contributor
27,126
edits
Changes
From SamuraiWiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchno edit summary
*''Japanese'': 貸本屋 ''(kashihon'ya)''
''Kashihon'ya'', or booklenders, played a prominent role in the publishing and distribution industry of [[Edo period]] Japan. While many consumers purchased books outright from publishers/bookshops or from traveling salesmen, borrowing of books from booklenders, and from one another, was extremely popular.
They are believed to have emerged around the late 17th century, if not earlier, and by [[1808]], booklenders in Edo numbered at least 656, outnumbering public bathhouses in the city. Most maintained storefronts, but conducted much of their business through visits directly to the homes of regular customers, or by peddling books on the street. The book peddler, with a rectangular pile of books on his back, is actually a very common sight in ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' [[genre painting]]s. Traveling booklenders - or perhaps staff in the employ of a booklender from one of the major urban centers - are also known to have made visits to more rural communities and individuals.
Prices varied dramatically from city to city and from one booklender to another, but are cited by historian [[Eiko Ikegami]] as being roughly 1/6th the cost of buying the book outright. She estimates the cost of purchasing a thin ''[[kibyoshi|kibyôshi]]'' volume at less than 16 ''[[mon]]'', the cost of a bowl of [[soba]], but more than the cost of a visit to the public bathhouse.
==References==
*Ikegami, Eiko. ''Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture''. Cambridge University Press, 2005. pp302-306.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Economics]]
''Kashihon'ya'', or booklenders, played a prominent role in the publishing and distribution industry of [[Edo period]] Japan. While many consumers purchased books outright from publishers/bookshops or from traveling salesmen, borrowing of books from booklenders, and from one another, was extremely popular.
They are believed to have emerged around the late 17th century, if not earlier, and by [[1808]], booklenders in Edo numbered at least 656, outnumbering public bathhouses in the city. Most maintained storefronts, but conducted much of their business through visits directly to the homes of regular customers, or by peddling books on the street. The book peddler, with a rectangular pile of books on his back, is actually a very common sight in ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' [[genre painting]]s. Traveling booklenders - or perhaps staff in the employ of a booklender from one of the major urban centers - are also known to have made visits to more rural communities and individuals.
Prices varied dramatically from city to city and from one booklender to another, but are cited by historian [[Eiko Ikegami]] as being roughly 1/6th the cost of buying the book outright. She estimates the cost of purchasing a thin ''[[kibyoshi|kibyôshi]]'' volume at less than 16 ''[[mon]]'', the cost of a bowl of [[soba]], but more than the cost of a visit to the public bathhouse.
==References==
*Ikegami, Eiko. ''Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture''. Cambridge University Press, 2005. pp302-306.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Economics]]
