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The history of travel of Japanese ordinary people (published in 1971) 1/2 庶民と旅の歴史 PartⅠ

Very good ★★★ ,very informative


The transition of travel of Japanese people is described using historical materials and scripts of Kyougen/狂言which is a traditional Japanese performance.
We can understand travels in the old time very easily by this book. The fun of the travel is written properly in the preface, “The sightseeing travel became popular in the Edo periodThe traveling was once-in-a-life-time event for people at that time, so it gave them a huge impact. Everything was a new experience for people because travel information was very limited. The travel was full of dazzling freshness and excitement, so people never forgot it.”
We understand that traveling provided the most excellent fun. Nevertheless it was an inconvenient era because there were no cars and trains.

 The reason of the travel was for livelihood at first however the succeeding travel appeared whose purposes were such as pilgrimage or entertainment. Those travels are the main theme of this book.


庶民の旅の変遷が史料や狂言のセリフを交えて書かれており、昔の旅の様子が良く分かる。
まえがきに、「江戸時代に入って、ようやく今日のような観光旅行が発達した。当時の民衆にとって、旅は生涯をかけた大事業であり、また稀有の人生体験でもあったから、それだけに旅が人々に与えた影響は、測り知れぬものがあった。
また予め与えられる情報は、ほとんど皆無であったから、旅の中で見聞きするもの、何一つとして未知ならざるものはなく、旅の印象はどれもこれも眩しいほどの新鮮さと強烈さにあふれ、その思いは終生忘れられないものがあった」とある。
旅の楽しみが的確に書かれており、鉄道や自動車がない時代でも、旅が最上級の楽しみであったことが分かる。
旅の歴史は、労役を含む仕事或いは生活の必要に迫られた旅から始まるが、信仰や慰みのための「好んでする」旅が現れてくる。本書では、好んでする旅が主題になっている。

1. The origin of travel of the ordinary people

 Some people traveled even in the hunting era in order to transport salt for example. Then in the agricultural era, merchants and craftsmen visited villages. In the 8th century, people traveled for military service and taxpaying. In the 14th century, the number of the people who traveled due to their worship increased.
 On the other hand, many monks had traveled since the 8th century. They were not only monks but also engineers or doctors, so people respected them and helped their travels.

http://yamagatakanko.com/log/?l=361183

 On the other hand, the travels of the ordinary people who were not skillful or knowledgeable were difficult.
 The circumstances changed in the medieval era. The first reason was that people didn’t need to bring heavy food during the travel because they could use money over Japan in the medieval era.
 The second reason was that many inns were constructed.
 The third reason was that temples and shrines which were the major travel destinations improved the accommodation.

 The temples built pilgrim's lodgings or “Shukubou”, in the ground. The shrines developed the Oshi system which was an inn and a travel agency.
 The Kumano Shrine in Wakayama prefecture created the Sendachi system in which monks guided the people to Kumano Shrine from all over Japan. (Oshi,Sendachi and Shukubou) It became easy for the people to travel.

 The photo below was the exhibit of Unno History and Folklore Museum, it was a contract in 1527 between the lord of Unno and the temple in Koyasan which ensured that the people from Unno could stay at the temple lodging. I think the temple was similar to be a resort house of the Unno village.

Contract between the lord Unno and the temple in Koyasan
海野氏と高野山宿坊の契約

 In the 14th century, agricultural productivity thrived, so farmers became richer. That prompted travels and pilgrimages. The popular destinations were shrines and temples in Kyoto and Nara.
 However, there was a big gap between the regions. People in Kansai which was an advanced area near Kyoto enjoyed travels. But travels were not easy for the people in the remote area because they were not-so-rich.

 The most popular destination changed to Ise Shrine from Kumano shrine. Great monk Kokua was surprised with the people’s passion for visiting Ise and Kumano in Kansai area and Fukui prefecture. In 1487, people surged to Ise Shrine, so the bridge was jam-packed and it broke down. Hundreds of people died in this accident.

New Year’s Day at Ise shrine in 2002、伊勢内宮の初詣

 Ise kous were formed in which Ise worshippers deposited in order to go to Ise Shrine. In the 14th century, Ise kous were formed in the outskirts of Kansai.
 In 1578, every village in Tanba (north of Osaka) had Ise kou. On the script of Kyogen performance at that time, the pleasure to go to Ise Shrine after finishing deposit was described. It was a great fun for people to visit Ise.

 On the other hand, there were a lot of difficulties in travels back then because it was the time of an internal war in Japan. There were many bandits, pirates and checkpoints which collected taxes.

