Portrait of a Tokugawa Outcaste Community ... - East Asian History

94TIMOTHY D. AMOS34 SDKK, ed., Suzuki-ke mania, Vol.3, 600[164].35 Ibid., VoU, 1 [2799].36 See Ooms's fascinating description ofthe Lower Wana village resident's participationin this execution in Ooms, TakugawaVillage Practice: Class, Status, Pawer, Law,pp.249-52.37 SDKK, ed., Suzuki-ke mania, VoU, 141[1281], 147 [121], 149 [2710]by the Matsuyama hinin leader Bangoro. Jin'emon's refusal to assume theguard duties appears to have been linked to an understanding of jurisdictionwhich related to the place in which a particular crime had beenperpetrated. 34There was, therefore, a clear shift in emphasis away from tanning andbegging to poliCing and execution functions of eta and hinin during theearly eighteenth century. The establishment of the hinin hut in LowerWana in 1710, followed by a 1724 circular in which eta and hinin of LowerWana village were ordered to perform duties related to handling prisonersfor most of the major shogunate offices in Edo, probably signalled thebeginnings of this shift. 35 It is uncertain as to whether this was the firsttime the residents of Lower Wana village were ordered to perform suchtasks, but it is clear that it was not the last. Members of Lower Wana villagethroughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were thereafter regularlymobilized to assist in the escorting of prisoners. Part of these dutiesinvolved participating in guard duties related to, or the actual carrying outof, executions. Members of Lower Wana probably began to participate innumerous public executions during the first half of the eighteenth century.The earliest extant record relates to the capital punishment of a criminalnamed Shohe /j\wj in 1743 for stealing. 36 Other notable examples arethe crucifixions of the homeless murderer Yukichi "E in 1816 and thelocal farmer Miyakichi '§"E during the Tenmei xEJ.l§ famine in 1835. 31But as the previous two examples further demonstrate, official duties alsocame to involve the guarding of prisoners charged with the perpetrationof certain crimes.Inter-Community Relations38 Minegishi, Kinsei hisabetsuminshi nakenkyu, p.82. SKM, #1388.3 9 One of the most interesting examplesof extensive community interaction can befound in Nishiki K6ichi's account of a largefestival hosted by Lower Wana village inthe early nineteenth century. "Bushu shimowana no sairei k6gy6," in Buraku naseikatsushi, ed. Buraku mondai kenkyujo(Kyoto: Buraku mondai kenkyujo, 1988),pp.l24--28.40 SDKK, ed., Suzuki-ke mania, Vol.l,149 [2104]Any notion that eta only mixed with eta, or hinin with hinin, wouldclearly be a misconception. Deep interpersonal relationships existedbetween members of Upper and Lower Wana villages, as illustrated inMinegishi Kentaro's example of the participation of farmers in the marriageceremony of Jin'emon's second son. 3 8 In fact, the Suzuki householddocuments are replete with examples of inter-village relations with localpeasant and town communities. 39 A local pawnbroking family from anearby peasant village that lent ten bags of rice to the Suzuki householdto assist with financial expenses related to execution duties during theTempo x{* famine (arguably the period with some of the strictest legislationon outcaste activity) is another striking example confirming that thiswas the norm. 40Interestingly, however, the investment of a social disciplinary authorityin rural eta and hinin communities ultimately caused friction within thewider community. The aforementioned 1743 execution involving thepunishment of Shohe, first introduced in Anglophone scholarship in