Society in the Edo Era

Abstract

Japanese society was organised according to a strict hierarchy of basically four estates, namely the shi-no-ko-sho — samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants. Here a very important point has to be made. These four groups, or estates, must not be confused with classes. Class, in fact, is not a useful analytical concept in terms of the early part of the Edo era. It is as a result of a number of forces which evolved in the course of this period that classes, along with class interest and class conflict, began to emerge; but the process of differentiation which occurred took place mainly within the four estates. When one comes to consider the disintegration of the Tokugawa regime and the nature of the revolution, to speak in terms of a peasant, merchant or samurai class is misleading, in fact meaningless. The variations within these estates were far too substantial to allow any sense of homogeneity or solidarity, in spite of occasional rhetoric to the contrary.