Jesse Drian: Multiple Identitied of the Itsukushima Deity in the Nagatobon Tale of the Heike

Multiple Identitied of the Itsukushima Deity in the Nagatobon Tale of the Heike 『長門本平家物語』における厳島大明神の多数のイメージ
Jesse Drian, Doctoral Candidate in East Asian Languages and Culture, USC

Itsukushima Shrine was the tutelary shrine of the Ise Taira, but the Nagatobon Heike monogatari is the only version of the Tale of Heike to include an account of the origins of the shrine. Despite the regional focus of the Nagatobon Heike monogatari on the areas around Kyushu and the Seto Inland Sea, I will suggest that the correlations made between the Itsukushima deity and other sacred sites and persons create a network of associations that emphasize Itsukushima’s importance beyond the local region. Building on earlier scholarship describing the physical networks connecting Itsukushima with the religious communities and ideas of Mt. Kōya, Mt. Hiei, and Kamakura, I will analyze the symbolic significance of the networks of associations in depicting an Itsukushima deity that had multiple identities. More specifically I will demonstrate that the networks and identities of the Itsukushima deity given in the Nagatobon Heike monogatari portray the deity as a protector of the realm, through both the deity’s identity as a military deity, as a protector of Buddhism, as by connecting Itsukushima with the religious practices of the central government.


厳島神社が伊勢平氏の氏神にも関わらず、『平家物語』の諸本 を見れば、『長門本平家物語』の「厳島次第事」しか厳島神社の縁起を詳しく物語らない。『長門本平家物語』は瀬戸内海や九州における地方的な特色があるが、この発表では、私は『長門本』に示唆されている厳島と他の霊場、神、聖人との関係が連想ネットワークを表現する。これまでの研究を一歩進めて、連想ネットワークによって提示された厳島大明神の多数のイメージを考察したい。特に注目したいことは、『長門本平家物語』が軍神と仏法を守る神だけでなく、幕府の宗教的政策と関係づけた神としても厳島大明神の鎮護国家の役割を強調することのである。

 

Sachiko Kawai: Was Medieval Estate Management Gendered? Nyoin and In as 
Proprietors in the Heian and Kamakura Periods

Was Medieval Estate Management Gendered? Nyoin and In as Proprietors in the Heian and Kamakura Periods
ジェンダー的視点から中世荘園経営を考える：平安・鎌倉期の女院と男院の比較を通して
Sachiko Kawai, Doctoral Candidate in History, USC

Late twelfth- and thirteenth-century retired queen consorts (nyoin) inherited and accumulated many estates, which gave them opportunities to wield economic, religio-political, and military power. Although scholarship concerning nyoin and their property has advanced recently, it rarely examines how being a woman influenced methods of proprietary estate management. So in this presentation I want to explore how gender shaped nyoin strategies in collecting dues and maintaining their estates. Based on the premise that not all royal women’s actions were gendered as “female,” I carefully investigate overall nyoin strategies while examining other intersecting factors such as socio-political privileges, inheritance patterns, and religious practices. Through a close analysis of royal orders, entries in courtier journals, wills, and Buddhist prayers, I argue that late-Heian and Kamakura nyoin enhanced their ability to control their estates by acquiring letters of support from senior retired monarchs who held decision- making power at court. They also often used strategies that conformed to the non-reproductive roles of unmarried daughters, such as adopting royal offspring and memorializing deceased family members. Ironically, however, the endeavors of individual women sometimes supported the existing institutional practices that ultimately curtailed royal women’s inheritance. By examining the eventual disappearance of large female landholders toward the end of the Kamakura Period, I argue that decisions about management and inheritance by several nyoin were driven by larger institutional forces. Those decisions ultimately sustained gender disparity within premodern monarchical and familial power structures.

十二世紀後期から十三世紀にかけて、女院が多くの荘園を相続・蓄積し、大荘園領主として経済力・政治力・宗教的影響力をもつ可能性を秘めていたこは既に指摘されている。しかし、女性であるということが、女院の所領経営方法にどう影響を与えたのかについては、あまり研究されていない。また、本所レベルの経営はどれも同じだという意見さえ耳にするが、全く男女差はなかったのだろうか。今回の報告では、荘園における問題解決方法にジェンダー差があったのか、もしそうであれば、ジェンダーが女院領経営及び伝領にどう関わっていたのかについて考察する。

