2019 Volume 84 Issue 762 Pages 1827-1833
This paper is continued from ‘The establishment of ‘Ujiko-iki’ in the early Meiji period-A study for restoration of Ujiko-iki area of Tokyo in the Meiji period (Part 1)’ and ‘Revising small-scale ‘Ujiko-iki’ after the abolition of Ujiko shirabe- A study for restoration of Ujiko-iki area of Tokyo in the Meiji period (Part 2)’. A term ‘Ujiko-iki’ means a territory where Ujiko, which means a worshiper to a specific Shinto shrine, live around the Shinto shrine. Ujiko-iki area is very important for research of urban history in comprising the most basically part of the city. The purpose of this paper is classifying Ujiko-iki in Tokyo in patterns especially from the side of spatial characteristics and discussing about peculiarity of the metropolitan Tokyo in the modern transition period.
Firstly, specific characteristics of ‘Ujigami’ shrines in Tokyo is described by analyzing an investigation ‘Ujiko chomei do jinnin shirabecho’ which was made to determine Ujiko-iki and shrine ranking in 1872. In chapter 2, ‘Ujiko chomei do jinnin shirabecho’ is analyzed to comprehend a situation of Ujiko-iki before the abolishment of Ujiko shirabe. As a result, it is defined that there have been four phases until Ujiko-iki were formed and only shrine which was over certain criteria established by Shajigakari of Tokyo Prefecture was authorized to possess Ujiko as a ‘Ujigami’ shrine.
In chapter 3, the reality of ‘Ujigami’ shrines and rekkaku, which means gaining any of shrine rankings to a shrine, in the city area of Tokyo is described by comparing ‘Ujigami’ shrines with the shrines which possessed some Ujiko in the Edo period. First point is that there were many shrines which possessed a small number of Ujiko towns as an ‘Ujigami’ shrine. Especially it is noteworthy fact that Shajigakari suspended the determination of Ujiko of shrines which have not been gained any ranking with an exceptional flame ‘Sonsha-gai’ against the principle of Gosha precepts. Second point is that large-scale shrines that possessed adequate Ujiko, which was basically over 10 hundred houses, to be ranked as Gosha equally existed around the city area of Tokyo.
Then, in chapter 4, spatial characteristics of Ujiko-iki in Tokyo are described by analyzing how to divide previous samurai residential area into each Ujiko-iki in the point of view of the scale of Ujiko-iki while comparing to the distribution of Ujiko towns in the Edo period. Ujiko-iki in the city area of Tokyo in Meiji period generally divided to success the territory of Ujiko towns in the Edo period. From the viewpoint of specific character of territory gained to each shrine, Ujiko-iki in the city area of Tokyo, which were established in the early Meiji period, are classified into three types. Type A is Ujiko-iki which corresponded a traditional widely region. Type B is Ujiko-iki which corresponded a small-scale region from the old time and an area of only a town. Type C is Ujiko-iki which owns bigness and political symbolism only for Hie-Jinja Shrine and Kanda-Jinja Shrine. Shrines with Ujiko-iki of Type A have been called ‘Sochinju’ traditionally, which has been worshiped as a shrine to guard a territory larger than a village or a town and are generally most old in that region with some legends concerned about the creation of the region. In Tokyo, Kanda-Jinja Shrine and Hie-Jinja Shrine (Type C) are in the center of the city and Type A are scattered equally around two cores and Type C lie beside and in Type A.
The following is a summary of the above. Shajigakari formed Ujiko-iki and organized a modern administrative system of shrine by reevaluating the traditional spatial characteristic.
