Visit an imagined cloth shop in Edo, the city associated with present-day Tokyo.

The idea

商人（しょうにん） is a merchant, 客（きゃく） a customer, and 呉服屋（ごふくや） a shop selling kimono fabrics and related goods. 布 is cloth; 品物 is goods and 現金 is cash. Echigoya opened in Edo in 1673 and later offered cash sales without added credit charges and fabric in smaller quantities. The examples use modern polite Japanese, not reconstructed historical speech.

Patterns to compare
WordReading
商人しょうにん
客きゃく
呉服屋ごふくや
布ぬの
品物しなもの
現金げんきん

Examples

  • 江戸えどの町まちに呉服屋ごふくやがありました。There were cloth shops in the city of Edo.
  • 商人しょうにんは布ぬのを売うりました。The merchant sold cloth.
  • 客きゃくは店みせで布ぬのを選えらびました。The customer chose cloth in the shop.
  • 越後屋えちごやは現金げんきんで布ぬのを売うりました。Echigoya sold cloth for cash.
  • この布ぬのの値段ねだんはいくらですか。How much does this cloth cost?
  • 客きゃくは品物しなものを買かいました。The customer bought goods.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Echigoya is one documented example, not a rule for every Edo shop. Do not confuse a customer buying goods with the merchant selling them.

Try it yourself

  1. Who sells goods? （商人しょうにん／客きゃく）

    Show answer or example answer

    商人

    商人 is the merchant selling goods; 客 is the customer.

  2. Which shop sells cloth and related goods? （呉服屋ごふくや／旅籠はたご）

    Show answer or example answer

    呉服屋

    呉服屋 sells kimono fabrics and related goods; 旅籠 is an inn.

  3. Which word means cash used to pay? （現金げんきん／布ぬの）

    Show answer or example answer

    現金

    現金 means cash; 布 means cloth.

Use it today

Imagine entering a cloth shop: ask the price of a fabric and say who buys and who sells it.