女院庁下文、古記録、置文、告文などの中世史料を分析すると、女院の所領経営方法には、いくつかジェンダー的要素があったように見受けられる。例えば、女院が治天の君である男院にサポートの院宣を出してもらって本所間相論を解決する例は、王家内のジェンダー的力構造を表している。また、女院庁と男院庁の構成要素の相違や、不婚内親王女院の菩提を弔う役割が、公事の配分方法にどう影響したかについて考えることも大切である。女院の行動が必ずしも「女性」的行為と判断できない点に留意しながら、荘園経営に関わるその他の要素（社会・政治的特権や宗教的活動など）も考慮し、女院の所領経営の特徴を見ていきたい。

興味深いことに、女院が膨大な荘園を相続・経営するという現象は、十四世紀後半には見られなくなる。荘園を維持し、所領に付属する役割を遂行しようとする努力を続けてきた平安後期から鎌倉期の女院は、皮肉にも、次世代の王家女性の相続権を制限する行為に出てしまうこともあった。王家構成員の相続権の変化に焦点をあてながら、王権や家族・女院という制度がどう個々の女性の行動や決断に影響を及ぼしたのかについても検討したい。

 

Dan Sherer: The Azuchi Shûron, A Reassessment

The Azuchi Shûron, A Reassessment
 安土宗論に関する史料再検討 Dan SHERER, Doctoral Candidate in History, USC

In 1579 a debate was held at Oda Nobunaga’s residential castle of Azuchi between monks of the Buddhist Pure Land and Nichiren sects. The result of the “Azuchi Religious Debate” was a Pure Land victory, and in the aftermath of the loss, one Nichirenist priest and two of his patrons were beheaded. The Kyoto Nichiren temples were also forced to sign humiliating concessions of defeat and pay hefty fines.

    The consensus view of the Azuchi Religious Debate for over a century has been that the whole affair was a sham, either planned from the start by Nobunaga or cunningly arranged by him during the process. While studies of the participants in the debate, the results of the debate, and even the fundraising to pay the fines has attracted much scholarly attention since the second world war, the debate itself has largely been ignored since Tsuji Zennosuke’s landmark study in the 1910s. This talk will reassess the primary sources as categorized by Tsuji, focusing on the nature of these texts and how they can be used. Using these and sources not then available allows us to reassess Tsuji’s reconstruction of the debate and the issue of how the event fits into Oda Nobunaga’s relationship with the Nichiren sect.

天正 七年 （１５７９）五月二十七 日、織田信長居城の安土城で日蓮宗と浄土宗の僧侶は宗論をし た。世にいう「安土宗論」である。その結果は浄土宗の勝利で、日蓮宗の僧侶一人・檀那二人が信長に首を刎ねられて、京都の日蓮宗本山は重い罰金を払わなくてなら ない事になった。従来の 研究は 安土宗論を信長の日蓮宗弾圧政略として、その内容については無視する研究が多 い。しかし、宗論に関する史料は矛盾だらけで、宗論の真相は不明である。今 回の報告では、安土宗論に関する史料の由来を調べて、その信頼性を明らかにしたいと思う。

 

Sunaga Shinobu: Kingship and Local Elites in Eastern Japan in the Sixth Century

Kingship and Local Elites in Eastern Japan in the Sixth Century 古代王権と東国豪族

SUNAGA Shinobu, Ph.D. Candidate in History, Meiji University 須永 忍

This paper discusses the relationship between the king in the central government and local elites in eastern Japan in the sixth century. The king depended upon local elites in eastern Japan because those elites were militaristic in nature. As exemplified by the Jinshin Rebellion of 672, the central government looked to local elites in eastern Japan to recruit soldiers. Royal guards were usually recruited from among the loyal and brave soldiers who were relatives of local elites in eastern Japan. Indeed such elites played an important role in ancient history.  

Archaeologically, large quantities of horse trappings, iron armor, decorated swords, and bronze bowls have been excavated from sixth- and seventh-century tumuli in eastern Japan, thereby demonstrating the militaristic culture of eastern local elites. Decorated swords and bronze bowls that reflect the heavy influence of Buddhism reflect a strong relationship with the central government.

In the six century and after, the number of tumuli drastically increased. There must have been many reasons for this, and I interpret this as a result of local elites competing with one another and of unstable assertion of local dominance. In order for local elites to cope with these difficulties, I speculate that local elites in eastern Japan sought for a closer relationship with the central government. This was the reason why local elites were willing to provide the central government with royal guards and other soldiers. In return, local elites were given horses and iron armor as well as other prestige goods. Owing to these give-and-take relationships, in the sixth century the king in the central government and local elites in eastern Japan became more dependent on each other than they had been earlier.

