THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
#149
149.DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE SURVEY AND THE GRANT
OF THE SHIMADZU FIEFS, 1594-1595
THE grants of land in fief that Hideyoshi made in 1587 to various members of the Shimadzu were
subsequently revised more or less; we give below the writs of grant of 1595 (C and D). These
grants followed the general cadastral survey of Japan that had been completed by Hideyoshi's com-
missioners. Of this survey, instructions relative to its conduct (A and B) are cited.
Aside from the following, Hideyoshi had granted, on 25 September 1588, to Toyohisa, 977 cho1
(later valued at 37,000 koku) in places about Sadowara, Hiuga, (SK, 2nd series, XIII). This was
the beginning of the Sadowara branch of the Shimadzu, which continued to be treated separately
from the other branches of the family.
It will be seen (in D) that in 1595 Hedeyoshi had reserved for himself and his two vassals do-
mains in Osumi aggregating nearly twenty thousand koku of taxable value. These, in addition to
the thirty thousand at Idzumi, in northwest Satsuma, which he had seized for an offense from
Shimadzu Tadanaga, fifty thousand koku in all, were, as reward for Yoshihiro's distinguished serv-
ice in the Korean war (see No. 150), granted in complete fief(ichi-yen) to the latter on 24 January
1600.2
The Idzumi domain thus merged into the main fief of the Shimadzu included, among other
places, the following mura in Taki, most of which had formerly been held by the Taki branch of
the Shibuya family:-
"425.216 koku, Yuta mura, Taki kori;
126.76 koku, Nishikata mura, Taki kori;
115.628 koku, Ogochi, Taki kori;
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95.26 koku, Ushi-no-hama mura, Taki kori;
91.262 koku, Shinashi mura, Taki kori;
574.036 koku, Taki,lower, Taki kori;
1013.055 koku, Taki,upper, Taki kori;
624.733 koku, Mugi-no-ura, Taki kori;
618.702 koku, Otsu, Taki kori;
717.176 koku, Kusamichi mura, Taki kori;
1208.017 koku, Midzuhiki mura, Taki kori;
937.153 koku, Sendai of Miya-uchi, Taki kori;
431. koku, Oshoji of Miya-uchi, Taki kori."
The old domains of the Tsuruda and the Keto-in3 branches of the Shibuya had for some time
been seized by the Shimadzu, and were included in Hideyoshi's grants, as were also those of the
Togo branch and some of the holdings of the Iriki-in. The 300 koku of To-no-hara, for example,
were given by Yoshihisa in 1592 to a grandson of his brother Toshihisa.4 As for Kiyoshiki, the
ancestral home of the Iriki-in, it was comprised in the fief for Yoshihisa himself defined in 1595
(D). In the same year, when he made a general shift of his great vassals5 from their historic do-
mains he removed Iriki-in Shigetoki from Kiyoshiki to Yunowo, Osumi, on the sendai river near
the boundary of that kuni.6 This was done the more readily, as Shigetoki was of the Shimadzu
descent. But the severance of so illustrious a house from its home after three and a half centuries
of residence could hardly be effected without causing deep regrets. The family genealogy attributes
this, not to the will of the Shimadzu lord, but to his adviser Izhuin Tadamune.7 Iehisa wrote to
Shigetoki in 1596 a letter consoling him for the loss by his house of its original domain;8 and, in
1613, Yoshihiro restored Shigetaka, successor to Shigetoki, to Iriki in. Of this last event, we shall
treat again in connection with No. 152.
#149-A
A
(A copy in Haseba docs.)
The well-nigh complete survey of the economic land in Japan that Hideyoshi made between
1587 and 1595 was one of the important measures he took in order to establish a firm and uniform
system of feudal government which she needed after a long period of practical anarchy; it was
also a great task which could be accomplished by only such a masterly despot as Hideyoshi. Fol-
lowing the custom which had obtained in limited spheres, he resolutely ordered the adoption
throughout the realm of the unit tan consisting of 300 bu, instead of the historic 360, and of the
evaluation of the productive capacity(taka) of land in terms of koku of hulled rice. By the former
method, the total extent in cho and tan of the taxable land naturally increased, aside from such
increments and diminutions as resulted at different places from an actual survey; by the system
of recording taka in koku, the taxable velue of each piece of land was definitely known, and ques-
tions of fiefs and districts could henceforth be handled with little confusion through the official
register.9 Moreover, the whole system at once expressed, as well as legalized, standardized, and
perpetuated, the evolution in the land system which had been silently going on with an uneven
pace in many parts of Japan; namely, the disintegration of the sho, accompanied by the re-in-
tegration of its minutely split shiki, and the control by individual lords of peices of land as com-
plete fiefs.10 The loose divisional names like go and sho were largely discontinued in the official
vocabulary, while the units kori and mura were universally employed, the former being a historic
administrative district, and the latter, the pesant community, largely self-governing, and consist-
ing of separate peasant estates.11 Each component part, and, therefore, the aggregate mura and kori
also, were recorded with their definite taka values in koku. This system continued to and through-
out the Tokugawa period.
