Uchikowashi (打ちこわし)
Uchikowashi refers to an action to destroy residences of the people who were considered to act wrong, and it was one of the patterns of grass-roots movements in the Edo period. It is also written as "打毀" in Chinese characters. People who were considered to cause the price increase by buying up goods were often attacked by Uchikowashi mainly in urban areas, but with uprisings, sometimes privilege merchants and village officers who were considered to link to maladministration of their feudal lord were also attacked. Household articles were also looted, but on the other hand, there are many known cases that Uchikowashi was restricted only to destroying residences and looting and setting fire were strictly forbidden to insist it was a justifiable sanction.
The first Uchikowashi in urban areas broke out in Nagasaki in 1703, and it broke out for the first time in Edo in 1733. Since then it often broke out due to famines and political uncertainties, and it especially increased to the end of the Edo period when prices rose sharply.