The were one of the primary types of trade guilds in feudal Japan. The za grew out of protective cooperation between merchants and religious authorities. They became more prominent during the Muromachi period where they would ally themselves with noble patrons, before they became more independent later in the period. The za commonly organized by locality, and not by trade in the rural areas; but grouped by trade in the larger cities, more familiar to their European counterparts.
The monopoly of the za was challenged during the reign of Oda Nobunaga. Later in the early 18th century, the za gained in influence by working more closely with the Tokugawa government; this brought more centralization and a return to their monopoly power. After the Meiji restoration, the za was either replaced, eclipsed or would gradually adopt more modern forms of business, eventually giving rise to the modern zaibatsu and keiretsu monopolies of the 20th century.
Origins
The word za, meaning seat, pitch, or platform, was thus applied to the guilds. The name may have also come, more simply, from the idea of merchants within a guild or association sharing a seat or platform in the marketplace. Merchants would travel and transport goods in groups, for protection from bandits but also from the vacillating whims of samurai and the daimyō (feudal lords). They would also enter into arrangements with temples and shrines to sell their goods on a pitch or platform in the temple's (or shrine's) grounds, placing themselves under the auspices and protection of the temple or shrine.
History
The earliest za came into being in the 11th century, consisting not only of trade guilds, but also guilds of performers and entertainers. A woodcutters' za is mentioned in Yase near Kyoto as early as 1092, having a firewood concession in Kyoto along with corvée obligations. Even today, performers of kabuki and noh are in associations called za (see Kabuki-za). The za trade guilds appeared as a major force in the 14th century, and lasted in their original forms through the end of the 16th, when other guilds and trade organizations arose and subsumed the za. While no longer powerful in their original forms, it could be argued that the basic concept of the za, and most likely the same merchants running them, continued to exist as powerful agents in the market through to the 18th, going through many organizational and structural changes over the centuries, and eventually being eclipsed by other organizations like the ie trading houses. Though very powerful at times, and enjoying certain tax exemptions and other formal governmental benefits, it is important to note that the za, at least in their original forms, were never as official or organized as the medieval guilds of Europe.
Muromachi period
It was not until the Muromachi period (1336–1467) that the za really came to be a significant presence in Japan's economic world. By this time, many more za had appeared, and were larger, more organized, and more well-connected with temples, shrines, and nobles. While many associated themselves with temples and shrines, many other guilds allied themselves with noble families, gaining protection in exchange for a sharing of the profits. For example, Kyoto's yeast-brewers were associated with the Kitano Tenman-gū shrine, and the oil brokers had the Tendai monastery of Enryakuji as their patron. The gold leaf makers of Kyoto placed themselves under the protection of the Konoe family, and the fishmongers under the Saionji, a particularly powerful and wealthy family, who earned two-thirds of the profits of Kyoto's fish markets from the arrangement.
During this period, agricultural and economic advancement and growth was quite rapid in the countryside, or "Home Provinces", and za began to conglomerate into groups organized by their locality, not by their trade. These rural za were generally associations of wealthier peasant farmers who combined to sell oil, bamboo, rice, or other agricultural products in bulk; they occasionally allowed urban brokers to join their guilds, to act as their proxy or guide in the city markets. However, in the large cities, where economic progress was occurring in a different way, za formed up, as might be expected, by trade, and began to concentrate themselves in small sections of the city. Ginza, meaning "silver za" (silver trade guild), in Tokyo, is one of the most famous place-names to reflect this activity, though the Guildhall area of London, on the other side of the world, is a perfect example of the equivalent English activity.
