Abstract
In the latter part of the modern castle-town (Zyoka-machi) there was a great change from the feudal society to the economic one. This means loosening and dissolution of an urban organization in the feudal society.
With the advent of the 18 th century, the nature of the castle-town as a feudal town became clear. Retainers and merchants lived together, and part of “Samurai-machi” began to function like “Chonin-machi.” Thus the castle-town composed of “Samurai-machi” and “Chonin-machi” began to crumble down, and the monopolistic trade system was replaced by a free trade system, and the castle-town was gradually turned into an economic town.
The abolition of the special rights changed the nature of the feudal town-center and resulted in its transference, and the new town-center has become the center of the present-day city. The change in the character of the feudal town meant the modernization of the castle-town and prepared the way for the development of the so-called lord-town into a citizen-town. In this process the regional difference between north-eastern Japan and south-western Japan becomes a problem, which has still many points to be solved.
