Tekiya ranked as one of the
lowest social groups during the
Edo period. As they began to form organizations of their own, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities. During
Shinto festivals, these peddlers opened stalls and some members were hired to act as security. Each peddler paid rent in exchange for a stall assignment and
protection during the fair. The
tekiya were a highly structured and hierarchical group with the
oyabun (boss) at the top and
kobun (gang members) at the bottom. This hierarchy resembles a structure similar to the family – in traditional
Japanese culture, the
oyabun was often regarded as a surrogate father, and the
kobun as surrogate children. Unlike the
bakuto who gamble (gambling was and still is illegal in Japan), the
tekiya's line of work was generally legal. However, they also engaged in illicit activities such as the creation of
protection rackets and would sometimes engage in
gang warfare with other groups. In addition, their itinerant lifestyle often attracted fugitives to join their ranks. Although the
tekiya/
bakuto lines have been blurred with the emergence of the modern Japanese
yakuza in the 20th century, many of today's yakuza still identify with one group over the other. ==See also==