#60
                 60. OKAMOTO SHIDZUSHIGE'S DEVISE, 1322
                          (Okamoto docs.; also KK, VII.)
THE position of the devisor, Shidzushige, of the Okamoto branch of the Iriki-in familiy, will be seen
in the Iriki-in genealogy and in table B in No.46 above. Also see No. 23. Shigetomo and Shigebumi,
brothers, were Shidzushige's sons, and Oto-do me, his daughter.
  This document, though brief and relating to the remote Awa in Shi-koku, affords, nevertheless,
data too valuable to be ignored. Among other things, it will be seen here that the older customs
of dividing an estate equally among children,-in this case,  as an intestate holding,-and of assign-
ing to females landed interests for life only, still obtained, while for new lands the eldest son was
now accorded a major share;1 and that the same services as before were owed to the sho-gun from
the new, smaller holders of the shiki, despite its division.
  For a brief history of Ono new sho in Awa, see No. 48, n. 1.

"To devise * * *2
    To the nun3Kyo-A,
  at Tatsu-e, Ono new sho,4 Awa kuni:
         the ji-to shiki.
         "The boundaries on the four sides are seen in the third letter of division by lot.
"The aforesaid place shall be held [by Kyo-A] as widow's lot. After her death, how-
ever, Shigetomo, Shigebumi, and Oto-do me,5, shall divide it equally and hold it for all
time without interference. If new ta are made, Shigetomo and Shigebumi shall divide
and hold them, Shigetomo two-thirds and Shigebumi one-third.6 As for the Buddhist
and Shinto affairs and the obligations7 for the Kwan-to, they shall be discharged ac-
cording to precedents. Written for the future thus.
  "Gen-ko 1 y. 8 m. 18 d. [30 September 1322].            shidzushige (monogram)." 
"Oto-do me shall possess, during her life, the house, ta, and hata, of Suge-Saburo
nyu-do, of Oka.
                 "The same month and day.                        (The same monogram.)"


1One would be reminded of the distinction between hereditary property and "acpuests" that obtained in the history of real rights among many peoples in all parts of the world. 2Sho-ryo, holdings, seems to be the missing word. 3Ama, nun; see No. 56, n. 4. 4For Ono sho, see No. 48, n. 1. 5Me, woman. 6One way in which one's holdings became scattered. 7Ku-zhi; sec No. 13, nn. 7a and 12; No. 42, n. 5; No. 49, n. 13; and No. 52, n. 1.