THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
#104
104. LAND AND DUES OF TORI-MARU, 1354-1357-1406
(KK, XII.)
ALTHOUGH the following documents relate to a mura in Togo, they are given here, as it appears
that the mura was certainly within a domain of a Shibuya. Otherwise, the documents from a
valuable institutional material.
Seeing that the pieces of land mentioned here owed dues of various kinds,-to whom cannot be
determined,-it may be surmised that the holders, whose names appear, were not vassals and other
recipients of kyu, grants, but hyaku-sho, or, as the term had come to mean in this period, peasants,
not warriors. Cf. No. 59. Probably the last line in B indicates that in the original text there fol-
lowed a list of kyu, which has been lost.
The dues are more diversified than in No. 59.
The numbers which appear without unit-names in this translation are those of land areas, the
figures being always given in this order, cho-tan-jo; thus, 0. 4. 1 is 4 tan 1 jo, and 1. 0. 2 is 1cho 2 jo.
#104-A
A
"RECORD of lands at Tori-maru.1
"One place, Okura:2 1. 2. 0;
of this, 0. 2. 0, wasted;
0. 1. 1 called in by Sumiura dono;-Tomo-saburo;
one place, Naka-zono:3 0. 9. 0;
of this, 0. 1. 0, called in by Sumiura dono;
0. 1. 0, ta for the do;-Iya-taro;
one place, Do no sono:4 0. 5. 0; of this, 0. 1. 0, wasted;-Mago-roku;
one place, Hira-no:5 0. 5. 0;-Shiro-saburo;
one place, Ue-komori:6 0. 6. 0; 0. 1. 0, wasted;-To-taro;
one place, Oku-zono:7 0. 5. 0;
of this, 0. 1. 0 called in by Sumiura dono;-Yoichi-shiro;
one place, Hata-naka:8 0. 5. 0; of this, 0. 3. 0, wasted;-Iya-hei-zhi;
one place,Oka-zono:9 0. 7. 0; of this, 0. 3. 0, temple-ta;
0. 1. 0, wasted;-Iya-hei-zhi.
"Ta of uki-men:16
one place, Ike10 se-machi:17 0. 3. 0;
one place, within Okura:2 0. 4. 3;
of this, 0. 1. 1, ta for the Gon-gen festival;
one place, Kuro-yama:11 0. 0. 3, Sumiura dono's demesne;18
one place, Naka-no sono:12 0. 2. 0.
"In all, 6. 4. 1.
"Bunna 3 y. 10 m. 14 d. [30 October 1354].
"Dues: indigo, akane,19 kado-kawa,20 sui-shu,21 mixed:
Okura,2 1. 2. 0,-996 mon,-Tomo-saburo;
Naka-zono,3 0. 9. 0; of this, 0. 1. 0, ta for the do;-600 mon.-Iya-taro;
Do no sono,4 0. 5. 0,-400 mon,-Mago-roku;
Hira-no,5 0. 5. 0,-400 mon,-Shiro-saburo;
Ue-komori,6 0. 6. 0,-450 mon,-To-taro;
Oku no sono,7 0. 5. 0,-400 mon,-Yoichi-shiro;
Hata-naka,8 0. 5. 0,-400 mon,-Iya-hei-zhi;
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Oka-zono,9 0. 4. 0,-332 mon,-Iya-hei-zhi.
"[In all], 3 kwan 978 mon."
#104-B
B
"Register of assessments in Tori-maru mura.
"Okura:2 1. 2. 0; koku 1.94;-Tomo-saburo;
Naka-zono: 0. 8. 0; koku 1.16;-To-go;
Do:4 0. 5. 0; koku 0.72;-Mago-roku;
Hira-no:5 0. 5. 0; koku 0.72;-Shiro-saburo;
Hata-naka:8 0. 8. 0; koku 1.3;-Iya-gen-zhi;
Ue-komori:6 0. 6. 0; koku 0.86;-To-taro;
[Oku-zono7]: 0. 5. 0; koku 0.67;-Yoichi-shiro.
"Total,koku7. 1.
"En-bun 2 y. 10 m. 4 d. [16 November 1357].
"0. 2. 0, Tori-maru;1
0. 6. 0, Kaze-hagi;13
0. 5. 0, the kado22 of Uchi-no;14
0. 7. 0, the kado of Chu-goo;15
"In all, 2. 0. 0.
"Record of granted parts."23
#104-C
C
"Record of annual taxes of Tori-maru mura.