Of the several orders containing instructions of the land survey under Hideyoshi that have been
preserved, the following two relate to the Shimadzu dominion; many of the instructions given
here were repeated in orders issued in other parts of Japan.
[Note on the reverse]:-"Copy of [the order with] the vermilion seal, in five articles."
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"REGULATIONS regarding the survey of land in the domain of the Shimadzu.
"That it shall be instructed to holders(ryo-shu) everywhere that, all samurai,12
hyaku-sho, and others who, because of the land survey, have fled to other kuni, shall
first be examined, arrested, and delivered.
"That the order shall be certainly circulated in all communities, by preciously
instructing the village elders(otona hyaku-sho) and village officials(kimo-iri), that, if,
in relation to the surveying, mapping, and assessing of ta and hata, any one should offer
presents or [receiving them] give a lenient treatment, both the giver and the receiver
would, as soon as the guilt was heard of, even afterwards, be executed.13
"That if any one behaved insolently toward the commissioners of land survey
(ken-chi bu-gyo), his community would be punished for the offense.
"That if a commssioner of land survey committed an arbitrary act, the com-
moners(ji-ge nin) and (hyaku-sho) should report the matter without concealment to
chiefs of the commissioners.
"It should be strictly ordered that, if any violate the aforegoing regulations,
not only he, but also his relatives and his community, shall be executed.13
"Bun-roku 3 y. 7 m. 16 d. [31 August 1594]"
#149-B
B
(A copy in Haseba docs.)
[Note on the reverse]:-"Copy of Ishi(-da) Ji(-bu) sho(-yu) sama's regulations, in eleven
articles."
"That, in connection with this survey of land, sea-dues(ura-yaku)14 might be rated
as an annual tax(nen-gu).15 Where this is not done, they shall be assessed in each
special instance according to estimate. [In such cases], whatever, according to the
report made in reference to the condition of the sea of a mura, should be rendered to
the government,16 should be recorded in a separate book.
"That the mountain-dues(yama-yaku)17 shall be likewise dealt with.
"That silk,18 since it is a thing [from] which [dues] should be rendered to the
government,16 should be registered in the book after considering the condition of the
mulberry trees of the place, in such wise that the hyaku-sho would not be embarrassed
because they were assessed in silk instead of rice, and also that the dues of the govern-
ment would not suffer; and that, thereafter, no homestead19 and hata where there are
mulberry trees shall be rated as first-grade hata.
"That [bamboos in] bamboo-groves shall be cut annually at the rate of one-tenth,
and a tenth of the tenth shall be given to the holder(nushi) of the grove; for example,
ten bamboos shall be annually cut from a grove which has 100 bamboos, and nine
shall be rendered to the government16 and one be given to the holder of the grove, and
ninety shall stand in the grove, registry shall be made accordingly.
"That, as regards iron, it should also, according to estimate, be assessed either as
an annual tax [in money] or in terms of rice Since this is a thing [from] which
[dues] should be rendered to the government, care should be taken in assessing it, so
that the worker also would not be embarrassed.
"That, as regards tea-gardens, they should not be assessed for an annual tax
(nen-gu), for, after the survey, they are not a thing [from] which [dues] ahould be
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rendered to the government.16 However, some consideration should be had in surveying
a homestead and hata which have tea-gardens.20
"That, as for lacquer-trees, they should also, by general estimation in the mura
[which have them], be assessed in terms either of rice or of money; they should, how-
ever, be recorded definitely as dues(nashi) on lacquer-trees.21 This refers to lacquer-
trees found in places which are not homesteads. Lacquer-trees on a hata should also be
under the control22 of its holder(nushi). They should not be assessed as first-grade.23
Therefore, a homestead or hata where lacquer-trees are shall be [valued as] first-grade
hata.
"That, since the [Buddhist] churches and [Shinto] temples, resident houses of
samurai,12 and merchant houses, which should be excluded from the survey, have been
decided by a [special] report, all others shall be surveyed.
"That in each mura, the resident houses of the two men, the sho-ya24 and the
kimo-iri,25 shall be excepted.
