Cotton wholesaler - Momendonya

Japanese: 木綿問屋 - もめんどんや

A wholesaler who dealt in cotton fabrics since the early modern period. It is said that cotton began to be woven in Japan from the end of the 15th century to the mid-16th century, but as cotton began to be widely used as clothing by the common people during the Edo period, the number of merchants dealing in cotton increased, and wholesalers sprang up in distribution centers. In the early early modern period, the main players were receiving wholesalers who acted as intermediaries between shippers in the production areas and customers in other provinces, accepting, managing, and storing cotton shipments and receiving commission and storage fees. In the middle and late early modern period, purchasing wholesalers who purchased cotton from production areas with their own capital, processed it in dyeing and other ways, and sold it to middlemen and retailers became an important link in cotton distribution.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

近世以降，木綿織物を扱った問屋商人。木綿が日本で織り出されるようになったのは，15世紀末～16世紀中葉といわれるが，江戸時代に入って広く庶民層にまで衣料として利用されたことから，これを扱う商人たちも多くなり，問屋群が集散地に生成した。近世前期には生産地荷主と諸国の注文主との間を仲介し，木綿荷物の引受け･管理･保管にあたり，口銭（こうせん）と蔵敷料（くらしきりよう）を受け取る荷受問屋（にうけどんや）が主体であったが，中後期には自己資本でもって生産地から仕入れ，染色などの加工をほどこして仲買･小売商に販売する仕入問屋が木綿流通の重要な環となった。

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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