During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), feudal Japan lived under a system that divided society into 4 main groups: the samurais, 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 world.
In this article, we will get to know more details about this system that prevailed in Japan and influenced Bakufu policy 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 supplement, read the articles below to better understand the context and history of the Tokugawa period:
Table of Content
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 concerning the "status" in the stratified system from the 17th to the 19th century. This hierarchical model was influenced by the ideology and 儒教 (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 ultimately designated the political and social directions of other Asian countries, besides generating friction with the ideologies of authoritarian governments during the 20th century (especially during the communist dictatorship of 毛泽东) and that returned in the 21st century as a prominent concept in the governing philosophy of 习近平, 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 Confucianist Hayashi Razan. The rigidity of the pyramid composed of samurais, farmers, artisans, and merchants was as hard as stone, making ascent within it extremely difficult, in addition to the fact that positions were designated mainly by fixed factors, such as birth. The relationship of each group with the daimiôs (the land lords) also differed in each case.
An interesting curiosity is that, in Japanese RPG games, the JRPG's, we can frequently notice this structure, especially in games from the Dragon Quest series, where we always have merchants, craftsmen, farmers (mostly NPC's that have important information), and warriors (who in these games are not always samurais).
the samurai
According to most historical sources, samurai made up about 10% of the population during that period (some authors place the percentage between 8% and 10%). By the end of the 19th century, they ceased to exist as military figures, laid down their swords, and became part of civil society, becoming heimin (commoners).
The Farmers
They represented more than 80% of the population of the period and had high importance in society, due to the great need to provide food. The work imposed on the farmers was heavy, but despite this, hunger was a constant in rural areas. Most rural workers were small farmers and lessors who had been forced to abandon their own land and work for national agriculture.
The Artisans
Craftsmen produced products, trinkets and essential items for survival and daily life, but they represented a minority share of the population and, added to the merchants, they were only about 5% to 10% of the Japanese population. They were important figures who provided Japan with very useful materials. They can be considered as the embryo of the Japanese industry that came to grow considerably in the 20th century.
The Merchants
As stated earlier, merchants were, together with artisans, less than 10% of the society's population composition. Merchants were at the bottom of the pyramid, as they had little status in dealing only 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 starting to be, in a way, set aside in favor of a collective feeling that favored the figure of the modern nation-state and Japanese imperialism.
These days, this classification obviously no longer exists. However, there are contemporary authors who claim that the hierarchy of society is still something very present, even if in other terms and in another context of civilization.
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