Hello! Everybody! It is the blog How Unique Japan! On this page, I will write about the Edo society again! (If you haven’t seen the page yet, please try here!)
Following the blog, Edo City was massive. There were almost a million citizens, and the city ran for nearly 300 years.
Then, there should be one question. How had the top organization (Bakuhu) kept the city for so long? The government banned trading with other countries and traveling (except Portugal). It was a challenge for Bakuhu to keep the economy calm without trading.
The Recycling Society Edo
The solution is to Recycle any products till each becomes completely useless. It sounds like a standard solution. However, the city inseparably ran with that method. For example, there were so many repair workers working in the city.
The other reason why Edo citizens took the way is that almost all products were from plants. They could easily take the recycling method. At first, growing plants. Then, harvesting and creating any products. When any products become useless, they could work as a good fertilizer. It is a nearly perfect cycle.
So then, let’s see more details on how the city utilized the recycling system and how it leaned on the repair workers.
The jobs concerned with recycling
Cloth(es) can be anything
Although the city was wealthy, the average citizens’ clothes were 2nd hand. When the clothes got a hole somewhere, they patched and used it again. If the clothes got worse enough, they cut them into pieces. Then, the pieces became wipers or diapers.
(Some wipers are called Tenugui. If you want to know, click here!)
However, it was not the end. There were many cloth buyers with good needlework skills. They bought pieces of cloth from each house and fixed them to look new.
Fun fact. That was why the needlework skill was necessary for all Japanese women. (Because men worked outside in the daytime). There was one saying that a woman who doesn’t have the skill would get no husband.
Any pot could last for long
Any products of iron were so important. Thus, the pot was treated with great care. There was no way to throw it away, even though it sometimes had a hole or cracks.
The solution was up to the repair man again. There were many pot soldering technicians walking and calling customers around the city with fixing equipment like cloth buyers.
They were named Ikake-ya. Surprisingly, they always had a PORTABLE BURNER. So, they quickly fixed the damaged pots whenever the customers brought a broken one to them.
Fun fact. The repair man did not have enough technique to create one pot from iron. They were specialists in only soldering.
Any fertilizer buyers
So, the Edo City citizens reused any products. Surprisingly, it included HUMAN EXCREMENTS.
At that time, every residential area had many simple bathrooms/toilets like the public ones.
The buyers (called Shimokoe-ya) paid landowners of the residential area to gather Poop from the public toilets and then exchanged that with farmers.
Fun fact. The buyers didn’t accept only human excrement. There was also a hose or other animals (for example, cows).
Ash buyers
The fertilizer was not only from excrement. The ash from fireplaces in each house could be another good.
At that time, fireplaces (called Kamado) were essential because those working in the kitchen, even a heater. Thus, the amount of waste (ash) was born every day.
Ancient Japanese never rid them away as just garbage. There were other buyers for ash. They visited each house and purchased the ash, which they traded with the farmers like excrement.
Fun fact. Some ashes were also used as purifying material to create Japanese Sake.
Fun fact more
There has been a famous word since the recycling society existed. It is “Mottainai”
In a straight translation, it could be said (Such a waste!). So, an appreciation for any products still lives in the Japanese attitude.
For example, please see the following pictures. Those are pottery cups from the Edo era (they are almost 150 years old!). However, it is still a popular product which means such old cups could be everywhere in Japan. Especially in the free market zones, they would be in the spot.
There is another proof of how the Japanese treat them (any products) with their respect. Please see the picture again. You might recognize that one cup has a golden spot.
It is the spot where it got a crack a long time ago. They fixed it by soldering it with small tips of gold. Surprisingly, some of the fixed cups/plates would be more expensive when the
looking became more excellent.
To close
There were many repairers and buyers for the recycling system of Edo City. It was a good solution that made it capable for the era’s long period without trading with any countries.
However, it is not yet. If you are interested in the policy in the Edo era, you can touch on some tips about it here. And there is also a main page about the era with another article about old Japanese fashion.
Oh! Why don’t you check the front page of my blog? Click here and try to read.
Few! That is all for this time! Thank you for reading this article! As it said, we have varied articles about Japanese uniqueness. Do you feel bored? Help your time with them!
OK! SEE YOU FOR THE NEXT ARTICLE!