Abstract
In the Edo era all of the carpenter parties in six countries-Settu, Izumi, Kawachi, Yamato, Yamashiro, and Omi-were governed by Nakai Family. The party in each country, however, had no similar constitutional form in itself in those days. For example, the number of the parties in Kawachi, as compared with the parties in the other five countries, was fewer, while the number of the carpenters was larger there. Early in the Edo period there were four different parties in Kawachi-Sakuzaemon-gumi (Ishikawa-gumi=Shindo party), Jirouemon-gumi (Kashiwada party), Sozaemon-gumi (Kadoma-gumi=Furuhashi party), and San'uemon-gumi (Kyokoji-gumi). Kyokoji-gumi, one of the four, was disunited into three separate parties-Taiheji-gumi, Nukata-gumi, and Toyura-gumi about the middle of the Edo period. In spite of the fact that the number of the carpentes increased, the remaining three parties (Kashiwada-gumi, Shindo-gumi, Furuhashi-gumi) did not break up to form new groups. Shozaemon Hirata and Jirouemon Miyajima, chief carpenters of Furuhashi and Kashida party, secured hereditary rights to succeed as head of the parties and maintained the positions until late Edo era. After passing through such development they divided themselves but into six parties in Kawachi in the late Edo era. Thus, the carpenter parties in the Kawachi country at that time practically showed the variety of it's situation with respect to the number of the carpenter party, the form of the party constitution, and the method of the management by co-existing the three large groups and the three small groups respectively.
