research on countries outside administrative divisions as seen in ancient Japanese historical materials

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21974
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0102:Literature, linguistics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kansai University
• Principal Investigator: Oda Yoshihisa 関西大学, 東西学術研究所, 非常勤研究員 (10883829)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 令制に対応していない国 / 宮（離宮）と特別行政区 / 和泉国と和泉監の相違 / 中央官制と地方官制

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The applicant's research was an examination of the ``country'' outside of administrative divisions as seen in historical Japanese literary sources. I thought about why it is expressed as a "country" even though it is not originally a "country." Examples of "countries" outside administrative divisions include "Izumi Province," "Yoshino Province (Yoshino Province)," and "Namba Province." What these areas have in common is that palaces (villas) were built there. In addition, special administrative bodies such as ``Gen'' (``Izumi Gen'', Yoshino Gen'') and ``Shiki'' (Tsu Shiki) were placed to supervise the shrine and surrounding area, and it became a special administrative district. The administrative area came to have the same function as a ``country''. I think it is expressed as a ``country'' when a national project or similar content is carried out regarding that region.

Free Research Field

日本上代文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

申請者の研究は、従来、日本史学や考古学等からの試みが主流であった。これらの試みも重要であるものの、上代文学作品に、行政区画外の「国」が存在する以上、文学からのアプローチも重要である。いわば、複合的な研究視座が必要になる。学術的意義はここにある。
また、本研究では、行政区画外の「国」の社会的構造を考えた。古代日本では、都を座標軸の原点と定め、同心円状に区分されていく。都に近い畿内が、情報伝達、軍事防衛等のあらゆる点で重要な機能を担っていたといえる。その畿内に行政区画外の「国」が存在した。畿内の重要性を考えることは、中央官制と地方官制の差異を考えるうえで意義は少ない。