Despite these limitations, the appearance of these books amounted to an important new trend in literary production. Closely tied to the rise of Japan's urban centers, the growing economic power of the "chōnin" (urban commoner) class, the improvement of literacy rates, and the advent of woodblock print technology, "kanazōshi" emerged as a new, distinctly plebeian form of literature. Its authors arose from the educated portion of the population, including scholars, Buddhist priests, courtiers, samurai and rōnin. But its readership consisted mostly of non-aristocratic residents of Japan's growing cities.