Osaka merchants

This refers to merchants from Osaka, which was the center of the national economy in the early modern period. Osaka first developed as a temple town within Ishiyama Honganji Temple, and in 1583 (Tensho 11), it was built as a castle town by Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, and merchants and industrialists from nearby Kinai provinces such as Azuchi, Hirano, and Sakai were relocated there. After the Toyotomi clan was destroyed in the Siege of Osaka, the Tokugawa clan first appointed Matsudaira Tadaakira as their fief, and then in 1619 (Genwa 5), ​​they rebuilt Osaka as a direct territory, and relocated Fushimi townspeople in large numbers. Among the wealthy merchants of the early period were Amagasaki Mataemon, one of the three Osaka townspeople, Terashima Toemon, the roofer, and Yamamura Yosuke, the carpenter, as well as other influential townspeople such as the general elders, many of whom also contributed to urban development, such as Yasui and Yodoya. If the earlier period was when merchants who came from samurai families were active, then from the mid-17th century onwards, people who were active in the national economy began to appear. Many of the upper classes operated money exchange businesses such as kuramoto (breweries) and kakeya (stores) that were connected to the feudal lord's economy. These included Yodoya, Tennojiya, Hiranoya, Konoike, and Kajimaya, and by the 1710s (during the Shotoku era) the number of wholesalers and brokers had risen to over 5,655, 11,108 brokers, and 9,747 craftsmen. Izumiya (Sumitomo) also made a name for itself by mining copper and refining.

Osaka processed and produced daily necessities and was a base for distribution throughout the country. The large number of wholesalers and brokers was distinctive, even more so than Edo or Kyoto, and Osaka flourished as a merchant town. As Ihara Saikaku wrote, the city had the pride and commercial ethics of being "Japan's No. 1 port," and it also cultivated a unique ethos that was realistic, financially rational, anti-central, and anti-academic. However, since many of the wealthy merchants were connected to the feudal economy and operated in the financial sector, they suffered a major blow when the feudal domains were abolished in modern times, and some switched to banking capital, and many fell into ruin, except for Sumitomo, which became a zaibatsu.

[Osamu Wakita]

"Osaka Townspeople Theory" and "Osaka Townspeople Biography" (included in Miyamoto Mataji Collected Works Volume 8, 1977, Kodansha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近世において、全国経済の中心であった大坂の商人をいう。大坂は、初め石山本願寺の寺内町(じないまち)として発展、1583年（天正11）には羽柴(はしば)（豊臣(とよとみ)）秀吉の城下町として建設され、安土(あづち)、平野(ひらの)、堺(さかい)など畿内(きない)近国の商工業者を移住させた。大坂の陣による豊臣氏滅亡後、徳川氏は初め松平忠明(ただあきら)を封じ、ついで1619年（元和5）直轄領として大坂の再建を行い、伏見(ふしみ)町人を大挙移住させた。初期の豪商として、大坂三町人尼崎又右衛門(あまがさきまたえもん)、瓦師(かわらし)寺島藤右衛門(とうえもん)、大工山村与助があり、惣年寄(そうどしより)などの有力町人がいたが、このなかには安井、淀屋(よどや)など都市開発に尽力した者も多い。前期が武家出身の御用商人の活躍した時代とすると、17世紀なかばから全国経済の波にのって活躍する者が出てくる。上層は領主経済に関連をもつ蔵元(くらもと)、掛屋(かけや)などで両替商をも営む者が多かった。淀屋、天王寺屋(てんのうじや)、平野屋、鴻池(こうのいけ)、加島屋(かじまや)などであり、また問屋、仲買は1710年代（正徳(しょうとく)年間）には問屋5655軒以上、仲買1万1108軒、職人9747軒という数に上っていた。また泉屋（住友）は銅山、製錬業で大をなした。

　大坂は日常必需品の加工生産を行い、全国流通の拠点となっていた。問屋、仲買の多さは江戸、京に比べても特色があり、商人の町として栄えた。井原西鶴(さいかく)が記すように「日本第一の津」の商人としての誇りと商業道徳があり、また現実的で金銭的合理主義、反中央、反アカデミズムなど独特の気風を育てた。ただ豪商の多くが領主経済に関係し、金融などで営業していたため、近代になると、廃藩で大打撃を受け、一部銀行資本に転じ、住友が財閥となった以外は没落した家も多かった。

［脇田　修］

『「大阪町人論」「大阪町人列伝」（『宮本又次著作集　第8巻』所収・1977・講談社）』

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