Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The transport of freight was a highly organized business. Much of the trade between the
Osaka region and Edo was carried by two shipping-lines. The earlier of these became
known as the Higaki (Diamond Bulwark) Line (
60
), because its ships were fitted with bul-
warks of bamboo poles arranged in diamond shape, to prevent the cargo falling overboard
when the ship rolled. This line started about 1620, when a merchant from Sakai, an ancient
commercial town just south of Osaka, hired some vessels from the havens of the Kii pen-
insula, in order to start up direct shipping to Edo. It was from this time that goods traffic
begantodesertthelandroute.About1660theotherline,theTaru(Barrel)Line,startedthe
transportof
sake
frombrewing-townslikeNishi-no-miya,toEdo.Boththeselineswereop-
eratedinconjunctionwithwarehouses,wheregoodswerereceivedfortransportandwaited
forcollecting.In1772theBarrelLinehadeightoftheseinOsakaandsixinNishi-no-miya,
while in 1773 the Diamond Bulwark had nine. In these years agreements were reached
with the central government whereby in return for an annual contribution to funds (known
as “thank-money”) they were permitted to come to the following arrangement about car-
rying cargoes between Osaka and Edo;
sake
was restricted to the Barrel Line; rice, bran,
indigo, wheat noodles, vinegar, soy sauce, and wax candles could be carried by either; the
Diamond Bulwark shipshadthesolerighttocarryremaining goods.Thissortofmonopol-
istic agreement was widespread at the time in forming all sorts of trade associations. The
“thank-money” that resulted amounted to a sizeable annual income for the government.
Inthe 1830s the controls were removed, and in the next decade the two lines were each
staging a sort of race in the eleventh month, the Barrels carrying new
sake
, and the Dia-
mond Bulwarks silk, and the first to reach Edo gained a substantial bonus for the captain
and gave his ship various privileges for the year. Later the Barrel Line gained the ascend-
ancy and took over almost the whole of the trade.
(60) Higaki ship, with its “diamond bulwarks.”
