The Merchants - Everyday Life in Traditional Japan - page 98

(56) Moneychanger's. The clerks are busy weighing (using balance and steel-yard), calcu-
lating on the soroban , counting and transporting strings of cash. Customers enjoy a pipe
while waiting. A samurai and a woman pass by.
As in every other field, moneychangers ( 56 ) were sharply stratified. In Osaka they ex-
isted in three layers. At the bottom were small dealers, who were often retailers of other
commodities, such as oil, or sake , and dealt mainly with the exchange of copper and small
amountsofsilver.Theywereknownas“ zeni shops.”Nextabovethesewerethenormalrun
of businesses, operating at the level of inter-city trade, and performing in fact many of the
roles that bankers do today, including the issue of documents for the transfer of money, ac-
cepting deposits, and advancing loans. No interest was given on money in what we would
now call a current account, but certificates were issued that could be used for financial
transactions. Loans were usually dependent upon the good character of the borrower, and
weregenerallyrestrictedtothosewhohadmoneyondeposit.Theweightofsilverrequired
tosettle accounts inOsakawasmuchgreater thanthatofgoldinEdo,andsotheuseoflet-
tersofcreditandthelikewasagreatconvenience.Theusualsignhangingoutsideamoney
exchange was a large wooden representation of a zeni .
The top layer was formed of the “ten men,” ten families who from the 1660s exercised
the role of superintendents over the other changers, acting as their bankers and at the same
time seeing that they conformed to the customs of the profession. These ten families be-
came financial agents to the central authorities, and acquired the right to wear swords.