Sakamoto was a post-town located along the 700 m-long “Nakasendou” highway, on both sides of which were ribbon-like land divisions. In the “Jibikiezu”, the total number of building-lots is 160.
This paper concerns about the land division of the post-town Sakamoto, which influenced its townscape since its creation. This study was carried out with a focus on the relationships between land division and the social system of post-towns in the Edo era.
At the first stage, we studied the land division, then compared and analyzed the “Jibikiezu” (a map made during the revision of the tax system at the beginning of the Meiji era) and the seven-sheet “Syukuezu” (a map made in the Edo era , which shows the land division of the post-town). We then clarified the post-town social system, by analyzing the “Meisaikakiagetyou”, “Shogoyoudometyo”and others documents related to the Edo post-town system. Lastly we studied the relationships between land division and the post-town social system in the Edo era.
In the “Jibikiezu”, the total number of building-lots is 160, and seven types of land area are described. The “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu” make it clear that the numbers of divisions and unifications of building-lots ranged from one to six. In the three sheets of the “Syukuezu” that are thought to have been made relatively earlier, there are only five types of building-lots.
According to the “Meisaikakiagetyou”, written in 1852, the main widths of building-lots were 7-ken and 3.5-ken (see note), and the width of “Tonnya” building-lots was 14-ken. In the three sheets of “Syukuezu” mentioned previously, the widths of building-lots are 3.5-ken, 7-ken, 14-ken and two other types. All other maps show that the 3.5-ken module was used for the width of building-lots.
Three basic types of building-lot are described in the “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu”. When we analyzed the “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu”, we found that the total number of building-lots was between 160 and 161, and 153 to 155 of these were of the three basic types. The widths 3.5-ken and 7-ken could be considered “nominal widths”. However, the “Jibikiezu” shows that all of the building-lots of each type were of the same width.
Next we widened our view from just building-lots to building-lots and fields; the 7-ken module was common for the widths of building-lots and fields. We examined the relationships between the land area of fields and the land area of building-lots, owned by the same person. We concluded that there was a standard that ensured the land area of fields was in proportion to the land area of building-lots.
Every post-town along the main highway was assigned a certain function by the Edo Shogunate. Among them, the most important were “Tenmayaku”, which were the duties of the town member. These were divided into two groups: “horse-duties” and “personnel duties”. There was also a system for the post-town officials; “Tonnya” was the highest-ranked official of the post-town.
In the late Edo era, the three basic widths of building-lots corresponded to “Tenmayaku” and “Tonnya”. 3.5-ken corresponded to “personnel duties”, 7-ken to “horse-duties”, and 14-ken to “Tonnya”. The width of building-lots was the standards of the possession of fields and the town expenditure for the members of the post-town. This paper shows variable examples between land division and the social system of post-towns in the Edo era.
Note: A “ken” was a unit of length in Japan before westernization, equal to approximately about 182 cm.
