From the Toji Temple Hyakugo Archives towards archival science

A personal view on arrangement of Japanese medieval archives

Abstract

It is common to refer to respect of provenance and respect for original order as the basic principles of archival arrangement. Although the principles are based on what is natural, or on archives as being primary recorded information sources, these two principles are insufficient when dealing with Japanese medieval archives. The author suggests that there should be three principles for arrangement of such archives from the perspective of archive administration:1) respect for original form, 2) respect for original order, and 3) respect for original custody chain, ie an elaboration on the Western concept of provenance. The three aspects refer to form, aggregation, and accumulation layers, respectively,which should be elements for discussion in archival science. They also refer to theories of form, structure, and custody chain, which are considered from the perspective of archival concepts. The approach also attempts to take into consideration the whole process of document lifecycle from creation to archival preservation. The author has formulated his notions through the study of the outcomes of analysing early modern Japanese archives as well as his experience in arranging over 100,000 items in the Toji Temple archive, including the Toji Hyakugo Monjo archives. The records of that temple are one of the best examples of an accumulation preserved and arranged in ideal order up to the present.