Kaidou in mountainous area, Hakonehttps://www.hakone.or.jp/midokoro/ishidatami.html、箱根町観光協会

 It is written that there were 660 checkpoints between Kyoto and Osaka, that means the average distance of checkpoints was only 100m which I cannot believe!!  In Ise, there were 120 checkpoints, so those were big obstacle for people to travel.

I was moved by the people’s passion for traveling.
 Interestingly enough, when T. Kyogoku, who was the head of a powerful family, visited to Ise, the number of servants was originally 15, but it increased to 5,000, because powerful families didn’t need to pay tax at checkpoints. In the case of K. Yoshida who was a noble, he visited to Ise with thousands of servants; of course most of them were ordinary people who joined the procession. I admire both men in power (who admitted the people to join their processions) and officers in checkpoints (who admitted people to go through checkpoints without paying tax). I like their tolerance.
As the internal war ended in the 16th century, bandits and pirates were suppressed, and checkpoints were abolished, so the number of visitors to Ise increased.

Checkpoint on Kaidou in Edo period, Hakone
https://www.hakone.or.jp/midokoro/sekisho.html、箱根町観光協会

1.庶民の旅の起り
 狩猟時代にも塩を運ぶために旅をした人はいた。農耕時代に入ると商人や職人が各地を回った。律令制になると庶民も兵役や納税のために旅に出た。これらは必要に迫られた旅だ。室町時代になると信仰に基づく参詣のための旅が増え、盲目の旅人も多かったという。山頭火のように漠然と何かを求める旅なのだろうか、世を儚んだ自殺のような旅なのだろうか。
 庶民とは別に、多くの僧侶が奈良時代から旅をしている。弘法大師、役行者、8世紀に日光を開山した勝道上人など誠に多い。彼らは、宗教家であるだけでなく、知識と技術を持っており、人々から尊敬され旅を続けるための援助を受けた。
 ところが、知識や技術を持たない庶民にとっては、旅は厳しいものであった。状況が変わったのは鎌倉・室町時代である。第一に、貨幣が発達して重い食糧を持ち歩く必要がなくなった。第二に、宿が発達した。第三に、当時の旅の目的地である寺社の受け入れ態勢が整ってきた。寺の宿坊(参詣者用の宿)や、神社の御師(祈祷師兼宿屋)が整備されてきた。また、熊野山では先達という仕組みを作り、山伏が全国の人々を熊野に案内し始めた。庶民も旅をしやすくなったのだ。(御師、先達、宿坊
 上の書状の写真は、長野県の海野宿歴史民俗資料館の展示品であるが、1527年に領主の海野氏が、寺に領民が泊まれるようにした契約状である。宿坊は村の保養施設のようだ。
 室町時代に入ると、二毛作の普及などで農業生産力が向上し、農民が豊かになってきて、旅や参詣をするようになった。しかし、地域格差が大きく、先進地域であった畿内から民衆の旅は始まった。旅先としては、京都、奈良、畿内の社寺が中心だった。所得が少ない遠国の民衆にとっては、旅は依然として遠いものであった。
また、人気の参詣先は、平安時代に貴族が通った熊野神宮から、伊勢神宮に移っていった。室町時代の僧侶国阿上人が、畿内、若狭、越前などで、民衆の激しい参宮熱に驚いている、とある。備中、土佐からも参宮の記録が残っており、1487年には、民衆が押し寄せたため伊勢の宮川橋が落ちて数百名が溺死する惨事が起こったという。
 やがて、伊勢講が結成されてくる。参宮の費用を賄うため、伊勢を信仰する者が集まって、お金を積み立てるである。室町時代の初めには、畿内だけなく、丹波や丹後にも広まった。1578年には、丹波では全村に伊勢講があったという。室町時代の狂言に、「結びし講の末とげて、参宮するぞ嬉しき、何れも若の者申し合わせ、伊勢講を結びその願成就いたし…」とあるという。講で積み立てて、伊勢に行くことが如何に楽しみだったということか良く分かる。
 一方、中世の旅の障害は戦乱と戦乱を背景にした、山賊、海賊、関所の出現である。関所は、京大阪間に660か所=平均100mごと、に置かれて税を徴収したとある。ほんまかいな。また、伊勢一国には120の関所があったという。民衆には大きな負担であったが、それでも旅をしたい、旅をする、というのが凄い。面白いのは、関所では権力者はフリーパスだったので、長禄(1457-1469)に豪族の京極智秀が参宮した時は、従者15人が五千人に膨れ上がったという。また、室町末期に公卿吉田兼右が参宮した時も数千人になったということだ。庶民がくっついていったのだ。認めた方も認めた方だ。大らかで良い。戦国時代の終結とともに、山賊海賊は鎮圧され、関所も廃止された。そして、参宮者は増えたという。

2. Thriving on the people’s travel

< Development of people’s livelihood >
 Farmers were forced to work like slaves, but H. Toyotomi who was a ruler in the late 16th century supported farmers to have their own lands, even if they were small. H. Toyotomi was originally a farmer who got promoted to prime minister.