"That trees as heretofore shall all be under the cpntrol22 of the hyaku-sho hold-
ing the land)ji-nushi hyaku-sho), and should not be considered as owing dues to the
government.16
"That the river-dues(kawa-yaku) shall be estimated in the mura, and be fixed as
an annual tax(nen-gu).
"Thus.
"Bun-roku 3 y. 7 m. 16 d. [31 August 1594]. Monogram of Ishida Jibu sho-yu.
"To the Commissioners of Satsuma."
#149-C
C
(A copy in SK, 2nd series, XIX.)
"Of 283,488 koku in Satsuma kuni, 175,057 koku in Osumi kuni, and 120,187
koku in Murakata kori in Hiuga kuni, total 578,733 koku, we have, on [the com-
pletion of] the recent land survey, excluded for us 10,000 koku for our treasury(kura-
iri),26 6,200 koku for Ishida Ji-bu sho-yu,27 and 3,000 koku for Yu-Sai,27 and support
(fu-jo) you [to the extent of] 559,533 koku. The contents [of the fief] are [stated]
on separate sheets. You shall completely(mattaku) hold (ryo-chi) the same.
"Bun-roku 4 y. 6 m. 29 d. [4 August 1595]. Hideyoshi's vermiliom seal.
"To Hashiba28 Satsuma Zhi-zhu dono."
#149-D
D
(A copy in Shimadzu sei-roku ki, IV.)
In the following translation, taka are given in a simplified form, with the koku as the unit, in-
stead of repeating as in the original, all the lower units as well.
"Catalogue of te holdings(chi-gyo), Osumi kuni, Satsuma kuni, and Murakata
kori in Hiuga kuni.
"For the treasury(kura-iri)26 of Tai-ko29 sama:-
in Kajiki, Aira kori, Osumi kuni:-
2,355.968 koku,Kida mura; 259.165 koku, Takaida mura;
668.425 koku, Nishi-byu mura; 233.458 koku, Hinokiyama mura;
1,373.647 koku, Tando mura; 911.724 koku, Oyamada mura;
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720.967 koku, Karekawa mura; 1,067.24 koku, Takashi mura;
1,315.119 koku, Mizobe mura; 1,914.47 koku, Sakimori mura;
"Total, 10,000 koku.
"The deputy(dai-kwan) for the foregoing, Ishida Ji-bu sho-yu.27
"Ishida Ji-bu sho-yu's27 holding(chi-gyo):-
in Kiyomidzu, So-no kori, Osumi kuni:
3,644.388 koku, Tomi-ogawa mura; 1,700.963 koku, Kami-ogawa mura;
300. koku, Minato mura; 55.543 koku, Komura, Funa-tsuki;
607.504 koku, Mochi-tome mura, in Shikine.
"Total, 6,328.448 koku.
"Yu-Sai's27 holding(chi-gyo):-
in Kimotsuki kori, Osumi kuni:
915.901 koku, Iwa-hiro mura; 1,889.45 koku, Taka-kuma mura;
200 koku, part of Hosoyamada mura.
"Total, 3,005.351 koku.
"For Ryu-Haku's30treasury(kura-iri):26-
14,656.945 koku, 16 mura, in So-no kori, Osumi kuni;
19,566.02 koku, 28 mura in Kuwabara kori, Osumi kuni;
11,625.167 koku, Nezhime mura, in Shimo Osumi, Osumi kuni;
6,785.714 koku, 9 mura in Shimo Osumi, Osumi kuni;
5,240.253 koku, 7 mura in Kimotsuki kori, Osumi kuni;
5,980.377 koku, 6 mura in Hishigari kori, Osumi kuni;
2,781.365 koku, 3 mura in Isaku kori, Osumi kuni;
10,445.17 koku, Shibushi mura, in Murakata kori, Hiuga kuni;
7,379.853 koku, 7 mura in the same kori;
3,962.988 koku, Yatsushiro mura in the same kori;
4,017.072 koku, 6 mura in the same kori;
4,571.685 koku, 2 mura in Iriki, Satsuma kori;
1,888.08 koku, Nakae mura, in the same kori;
1,098.99 koku, Momotsugi mura, in Sendai, in the same kori;
"Total, 100,000 koku.31
"For the treasury(kura-iri) of Hashiba28 Satsuma Zhi-zhu.
