Japanese Pirates in the Beginning of the Heian Period [2-4]

The orders issued in 862, in 865, and in 866 didn’t do their works, and the central government issued another in 867, saying, “These years, we have ordered and warned governors to chase and arrest pirates, and to investigate and police wicked and wild people. Yet, we hear ferocious criminals come about, and robberies break out. All the travelers by water and by land are afraid of being attacked. This is really due to the governors’ dereliction of duty to liquidate them. It is legislated to form a joint surety group of 5 households, choose a head of it, and have them watch one another.” The order did not stop here and continued delivering detailed instructions, “In sordid places such as markets, ports, and arterials, maneuvers should be employed, detectives should be placed, bounties should be offered, and pardons should be dangled to leave no place for wicked and wild people to stay.” The contents of this order may imply 2 facts. First, the central government considered vagrancy as a breeding ground of piracy. Second, some governors might have accumulated certain experience on dealing with pirates. The accumulation, in turn, might have made it possible for the central government to share the effective practices.