Database: Itinerant Traders

Itinerant traders traveled within specific areas (nawabari) where they could enjoy safe routes and privileges guaranteed by their guild. They moved from one village to the next, restocking when necessary, before continuing their journey. Some traveled in caravans, but most preferred to travel alone. They were often armed but largely defenseless against more dangerous groups. They were rarely the target of thieves as they carried small amounts of money and few valuables. Typically, they would stock up in the towns before setting out for more distant villages, all within their nawabari. Itinerant traders were mostly Japanese, but some of them were Chinese who only remained in ports to unload and sell their goods.

During the 16th century, peddlers selling various products were still commonplace, including salt merchants who sold their goods across large regions. Travel in the winter presented additional challenges, especially regions with heavy snowfall like the northeast, but trade was never halted completely. Traders could be men, women, or even couples. On market days, goods were displayed on mats and sold or bartered for grain, rice, and handicrafts. Traders came from a range of social classes, though they were typically from merchant families. Unlike farmers who sold their goods at local markets, traders were based in small ports of the Inland Sea and travelled to ports along the Yodo River to sell their products to wholesalers who held the monopoly on salt sales in cities, and especially Kyoto.