Slavery in Japan existed in several forms from antiquity through the modern period, alongside and proceeding other systems of unfree and coerced labor, some manifestations of which continue to this day. In early Japanese sources, enslaved people included groups referred to as seikō (生口) and later nuhi (奴婢) under the ritsuryō legal codes, and historians debate how these institutions compare with slavery and serfdom in other societies.
Slavery in Japan existed in several forms from antiquity through the modern period, alongside and proceeding other systems of unfree and coerced labor, some manifestations of which continue to this day. In early Japanese sources, enslaved people included groups referred to as seikō (生口) and later nuhi (奴婢) under the ritsuryō legal codes, and historians debate how these institutions compare with slavery and serfdom in other societies.
Source: Wikipedia "Slavery in Japan" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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