Chōnin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chōnin (町人 "townsman") was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. The majority of chōnin were merchants, but it also included craftsmen. Nōmin (farmers) were not included.
Compare "burgher"
[edit] Origins
By the late 17th century the prosperity and growth of Edo were producing unforeseen changes in the Tokugawa social order. The chōnin who were theoretically at the bottom of the Edo hierarchy (shi-no-ko-sho, samurai-farmers-craftsmen-merchants, chōnin refers to the latter two), flourished socially and economically at the expense of the daimyo and samurai, who were eager to trade rice (the principal source of domainal income) for cash and consumer goods. Mass-market innovations further challenged social hierarchies. For example, vast Edo department stores had cash-only policies, which favored the chōnin with their ready cash supply.
[edit] Significance
About a half of the population of Edo were chōnin, and the other were samurai. When compared with popular samurai or ninja, chōnin is relatively not yet well-introduced to the outside of Japan, however, it formed important elements of Japanese culture. Ukiyoe, rakugo, and handcrafts are all tied to chōnin rather than samurai. Aesthetic ideals such as iki, tsū, inase etc. were also developed among chōnin.
