Japanese Pirates in the Beginning of the Heian Period [2-7]

The document dated October the 10th, 883, arouses some questions. Who were those hobos with guts? Where did they learn how to use arms and maneuver boats in such an archipelago with rapid straits? How had they earned their livings before they were hired as anti-pirate soldiers? The chances are high they had been pirates themselves. What happened then after hiring those ex-pirates as anti-pirate soldiers? Another document dated December the 23rd, 885, shows a typical case. The article says, “Yama Yoshinao and Hata Harusada, both officially hired men in Kamitsumi County, Bizen Province, killed in a fight Sogabe Hidenao, Takerube Akio and others, men in Utari County, Sanuki Province. Sir Minamoto, the lieutenant governor, proclaimed his innocence, so that Yoshinao was hanged as a principal and Harusada received a sentence of three-year penal servitude as an accessory.” This kind of articles suggest violate struggles across provinces became persistent, and even higher ranked officials sent from the central government could not control those hired for provincial governments. Suffering from heavy taxes, some farmers escaped from their registered land, and became hobos in another province. Some fishers lost their livings and became hobos as powerful families enclosed seashores for salt production and other industrial purposes. Pirate resources were plentiful. Although the first uprises of Japanese pirates seemed to have died down because of the suppression and maneuvers by provincial governments, the ancient societies around the Seto Inland Sea were getting themselves ready to have sea samurais, or even pirate lords such as Clan Murakami, in medieval Japan.