#50
         50. SHIMADZU TADAMUNE'S EXECUTIVE ORDER, 1300
                                     (A copy in Shuin docs., roll II.)
BY this order one is again reminded of the complexity of the condition of land in Iriki in. Besides
the yose-gori of Shimadzu sho, there were also domains belonging to the temple Niita Hachiman
and the church Mi-roku zhi(cf. Nos. 1 and 9) and to the temple Ten-man and the churches An-raku
and Koku-bun zhi(No. 9). This order relates to the Ichino domain of the Niita temple (cf. No. 3),
which had been disturbed by a warrior connected with the Koku-bun church. The Shimadzu lord
execute the order apparently in the capacity of the shu-go, military governor, of Satsuma.
       The chief official position in connection with the Niita temple was that of the shu-in, keeper of
the seal (cf. No. 3). According to tradition, the first incumbent of the combined hereditary post of
shu-in of the Niita and in-su of its Buddhist house Go-dai in was Yasutomo; he according to the
Kokubun and Shuin genealogies kept by the present Uwai and Kawakami families,1 was of the illus-
trious Koremune stock whose members, including the Shimadzu and the Ichiku, have served in the
government of various parts of Kyu-shu. The line of Ysutomo's eldest son Yasukane succeeded to
the shu-in shiki, and his descendants assumed the family-name Shuin. Yasutomo's younger son
Tomohisa settled at Kokubun-zhi (cf. No. 6, and No. 9, nn. 3 and 5), not far from the Niita, and
transmitted to his children in hereditary succession the betto shiki which he held of the Shinto
temple Ten-man gu connected with the Buddhist church of that place; these made Kokubun their
family-name. Men of both the Shuin and Kokubun branches, mutually related though not always
harmonious, were go ke-nin, direct vassals of the sho-gun, and their chiefs were strong local warriors.
As might be expected, they were not always congenial to the Shibuya lords, who came to Satsuma
considerably later than they and claimed superior powers in their close proximity.
       "IN regard to Ichiino mura and the scattered ta and hata,among the domains of
       the Niita temple, Satsuma kuni.
"In accordance with the order of the Kwanto, and in pursuance of [the principle of]
heredity, Kokubun ji-bu bo So-kai, is hereby restored [to the aforesaid shiki].
Moreover, [So-Kai says that] since in the winter of last year [Kokubun] Mata-
zhiro Tomoie had obtained, under false pretense, the [sho-gun's] order [of sanction],
and transgressed [the shiki], an examination has been made at the Chin-zei, and an
order issued. There should be no further difficulty. Henceforth, Tomoie and his rela-
tives shall for all time cease to aspire for [the possession of] this mura. The Domanial
Lord's2 command is hereby transmitted, that, so long as [So-kai] renders the annual
dues of eighty kwan3 without arrear or neglect, he will not be dismissed.
P185
"Sho-an 2 y. 8 m. 17 d. [30 September 1300].
                                                                             "Saemon no zho,4 per order, monogram."




   1Shown to the editor by courtesy of Mr. M. Kawakami, of Takaoka, and of the Niita temple.
   2The ryo-ke, the shu-in.
   3kwan and mon were the two denominations of monetary units in copper, 1 kwan consisting of
1000 mon. The mon was an actual coin, but not the kwan. In view of the great fluctuations in the
price of rice in the different periods, and of the lack of uniformity in the copper mon in circulation
in the feudal ages, it would be impracticable to give any accurate equivalent of a kwan in terms of
rice, the chief commodity of medieval Japan; but it would not be far wrong to say that, in 1300,
one kwan must have bought a koku more or less of hulled rice; wide margins must necessarily be
allowed.
   4Tadamune, the fourth lord of the Shimadzu.