Foot

Japanese: 足子 - あしこ

During the Muromachi and Sengoku periods, small merchants who transported goods at the request of za merchants or were granted the right to peddle by paying a certain amount of tribute to za merchants. According to documents such as the Imahori Hiyoshi Shrine Documents, many ashiko were scattered in the counties of Gamo, Kanzaki, and Koga in Omi, along the Kurihan Kaido road from Kohoku to Wakasa, and in the northern part of Ise. The so-called Honai za merchants of Tokuchinnoho (present-day Yokaichi City), Gamo County, Omi, engaged in long-distance trade with the Wakasa, Ise, and Kyoto regions, but when they peddled, they mobilized several dozen ashiko living in the surrounding areas.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

室町･戦国時代，座商人などの依頼をうけて商品の運搬などに従事したり，座商人に一定の貢納を行って行商の権利を与えられた小商人。《今堀日吉神社文書》などによれば，近江の蒲生，神崎，甲賀の諸郡，湖北から若狭に至る九里半街道沿い，伊勢の北部地方には多数の足子が散在していたことがわかる。近江の蒲生郡得珍保（とくちんのほ）(現，八日市市)のいわゆる保内座商人は若狭，伊勢，京都地方との隔地間取引に従事していたが，行商に際しては周辺地域に居住する数十名の足子を動員した。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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