Presentation handout

本報告は、日本における古代王権と東国豪族の関係について考察したものである。王権は、東国の豪族を重要な権力基盤として依存していたが、それは東国豪族が強い軍事的性格を持ち、さらに王権と密接な関係も有していたためである。

古代の内乱・政変の特色として、皇位継承争いである壬申の乱に象徴されるように、東国の豪族を頼る傾向がある。東国の豪族は、皇族や貴族から大きく依存されていたと評価でき、古代史において重要な歴史的役割を担っていたと考えることができる。また、天皇を護衛した舎人は、静岡県・長野県以東の東国豪族の一族であり、忠誠的で勇猛な武人と評価されるようになった。

考古学から東国をみてみると、６世紀以降における静岡県・長野県以東の東国豪族の古墳からは、馬具が多く発見されており、軍事的に重要な馬の飼育・運用が盛んであったことを示す。さらに、防具となる小札甲も多数出土しており、それは全国の半数を占めている。また、金や銀で飾られた装飾大刀や、仏教との関係が深い先進的な文物である銅鋺などの威信財も東国に偏在している。

６世紀以降、東国では有力な古墳の数が急激に増加し、これは東国の豪族が林立するようになった様相を示している。それは同時に東国の豪族間の競合や対立関係を生じさせ、地域支配力が不安定になったことを意味する。多くの東国の豪族は、こうした状況を克服するために王権とさらに強く結びつくことを求め、舎人などを輩出するようになったと考えられる。王権はそうした東国の豪族に対し、その見返りとして馬や小札甲という最新の軍事技術や威信財などを提供することによって、強固な支配関係を確立させたと評価できる。その結果、王権と密接な関係を成立させ、最新の軍事技術を獲得した豪族が東国に偏在するようになったと考えられる。
王権は、こうした東国豪族を重要視し、大きく依存するようになったと考えられる。

 

Sasaki Ken’ichi: Changes in Elite Symbolism
 From Keyhole Tombs to Buddhist Temples in Seventh-century Japan

Changes in Elite Symbolism From Keyhole Tombs to Buddhist Temples in Seventh-century Japan
Ken’ichi SASAKI, Professor of Archaeology, Meiji University


It is a widely accepted hypothesis that, once the construction of keyhole-tombs as the symbol of authority declined toward the end of the sixth century, square tumuli took over for a while in the middle seventh century, and eventually the practice of mound construction as the symbol of authority was replaced by the practice of building Buddhist temples by the end of the seventh century. This is indeed the case in many regions of Japan. For example, at the Ryukakuji tumulus group site in northern Chiba Prefecture (old province of Shimôsa), an early seventh-century keyhole tomb, a mid-seventh-century large square tumulus, and a late seventh-century Buddhist temple are all located in close vicinity. At the same time recent results of archaeological excavations show a wide variety of patterns of change in elite symbolism. For instance in southern Ibaraki (old province of Hitachi), a Buddhist temple was erected in the late seventh century in an area where a giant fifth-century keyhole tomb was built, but there are no sixth-century keyhole tombs or seventh- century square tumuli. I intend to present the results of my recent research on this thee, which indicate a variety of patterns in the shift from keyhole tombs to Buddhist temples.

Powerpoint presentation part 1

Powerpoint presentation part 2

Powerpoint presentation part 3

Handout

Yanagisawa Nana: Production and Consumption of Salt and the Ritsuryō Tax System

Production and Consumption of Salt and the Ritsuryō Tax System 塩の生産・消費と律令税制
YANAGISAWA NanaJapan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow Meiji University 柳沢 菜々

Salt is a nutrient essential to human life. As rock salt is difficult to procure in the Japanese archipelago, in ancient times the prevailing system of salt production was to boil down seawater in clay pots to draw out the salt. This presentation focuses on salt production and consumption, and in the process I will also note the special characteristics of the economic foundations of the eighth-century tennō and nobility, as well as the ritsuryō tax system.

    In the ritsuryō system, salt was one of the goods collected as tribute (chō). In the Heijō palace and capital ruins, we have found large numbers of wooden slips (mokkan) evidencing goods that were shipped to the capital, and these show that salt was an important tribute good. Many of those wooden tags show that salt was shipped from Wakasa and Suō provinces. However, many clay pots used for salt production that have been found in the Heijō capital are from the Bi-san Seto Inland Sea region (Bizen, Bitchû, Bingo, Sanuki) or from the Osaka Bay area. These were not provinces mandated to provide salt as a tribute item.

