| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Itsukushima-cho is roughly divided into Higashi-machi (East town) and Nishi-machi (West town), with each in turn consisting of some communities. The origin of this east-west demarcation is believed to have derived from 'Mohri Terumoto Ando Jyo' (Acknowledgement Letter by Lord Terumoto Mohri) in 1575. However, judged from the writings of expressions left in unexplored documents (such as 'Nishi Arinoura', 'Arinoura-shu, and Nishitoshiyori-shu'), we confirmed that the eastern part of Ithukushima-cho, before it was given the official name of Higashi-machi, had been called 'Arinoura' (meaning port inlet), and that the east-west demarcation had actually been made earlier than the commonly acknowledged year of 1575. We also documented from the same writings that the eastern part inhabited by the commoners had a slower development process compared with that of the western part, which was mainly populated by Shintoism priests and religious professionals.
The study also found an older document which goes to prove that 'Sochu' (townsmen's autonomous organization) had been in existence as early as 1561, which is a quarter of a century earlier than previously known. Meanwhile, it also became evident from this that the aforementioned expressions 'Arinoura-shu' and 'Nishimachi-shu and Nishitoshiyori-shu' were the representations of each community. We also clarified rapid gowth in population, especially in the eastern part of the island, by examining 'Okitegaki' (the Rule Book) proclaimed by both Ohuchi and Mohri, which stipulated the rules of living in the vicinity of Itsukushima Shrine, such as construction of houses, prevention of fire, garbage processing and the like.
All in all, our study, we believe, has achieved its primary goals, albeit the sudden cancellation of the Miyajima Island History Project forced us to change course. We hope that we can further explore how Miyajima Monzen-machi has evolved by closely examining the date we have collected through the study.
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