The early modern Osaka was made up of around 600 townships and had a population of around 300,000. For administrative purposes the city was divided into 3 large districts (三郷), which were sub-divided into the 600 or so townships. To carry out many of the functions of the city these towns were organized into many different associations. In this article the author deals with two functions of one of these associations, the fire-fighting association (火消組合), from the 18th century on. These two functions were (1). the transmission of the will and directions of the office of the Osaka magistrate (大坂町奉行所) to each township, and (2), the organizing and the channeling of the ever increasing flow of petitions coming from houseowning towns folk (家持町人) to the magistrates office. Regarding function number (1), from the latter half of the 18th century, the representatives of the association townships became in effect the representatives of the houseowning townsfolk of all the towns comprising Osaka ; and so as a result of this, injunctions came to be communicated directly to the association representatives in the presence of the Osaka magistrate. It is important to note that this communication route did not go via the officially designated Osaka elders (惣年寄) and came in time to be used by the magistrates' office as the formal means of delivering directives to townsfolk. The first association to have representatives act in this capacity was the Shushi association (宗旨組合), an association organized for the purpose of citizen registration and census (宗門改). The town elders of the leading town within the association were its representatives ; however, by the 19th century the importance shifted to the town elders of the current years' head township (this changed yearly) of the fire-fighting association. This is related to the fire-fighting associations role in the growing movement of petitioning by houseowning townsfolk. Instances of the towns grouping together and presenting petitions to the Osaka magistrate or to the official Osaka elders can be seen from the early half of the 18th century ; but from the end of that century petitions were presented through the representatives of the fire-fighting association and became very frequent. Judging from both the content of these petitions as well as the process by which they were formulated, they represented the interests and the formulation of consensus of the houseowners of all the townships of Osaka. Since this petitioning movement was brought about by the channeling power of the fire-fighting association and became a route of petitioning for houseowning townsfolk to protect their businesses and living interests, it can be viewed as the achievement of cohesion by houseowing townsfolk all over Osaka. Indeed, the above-mentioned use of the representatives of the fire-fighting association as the path by which the Osaka magistrate communicated with houseowning townsfolk can be seen as the magistrate's reaction to the representatives' role in petition presentation. The route of presenting petitions, which was developed by the houseowning townsfolk, was absorbed by the magistrate into the city's administrative system as an important route of conveying directives to houseowning townsfolk and as a means of gaining their cooperation and consensus. Said from the opposite point of view, houseowning townsfolk had via the fire-fighting association developed a territorial cohesion into a powerful social force which the Osaka magistrate could not afford to ignore and had to include into the city administrative structure.

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The three books mentioned in the title are well-known as important documents which advocated the principles of Zen Buddhism in the Kamakura period, a time when this religious sect was beginning to flourish in Japan. In this essay the author attempts to demonstrate that none of the existing manuscripts are the genuine originals. Eisai's Kozengokokuron, when compared side by side with the "Life of Eisai" in Genkoshakusho, does have a number of strikingly resembling passages totalling nearly 2,000 words ; but the tone of the writing lacks the dignity and elegance that Eisai's character demands ; and mistaken statements abound in the book. Also, there are certain very important accounts of among other events, his journey to China, which strangely do not appear in the later compiled Genkoshakusho. These oddities are enough to convince the author that the existing manuscript is not a true Eisai selection, but was rather modelled after Genkoshakusho in a later period. Similarly Eisai's Nippon-buppochukoganmon, it is written that Eisai was allowed to wear a 'Purple Robe' by the Emperor. Such contradictions in the recording of facts combined with frequent mistakes in the use of rhetorical expression should be sufficient to prove that the existing manuscript is not the original. However, a passage in the book where we read Eisai referring to himself as 'Bosatsubiku' (In correct terms he should have had referred to himself as 'Bosatskaibiku'.) is conclusive evidence against his authorship. The general flatness of style and lack of intent advocacy in Mushyo Josho's Kozenki is further worsened by the such slips of the author's pen as referring to Rankei with the posthumous title of Daigaku Zenji when he was still alive stating that Mugaku Sogen was staying in Japan with Daigaku and Gottan, when in fact he was still in China. Furthermore, no evidance of the existence of any of the three books during the middle age is obtainable. Therefore, the author surmises that these three fervent advocacies of Zen thought were all written at the beginning of the Edo period, a time when the Rinzai Zen Buddhist Sect led by Myoshinji Temple was attempting to revitalize a religious order, which had crumbled after the collapse of the government-controlled religious hierarchial system which had been led by five noted Zen Buddhist temples (Gozan).

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Der Historiker und Hochschullehrer Gerhard Ritter hat sich in einem langen Gelehrtenleben (1888-1967) mit vielen Bereichen der Geschichte engagiert befaBt, durch Forschen und Erkennen, Wissen und Vermitteln, Erleben und Bekennen. Zeuguis von der Mannigfaltigkeit seines Wirkens und Denkens gibt der umfangreiche NachlaB im Bundesarchiv. Er umfaBt Ritters wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz, die Manuskripte seiner Veroffentlichungen, Gutachten, Vortrage sowie seiner Vorlesungen an der Universitat Freiburg / Breisgau. Dazu belegt er seine Tatigkeit innerhalb akademischen Selbstverwaltung, die Mitgliedschaft in wissenschaftlichen Instituten und Verbanden und nicht zuletzt seine Beschaftigung mit politischen Problemen und seinen Einsatz innerhalb der evangelischen Kirche. Ritters akademischer Schuler, Klaus Schwabe hat zusammen mit Rolf Reichardt und Reinhard Hauf den NachlaB gesichtet, Ritter-Briefe in anderen Nachlassen herangezogen, die Dokumente ausgewahlt, kommontiert und mit einer biographischen Einfuhrung versehen. So ist das Buch "Gerhardt Ritter. Ein politischer Historiker in seinen Briefen" (1984. 830 S.) entstanden. Darin finden sich neun Briefen Ritters an Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954), der bekanntlich der groBte Historiker in Deutschland nach dem ersten Weltkrieg war. Im Zusammenhang mit diesen Briefen mochten wir den Gegeusatz oder Kontrast der beiden Historiker untersuchen.

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