In other words, some types of salt brought to Heijō capital were transported with a packaging slip attached, but others were not. Specifically salt that came affixed with a packaging tag was collected and sent as a tax good. Wakasa province was extremely small, but it put tremendous efforts into producing salt to be collected for tribute goods. Furthermore I hypothesize that the Takahashi family, that was traditionally responsible for conducting the religious rites associated with the tennō’s dining needs, had strong ties to Wakasa province. Other provinces that, similar to Wakasa, were small, also had deep connections with the Takahashi, and were characterized by their production of tribute goods. They were Shima, Awa (near Tokyo Bay), and Izu. Their residents gathered seaweed, abalone, and wrasses as tribute. Salt, seaweed, abalone, and wrasses were all important offerings for religious rites. The tennō gathered tribute goods from the entire country to be used as offerings for the religious rites he performed to demonstrate his rulership. Salt gathered as a tribute good in Wakasa symbolically showed the tennō’s reign over the area, and the production process was meant to do just such.

The second-largest numbers of packaging tags, those denoting Suō salt, were all unearthed at the residence of Prince Nagaya, and they are thought to have been affixed to offerings presented from Prince Nagaya’s sustenance residence units (fuko). Since such offerings were brought to the capital as tribute goods, they had tags affixed. At Prince Nagaya’s residence, the salt gathered as tribute from sustenance households was consumed—in other words, royals and nobles obtained their salt from sustenance residence units.

    On the other hand, the salt transported without tags from Osaka Bay environs and elsewhere was handled differently than were ritsuryō taxes. Nobles and major temples were proprietors of regions in the mountains that provided fuel (firewood) for the production of salt, and they managed locations for salt production separate from sustenance residence units.

    From this outline of eighth-century salt production and consumption, the following points are notable. Under the ritsuryō system, the sustenance residence units that were the economic foundation of the nobility carried on a proprietary system that preexisted the ritsuryô codes. But the management of that earlier system was folded into the activities of provincial governors, and after tribute goods were collected as taxes and sent to the capital, the governors were charged with seeing that the requisite offerings were distributed to each sustenance unit proprietor.

The basic principle of the tribute collection system was to procure offerings for religious rites that would demonstrate support for the tennō.  Wakasa, Shima, and other provinces that collected tribute offerings played a special symbolic role, one of which they were very conscious. Also residents of sustenance residence units paid tribute as subjects of the tennō, while the ô provided for aristocrats by giving them tribute offerings. Such practices visualized and elaborated the ideology of the ritsuryō state that placed the tennō at the pinnacle of its organization. One caveat, however: we need to remember that the aristocracy had long managed landholdings separately from sustenance residence units, and such landholdings were not entirely folded into the ritsuryō system.

Presentation PDF

塩は人間が生きていくために欠かせない栄養素のひとつである。日本列島では岩塩などは手に入りにくく、古代においては、土器で海水を煮詰めて塩をとりだす土器製塩が主流であった。本報告では、塩の生産と消費に注目することで、八世紀における天皇や貴族の経済基盤、および律令税制の特徴について考えてみたい。
塩は律令制では調の品目のひとつとされている。平城宮・京跡からは、調の塩につけられていた荷札木簡が多数みつかっており、若狭国、次いで周防国の塩荷札木簡が多い。しかし、平城京でみつかる製塩土器は備讃瀬戸内・大阪湾沿岸のものが多く、荷札木簡から判明する塩貢納国と一致しない。平城京に運び込まれる塩には、荷札をつけて運ばれるものと荷札をつけないものが存在した。

荷札をつけて運ばれた塩は、税としておさめられた塩である。若狭国は非常に小さい国であるが、国をあげて調として納入する塩の生産に取り組んでいた。また、天皇の食膳に関する神事を伝統的に掌ってきた一族である高橋氏が、若狭国との強い関係性を主張している。若狭と同様に小国で、高橋氏との関係が深く、調の生産に特徴をもっている国に志摩、安房、伊豆があり、調として海藻、鰒、堅魚をおさめている。塩・海藻・鰒・堅魚は神事に用いる最も主要な供物である。調には天皇がおこなう神事の供物を全国から集め、天皇による支配を示す意味があり、若狭がおさめる調の塩は天皇の支配を示す象徴的なものとして、生産体制が整えられていた。

