During the Edo period (1603 – 1868), feudal Japan lived under a system that divided society into 4 main groups: the samurai, the farmers, the artisans, and the merchants. This model became known as “Shinoukoushou” (士農工商, しのうこうしょう) and lasted for a long time, especially during the so-called “Sakoku” (鎖国, さこく), the country’s isolation from the rest of the planet.
In this article, we will learn more details about this system that prevailed in Japan and influenced the politics of the Bakufu during the Tokugawa shogunate. In addition, we will also see the specific characteristics of each of the four main classes that represented Japanese society at the time.
As a complement, read the articles below to better understand the context and history of the Tokugawa period:
Table of Contents
The “shinoukoushou” system
The word “Shinoukoushou” (士農工商, しのうこうしょう) is a Yojijukugo (term formed by 4 kanjis) that carries the central idea of being the representation of four groups: the samurai, the farmers, the artisans, and the merchants. In Japanese, this vocabulary is composed of the kanji 士 (し, shi) which means “samurai” or “warrior”, by the ideogram 農 (のう, nou) which carries the sense of “agriculture” and is present in the word 農家 (のうか, nouka, farmer), in addition to 工 (こう, kou) which represents the figure of an “artisan”, “carpenter” or “manufacture”. Lastly, we have the kanji 商 (しょう, shou) which has the meanings of “commerce”, “sales”, “merchant” and “business”.
Above, we can see how the Japanese social pyramid was divided in relation to the “status” in the stratified system from the 17th to the 19th centuries. This hierarchical model was influenced by the ideology and Confucian thought (the philosophy of the Chinese thinker Confucius), which was the philosophical basis of the land of the rising sun during part of the Tokugawa era and which ended up designating the political and social directions of other Asian countries, in addition to generating friction with the ideologies of authoritarian governments during the 20th century (especially during the communist dictatorship of Mao Zedong) and which returned in the 21st century as a prominent concept in the governing philosophy of Xi Jinping, in the current People’s Republic of China.
The shinoukoushou was motivated and established by the justification of some ideological advisors of Tokugawa Ieyasu, such as the Confucian Hayashi Razan. The rigidity of the pyramid composed of samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants was as hard as stone, making ascension within it extremely difficult, in addition to the fact that positions were designated mainly by fixed factors, such as birth. The relationship of each of the groups with the daimyos (the land lords) also differed in each case.
An interesting curiosity is that, in Japanese RPG games, JRPGs, we can often notice this structure, especially in games from the Dragon Quest series, where we always have merchants, artisans, farmers (mostly NPCs with important information), and warriors (who in these games are not always samurai).
The Samurai
According to most historical sources, samurai made up about 10% of the population during this period (some authors place the percentage between 8% and 10%). By the end of the 19th century, they ceased to exist as military figures, abandoned their swords, and became members of civil society, becoming heimin (commoners).
The Farmers
They represented more than 80% of the population during the period and had high importance in society, due to the great need to provide food. The work imposed on farmers was heavy, but despite this, hunger was a constant in rural areas. Most rural workers were small farmers and tenants who had been forced to abandon their own lands and work for national agriculture.
The Artisans
The artisans produced goods, trinkets, and essential items for survival and daily life, but represented a minority of the population and, combined with merchants, made up only about 5% to 10% of the Japanese population. They were important figures who provided Japan with highly useful materials. They can be considered the embryo of the Japanese industry that would grow considerably in the 20th century.
The Merchants
As mentioned earlier, merchants, together with artisans, made up less than 10% of the population composition of society. Merchants were at the bottom of the pyramid, as they had little status by only dealing with the sale (and purchase) of goods manufactured by artisans and food produced by farmers on farms and peasant lands. However, they moved the economy and were important for the circulation of material goods.
Conclusion
After the end of the Shinoukousho system, Japanese society began to create a more unified national sentiment, considering that the old class privileges and hierarchical differences were beginning to be, in a way, set aside in favor of a collective sentiment that favored the figure of the modern nation-state and Japanese imperialism.
Nowadays, this classification obviously no longer exists. However, there are contemporary authors who claim that the hierarchization of society is still very present, even if in other terms and in another context of civilization.
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