Bashaku

The bashaku (馬借, bashaku?) were Japanese teamsters or cargo carriers who used horses to transport their shipments. They were chiefly active between the Heian Period and the Sengoku Period. Images of the bashaku are famously drawn on the emakimono depicting the founding of Ishiyama-dera.
During the same time period cargo carriers who used cows instead were known as shashaku.
Transportation methods
The transportation method of the bashaku was to hang the cargo from the back of their horses and then drive them to their destination. In the beginning farmers did this job during their free time on off-seasons but from the Muromachi Period and onwards it became a full-time occupation.
The bashaku lived in groups in towns along major highways and important sites of water to land traffic including Otsu, Sakamoto, and Yodo, and they carried goods brought by boat to areas where consumption was at that time high...