Hierarchical system at the time Edo

Although the concept of Caste does not apply to the Japan, the Period Edo (江戸時代, Edo jidai ) saw the appearance of a hierarchical system confucéen of classification of the individuals compared to their social origins and their trades (身分制度, minbun seido ). This system was before a whole moral system, it entered only little in consideration the life of the every day. However, it has a considerable importance and impregnates still today the culture of Japan.

In Japanese, this hierarchical is summarized into four kanji representing each one a stage of the hierarchy on the basis of the top until the base: 士 ( shi ), 農 ( No ), 工 ( KB ) and 商 ( shô ). Thus, one finds sometimes this system of social class under the name of “system shi-No-KB-sho”.

Bushi

At the top of the hierarchy the class of the warriors is (武士 , bushi ). It includes/understands the Shogun S, the Samurai S and their entourages. They receive a warlike education and well-read woman. This class has right of life and of died on the whole of the other classes.

Daimyō

The families of bushi having the most grounds were named the daimyō . These large lords were noblest, after the shogun. When lower Japanese crossed a daimyō on a road, it was to leave and be put from there at knees to let it pass.

Shimpan daimyô

They are the narrowly related families of daimyō to the Tokugawa family, most influential and most powerful.

Fudai daimyô

They are the families of daimyō which adopted Tokugawa before 1603. This powerful and many caste generally occupied the high positions of the Bakufu .

Tozama daimyô

They are the families of I mdddb daimyō which adopted Tokugawa after 1603. This caste a little far away from the capacity nevertheless will play a paramount role in the revolution Meiji.

Samurai

They are the bushi having less ground. They are strongly related to lords, and, if it arrives at misfortune at their Master, they must be made Seppuku . Those which do not do it are relieved and become Rônin (samurai without Master).

Hatamoto

These samurais have as Master the shogun. They are trusty servants of the Bakufu .

Samurai of the daimyô

These samurai have as a Master a daimyô , they must thus obey the daimyô initially, sometimes before the shogun. It is this weakness of being able of the shogun which will cause its loss.

Nômin

Then the class comes from the peasants ( 農民, nômin ). It includes/understands a minority of land great landowners and a majority of very poor peasants often. The reason of their classification in top of the hierarchy, as well as the position of the other classes, comes mainly from the importance which the Japanese attached to those which “create”. The farmers are those which create the matter which makes it possible to live, i.e. food.

Kôgyô

After those which “create”, come those which “transform”, i.e. the craftsmen ( 工業, kôgyô ).

Shônin

In bottom of the hierarchy, those come which live without “creating”, i.e. the merchants ( 商人, shônin ). For the Japanese of the Edo time, the money is something of dirty, an evil in spite of very useful and those which live about it do not deserve favor. However, the shift between the theory and the practice are more obvious for this class. Indeed, the commercial rich person had much more prerogatives than the country poor.

In margin of these four social classes, there were two different which remain still today a taboo in Japan for discriminations that they underwent.

Burakumin

The butchers, the tanners and in a more general way all the people practitioner an linked activity with death belonged to the class of bet (穢多, eta ) this because of the Buddhist prejudices of the time. This very pejorative term was redefined recently under the more neutral term of burakumin (部落民). Contrary to the other classes, even in the worst case ( to see Hinin or eta-hinin , literally “the very dirty” ), the burakumin were born burakumin and could not hope to change group. In spite of the official abolition of the statute of in 1871 Bet, discriminations of which they were the object did not completely disappear and certain layers of the modern Japanese population would not marry their children with a member of a family whose line would include/understand a burakumin . Certain real owners (while refusing to rent) or certain companies (while paying less) practice the segregation towards the burakumin . Today, the community burakumin account more than two million people, dispersed in several Ghetto S of Ōsaka or Kyōto.

Hinin

If the burakumin were in margin of the company, there was a class which was completely excluded from it, the “not-human ones” (非人, Hinin ). It is the social class of what is called pejoratively “waste of the company”, i.e. the criminals and the beggars. But, contrary to the burakumin , they had the hope, with much chance, to be able to reinstate the company.

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