行 商 人(ぎょうしょうにん)

ぎょうしょうにん

noun

peddler; traveling merchant; hawker

1. peddler; traveling merchant; hawker

A person who travels from place to place selling goods, rather than operating from a fixed shop. Historically common in Japan before the modern retail era.

行商人(ぎょうしょうにん)が村(むら)にやってきた。

A peddler came to the village.

昔(むかし)はこの道(みち)を行商人(ぎょうしょうにん)が行(い)き来(き)していた。

In the old days, peddlers used to come and go along this road.

祖父(そふ)は若(わか)いころ行商人(ぎょうしょうにん)として全国(ぜんこく)を回(まわ)り、魚(さかな)や野菜(やさい)を売(う)り歩(ある)いていた。

When my grandfather was young, he traveled the country as a peddler, selling fish and vegetables.

A compound of 行商(ぎょうしょう) (peddling, itinerant trade) and 人(にん) (person). The base word 行商(ぎょうしょう) can also be used on its own to refer to the activity of peddling.

Common collocations

行商(ぎょうしょう)をする (to peddle)
行商(ぎょうしょう)に出(で)る (to go out peddling)
行商人(ぎょうしょうにん)として働(はたら)く (to work as a peddler)

Historically, 行商人(ぎょうしょうにん) played an important role in distributing goods to rural areas. Today the term appears mainly in historical contexts. Modern equivalents include 移動販売(いどうはんばい) (mobile sales) for food trucks and similar businesses.

general

Added 2026.3.4 13:03 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

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