13,545.561 koku, Kagoshima, in Kagoshima kori, Satsuma;
7,789.905 koku, Yoshida mura, in the same kori;
6,058.073 koku, Ichiku mura, in Hioki kori, Satsuma;
14,321.069 koku, Izhuin mura, in the same kori;
3,926.919 koku, Kushikino mura, in the same kori;
5,213.419 koku, Isaku mura, in Ada kori, Satsuma;
3,883.393 koku, Naka mura and Yamada mura, Taniyama kori, Satsuma;
16,857.062 koku, Ibusuki mura, Ibusuki kori, Satsuma;
14,939.395 koku, Ei mura, Ei kori, Satsuma;
531.047 koku, Ha-shima mura, in Satsuma kori;
3,182.151 koku, Nishite mura, in Kuma-no-zho, Satsuma kori;
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1,882.35 koku, Yamada mura, in the same kori;
2,642.509 koku, 3 mura in Kamo, Aira kori, Osumi;
7864,754 koku, Cho-sa mura , the same kori;
1,779.304 koku, Muko island, the same kori.
"Total, 100,000 koku.
"Izhuin Uemon nyu-do's32 holding(chi-gyo):-
8,839.407 koku, Miyako-no-zho mura, in Murakata kori, Hiuga:
4,109.176 koku, 3 mura, same
3,102.002 koku, Kajiyama mura, same;
2,239.769 koku, Yamada mura, same;
10,325.805 koku, 5 mura, same;
6,830.719 koku, Yasunaga, same;
1,566.246 koku, Nonomiya, same;
9,720.289 koku, Taka-zho, same;
12,375.21 koku, Sueyoshi, in Osumi;
2,403.813 koku, Tsuneyoshi, same;
4,337.119 koku, Takarabe;
1,473.479 koku, Meguri;
1,209.277 koku, Ichinari, in Osumi;
1,756.518 koku, Mobiki, same;
80. koku, part of Hirabo, same;
2,320.797 koku, Uuchi-no-ura, same;
7,264.11 koku, Osaki, in Murakata kori, Hiuga.
"Total, 80,003.84 koku.
"Shimadzu Uma no kami's38 holding:-
5,206.48 koku, 14 mura, Tane-ga-shima34 (island), Kumake kori, Osumi,-
mountain-dues and river-dues, in terms of rice;
66.14 koku, 14 mura;35
1,093 koku, Erabe34 mura(island),-
mountain-dues and sea-dues, in terms of rice;
3,634.38 koku, Yaku34 island.
"Total, 10,000 koku.
"Domains(ryo) for the grantees(kyu-nin):36-
266,533 koku, in Satsuma, Osumi, and Murakata kori, Hiuga
"Domains of the churches and temples:-
3,000 koku, in the aforesaid three kuni.
"Grand total, 578,733 koku.
"The foregoing arrangement has been made on [the completion of] the recent
land survey.
"Bun-roku 4 y. 6 m. 29 d. [4 August 1595]. Tai-ko's vermilion seal.
"To Hashiba Satsuma Zhi-zhu dono."
Hideyoshi gave to the Ito 40,500 koku, according to the survey of 1594, at Obi, Soi, and Kiyo-
take, in south and middle Hiuga; to the Akitsuki, about 30,000 koku, at Hara, at Taka-zho and
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Takarabe, and at Kushima, north and far south Hiuga; and to the Takahashi, about 53,000, at
Agata (later Nobeoka) and Miyazaki, north and middle Hiuga.
1Shimadzu koku-shi, xx, 12. 2SK, 2nd series, XXII.
3Keto in was held by Shimadzu Toshihisa, brother of Yoshihisa, from 1580 till his death in
1587. In 1595, Hideyoshi granted it to a Hongo, of a Shimadzu descent; Keto in was assessed at
37,000 koku. (Shimadzu k. s., xx, 31.)
4Ibid., xx, 20.
5Among the more important lords who were removed at this time from their ancestral domains
to other places were: the Hougo, to Miya-no-zho from Miyako-no-zho held for 245 years; the
Tanegashima, to Chirami from the island Tanegashima possessed mearly for four centuries; the
Nezhime, to Yoshitoshi from Ko-Nezhime after an equal duration through seventeen generations;
the Shikine, to Tarumidzu and Takakuma from Shikine held since 1184; and the Iriki-in, to Yu-
no-wo from Iriki in, where they settled as ji-to in 1247. Izhuin Ko-gan, who had been granted Ko-
yama, was now transferred to Miyako-no-zho vacated by the Hongo, a much more desirable do-
main. Since he was on intimate terms with Ishida, the favorite councillor of Hideyoshi, it was
generally suspected that these removals had been instigated by Ko-gan. (Sei-han ya-shi, xii.) How-
ever that may be, the Shimadzu lord could hardly have been reluctant to obey Hideyoshi's behest
to carry out an order which would result in greatly strengthening his position as baron at the ex-
pense of his more powerful vassals. Cf. No. 147, n. 13.
