By the later half of the Edo Period, there were over 1,600 towns, although nowadays, 271 of those towns are located within the Minato City area. Inside the area, land was divided up into plots for each town house owned by someone, and those town houses were constructed within the space between the front-street shops facing onto the main street, and the back-street shops that developed down an alley behind. While front-street shops were inhabited by homeowners (landlords) and the merchant classes, back-street shops became a living space for the urban masses, such as small-scale artisans and peddler merchants, day laborers engaging in various jobs for one day wages, and also people making a living from temple fundraising.