The growth of the merchant gild in Edo (tonya-nakama), which changed in character with the development of commodity-production, can be divided into four periods: l) the period from meireki and kanbum to Kyoho when the merchant gild became established; 2) the period from horeki to tenmei when its monopolistic control became strongest; 3) the period from kansei to bunka and bunsei when it formed a close ties with the political power of the Bakufu in order to protect its control over the market from the encroachment of the newly-risen outsiders; 4) the period after tempo when the Bakufu adapted itself to new situation which resulted from the decline of Tokugawa feudalism. Taking the first period, especially from genroku to kyoho when tonyanakama in Edo became powerfull as a merchant gild, this article examines the nature of the so-called tokumi-donya (especially that of the torimachigumi and uchimisegumi which were its central powers) from the viewpoint of its business functions and relations with the Bakufu government.