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

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96TIMOTHY D. AMOS42 Harada Tomohiko, ed., Hennen sabetsushishiryo shusei, (Tokyo: San'ichi shobo,1998), Vol. ll, pp.482-87.43 Tsukada, Kinsei nihon mibunsei nokenkyu., p.22. For definitions of these tem1Srefer to Chapter 8.trust and eventually securing the facts about what had transpired on thatfateful day.When the truth about the incident came to light, Kakube and the etavillage members in Lower Wana village took the matter to the three villageleaders of Okushi 1\
A TOKUGAWA OUTCASTE COMMUNITY97(presumably 216 man days) had been mobilized, but only 2,000 mon wasoffered in payment (the equivalent of a day's wages for approximately fourto six carpenters at that time). Kiheiji's .:sp:* (Suzuki X's) father exhibitedhis disgust at the payment by telling the town elder Seishichi from Iwadonosanto donate the money to the local Kannon ll'!1l (Avalokitesvarabodhisattva or Goddess of Mercy) as he would not accept a payment thatplaced him and his villagers in such a tight position (mizumari Jr).]in'emon possibly feared that accepting such inconsequential reparationfor their labour would only further contribute to the creation of a nastyprecedent within the community and endanger the future livelihood ofmembers of the village.44 SDKK, ed., Suzuki-ke monjo, YoU, 602[875].About a month and a half later, the same official, Seishichi, offered]in'emon an extra 400 mon above the original figure for having "personallyreceived his assistance." ]in'emon, aware that this was an attemptat silencing him, refused the enticement. Seishichi, indignant at such anattitude, visited the Upper Wana village elders and asked Hanbe *WJto speak with ]in'emon privately about the matter. ]in'emon repeated hisreasons for not accepting the payment, but Hanbe secretly summonedthe other Lower Wana officials Sehe WJ and Hikojiro §t*Jl!, whotook the money and distributed it to the villagers. ]in'emon's accountsuggests that all villagers were aware of ]in'emon's position but followedthrough with their action regardless. ]in'emon subsequently proffered hisresignation as local eta village leader to his fellow official Sehe when theincident of mass village disloyalty was eventually discovered, declaringfushinjo /fJr L (literally "loss of standing"). Another document makes itclear that ]in'emon believed he had lost "all standing in the community"(mibun aitachigataki Jr71-JlH§:v:) through the actions undertaken by hisfellow rulers and fellow villagers. Whatever the case, a large crack hademerged between the Suzuki family and the rest of the Lower Wana villagecommunity. 44The Emergence a/ the Outcaste in Wana VillageThe Documents of the House of Suzuki indicate that the second halfof the eighteenth century was a particularly troubled time for the LowerWana village leaders, particularly in relation to hinin rule. Records indicatethat the vast majority of hinin hut leaders absconded (kakeochi 7:.WD, leaving the greater Wana area without police or guards. It is informativeto look at some of the specific cases of runaway hinin (see Figure6 overleaO. In 1767, the same year as the Iwadonosan murder, ]in'emon(Suzuki IX) lodged an appeal with the local authorities because the localhinin hut leader Kakube had absconded. In this case, Kakube had apparentlyinformed ]in'emon that he had some errands to run at the town
Page 1 and 2: EastAsianHistoryNUMBER 32/33 . DECE
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS1 The Moral Status of the B
Page 5 and 6: West Lake from Wang Villa (Wang Zhu
Page 7: PORTRAIT OF A TOKUGA W A OUTCASTE C
Page 14 and 15: 90 TIMOTHY D. AMOSFigure 5Reproduct
Page 16 and 17: 92TIMOTHY D. AMOS26 Tsukada, Mihuns
Page 18 and 19: 94TIMOTHY D. AMOS34 SDKK, ed., Suzu
Page 22 and 23: 98 TIMOTHY D. AMOSFigure 6History o
Page 24 and 25: 100 TIMOTHY D. AMOSentitled to clos
Page 26 and 27: 102TIMOTHY D. AMOS53 Saitama-ken, e
Page 28 and 29: 104TIMOTHY D. AMOS59 Ibid., 72 [135
Page 30 and 31: 106TIMOTHY D. AMOS64 This is a sent
Page 32: 108TIMOTHY D. AMOSConclusionRelatio

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

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