Based on a collection of labour contracts and other documents, this book examines the legal, economic and social relations of labour as they developed in the commercial enterprises of Tokugawa Japan. The urban focus is Kyoto, the cultural capital and smallest of the three great cities of the Tokugawa period, but the data comes from a wider region of commercial and castle towns and rural villages in central Japan.
Contents:
1. Capitalism, Industry and the Organization of Labour
2. Stem Family and Lineage Businesses
3. Labour Organization in Industry
4. Labour Contracts and Contract Labour
5. Workers, Guarantors and Migration Patterns
6. Contract Conditions
7. Conflict and Resolution
8. Labour in Early Modern Japan and Beyond
Appendix A: Data Sources
Appendix B: Translations of Selected Documents
Appendix C: Glossary of Terms
Bibliography: List of Unpublished Data Sources, List of Published Sources