 In the Edo period, livelihood of farmers was improved because of the progress of the agricultural technology. The yield of crops from fields was increased by 50%, and the area of agricultural fields was increased by 100% in the first hundred years in the Edo period.

 With the economic growth, money started to be used even in the countryside and among the ordinary people, which meant that people could travel without food and so on. Rice was expensive at that time, but the consumption of rice increased; the oil for lamps became widely used, so night life started.

Currencies in the Edo period鋳銭司郷土館@山口県

 However, daimyos (local lords) ruled farmers strictly. They never wanted farmers to become lazy and extravagant, because farmers paid most of tax to daimyos which was mainly rice. Daimyos restricted the life style of farmers in details and ordered to be frugal. Ordinary farmers were banned to use tatami mats and wooden floors, and forced to live on the ground in some area.

Sakano’s house, Sakano clan was a village head in Ibaraki prefecture

The room on earth floor in Sakano’s house

The room with wooden floor and irori fire-place in Sakano’s house

The room with tatami mat floor in Sakano’s house

 Village heads could wear silk clothes, however ordinary farmers must wear cotton or other fabric clothes in some villages. They were required to save eating rice, because daimyos could make money by selling rice. Even in the wedding ceremony, they could serve one dish and one soup only.
Therefor they were released from the everyday life while traveling. They could spend money and they could experience luxury life while traveling.

Working clothes for farmers and craftsmen龍ヶ崎市歴史民俗資料館

I was interested in the topic of the lady who lived in near Kyoto. She went to the shrine in the other area because she was eager to be fashionable and she really wanted to buy and wear silk kimonos which were banned in her village. Lovely lady!

Kimono, Uchikake coat for wedding ceremony 打掛@住吉大社

Kimono for visiting 訪問着 

Talking about people in cities, their life was improved surprisingly (Just check “Life in Edo, old Tokyo”).
It is said that about one million people lived in Edo, about 300,000 people lived in Kyoto and Osaka, about 60,000 people lived in big cities with castles such as Kanazawa, Nagoya, and about 20,000 people lived in other castle cities. The castle city was a capital of the daimyo territory.
The wealth of people in the cities supported the flourish of theaters and red-light districts with prostitutes too. The samurais accounted for 10%, the farmers accounted for 80%, the merchants and craftsmen accounted for 10% of Japanese in the Edo period.

Ukiyoe printing of Edo, 江戸東京博物館
Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kanazawa, Nagoya

< Improvement of transportation system in the Edo period >
 The improvement of transportation system gave big pleasure of travels to ordinary people.
 Edo period was a starting point of the people’s travel. The author depicted the travel before as “a hard practice”, but I think it was still fun, because people could see brand new or beautiful view during their travels.
Travelers on Kaidous, かわさき宿交流館

 In the Edo period, the number of inns increased, the entertainment by prostitutes increased, money and exchange system, transportation system by horses and cages were developed.
 There were many inns called “Ki-chin-yado / 木賃宿”. “Ki” means firewood to cook, “chin” means fee and “yado” means an inn. In Kichinyado, people bought firewood and cooked by themselves.
 There were another kind of inns called “Hatago/旅籠” which served supper and breakfast. Farmers ate millet (not rice) usually, so the meals served in Hatago were delicacies such as seafood, mountain food and rice.
 It is written “The meals of Hatago made farmers very happy. It was almost excitement. Half of the purpose of the travel should have been achieved.”

 Moreover there was almost no war, so it was safe enough. N. Kumagaya (poet) said “The present society is safe, so we don’t need to be afraid of thieves. --- No one knows the pains of travelers in the old time who slept on the earth and ate dried food.” It became good time for traveling.

The boat travel became the option of the transportation in the Edo period. It is said the boat travel was cheap because it included accommodation fee.

The boat travel on the Yodo-river depicted by Hiroshige, Osaka, 淀川資料館

There were also medical tours at that time. The destinations were onsen (hot springs). It was written “farmers went to their favorite hot springs with cooking ware in order to get rid of fatigue after seeding season and/or harvest season.”

