 Some "kabunakama", known as "gomen-kabu", were even allowed to set prices and manage the operations of other "nakama".Though the shogunate originally opposed monopolies, they eventually gave in to the increasing numbers and organization of merchants' associations, and decided to make an attempt to control them by officially licensing them.In 1721, the government began to authorize individual "nakama" to become "kabunakama" ("kabu" refers to "shares", though these were themselves not tradeable), and to oversee the organization and trade within given fields.