二番目に点数の多い周防の塩の荷札は、全て長屋王の邸宅跡から出土しており、長屋王の封戸からの進上物につけられていたものとみられる。封戸の進上物は調として都に運ばれるため、荷札木簡がつけられた。長屋王邸では封戸から調として納入された塩が消費されていたのであり、貴族層は封戸からの収入によって塩を得ていた。
一方、荷札をつけずに大阪湾沿岸などから運ばれてきた塩は、律令による税の収取とは別に流通していた塩であった。貴族層や大寺院は塩生産に使う燃料（薪）の供給源となる山を所有し、封戸とは別に製塩場の経営をおこなっていた。

このような八世紀における塩の生産・消費の様相から、以下のことが指摘できる。律令制下において貴族層の経済基盤として設定されていた封戸は、当初は律令制以前の所領関係を引き継ぐ形で設定されたが、その経営は所在地の国司による行政に組み込まれ、進上物は調などの税として都に納入された後に各封主に分配される仕組みになっていた。調貢納制には天皇の支配を示すための神事の供物を調達するという理念があり、若狭や志摩など、供物の調達を特別に意識づけられた国が象徴的な役割を担った。封戸の民も天皇支配下の公民として調を納入したのであり、貴族は天皇から与えられる恩典として封戸の進上物を受け取ることとされ、天皇を頂点とする律令国家のイデオロギーが表されている。だが一方で、貴族層は封戸とは別に古くからの所領経営を続けており、家政機関がその運営を担った。これらの所領は、律令制の枠組みにおいて規定しきれなかった側面である。

Michelle Damian: All Ports Are Not Created Equal: A Typology of Late Medieval Inland Sea Ports

All Ports Are Not Created Equal: A Typology of Late Medieval Inland Sea Ports 中世後半期瀬戸内海港の比較と類型
Michelle Damian, Doctoral Candidate in History, USC

In this talk I will introduce a working hypothetical framework for assessing the types of port communities along the late medieval Seto Inland Sea. Though most of the islands were populated and many of their port names appear in the written record, different areas played different roles. I am exploring the concept that ports can be broadly categorized as “production ports” or “shipping ports.” While these were not mutually exclusive functions, ports tended to have one role or another. The former were usually smaller ports in residential areas, close to a production center for a particular item. Ports such as Yuge (Iyo province), which was known for its salt production, or Inbe (Bizen province) near the kilns famous for producing Bizen pottery, were possible representatives of production ports, with the goods shipped from those ports largely corresponding to the locally produced items. The best known and most studied “shipping ports” were larger ports such as Onomichi and Hyōgo, which became central hubs for shipping and transshipping goods.   

I contend that shipping ports were not exclusively large ports, however, and that certain smaller ports played a vital role in transshipping specialty items in particular. For instance Takasaki and Kamagari in Aki Province were critical stopping points for goods from Kyushu, and Yura on Awaji was an important center for processed lumber (planks) that possibly originated from the Kii peninsula. I will look at “what makes a port” – the infrastructure, setting, and people associated with the location – and I will also explore the different types of ports so that we can better understand shipping networks in the late medieval Seto Inland Sea.    

この報告では、中世後半期瀬戸内海の港の類型論についての仮説を紹介する。数多くの港名が史料に残っているにもかかわらず、詳細な研究のなされた一部の場所を除けば、その具体的な役割は明らかではない場合が殆どである地域により役割が異なり、そして大きく「生産港」と「運搬港」に分類できると考え、その存在を探りたい。もちろん同時に生産も運搬も行われたが、大体どちらかが主だった。一般的に「生産港」は比較的小型で、生産地に近かった。例えば、製塩業で有名な伊予国の弓削嶋や備前焼きの窯が近くにあった備前国伊部は「生産港」と言えるだろう。一方、尾道や兵庫は、年貢・商品をよく運んだことから、代表的な「運搬港」と呼べるだろう。

しかし、「運搬港」の全ては大きな港に限られず、小さな港でも荷物を積み替える重要な役割を果たした場合もあった。例えば、安芸国の高崎・蒲刈で九州からの商品を積み替えた例や、淡路国の由良港で紀伊半島で取れた槫を積み替えたと推測できる事例がある。この報告では特に、港のインフラ、地域、住民などの状態を検討しながら「港というのは何だろう」という質問に答えたい。また、港のそれぞれの種類を分析することで、中世後半期瀬戸内海の海運交通ネットワークをより深く理解することを目指したい。

 

Doi Shohei: Emergence of Standardized Tumuli (kofun) in the Third-century Northern Kantô in Eastern Japan

