Larger merchants and wealthier families evolved more elaborate and ingenious systems of recording to serve their needs. These systems were cherished as a secret of the family and handed down from father to son. They were not made public in the Tokugawa era. The above mentioned Shojikanrei Ruishu was the first to describe any of these systems to the public. Here were illustrated the account books of two Hyogo merchants consisting respectively of twenty five and twenty nine books. These elaborate systems kept with great care in few large families were a phenomenal contrast with the common system prevailing among a multitude of small businesses.