Silk City

Japanese: 絹市 - きぬいち

A market that mainly traded silk. In the textile production areas of western Kanto in the Edo period, city wholesalers used the markets as an opportunity to purchase local textiles. In the mountainous regions from Joshu to Bushu, as textile production flourished, markets that had previously traded a variety of goods changed to focus on textiles as their main product. The market in Fujioka, Joshu, which traded a variety of goods around the Genroku period, became a major market for collecting raw silk in the Kanto region in the late early modern period. The market in Uenohara, Koshu, which was established in 1742 (Kanpo 2), consisted of 11 za, each divided by product, but soon after its establishment, it began to focus on silk and tsumugi as its main products.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

絹を主として取引する市。江戸時代，関東西部の織物生産地帯では，都市の問屋が市を，その地の織物を仕入れる機会として利用した。上州から武州にかけての山地地域では，織物生産がさかんになると，これまで各種の商品を取引していた市が，織物を主要な商品とするように変わっていった。元禄ころは諸種の商品が取引されていた上州藤岡の市も，近世後期には関東生絹の代表的集荷市となった。1742年(寛保2)に設立された甲州上野原の市は，商品ごとに分かれた11の座で構成されていたが，設立後間もなく，絹･紬を主要な商品とするようになった。

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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