12/3 - 12/4/2014

Emergence of Standardized Tumuli (kofun) in the
Third-century Northern Kantô in Eastern Japan 弥生・古墳時代移行期の群馬県域における古墳出現過程
DOI Shohei土井翔平, Ph.D. Candidate in Archaeology, Meiji University

This paper explores the process behind the appearance of the highly standardized tumuli or kofun in the third-century northern Kantô region of eastern Japan. It has previously been a well-accepted hypothesis that keyhole-shaped tumuli appeared in eastern Japan in the middle third century under the cultural influence of the Tôkai region, Pacific coastal region of the central Honshu, and that people’s life style and mortuary practices came to be unified in the fifth century. The problem of this hypothesis is that it supposes that all the cultural influences from the west were uniform across the entire eastern Japan, which was not necessarily the case. In terms of methodology, it is also problematic that data are skewed toward large keyhole-shaped tumuli. The latter problem is particularly apparent in Gumma Prefecture, northern Kantô. While the overwhelming majority of tumuli of the mid-third century are small ones, from ten to 30 meters in length, discussion of the appearance of tumuli is based on keyhole-shaped tumuli of more than 100 meters in length.

In order to cope with these problems, the author has looked at all the tumuli of the mid-third century in Gumma Prefecture, paying particular attention to the mound form, mound size, pottery offered to the dead, and goods deposited with the dead. As a result of the author’s analyses, it has become clear that in the late third and early fourth centuries, there were two distinctive cultural flows from the Tôkai region. These two were spatially distributed on the northern side and southern side of the Tone River. As to mortuary rituals, the author has found that pots offered at tumuli morphologically changed from ritualistic ones in the fourth century to more practical ones in the fifth century. By paying attention to regionally and locally various patterns and taking several types of material cultures into consideration, the author’s research broadens our understanding of a very complex process that underlay the appearance of standardized tumuli in eastern Japan.

従来、古墳時代の東日本は東海地方からの影響の中で古墳文化が流入し、その中で大形の古墳が出現し、古墳時代中期段階に近畿地方から関東地方にかけて生活様式・墓制等々が統一されるという見方が一般的であった。しかし、この視点は、関東地方という広域に広がる西日本からの影響をすべて等質にとらえてしまうことと、大形の前方後円墳を中心に議論が構成される傾向があった。本稿の検討対象地域とする群馬県域においても古墳時代前期の東海地方からの古墳文化の影響が想定されているが、県内の墳墓としては墳長10～30ｍの小形の墳墓が検出数としては圧倒的に上回るにもかかわらず、その検討に挙がるのは墳長100ｍ以上の大形古墳が中心である。

そのため本稿では、県内で確認されるすべての墳墓を対象とし、墳形・規模・供献土器・副葬品に関して分析を行った。その結果、古墳前期において東海地方からの文化流入に2つの流れが想定され、それが利根川を挟み分布を異にして発展することが確認された。また、墳墓祭祀に関して、古墳時代前期から中期へ移行するに従い供献土器における壺が儀礼的なものからより実用的なものに変化していくことが、形態的分析から確認できた。
本研究において、これまで西日本からの一方面的な分析視点に対し、在地における多方面の資料の分析の結果によって古墳出現過程のより詳細な様相を捉えることができた。

 

2014 Meiji Exchange Paper Extracts

You can few the abstracts for the 2014 USC-Meiji University Exchange here.

Topics Below:

Process of the Appearance of the Standardized Tumuli (kofun) in Third Century Northern Kanto, Eastern Japan by DOI Shohei, Ph.D. Candidate in History (Archaeology)

 

Local Elites in Eastern Japan and Kingship in Ancient Japan by SUNAGA Shinobu, Ph.D. Candidate in History (Ancient Japanese History)

 

Change in Elite Symbolism from Keyhole Tombs to Buddhist Temples in Seventh Century Japan by Ken’ichi SASAKI, Professor of Archaeology, Meiji U.

