The second-hand clothing trade in the early modern city of Utsunomiya

This article aims at further clarifying the workings of the second-hand clothing trade in the castletown of Utsunomiya, an urban center serving as an entrepot for the local region, by analyzing and comparing the enterprises of two merchants, Sawaya Souemon (Sawaso) and Maruiya Ihei (Marui), with respect to business practices ranging from purchasing to sales. In general, while no distinct differences can be observed between the two in their direct transactions conducted within the castletown limits, they did differ with respect to where they purchased and sold goods outside the city. <br> With regard to purchasing, Marui began proactively traveling to Edo from the Bunka Era (1804-1818) on to acquire silk and cotton clothing from the metropolis’ wholesalers, while also purchasing goods, including discarded and remade items, in the flourishing textile region between the towns of Ashikaga and Yuki in Shimotsuke and Shimousa Provinces, characterized by “on commission” credit transactions, indicative of the region’s growing, confident economy. Meanwhile, Sawaso cannot be observed purchasing goods anywhere but in Edo, where he was particularly active up until the beginning of the Bunsei Era (1818-30) buying mainly cotton goods. Because he operated a pawnshop on the side, he was no doubt also privy to clothing pawned by borrowers from town and the surrounding rural areas who defaulted on their loans.<br>  On the sales front, Sawaso’s retail establishment dealt with not only in-town residents, including samurai families, but also customers from local areas in the western parts of Shimotsuke and Hitachi Provinces and from as far away as the castletowns and way stations as far north as Sendai, all of various social classes with a wide variety of clothing needs. Marui, on the other hand, dealt mostly with merchants from Imaichi and the larger castletowns and way stations of the southern environs of Northeastern Honshu, looking for high-end items to purchase for resale. <br> From the purchasing and sales patterns of these two merchants, the character of Utsunomiya as a commercial entrepot and central market for surrounding and remote areas alike is clearly reflected concretely in the unique character of the second-hand clothing trade. Within the commodity distribution network centered around Utsunomiya, there were distribution routes formed through transactional relations created and chosen by the members of the castletown’s commercial class, as shown by the sophisticated commercial structure created by the diverse styles of two second-hand clothing merchants.