Edokko

is a Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...

 term referring to a person born and raised in Edo (renamed Tokyo

Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....

 in 1869). The term is believed to have been coined in the late 18th century in Edo. Being an Edokko also implied that the person had certain personality traits different from the non-native population, such as being assertive, straightforward, cheerful, perhaps a bit mercantile, (cf. Kyoto, the capital of aristocratic Japan), (see: iki

Iki (aesthetic ideal)

Iki is a traditional aesthetic ideal in Japan. The basis of iki is thought to have formed among urbane commoners in Edo in the Tokugawa period. Iki is sometimes misunderstood as simply "anything Japanese", but it is actually a specific aesthetic ideal, distinct from more ethereal notions of...

, inase) etc.

Today, the definition of "Edokko" may vary.

is a Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...

 term referring to a person born and raised in Edo (renamed Tokyo

Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....

 in 1869). The term is believed to have been coined in the late 18th century in Edo. Being an Edokko also implied that the person had certain personality traits different from the non-native population, such as being assertive, straightforward, cheerful, perhaps a bit mercantile, (cf. Kyoto, the capital of aristocratic Japan), (see: iki

Iki (aesthetic ideal)

Iki is a traditional aesthetic ideal in Japan. The basis of iki is thought to have formed among urbane commoners in Edo in the Tokugawa period. Iki is sometimes misunderstood as simply "anything Japanese", but it is actually a specific aesthetic ideal, distinct from more ethereal notions of...

, inase) etc.

Today, the definition of "Edokko" may vary. The Japanese dictionary simply defines it as one who was born and raised in Edo or Tokyo. However, popular definitions of "a true Edokko" include the following:

1. One who was born and raised in Edo/Tokyo to parents who both were also born and raised in Edo/Tokyo. (If one parent was not born and raised in Edo/Tokyo, then the child would not be a true Edokko, and was called madara ["striped"].)
2. One who was born and raised in Edo/Tokyo to a family lineage spanning back three or four generations in Edo/Tokyo.

The latter case is rare in reality, as the majority of the Edo/Tokyo population consists of the natives of other areas. Historically, Edokko almost exclusively refers to chonin

Chonin

was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. The majority of chōnin were merchants, but some were craftsmen, as well. Nōmin were not considered chōnin...

, the commoners. The majority of samurai in Edo were from the countryside, and Edokko satisfied themselves by looking down on them, referring them being yabo

Yabo

is a Japanese term to describe certain unaesthetic quality. Yabo is the antonym of iki. Busui , literally "non-iki," is synonymous with yabo. A non-iki thing is not necessarily yabo but probably is...

, the opposite of iki. About half of the Edo population was such samurai.

An authority of Edo culture, Hinako Sugiura estimates 1.25% of Edo population was Edokko in the strict sense (Ichinichi Edo-jin, p. 20).