 

Control over and Trade with the Emishi People of Northeastern Frontier under the Ritsuryo Code of Ancient Japan by IGARASHI Motoyoshi, Ph.D. Candidate in History (Ancient Japanese History)

 

Production and Consumption of Salt and Taxation under the Ritsuryo Code of Ancient Japan by YANAGISAWA Nana, JSPS Post-Doctoral Fellow

 

法会を営む女性―国立歴史民俗博物館所蔵『転法輪鈔(てんぽうりんしょう)』を中心 に―
牧野淳史MAKINO Atsushi

 

後白河院と今様合 ――『吉記』(きっき)における承安四年「今様合」を中心に――
須藤あゆ美SUTO Ayumi

 

江戸時代の古文書を求めて
野尻泰弘 NOJIRI Yasuhiro

 

Michelle Damian: A Geographic Analysis of Domestic Trade in the Late Medieval Seto Inland Sea

Friday 12/6/2013,   4:00-4:45 PM, Waite Phillips Hall 104* 

A Geographic Analysis of Domestic Trade in the Late Medieval Seto Inland Sea
Michelle Damian, Ph. D. Candidate, History Department, USC

This presentation will demonstrate how a geographic analysis of written and archaeological records can reveal new information about maritime trade in late medieval Japan (14th - 15th c). Although several Japanese scholars have examined the Records of Incoming Ships at the Hyōgo Northern Checkpoint (Hyōgo Kitaseki Irifune Nōchō) to determine major ports and cargoes, my study emphasizing the geography of the area illuminates new connections and roles of the people and places recorded in the Nōchō. I have incorporated this information into a Geographic Information System (GIS), which aids in showing which ports were vital transshipment hubs and how ships’ captains collaborated with each other in their voyages. This methodology even suggests resolutions for debates revolving around disputed port sites. Moreover investigating archaeological evidence together with the written record provides additional information about lateral trade ties as well as the flow of goods from the Inland Sea periphery to the center in the capital district. This geography-based study of trade in the medieval Inland Sea region reveals to a much greater extent than in past connections between smaller ports and the historical actors who lived and worked in them. 

Sachiko Kawai: Land-based Power of Retired Royal Ladies (Nyoin) in Early Medieval Japan: A Case Study of Senyōmon’in (1181-1252), an Unmarried Royal Daughter

Friday 12/6/2013,  3-3:45 PM, Waite Phillips Hall 104* 

Land-based Power of Retired Royal Ladies (Nyoin) in Early Medieval Japan: A Case Study of Senyōmon’in (1181-1252), an Unmarried Royal Daughter
Sachiko Kawai, Ph.D. Candidate, USC History Department

My research explores the economic and religio-political roles of late Heian and Kamakura nyoin, whose titles made them female equivalents of male retired monarchs. And although women had ceased to ascend the throne, nyoin owned a large number of royal properties, that helped them attain economic, political, and even military influence. But my research demonstrates that they did not automatically succeed in wielding that influence. They had to overcome challenges in securing material and human resources from their estates. Through this case study of Senyōmon’in, I explore the challenges and coping strategies that nyoin used in managing their estates. By closely analyzing a list of miscellaneous dues levied on estates, The List of the Chōkōdō Estates that dates from the late twelfthcentury,  I have investigated the religio-political roles played by Senyōmon’in as an unmarried royal princess while also reconstructing the material culture and economic power she was able to obtain from her estate holdings.

Through this analysis I argue that Senyomon’in utilized three strategies: first, she strengthened her control over land by raising royal offspring and sponsoring memorial services (for whom?) to justify her levy and collection of dues; second, she stabilized her income by supporting the political advancement of her officials and providing them with estate management positions to ensure their economic prosperity; and third, rather than maintaining independent control over her land, she capitalized on alliances and the influence of other powerful authorities. By explaining the complex relations between socially acknowledged rights over estates and the ability to actually acquire resources, this research contributes to the understudied but nevertheless important issues of medieval nyoin and women’s land-based power. 

Yoshiko Kainuma: Studio Production in Mid-to-Late Heian Japan: Craftsmen or Artists?

Friday 12/6/2013,  2:00-2:45 PM, Waite Phillips Hall 104* 

Studio Production in Mid-to-Late Heian Japan: Craftsmen or Artists?
Dr. Yoshiko Kainuma, Associate, USC Project for Premodern Japan Studies

Buddhist sculptors in Nara and early Heian Japan were generally regarded as craftsmen or artisans, rather than as artists in the modern sense.  Around the mid-Heian period however, some drastic changes in environment led to a rise in their social status and greater independence for them as Buddhist sculptors who could then assert their own aesthetic values in their works of art. In this talk I present a history of a brilliant epoch for the mid-to-late Heian sculptors who carved in wood. 

