抄録
In the present article, the author takes up the structure of the lime market around the city of Edo during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the time, there were three different brands of lime being traded : Hachioji-produced quarry lime, Yashu-produced quarry lime and Edo-produced oyster shell lime. At first, the lime that was consumed in Edo proper was produced with fiscal assistance from the Tokugawa Bakufu in the form of loans and the use of its pony express system for transport. The most popular brand at that time was Hachioji lime being produced in the northern part of present day Ome City and the southern part of present day Hanno City. From the Genroku era on, the lime merchants of Edo proper took on the role played by the Bakufu before that time and took control of the lime trade through two exchanges, one at the point of production for shipping, the other in Edo for supplying the Bakufu and managing distribution. Later, in the midst of the expansion of oyster shell lime in Edo and the introduction of Yashu lime, these new production points were able to compete with Hachijoii lime through Bakufu mediation, by taking on the burden of transportation and joining the Hachijoji lime exchange to eliminate other competitors ; and in 1775 the three producers formed a monopolistic triad controlling the whole Edo lime market. 0ver the twelve-year period beginning in 1751, as the result of Yashu lime dealers undertaking transport duties from the Hachioji traders, the later came to recognize the significance of that aspect more clearly, and in 1762 the revived exchange was transformed from the headquarters of the Edo lime merchants to the central market for lime producers. Within this process, the former Edo merchants declined in their roles as suppliers of production capital and exchange managers. Moreover, from 1775 onward, the oyster shell lime producers became the financiers for the production of Hachioji lime and eventually a structure was formed consisting of a wholesaling mechanism for the three points of production and a lime merchant guild controlling distribution within Edo proper.
