Fudasashi - Bill holder

He was a townsman in Asakusa, Edo, who acted as an agent to receive the rice stipends paid to the hatamoto and gokenin who were in charge of storing rice, and sell them to rice shops to convert them into cash. He made his fortune by lending money at high interest rates using the stored rice as collateral, and became a representative wealthy merchant. In 1724 (Kyoho 9), he was granted the status of a stock association, limited to 109 households, and monopolized the receipt and payment of stored rice to the vassals of the shogunate, as well as the high-interest loan business. The commission was 3 bu gold for 100 bales of stored rice from receipt to sale, and even if he handled 1000 bales, it only amounted to 7 ryo 2 bu. However, the interest rate on the loans was 18% per year, 12% in 1789 (Kansei 1), and although it was further reduced at the end of the Edo period, he used various fraudulent means to absorb the finances of the impoverished hatamoto and gokenin, and quickly became a great wealthy man.

During the Tanuma period (1767-86), the business rights were said to be worth 1,000 ryo, and they were compared to the kakeya who provided loans to feudal lords in Osaka. Some of them used their wealth to provide financial support to kabuki actors such as Ichikawa Danjuro and haiku poet Kobayashi Issa, and they played a major role in the literature and customs of the time, such as creating the Juhachidai-tsutsu. However, the profit-making of the satsuji led to the economic weakening of the shogunate's vassals, and in 1789, an order to abolish contributions was issued, and during the Tenpo Reforms, severe interference was made with the usury capital of the satsuji, but their status as Edo's great townspeople remained unchanged. When the rice storage provision system was abolished during the Meiji Restoration, the satsuji also rapidly declined, and very few of them transformed into modern capitalists. In Kofu, there were also around 10 moneylenders who conducted financial services for the Koshu Kinbanshi, but the scale of their operations was smaller than in Edo.

[Susumu Kitahara]

"The Satsujiriyaku (The Satsujiriyaku)" edited by Ogiya Sadatsugu (1967, Sobunsha) in three volumes " "The Satsujiriyaku of Edo" by Kitahara Susumu (1985, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

蔵米取(くらまいとり)の旗本・御家人(ごけにん)に支給される俸禄(ほうろく)の米を、代理人として受け取り、米屋に売却して現金化することを請け負った江戸浅草の町人。蔵米を担保に高利貸をして財をなし、代表的な富裕商人となった。1724年（享保9）109軒を限る株仲間を認められ、幕府家臣団に対する蔵米の受け払いと、高利金融業を独占した。手数料は蔵米100俵について、受領から売却まで金3分で、1000俵扱っても7両2分にしかならなかったが、貸付金の利子は年18％、1789年（寛政1）には12％、幕末にはさらに下げられたものの、さまざまな不正手段をも交えて、貧窮化した旗本・御家人の財政に吸着し、急速に大富豪となった。

　田沼時代（1767～86）の営業権は千両株といわれ、大坂で大名貸を行った掛屋にも比較されている。その富を基礎にして、市川団十郎ら歌舞伎(かぶき)役者や、俳人小林一茶(いっさ)らへ経済的援助をする者もおり、十八大通を生み出すなど当時の文芸・風俗など江戸町人文化に果たした役割は大きかった。しかし札差の利殖は幕府家臣団の経済的弱体化に通じ、1789年には棄捐令(きえんれい)が発せられ、天保(てんぽう)の改革の際にも札差の高利貸資本に対する厳しい干渉がなされたが、江戸の大町人たる地位は動かなかった。明治維新で蔵米支給制度が廃止されると、札差も急速に没落し、近代的資本に転化した者はほとんどいない。なお甲府にも甲州勤番士を相手に金融業を営んだ札差が常時10人前後いたが、江戸より営業規模は小さかった。

［北原　進］

『扇谷定継編『札差事略』全三冊（1967・創文社）』▽『北原進著『江戸の札差』（1985・吉川弘文館）』

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