Kevin Wilson: Hachiman Cult Foundation Legends (engi) as Cultural and Social Capital

Friday 12/6/2013,  12:30-1:15 PM,  Waite Phillips Hall 104*

Hachiman Cult Foundation Legends (engi) as Cultural and Social Capital
Kevin Wilson, Ph.D. Candidate, History Department, USC

The Hachiman cult is one of the most ubiquitous and important cults in premodern Japan. In this presentation I will analyze foundation legends (engi) associated with two key centers of Hachiman worship: the shrines at Usa and Iwashimizu. Foundation legends associated with Hachiman have rarely been studied in western scholarship and there has been little consideration as to how these legends function. Through an analysis of the Usa Hachimangū Mirokuji Konryū Engi  (844), Iwashimizu Gokokuji Ryakki (863), along with engi variants found in the Tōdaiji Yōroku (1134) and Hachiman Usagū Gotakusenshū (1313), I will demonstrate how foundation legends functioned as repositories of what Pierre Bourdieu calls “cultural or social capital.” I will also show how I think engi authors manipulated the image of Hachiman ― as well as key figures associated with the establishment of shrine-temple complexes dedicated to Hachiman ― in order to increase the cultural and social capital associated with such engi. This study points not only to the importance of engi in the study of the Hachiman cult but also to the importance of acknowledging changes in foundation legends and to understanding how these changes reflect trends at court and the personal aspirations of engi compilers. 

Joan Piggott: Gender in the Japanese Administrative Codes, An Ongoing Project

Friday 12/6/2013, 11 AM – 11:45 PM, Waite Phillips Hall 104

Gender in the Japanese Administrative Codes, An Ongoing Project
Prof. Joan Piggott, History Department, USC

I will report on the ongoing project for which members (Yoshie, Ijuin, Piggott) are translating and annotating relevant sections of the Yôrô-era administrative code (ryô), two parts of which are now finished for publication. I will highlight particular challenges of the project and why I think such multilingual translation/annotation projects are critically important for the study of Japanese history.

Yamaguchi Naomi: Acts of Looking and Listening in the Kojiki

Thursday 12/5/2013,  2:15-3:00 PM, Doheny Library 233

Acts of Looking and Listening in the Kojiki
YAMAGUCHI Naomi, Graduate Student in Japanese Literature, Meiji University

The section devoted to the reign of the monarch known as Nintoku Tennô in the eighth-century Kojiki, or Record of Ancient Matters, begins with the geneology of the monarch and then records an episode when he looked out over his realm from a hill.  At the time he observed that very few families were cooking their meals and thus he decided not to tax people for three years.  Three years later Nintoku looked out again and observed smoke from fires where rice was cooking at numerous residences.  So he knew that the people prospered and he decided to tax them again. In later times people praised the reign of Nintoku Tennô and called it a divine sovereign’s era. This act of a monarch looking out over his realm was an important royal ritual called “kunimi,”  and we find it described in extant gazetteers (fudoki) and in the Man’yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves).

In my view however, a careful reading of the Kojiki suggests that the action of listening was as important as the action of looking. Listening too had ritualistic significance, a fact that has not received the note it deserves. In this paper I will discuss acts of listening and their meaning as described in the Kojiki.

Handout PDF
Additional materials PDF

Sasaki Ken'ichi: Political Organization in Kofun-age Japan

Thursday 12/5/2013,  12:45-1:20 PM, Doheny Library 233

Political Organization in Kofun-age Japan
Prof. SASAKI Ken’ichi, Meiji University

I will talk about various archeological perspectives on political organization across the Japanese archipelago during the Kofun Period. I was raised in Kyoto, to the north of Nara and Osaka, considered the center of the Kofun culture. And I once believed that studying the Kofun culture represented by the giant keyhole-shaped tumuli in the Nara-Osaka-Kyoto region would be enough to understand the history of the Kofun Period.  I also thought that the central polity of Yamato was so strong that it controlled many different regions of Japan from Iwate in the east to Kagoshima in the distant west, across which great expanse keyhole-shaped tumuli were constructed.  Professor TSUDE Hiroshi under whom I prepared my dissertation at Osaka University also argued that there was a strong central polity during the Kofun Period.  But in 1999 I was hired by the Department of Archaeology at Meiji University, and I was given charge of fieldwork in southern Ibaraki Prefecture (oldHitachi and Shimôsa provinces) and laboratory work for publication concerning excavations at the Ômuro Burial Mound and the Carin Cluster in Nagano Prefecture (old Shinano province).  These opportunities gave me a good opportunity to reconsider my view of Kofun Period political organization. The fact is, Kofun-period cultures in eastern Japan were so regionally distinctive that it seems to me we should recognize that local polities were relatively autonomous.  That is why I now argue that the central polity of Yamato was relatively weak, and that the nature of the Kofun Period political organization was a loose confederacy of regionally autonomous polities.

Handout PDF