2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

The social structure and civil trials in the Kamigata district in the early Edo period : Comparative analysis of literature in early-modern China and Japan

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21730002
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Fundamental law
Research Institution	Hokkaido University
Principal Investigator	KUWAHARA Asako 北海道大学, 大学院・法学研究科, 准教授 (10292814)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Keywords	民事裁判 / 近世前期 / 社会構造 / 町 / 裁判小説 / 町触 / 上方 / 連句
Research Abstract	This study focuses on a series of court stories which were mostly adapted from Chinese originals and became popular among townspeople in the Kamigata district in the early Edo period. Its aim is to clarify the reason why keen interest in civil trials-which had not been expressed in Chinese originals nor earlier Japanese literature-suddenly appeared, by analyzing the social structure of the Kamigata district. As a result of the analysis, it has been discovered that small local communities called 'Cho' in that district were profoundly related to civil trials. Also, the high awareness of the functions of 'Cho' and civil trials was developed by composing linked verse, which enjoyed a boom among common people at that time.