Edo Shigusa- A system of behavior manners for Japanese merchants in Edo period

Abstract

Edo Shigusa was a system of behavior manners for Japanese merchants, was taught in the late Edo period. In the process of forming and developing this manner, the Edo-period instructors encountered many objections from the Tokugawa shogunate because they thought that its syllabus risked influence on the politics of the nation, causing Edo merchants not publicly but only in the form of word of mouth. Professor Shiba Mitsuakira was the instructor of Edo Shigusa, who is considered as the last surviving member of Edo Shigusa instructors, holded the seminar "Looking back to the good points of Edo Shigusa" in 1974. He synthesized all of syllabus in the Edo period, calling these manners are "Merchant manners", "Prosperity rules", "Edo Shigusa business philosophers" and finally, named them as “Edo Shigusa”. After restoration and development since 1980, Edo Shigusa has become a common standard in communication, a measure of manners not only for Japanese businessmen but also for ordinary people today. This study, from a cultural point of view, outlines some manners for Japanese merchants in the Edo period, influences in today's era, and analyzes its good and bad sides to explain the general information of Japanese businessmen in particular and Japanese people in general.