The Ancient Japanese Good-Family Clans and Piracy (2-4) ——The Enclosure and the Salt Production around the Seto Inland Sea (4)——

The entry dated May the 19th, 844, of Shoku Nihon Koki shows us another example of the relation between a good-family clans and salt production. Awaji Province said, “More than 3,000 fishermen and others came from another province with a central noble family’s official document. They gathered on beaches and coves, violated local people, and cut down trees. They gather like clouds, vanish like mist, and never stop violating. Furthermore, our official residences and stables are all by the seaside, crowd together like scales, and have a threat of fires. It is difficult to destroy them. We have worked hard to stop them, but but our province is not powerful enough. We request the central government to ban them altogether with an official administrative document.” As the “fishermen” were felling trees and the provincial officers feared fires, there’s strong possibility that the “fishermen” were producing salt. The entry suggests that officers of such a small province as Awaji were timid of central noble families, and, practically, could do nothing. Another interesting implication of the entry is the distinctions between violent fishermen and pirates, who were both on board. The phrase “pirates” had already appeared in an official document for the first time as early as in 388. It seems provincial officers could not conclude violent fishermen to be pirates unless they robbed provincial governments of tax rice.