The main regular occupations of Eta were the leather processing of dead livestock ('slaughter' was prohibited) as well as the management of footwear craftsmen and Hinin (a group comprising the lowest rank of Japan's Edo-period caste system).
穢多は、死牛馬（「屠殺」は禁止されていた）の皮革加工、履物職人、非人の管理などを主な生業とした。