| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥1,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
"Tanomi Shomon" (written requests) started to be used widely among the peasantry in early modern times. It started as a kind of a warrant of attorney and, in more recent times, it has developed into a letter to provide a power of delegation to a deputy. An analysis of the process of how "Tanomi Shomon" appeared and developed in relation to its social context will reveal the progress of how peasants came to be united in modem times. It was quite recently that the significance of these documents was realized and have acquired some attention in academic fields. The author has collected these documents extensively and put them into a computer as a database in order to help other researchers.
A study of these documents has revealed some interesting facts. "Tatomi Shomon" originated when "Tanomi" (a request) was formalized into "Shomon" (a warrant). In the early stage its formulation had not fully matured, therefore, it did not get a definite name. Geographically it started in the eastern part of Japan. Eventually, it began to be called "Tanomi Shomon, and concurrently its legal status was established. This establishment spread from Kanto-area, then to Koshinetu-area, Kyoto-Osaka area, further into Tokai-, Hokuriku-, and Tohoku-areas. "Tanomi Somon" was sometimes called "Tanomi Issatu," "Tanomigaki," or "Tanomijo." But, in Kanto- and Koshinetsu area, the name "Tanomi Shomon" was exclusively in use, and this name could not be found in far north area which is located beyond Fukushima and Yamagata.
This study was summarized in the second chapter "The unification of peasants" of the book The Peasantry in Pre-Modern Times (authored by T.Shirakawabe, published by Yoshikawa Kobunkan in 1999). The first badge of the database was put into the homepage (Tanomi Shomon Database : personal.kanazawa-eco.ac.jp/tatsuo/)
|
