Shipmen

...Fishermen, sea people, hunter-gatherers, mountain people, performers, sorcerers, religious people, merchants, and craftsmen, etc., appeared as nomads and itinerants as long as they were active in the mountains, fields, rivers, and seas, traveled along roads, and engaged in trading activities in cities. In many cases, they were involved in some agricultural work in their bases. Fishermen who cast fishing lines and pulled nets, mountain people with axes, wandering women and beggars, saints who entered forests and traveled along roads, and even more recently, merchants and craftsmen from salt and medicine sellers to metalworkers, transportation operators such as horse and car hirers, and performers such as prostitutes and puppets, were all such people, and by the 11th century, the view that these people were all grouped together as "michi no hai" (those on the road). On the other hand, even in the case of agricultural people whose lives are mainly based on rice fields, their settlement has gradually become more stable, but they depend heavily on the products of the mountains, fields, rivers, and seas and their processing, and they have often moved their settlements.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "kaisennin" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…漁労民―海民，狩猟･採集民―山民，さらに芸能民，呪術者，宗教者，商工民等が，山野河海で活動し，道を通り，市で交易活動を展開する限りにおいて，彼らは漂泊民，遍歴民として姿を現すが，その根拠地においては若干の農業に携わる場合が多かった。釣糸を垂れ，網を引く海人（あま）や斧を持つ山人，遊行女婦（うかれめ）や乞食人，山林に入り，道路を遊行する聖（ひじり），さらに時代を下れば廻船人，塩売･薬売から鋳物師（いもじ）にいたる商工民，馬借･車借などの交通業者，遊女･傀儡（くぐつ）等の芸能民などは，みなそうした人々であり，11世紀に入れば，これらの人々を〈道々の輩〉(道々の者)として一括する見方も現れてくる。　しかし一方の，主として田畠を基盤に生活する農業民の場合も，その定住性はしだいに安定化の方向に向かっているとはいえ，山野河海の産物，その加工に依存する度合は大きく，定住地の移動もしばしば起こりえたのである。…

※「廻船人」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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