Japan has, traditionally, been a nation of farmers. Every square inch of plowable land was used, tucked between the ocean below and the mountains above. Early leaders would give land to the peasants in return for a share of the crops and a set period of time for military service; this evolved into a standing army, and leadership - the samurai class. These two classes were well respected for the value they gave to the Japanese culture.
In contrast, the merchant class evolved as monetary systems came in from China, and were much less well respected. Money itself was looked down apon; payments were made with the coins wrapped to symbolically hide their presence. Merchants were looked down upon and considered to be lying cheats who took honest peoples´ money.
This view was not helped by the government´s methods of taxation. Agriculture was highly valued, and thus heavily taxed. On the other hand, money lending and trade was despised, and therefore lightly taxed.
Through the 1400s a national market system developed, incorporating textiles, food, handicrafts, books, and other goods. Osaka became the center of the rice market, where daimyo exchanged rice for cash to support themselves. While samurai were paid a fixed rice income, merchants were free to use inflation on their exchange rates, giving them even more power.
In the 1500s, the tea ceremony came back into fashion and the merchants often made themselves into tea masters. A growing peace led to more socialization and leisure time, and merchants and samurai metmore often on almost equal footing. The ostentation of the past had given way to more intimite gatherings, where rich merchants of Sakai and Kyoto met comfortably with their samurai counterparts.
The populace, too, now had more money to spend. Heirs could now be adopted, so there was less of a rush to have many children to ensure one lived to adulthood. Smaller families, and better agriculture, gave families more excess cash to spend.
By the Tokugawa era, Japan had stratified into samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants. The merchants were actually the class which benefitted most from this era, as the peasants were always working, and the samurai trying to get by in an era of peace on a fixed income. They were still looked down upon, and strict laws concerning the display of weath were written, but behind the drab facades of their homefronts lay immesurable wealth.
This was coupled with the culture in general turning towards the ´floating world´ of pleasure and complacency. Far from the old, sorrowful Buddhist roots, the world was now an exciting place of change. Society was becoming more and more money, and not status, based.
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