<論説>中世末期における土師器工人の存在様態 : 土佐国『長宗我部地検帳』を題材に

Abstract

中世土師器は当時の人びとのもっとも身近な道具の一つであったが、その生産の実態は、生産遺跡の発見例が少ないためにほとんど論じられてこなかった。本稿では、戦国時代末期の土佐一国の検地記録である『長宗我部地検帳』を題材に、土師器工人所有の屋敷地や田畑、また土師器生産に関わる地名などの記録を集成し、土佐における土師器生産の様態の解明を試みた。その結果、土師器工人は各郡に数軒程度は存在し、屋敷地のほか一定の田畑も所有していたことがわかった。また地名と居住地の傾向から、往古は寺社のもとで製品貢納と引き換えに田畑を与えられたあり方から、大名・国人層に応じて城下や市場集落へ拠点を移し、販売にも携わるあり方へと変化しつつも、なお半農半工として農業に依存していた姿が明らかになった。このモデルは、考古資料にみえる地域性との対比が必要であるが、一つの具体像を提示できた点で中世土器生産論において重要な価値がある。

Medievai Haji ware (土師器) is one of the most common artifacts excavated from medieval sites in Japan. It is known that medieval people used this variety of earthenware in various contexts of their lives; in other words, Haji ware was one of the most familiar implements employed by medieval people. A major focus in the study of Haji ware has been how to estimate the age of sites and features chronologically, however, few researchers have addressed the problems of the aspects of Haji-ware production because of the absence of excavated production sites. The commonly accepted view, which has been nebulously stated, is that Haji ware was produced self-sufficiently by each village, but this view is open to question. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a model of medieval Haji-ware production, using the Chosokabe chiken-cho (長宗我部地検帳) as the object of study. The Chosokabe chihen-cho is a cadastral register prepared by the Chosokabe clan (長宗我部氏), who were the Sengoku-era daimyo of Tosa (土佐). This register records accounts of the sizes of properties, place names and the names of owners of residences and fields in Tosa province. In this paper, I collected examples of the residences and fields of potters and the place name Honogi (ホノギ) that was concerned with Haji ware from the Chosokabe chiken-cho. As a result of this examination, it is clear that Haji ware potters lived in the plains of Tosa and that their households were distributed in a ratio of several to each district. Judging from the case of Haji-ware potters of the Edo period who constructed kilns in their own residences, it can be surmised that the distribution of Haji-ware potter's residences matched distribution in the producing area. So, the range of Haji-ware distribution extended to a single district at most. Haji ware was not a product of self-sufficient communities as the commonly accepted view suggests; it should be thought as a trading product, even if it was traded on a small scale. Haji-ware potters possessed paddy fields in addition to their residences, and they depended partly on agriculture and partly on pottery for their livelihoods. Most lived in rural villages, but some moved to areas of population concentration nearby the lord's castles and markets. It is likely that some potters intended to become specialists of Haji-ware production. This kind of commercial development in Haji-ware potters and their production should not overlooked Medieval Haji-ware production did not necessarily rely on advanced technologies, and Haji ware could be made from clay extracted from paddy fields and everywhere. That is, Haji-ware production was one of the simplest pottery industries in medieval Japan. Although from the viewpoint of technology and raw materials, launching the production of Haji ware would have been easy, in point of fact, it was not a simple matter. This was because Haji-ware potters needed to acquire guarantees of mining rights from the feudal lords. This worked to retard unrestricted removal and production by Haji-ware potters. From the investigation of the place name Honogi, I indicate that Haji-ware potters had strong relations with temples and shrines, rather than daimyo and kokujin (国人) until the sixteenth century. In the background of this characteristic of Haji-ware production were the small-scale supply and dispersible production along with fragility of the product itself. There was large demand for Haji ware in the late medieval period, but the demand fell off in the Edo period due to the development of Japanese ceramic production. Meanwhile, Haji-ware potters didn't develop as a specialist occupation. In this paper, I present a model of Haji-ware production based on an investigation of late-medieval records. Although it will be necessary to confirm a similar local character from archaeological materials, this model presents the first concrete image of Haji-ware production, and I believe it will prove valuable in the study of the production of medieval earthenware.