Aosoza - Aosoza

Japanese: 青苧座 - あおそざ

In the late Middle Ages, this merchant group had a privileged trade in ramie, a textile raw material. They were established in various places, such as Fuchu in Echigo Province, which was a specialty production area of ramie, Sakamoto, a transit port in Omi Province, and Kyoto and Tennoji, which were ramie trading markets, and had the Sanjonishi family as their head office. The Sanjonishi family became the head office of the ramie groups when they inherited the right to collect ramie taxes from the Ogimachi Sanjo family at the end of the 14th century. After this, the Sanjonishi family dispatched ramie tax collectors to Mino, Tamba, and Sakamoto to tax ramie trade, and set up checkpoints to collect ramie taxes at various entrances to Kyoto.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中世後期，繊維原料である青苧(カラムシ)の特権的な取引を行っていた商人座。青苧特産地であった越後国の府中，近江国の中継港坂本，青苧取引市場の京都や天王寺等の各地に成立し，三条西家を本所としていた。三条西家が青苧諸座の本所となったのは，14世紀末に正親町（おおぎまち）三条家が知行していた苧（からむし）課役徴収権を継承したことに由来するものであろう。これ以後，三条西家は苧商売に課税するため，美濃，丹波や坂本に苧公事徴収代官を派遣したり，京都に入る諸口に苧公事徴収のための関所を設けたりした。

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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