thoughts on Konoha as a functional town
Jul. 16th, 2005 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingNote to self: even if there are no roads, goods must enter and leave the village. I think there must be roads that come within one or two days' journey of Konoha, and there are guard posts of sorts on those roads. Merchants leave their wagons and load goods onto horses and donkeys, and human porters, and then ninja lead them through the forest to the village.
I suspect that most people who run those trade routes are actually citizens of Konoha, since ninja are a little paranoid about letting outsiders into their homes. Also, this would seem to lead to the growth of small trade fairs at the guard posts, to which foreign traders come once a month or so, and deal with ninja and with merchants of the Leaf.
There are probably also some industrial districts within Konoha itself, and some farmland both inside and outside the village walls. And I'm sure there's a river that runs either nearby or through the village itself -- probably it's been diverted to act as a sort of moat around some sections of the wall.
Trade and industry in Konoha are geared toward supporting the ninja, but Konoha is a thriving community in its own right. Leaf-steel is highly prized throughout Fire Country and neighboring regions. The village is also known for fancy woodwork and guard dogs, and as a training center for healers.
(Hidden Sand is known for theater, chemicals -- dyes, poisons, medicines -- and mechanical curiosities. Hidden Mist, probably for silk and lace. I dunno about other hidden villages.)
I believe Konoha is fairly young as hidden villages go. For centuries, ninja were organized into warring clans, and the villages developed slowly as various families made alliances and traded some of their secrets. This allowed them to pool contracts and standardize their training. The Fire Country clans were slow to adopt this pattern, mostly because Fire Country had an unusually high proportion of clans who depended on bloodline limits, or on family traits that weren't quite strong or clear enough to be considered true limits. They took pride in their individuality.
The Shodaime and Nidaime managed to gather the clans to a small village built around natural hot springs and an upthrust granite plateau. The indigenous villagers were slowly absorbed into the ninja culture, but generally didn't become ninja; instead, they performed support functions. Yukiko's clan, the Ayakawa, were the original guardians of the hot springs, which by that point had been made into an elaborate bathhouse with a small shrine nearby to propitiate the spirit of the springs. At some point, the Ayakawa sold the bathhouse to the town council, so it's no longer a private business.
I suspect that most people who run those trade routes are actually citizens of Konoha, since ninja are a little paranoid about letting outsiders into their homes. Also, this would seem to lead to the growth of small trade fairs at the guard posts, to which foreign traders come once a month or so, and deal with ninja and with merchants of the Leaf.
There are probably also some industrial districts within Konoha itself, and some farmland both inside and outside the village walls. And I'm sure there's a river that runs either nearby or through the village itself -- probably it's been diverted to act as a sort of moat around some sections of the wall.
Trade and industry in Konoha are geared toward supporting the ninja, but Konoha is a thriving community in its own right. Leaf-steel is highly prized throughout Fire Country and neighboring regions. The village is also known for fancy woodwork and guard dogs, and as a training center for healers.
(Hidden Sand is known for theater, chemicals -- dyes, poisons, medicines -- and mechanical curiosities. Hidden Mist, probably for silk and lace. I dunno about other hidden villages.)
I believe Konoha is fairly young as hidden villages go. For centuries, ninja were organized into warring clans, and the villages developed slowly as various families made alliances and traded some of their secrets. This allowed them to pool contracts and standardize their training. The Fire Country clans were slow to adopt this pattern, mostly because Fire Country had an unusually high proportion of clans who depended on bloodline limits, or on family traits that weren't quite strong or clear enough to be considered true limits. They took pride in their individuality.
The Shodaime and Nidaime managed to gather the clans to a small village built around natural hot springs and an upthrust granite plateau. The indigenous villagers were slowly absorbed into the ninja culture, but generally didn't become ninja; instead, they performed support functions. Yukiko's clan, the Ayakawa, were the original guardians of the hot springs, which by that point had been made into an elaborate bathhouse with a small shrine nearby to propitiate the spirit of the springs. At some point, the Ayakawa sold the bathhouse to the town council, so it's no longer a private business.
Konoha Internal Industry
Date: 2005-07-25 06:01 am (UTC)The Aburame clan would sell honey and do research into poisons and their cures. They could also do pest control.
The Nara clan is known for the medicine which can be made from the antlers of their deer but probably also sell venizon to the local butchers and restaurants.
Though it is never mentioned it would be apropriate if the Akamichi clan were butchers or restaurantuers.
Tenten (no last name) family would perhaps run a weapons shop but also make cutlery for cooking.
The Hyuugas are obviously into politics but I could also see them as financial lenders and contract brokers.
systemman.