This article offers observations on the oral history of Tono-kochi in the Shori District of Kannamachi in Tano-gun, Gunma Prefecture, which is located near the boundary with Saitama Prefecture. It explains the historical background as seen from the local peopleʼs narrative and how this is understood at present.

 

  Kannamachi was part of an area called sanchuryo, or a domain under the direct jurisdiction of the Edo Shogunate, during the early modern period. In the Genroku Era (1688-1704), a dispute over the fief boundary arose between the sanchuryo and Bushu. A court verdict determined that the line along the mountain ridge was the boundary. On the other hand, research has shown that the Kannagawa River running in the center of the sanchuryo used to be the fief boundary. It has been noted that perception of the boundary has been ambiguous.

 

  In Tono-kochi on the right bank of the present Kannagawa, oral history has it that coal was buried in the mountain during the Meiji Period as evidence that a court decision changed the fief boundary. The former Shinto priest family of the Tono Shrine relayed the detailed history of the beginning of Tono-kochi and the change of fief boundary. However, the Tono Shrine was a shrine that had had connections with Chichibu since the Genroku Era. Moreover, the history of its affiliation with Bushu was known even outside Chichibu, and this history has gradually been understood through the ancestorsʼ experience and the excellent Shinto funeral tradition in the area on the right bank of Kannagawa. Furthermore, the period when the change of boundary allegedly took place was a time when the boundaries with Joshu, Iwahana Prefecture, and Gunma Prefecture were in flux. This was behind the history of fief boundary shift.

 

  The history of boundary change in Tono-kochi has been passed on in oral history not only by way of the experience of people in the past, but also through present day geographical and cultural disparities.

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 Sakamoto was a post-town located along the 700 m-long “Nakasendou” highway, on both sides of which were ribbon-like land divisions. In the “Jibikiezu”, the total number of building-lots is 160.
 This paper concerns about the land division of the post-town Sakamoto, which influenced its townscape since its creation. This study was carried out with a focus on the relationships between land division and the social system of post-towns in the Edo era.
 At the first stage, we studied the land division, then compared and analyzed the “Jibikiezu” (a map made during the revision of the tax system at the beginning of the Meiji era) and the seven-sheet “Syukuezu” (a map made in the Edo era , which shows the land division of the post-town). We then clarified the post-town social system, by analyzing the “Meisaikakiagetyou”, “Shogoyoudometyo”and others documents related to the Edo post-town system. Lastly we studied the relationships between land division and the post-town social system in the Edo era.

 In the “Jibikiezu”, the total number of building-lots is 160, and seven types of land area are described. The “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu” make it clear that the numbers of divisions and unifications of building-lots ranged from one to six. In the three sheets of the “Syukuezu” that are thought to have been made relatively earlier, there are only five types of building-lots.
 According to the “Meisaikakiagetyou”, written in 1852, the main widths of building-lots were 7-ken and 3.5-ken (see note), and the width of “Tonnya” building-lots was 14-ken. In the three sheets of “Syukuezu” mentioned previously, the widths of building-lots are 3.5-ken, 7-ken, 14-ken and two other types. All other maps show that the 3.5-ken module was used for the width of building-lots.
 Three basic types of building-lot are described in the “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu”. When we analyzed the “Jibikiezu” and “Syukuezu”, we found that the total number of building-lots was between 160 and 161, and 153 to 155 of these were of the three basic types. The widths 3.5-ken and 7-ken could be considered “nominal widths”. However, the “Jibikiezu” shows that all of the building-lots of each type were of the same width.
 Next we widened our view from just building-lots to building-lots and fields; the 7-ken module was common for the widths of building-lots and fields. We examined the relationships between the land area of fields and the land area of building-lots, owned by the same person. We concluded that there was a standard that ensured the land area of fields was in proportion to the land area of building-lots.
 Every post-town along the main highway was assigned a certain function by the Edo Shogunate. Among them, the most important were “Tenmayaku”, which were the duties of the town member. These were divided into two groups: “horse-duties” and “personnel duties”. There was also a system for the post-town officials; “Tonnya” was the highest-ranked official of the post-town.
 In the late Edo era, the three basic widths of building-lots corresponded to “Tenmayaku” and “Tonnya”. 3.5-ken corresponded to “personnel duties”, 7-ken to “horse-duties”, and 14-ken to “Tonnya”. The width of building-lots was the standards of the possession of fields and the town expenditure for the members of the post-town. This paper shows variable examples between land division and the social system of post-towns in the Edo era.

 Note: A “ken” was a unit of length in Japan before westernization, equal to approximately about 182 cm.

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