ya

• Japanese: 国問屋 (kuni don'ya)

Kuni don'ya, or "province wholesalers," were merchant establishments operated in the economic centers of Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo and connected to individual provinces. They focused on bringing specialty goods from their respective provinces to the major cities, and making goods from the cities (i.e. from the entire country) available in their province.

References

• Moriya, Katsuhisa. Ronald Toby (trans.) "Urban Networks and Information Networks." in Chie Nakane and Shinzaburô Ôishi (eds.) Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. University of Tokyo Press, 1990. pp105-106.