THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE
"house tax" (munewake-sen), which had been originally imposed on special occasions only, as an Imperial progress, the construction of a palace, the accession of a Shogun, or the building of a temple, were now levied on the pettiest pretext. In short, when Yoshimasa wanted money, whether to build a pavilion, lay out a park, or purchase objects of virtu from China, he never scrupled about the means of getting it. History says that on one occasion he beheaded a number of merchants who had refused to provide an immense sum demanded by his agents. Since, however, the range of these arbitrary extortions and violences was limited chiefly to Kyōtō and its environs, provincial traders were still able to ply their business. The monopoly system continued to flourish, and machinery for transmitting money from the western districts to the capital underwent great improvement. It was in this period (beginning of the fifteenth century) that trade-names first came into use, as Kame-ya (urn-house), Taka-ya (hawk-house), Shiro-kane-ya (white-metal-house), and so on. The custom began in the provinces, and extended to Kyōtō in the second half of the sixteenth century. Hitherto a trades-man had been designated by his personal name only, the use of a family name not being permitted to commoners.
It is difficult to speak with any assurance of the commercial customs of feudal times prior to the seventeenth century: they varied according
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