Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Komyo-ji Temple

 

     Komyo-ji Temple was founded somewhere around Tsuchizaki-minato or Tsuchizaki Port in 1283 under the order of Minamoto Koreyasu (1264-1326), who reigned from 1266 to 1289 as the 7th Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate.  The temple was later converted from Tiantai School to Caodong Chan School.  When Kubota Castle was built at the beginning of the Edo Period, the temple was moved to its present place in 1622.

     According to Kaisen Shikimoku, or Cargo Ship Code, Tsuchizaki Port was of of the 10 most important ports in Japan.  The 10 ports were Ano-tsu in Ano County, Ise Province; Hakata-tsu Prot in Naka County, Chikuzen Province; Sakai-tsu Prot between Sumiyoshi County, Settsu Province, and Otori County, Izumi Province; Mikuni-minato Prot in Sakai County, Echizen Province; Motoyoshi-minato Prot between Ishikawa and Nomi Counties, Kaga Province; Wajima-minato Prot in Fugeshi County, Noto Province; Iwase-minato Prot in Nikawa County, Ecchu Province; Imamachi-minato Prot in Kubiki County, Echigo Province; Tsuchizaki-minato Prot in Akita County; and Tosa-minato Port in Mutsu Province.  The Wubei Zhi, or Records of Armaments and Military Provisions, of China replace Sakai-tsu Prot wirh Bono-tsu Port in Kawanabe County, Satsuma Province.  Wubei Zhi is a military book in Chinese history.  It was compiled in 1621 by Mao Yuanyi (1594–1640?), an officer of waterborne troops in the Ming dynasty.

     Besides the fact that all the -tsu ports were located along the Pacific Ocean and all the -minato ports were located along the Sea of Japan, the -minato ports were river-mouth ports.

     Kaisen Shikimoku is Japan's oldest maritime law.  Originally, it did not have a fixed name, and was called Kaisen Daiho, Senhoto, Senho, etc., but, in recent years, its name has been generally standardized as Kaisen Shikimoku.  It basically consists of 31 articles in total, but some copies have as many as 43 articles, which are thought to be due to later additions.  Its postscript states that Hojo Yoshitoki (1163-1224), the 2nd regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, signed to the ship codes compiled by three shipowners from Hyogo in Settsu Province, Urado in Tosa Province, and Bonotsu in Satsuma Province in 1223 to officially recognize the codes under the name of the Kamakura Shogunate.  However, the postscript seems to have been added later to give authority to the codes.  It is believed that the codes were actually created much later, presumably at the end of the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).  The various practices that had been used by shipmates since ancient times, which differed from region to region, gradually grew into unified practices as maritime transport developed.  Kaisen Shikimoku can be said to be the codification of these practices.

     Kaisen Shikimoku's contents are diverse, and all of them are specific and fairly advanced, including provisions regarding chartering ships, compensation for damage to cargo, determining liability in the event of collision between ships, provisions regarding thrown cargo in a storm, and how to handle ships that have drifted ashore.  This shows that the Japanese shipping industry at that time was at a fairly advanced stage of development, and a similar level of maritime law first appeared in Europe in Venice, Italy, after the 15th century.

     Kaisen Shikimoku's codes maintained their legal life not only in the Middle Ages but also in the early modern period.  There are some provisions that are quite medieval and difficult to inherit in the early modern period, such as Article 1, which provides that shipwrecks are regarded as ownerless and should be donated preferentially to temples and shrines nearby.  The provision enabled pirates to claim shipwrecks and even enticed them to force ships to be wrecked.  The rest are, however, generally applicable to early modern society.  For this reason, even in the Edo Period, these codes were copied all over the country, and thus many copies can be found today.

Address: 4-32 Kyokuhokuteramachi, Akita, 010-0924

Phone: 018-824-2436

Tsuchizaki Port History Museum

Address: 3 Chome-10-27 Tsuchizakiminatonishi, Akita, 011-0945

Phone: 018-838-4244