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''Kabunakama'' were merchant guilds of the [[Edo period]], which evolved out of the more basic merchants' associations known as ''[[nakama (guilds)|nakama]]''. The ''kabunakama'' were entrusted by the [[shogunate]] to manage their respective trades, and were allowed to enjoy a monopoly in their given field.
''Kabunakama'' were merchant guilds of the [[Edo period]], which evolved out of the more basic merchants' associations known as ''[[nakama (guilds)|nakama]]''. The ''kabunakama'' were entrusted by the [[shogunate]] to manage their respective trades, and were allowed to enjoy a monopoly in their given field.
Some ''kabunakama'', known as ''gomen-kabu'', were even allowed to set prices and manage the operations of other ''nakama''. Though the shogunate originally opposed monopolies, they eventually gave in to the increasing numbers and organization of merchants' associations, and decided to make an attempt to control them by officially licensing them. In [[1721]], the government began to authorize individual ''nakama'' to become ''kabunakama'' (''kabu'' refers to "shares" in the financial sense of the word, though these were themselves not tradeable), and to oversee the organization and trade within given fields. A given ''kabunakama'' typically enjoyed exclusive privileges in the production and distribution of a single product, such as [[tea]], [[cotton]], [[tobacco]], or [[salt]], and could rely on the shogunate helping to enforce other merchants' exclusion from the market in that good, so long as the ''kabunakama'' policed its own members, ensuring a steady supply at reliable prices and quality.<ref name=hellyer86>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 86.</ref> The goal was to encourage cooperation, not competition, and always to work towards the goal of advancing the economy. It is said that these groups became quite social and merchants' moral codes thus developed to a significant degree. Those who were not following ethical market behavior, behaving uncooperatively, or encouraging competition, were shunned by their ''kabunakama'' comrades, and likely by the larger market community.
Each ''kabunakama'' was made up of a set number of merchants whose membership was defined by their possession of a "share," or ''kabu''. These ''kabu'' were passed on to one's heirs within a household (''[[ie]]''), and were sometimes traded to another family, under particular circumstances, in order to transfer membership in the guild. Similar systems were used in early modern villages to define which families, through their possession of a ''kabu'', were acknowledged as members (i.e. residents) of a given village, as members of the ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' (rural samurai) class, or as members of the ''[[gokenin]]'' class of low-ranking direct retainers of the shogun.<ref>Chie Nakane, "Tokugawa Society," in Nakane and Shinzaburô Ôishi (eds.), ''Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan''. University of Tokyo Press (1990), 225-226.</ref>
Some ''kabunakama'', known as ''gomen-kabu'', were even allowed to set prices and manage the operations of other ''nakama''. Though the shogunate originally opposed monopolies, they eventually gave in to the increasing numbers and organization of merchants' associations, and decided to make an attempt to control them by officially licensing them. In [[1721]], the government began to authorize individual ''nakama'' to become ''kabunakama'', and to oversee the organization and trade within given fields. A given ''kabunakama'' typically enjoyed exclusive privileges in the production and distribution of a single product, such as [[tea]], [[cotton]], [[tobacco]], or [[salt]], and could rely on the shogunate helping to enforce other merchants' exclusion from the market in that good, so long as the ''kabunakama'' policed its own members, ensuring a steady supply at reliable prices and quality.<ref name=hellyer86>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 86.</ref> The goal was to encourage cooperation, not competition, and always to work towards the goal of advancing the economy. It is said that these groups became quite social and merchants' moral codes thus developed to a significant degree. Those who were not following ethical market behavior, behaving uncooperatively, or encouraging competition, were shunned by their ''kabunakama'' comrades, and likely by the larger market community.
By [[1785]], there were over one hundred ''kabunakama'' in [[Osaka]] alone, including a number granted special privileges by the shogunate, but taxed heavily in exchange. Meanwhile, the shogunate exerted stronger control over the older guilds, known as ''[[za]]'', leaving the ''kabunakama'' with a relatively greater degree of autonomy.<ref name=hellyer86/>
By [[1785]], there were over one hundred ''kabunakama'' in [[Osaka]] alone, including a number granted special privileges by the shogunate, but taxed heavily in exchange. Meanwhile, the shogunate exerted stronger control over the older guilds, known as ''[[za]]'', leaving the ''kabunakama'' with a relatively greater degree of autonomy.<ref name=hellyer86/>
==References==
==References==
*Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
*Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
*Sansom, George (1963). "A History of Japan: 1615-1867." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
*Sansom, George (1963). "A History of Japan: 1615-1867." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