"One place, Okura:2 ta, 1. 7. 0; hata, 0. 6. 2;
annual tax, koku 3.23; also 0.66;
Spring dues, kwan 1.220;
barley,koku 0.83;
mulberry [dues] commuted,kwan 1.750;
cotton money,kwan 0.100;
rope, 2 coils;
one place, Naka-zono:3 ta, 0. 6. 0; hata, 0. 3. 1;
annual tax, koku 1.5; also 0.4;
Spring dues, kwan 0.415; also 0.086;
barley,koku 0.41;
mulberry commuted,kwan 0.500;
cotton money,kwan 0.050;
rope, 1 coil;
of the ta, 1 tan bears no annual tax or Spring dues; 5 tan are charged;
one place, Do no sono:4 ta, 0. 6. 3;
annual tax, koku 1.63; 0.815, Mago-hei-zhi's share;
Spring dues, kwan 0.510; 0.255, Mago-hei-zhi's share;
cotton money,kwan 0.050; 0.025, Mago-hei-zhi's share;
rope, 1 coil;
one place, Oku no sono:7 ta, 0. 5. 3; hata, 0. 5. 1;
annual tax, koku 1.37;
Spring dues, kwan 0.415; also 0.085;
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barley,koku 0.67;
mulberry commuted, kwan 0.380;
cotton money,kwan 0.050;
one place, Oka no sono:9 ta, 0.60;
annual tax, koku 1.3;
Spring dues, kwan 0.504;
barley, koku 0.78;
mulberry commuted, kwan 0.800;
cotton money, kwan 0.050;
rope, 1 coil;
one place, Hatake-naka:8 ta, 0.5.0; hata, 0.4.0;
annual tax, koku 1.3;
Spring dues, kwan 0.415;
barley, koku 0.52;
mulberry commuted, kwan 0.300;
cotton money, kwan 0.050;
rope, 1 coil;
one place, Ue-komori:6 ta, 0.6.3; hata, 0.3.0;
annual tax, koku 1.4;
Spring dues, kwan 0.619;
barley, koku 0.4;
mulberry commuted, kwan 0.400;
cotton money, kwan 0.050;
rope, 1 coil.
"O-ei 13 y. 6 m. 1 d. [16 June 1406]."
1The literal meaning of Tori-maru is bird-circle; maru(circle) was derived from the archaic
word of unknown signification, maro, which used to form the ending of many personal names, and,
during the feudal ages, was conventionally suffixed to boyhood names of men; today maru is used
in the same manner with names of ships.
Notes 2-15 are literal meanings of the aza-na which occur in the documents.
2Great warehouse. 3Middle sono.
4Sono for a Buddhist chapel. 5Level plain.
6Upper contained. 7Inmost sono.
8Middle of hata. 9Hill sono.
10Pond lot; for se-machi, see n. 17. 11Black mountain.
12Middle plain sono. 13?
14Inside plain. 15Middle go (district).
16Uki-men, literally, floating exemption; (for men, see No. 18, n. 5). This peculiar term occurs
as early as 1144 (in Sagami, in the Ten-yo ki, in possession of the Great Temples of Ise), but its
meaning has not been fully established. It may have originally meant, in some cases, and probably
in the present instance, land whose dues were not definitely assigned but might be diverted to
extraordinary uses; some land which was once an uki-men in this sense may have since been
definitely apportioned and yet retained the name. In some other examples, an uki-men may at
first have meant dues not definitely levied on any specified piece of land but liable to be charged
at need according to circumstances. However that may be, in the Tokugawa period (1600-1868),
uki-men often meant irregular, unusual charges; sometimes, additional charges. In this sense, the
term would be applied to charges, rather than to pieces of land, the same land bearing both regular
and uki charges.
17From inquiries made in widely separated parts of Japan, the editor has concluded that a
se-machi meant a plot of ta regardless of its size and shape; the word is seldom applied to plots
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of hata. This view is further confirmed by comparing versions of a popular rural song sung in
different parts of Kyu-shu at the time of transplanting the rice-grass from the nursery, in the
fourth and fifth lunar months. In some places, the song runs: "How lame my waist is [from con-
tinuous bending]! What a long se-machi! What long days in the fourth and fifth months !" In
some places, only the word "se-machi" is changed to "ko no ta" (this ta). See Sho-koku do-yo
dai-zen, compiled by the Do-yo ken-kyu kwai. Tokyo, 1909, pp. 939, 963, and Ri-yo shu, compiled
by the Bun-gei i-in kwai, Tokyo, 1914, pp. 705, 706.
18Yo-saku. 19A reddish root, a dye stuff.
20Can this mean leather(kawa) levied on the kado?
21Is this tsui-shu, that is, utensils made of solid lacquer on which decorative figures were carved
in relief? Probably not.
22Kado, the cultivator's estate, irrespective of size, regarded as a unit. It is interesting to note
that this term, so commonly used in Satsuma in the Tokugawa period (after 1600), occurs so early
as 1357, the date of this document.
Institutionally considered, the kado seems to be essentially the same as the yashiki, homestead
usually of a warrior (see No. 13, n, 21), and the zai-ke, homestead usually of a peasant (see No.
13, n. 25); the latter two differed only in size and importance, each consisting alike of a dwelling
with its appurtenances and some land (cf. Wurt) adjoining it. Kado may, on the whole, be con-
sidered as only a later name for the zai-ke. It is characteristic of the economic life of Japan, based
as it was on the rice-culture, that every normal rural group was composed of such individual home-
steads and irregularly scattered pieces of land belonging to them, instead of forming any manor or
"village community." Even the sho presented merely a magnified picture of this peculiar composition
of Einzelhofe. Indeed, the singularly flexible character of mura and sho, and the ultimate break-up
of the sho, were largely due to the looseness of this composition and to the coherence of each single
estate,-the two phases of the same economic condition. What was accomplished in parts of south
Germany in the early modern ages by the compulsory re-parcelling of peasant holdings (Vereinod-
ung), or still later in Baden and elsewhere by their spontaneous consolidation (Flurbereinigung),
has been a constant state of things in Japan and the basis of her whole agricultural life (cf. Max
Weber, Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 1924, p. 29). This is the fundamental fact which lies at the root of the
land arrangement that formed the sub-structure of Japanese feudalism; nay, in fat, the individual
peasant estate, as an institution, antedated feudalism and survived it. (See Summary of Points,
C-VII-a and b.)
23Probably with this line began another part of the document; if so, this piece is incomplete.