Japanese Slaves - Early Slavery

Early Slavery

The export of a slave from Japan is recorded in 3rd century Chinese historical record, but it is unclear what system was involved, and whether this was a common practice at that time. These slaves were called Seikō (生口) (lit. "living mouth"). The export of slaves from Japan ceased, in part because of Japanese separation from the Sinocentrism.

In the 8th century, slaves were called Nuhi (奴婢) and laws were issued under Ritsuryousei (律令制). These slaves tended farms and worked around houses. Information on the slave population is sketchy, but the proportion of slaves are estimated to be around 5% of the population.

Slavery persisted into the Sengoku period (1467-1615) even though the attitude that slavery was anachronistic seems to have become widespread among elites. In 1590, slavery was officially banned under Toyotomi Hideyoshi; but forms of contract and indentured labor persisted alongside the period penal codes' forced labor. Somewhat later, the Edo period penal laws prescribed "non-free labor" for the immediate family of executed criminals in Article 17 of the Gotōke reijō (Tokugawa House Laws), but the practice never became common. The 1711 Gotōke reijō was compiled from over 600 statutes promulgated between 1597 and 1696.