Abstract
I) Rokugo-Machi is one of the oldest settlements in Akita Prefecture. In this small town 27 Buddhist temples are clustered together. It is quite rare tosee so many temples in a single small town in the country-side. In Akita Prefecture noother cities or towns except Akita City have so many Buddhist temples.
II) Rokugo-Machi was first established by-Nikaido as a Castle town in the early Middle Age. Put during the Tensho and Bunroku period (1573-1595), when Masanori ROKTJGO, the lord of this town, adopted a temple-concentration policy and earnestly invited Buddhist priests to build temples. Then the town changed its character completely and became a temple-town. The same policy way taken over by Yoshishige SATAKE, who ruled the town in the Keicho period (1596-1610), The result was that the temples came to play an essential part in the development of this town. By the way, the planning of the town was done before Masanori ROKUGO had settled here, and it provided a good model to those who made the plan of Kubota-Machi, a principal castle town in this prefecture.
III) The history of “temple-concentration policy” in Rokugo-Machi is didided into two periods. One is the Tensho-Bunroku era, when Masanori ROKUGO ruled this town. In this period, temples were built mainly for the purpose of war, because their moats were known to be useful to defend the town against enemies. The other is the Keicho era, when Yoshishige SATAKE was the lord of this town. He invited Buddhist priests and helped build temples for quite different purposes. What was aimed at through his policy was, first of all, the prosperity of the whole town as a temple-town and enlighten meet of the townsmen. When we study the historcal-geography of the temples in the midde and modern ages, it has been usual to regard them as an important factor in the establishment of a bulwark town with surrounding moats or as one of the military establishments as in modern castle-towns. But we must not overlook the part they played it the peaceful enlight enment of townspeople and prosperity of the town, as we have seen in the example of Rokugo Town.
