Stevedores and stevedores' guilds

During the early modern period, there were many types of stevedores that worked along Osaka's rivers and canals loading and unloading cargo. Generally, there were three types of stevedores: ① stevedores who worked at the large storehouses maintained inside the city of Osaka by domainal lords from across western Japan, ② stevedores who handled the transportation and storage of rice trade at Osaka's Dōjima Rice Market, and ③ stevedores attached to the individual neighborhoods that lined the city's rivers and canals. The members of each stevedore group formed independent trade organizations and attempted to monopolize the rights to handle cargo transportation and storage at specific locations around the city. In addition, they attempted to control the proceeds generated from such work. Over time, the rights secured by Osaka's stevedore organizations became formalized. As a result, the occupation of stevedore itself came to be traded as a commodity. In the process, ownership of the right to work as a stevedore and the actual labor of stevedoring became increasingly bifurcated. At the same time, stevedore organizations became internally stratified. Yet, very few of the trade organizations formed by stevedores actually received public recognition. Ultimately, most stevedore organizations failed to receive official recognition because the labor that stevedores performed was manual and easily replaceable. As members of an early modern status society in which a unique trade or occupational skill was essential, stevedores could never become anything more than a marginal social group.

► Discusses the labor and classifications of Osaka's stevedores. ► Examines stevedores' formation into trade organizations. ► Analyzes the failed attempts of those organizations to monopolize profits. ► Shows that ownership of stevedore rights became separate from stevedore labor.