http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_society#Four_class_order

The Tokugawa government intentionally created a social order called the Four divisions of society (Shinokosho), that would stabilize the country. This system was based on the ideas of Confucianism that spread to Japan from China. By this system, society was composed of samurai (士 shi), farming peasants (農 nō), artisans (工 kō) and merchants (商 shō). Samurai were placed at the top of society because they started an order and set a high moral example for others to follow. This system was meant to reinforce their position of power in society by justifying their ruling status. Peasants came second because they produced the most important commodity, food. According to Confucian philosophy, society could not survive without agriculture.[1] Third were artisans because they produced non-essential goods. Merchants were at the bottom of the social order because they generated wealth without producing any goods. As this indicates, the classes were not arranged by wealth or capital but by what philosophers described as their moral purity.

Интересно, существуют ли леваки, которые фапают на Японию эпохи Эдо? По-моему, самая их тема же.