6Shimadzu k. s., xx, 32; the Iriki-in genealogy.
7The Iriki-in genealogy. 8Shimadzu k. s., xxi, 1.
9According to the quality of thier soil, the mura were classed in four grades; in each grade of
mura, both ta and hata were ranked in three grades, with their productive capacities(taka) per
tan assessed in koku of hulled rice, as follows:-
mura ta hata
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
1st- 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.2 1. .8
2nd- 1.4 1.2 1. 1. .8 .6
3rd- 1.2 1. .8 .8 .6 .4
4th- 1. .8 .6 .7 .5 .3
10See the editor's paper, ."Some aspects of Japanese feudal institutions." in the Transactions of
the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. XLVI, part 1, 1918.
11See the editor's "Notes on villge government in Japan after 1600," in the Journal of the
American Oriental Society, for 1910 and 1911.
12Samurai, literally, "attendant," meant originally feudal men of all grades, but later came to be
applied usually to vassals only.
13Sei-bai, capital punishment.
14Ura is literally bay rather than sea. Ura-dues might be boat or fishing dues.
15Nen-gu, literally, "annual tribute," usually meant either all annual levies in general or the
chief item, namely, the annual land-tax payable in rice or money. In this document, the term seems
to mean taxes whose annual rates were fixed, and not varied from year to year according to the
amount of the crop.
16Literally, be presented(tate-matsuru) for the use(yo) of the authorities(ko). For the meaning
of the historic word ko, see No. 142, n. 2; here it signifies the feudal government in general, both
central(Hideyoshi's) and baronial(Shimadzu's). A proof that the baronial government is included
is supplied by the document D of this No., where the local baron Uma no kami, Shimadzu Yuki-
hisa, is seen to have been assigned some of the dues described here in these articles as owing to
the ko.
17Dues for lumbering and hunting?
18The original has wata(cotton), but it clearly is an error for kinu(silk); the two characters re-
semble each other in the cursive form.
19House-land was often valued as hata.
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20That is, such homestead and hata should be valued a little higher than those without a tea-
garden.
21That is, they should be recorded as lacquer-dues as such, without being confused with other
items of assessment.
22That is, tax-free. "Control" is shin-tai, for which see No. 16, n. 15.
23The first-grade ta? The character after zho(first-grade) is not legible.
24Sho-ya, originally the office-house of the sho manager; now the village-head, himself a peasant.
See further the editor's "Notes" 16 and 17 referred to in n. 11 above, and his "Life of a monastic
sho" in the Annual report of the American Historical Association for 1916, vol. I, pp. 329 and 340
(n. 18 and n. 105).
25Kimo-iri, apparently the chief village-official beside the sho-ya. For the two terms, see the
editor's "Notes" referred to adove.
26Kura-iri, "to be put into the treasury." meant land yielding the lord's own income.
27Ishida Mitsunari (or Katsushige) and Hosokawa (Yu-Sai) Fujitaka, both high vassals of
Hideyoshi holding large fiefs elsewhere.
28Hashiba was the family-name that Hideyoshi had assumed for himself. On Shimidzu Yoshi-
hiro's surrender in 1587, Hideyoshi granted it to him, as he did to some other barons, as a mark of
favor.
29Hideyoshi had retired from the position of the Kwan-paku(Grand Councillor) of the em-
peror, and taken the title Tai-ko, Great Hall, the Chinese name for the ex-Grand Councillor. Hide-
yoshi was of too obscure a birth to be made a sho-gun/I>, and hence had himself appointed to the
highest civil office in the imperial government.
30Shimadzu Yoshihisa, before finally surrendering himself to Hideyoshi in 1587, retired from
active life and called himself Ryu-Haku, betokening his submission.
31A separate writ of the same date bearing Hideyoshi's vermilion seal, copied in SK, 2nd series,
XIX, repeats the same list, and concludes:-"[We] support(fu-jo) you with the aforesaid kura-iri
without service(mu-yaku). [You] shall completely(mattaku) hold the same."
32Izhuin Tadamune, relative and high vassal of Shimadzu lord. He was of service to Hideyoshi
at the time of the captitulation of the Shimadzu. Tadamune is the same as Ko-gan mentioned in
n. 5 above.
33Shimadzu Yukihisa, Iriki-in Shigetoki's father by birth.
34These are all islands. Their economic value was very conservatively recorded in terms of rice.
35Some omission or error.
36Kyu-nin were the greater vassals of the Shimadzu who might be considered as sub-lords under
them, possesing their own vassals.