THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

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#4
4.PETITION OF TOMO NOBU-AKIRA,AND MARGINAL SANCTION
OF THE DOMANIAL LORD,1183
(Nagatoshi docs.; also KK,XI, and SK, I.)
THOUGH this and the next document do not relate directly to Iriki, it is presumed that the writers
held, as did their predecessor, Nobufusa (No.2), the post of the ben-zai shi of Iriki in, besides that
of ji-to in Satsuma kori. In other respects, also, the documents are of sufficient institutional interest
for notice.
After the rise of Minamoto Yoritomo from the peninsula of Idzu in 1180, the Taira warriors,
who had usurped the civil government at Kyoto, rapidly lost control over Kyu-shu. Of their kins-
men who had come from Hi-zen and settled down in southern Satsuma, one Taira Tadakage had
become strong, and, together with his son-in-law, Fujiwara Nobuzumi, extended his aggressive
operations northward into the lower Sendai basin.¹ This is the "rebellion" referred to in the text:
the word mu-hon(literally, rebellion) was in reality used to designate any disturbance of peace by
a body of armed men. Taking advantage of the restless state of the region, So Kanemune, another
Taira, when he was appointed the ben-zai shi of Satsuma kori, arbitrarily seized the ji-to shiki that
belonged to the petitioner.

"PETITION by Tomo Nobu-akira, san-i,² betto of the sho of Shimadzu, supplicating for
decision of the central offices,³
"That, specially in accordance with the petition and in pursuance of the principle of
hereditary succession,⁴ permission⁵ be granted; [this petition] being a statement
of the grievance that, although the domain belonging to the sho, [namely,] Yamada
mura, of Satsuma kori, in Satsuma kuni, is Nobu-akira's hereditary possession,⁶ yet
unexpectedly, at the time of Nobufusa, father of Nobu-akira, when Tadakage, the
ju-nin⁷ of the same kuni contrived to rebel, [the said mura] was seized, and since
has, unreasonably, not been in [Nobu-akira's] possession.
"On respectfully examining the records, [it is found that] the aforesaid domain is
Nobu-akira's hereditary possession. It was therefore held for generations without inter-
ference, and consequently there was no one who disputed it. When, however, the late
Tadakage, the ju-nin⁷ of Satsuma kuni, contrived to rebel and seize shoheld by noble
persons and taxes owed to the government of the kuni,⁸ Tadanaga, younger brother of
Tadakage, seized the aforesaid domain. Owing to this rebellion, an envoy was des-
patched thither.⁹ Subsequently, So Ni-rokuro Dai-bu Kanemune becoming the ben-
zai shi of the said kori, wilfully seized the well-defined¹⁰ ji-to shiki, without special
error [on my part as ji-to], without sanction of the hon-ke,¹¹ and without notifying the
ji-to; it is an unspeakable act. Special grace is hereby solicited to stop Kanemune's
unreasonable procedure, and to grant judgment in accordance with the principle of
hereditary succession.⁴ [For these ends], the facts are herein presented, and the peti-
tion made.
"Zhu-ei 2y. 8m. 8d. [27 Aug. 1183]. Betto, san-i,² Tomo Nobu-akira, petitioner."

[Marginal order]:

"As regards the said Yamada mura, it should, in accordance with the principle of
hereditary succession,⁴ be held by Nobu-akira.
"Former kami of Yetchu, Taira,¹² (monogram)."

¹ Shigeno, in the Sappan shi-dan shu, 63-64; Ko-zho shu rai-yu ki; Shimadzu koku-shi, V. The
tale of Tadakage marrying his daughter to Tametomo, the Herculean uncle of Yoritomo, and guid-
P96
ing the former in his round of conquests over all Kyu-shu, need not, even with the late Shigeno's
endorsement, be credited.
² San-i, often pronounced sammi. I was rank, as distinguished from kwan, office, in the imperial
system of government. The kwan which men of each i might hold were in a general way defined by
law. If a holder of an i served in no official capacity befitting the rank, he was called sammi, which
meant unemployed rank[-holder].
³ The original term is ru-su, the same word which occurred in No.3 (n.8) in connection with
another domanial relation.
⁴ Note that this ji-to shiki was admittedly hereditary.
⁵ Permission to resume the jito-ship of the mura.
⁶ What was really in the Tomo's hereditary possession was not the mura in its entirety, but its
ji-to shiki.Shiki was commonly identified, in language, with the area of land from which it was a
revenue.
⁷ ju-nin, "residents"; they were principal inhabitants, usually armed.
⁸ The four characters are wrong in the original, and are apparently meant to be koku-ga kwan-
motsu, taxes for the kuni government.
⁹ A probable reading of three wrong characters.
¹⁰ Yu-gen, definitely fixed, a phrase frequently occurring, usually in connection with taxes and
dues.
¹¹ Hon-ke.Cf. n.9 to No.3. Here is meant the Konoe lord of Shimadzu sho.
¹² This may be Taira Moritoshi, who had been governor of Yetchu. He served in the household
of the Konoe and signed this marginal order in behalf of the domanial lord. Was he in charge of the
sho office of Shimadzu in 1183?