Shimo-Suwa hot spring, Nagano, 下諏訪町立歴史民俗資料館

On the other topic, the travelers who visited Ise Shrine or temples in the western Japan were respected, so they sat at the top of the table in the village meeting. It was an interesting fact that visiting shrines or temples and traveling made people powerful.

2.庶民の旅の発達

<暮らしの変化>
秀吉以前は、牛馬のごとく使われていた農民だったが、彼らは小規模農民として独立していった。その後、農業技術が進歩し、江戸初期の約100年(元禄まで)で収量は50%アップした。また、新田開発で耕地面積も増えた(江戸初期の約100年で二倍)。経済成長に伴って貨幣が地方にも流通していった。享保(1716-1736)に作成された「国家要伝」には、70年前は小判が大変珍しかったが、今や、馬方や駕籠かきも小判を持っていると記されているという。農民の生活水準は向上する。米の消費量が増加し、灯油も広まって、夜の暮らしがはじまった。

しかし、領主は税収をもたらす農民が贅沢や怠惰に走ると困るので、農民の生活を細かに規定し、質素倹約を求めた。畳敷きや板敷きを禁止し、土間住まいとする、衣類は庄屋には絹や紬を認めても、一般百姓は布、木綿に限るなど。食も米の消費を抑え、婚礼でも一汁一菜にするなど厳しい規則があった。このような生活から解放されるのも旅であった。旅はお金の使いどころ、贅沢どころであった。近江の女性が、お洒落をしたくて物詣にかこつけて他領に出かけ、領内では禁じられている絹や紬の美しい着物を身に着けたという話が残っている。

 一方、町民の人口や暮らしの発達は目覚ましい(“江戸生活辞典”参照)。江戸時代の都市の規模は、江戸が100万、京大阪が3040万、金沢・名古屋・鹿児島などの大きな城下町で6~7万、一般の城下町で2~3万だという。総人口は20003000万であり、身分別では、武士1割、農民8割、商工1割であった。町民の富は、都市の遊里や劇場を支えるものとなった。

<交通事情の好転@江戸時代>
 民衆の旅は、信仰をモチベーションとするストイックな旅から、交通事情の好転とともに愉しむ旅に変わっていく。著者はそれ以前の旅を「苦行」と書くが、山登りと同じく、苦しくても新しい風景、美しい風景に出会えるので、「苦行」とはいいながらも楽しみであったと私は思う。

宿屋の増加、遊女などの慰安の隆盛、貨幣・為替の流通、馬・籠などの交通手段の発達、そして、治安の良さによって、交通事情の好転はしていく。宿屋は木賃宿が多かったが、二食付きの旅籠では魚などを出すようになった。粟稗で腹を満たしていた農民にとっては、旅籠の山海の珍味は、「感動に近い喜びであり、それだけでも旅の目的の半分は達成されたに相違ない」と記されている。治安の良さについては、寛政・文政の歌人熊谷直好が、「今の世の中はおだやかで、盗人の恐れもすくない。… 昔の人が野宿したり干飯を食べたりした旅の苦労は、今では夢にも知る人はいない」と述べたという。旅をしやすい世になったということだ。海運も発達し、船が旅の手段になった。宿賃を考えると安かったという。江戸時代は、一般庶民の旅の楽しみの始まりであった。

 旅のなかで、社寺参詣は最もメジャーであった。寄合の席で、伊勢参宮や西国巡礼をしたものが一目置かれ、上席に座ったという。参詣したこと、旅をしたことにブランド力があるのが面白い。また、医療のための温泉の旅もある。「農民は田植後や穫り入れ後の疲れ休みに、鍋釜さげて、思い思いに近くの温泉に出かけた」とあり、治療を理由に、旅も楽しんだようだ。

3. People’s travel and pilgrimage

 The popular destinations for people in the Edo era were Kyoto and Nara in Kansai area.
 It is written “There were beautiful scenery and rich cultural assets. It was always the hometown of Japanese.”
 On the other hand, Edo was a new city, so it didn’t have enough cultural assets in it. Another issue of Edo was that there were lots of samurais there who boasted of their power, so it is said that people could not relax in Edo.

Former imperial palace, Kyoto, 京都御所

Gion-festival in Kyoto京都文化博物館パンフレット

 People were passionate about Kyoto.
 Many people visited the imperial palace in Kyoto, and visited beautiful festivals such as Gion-fastival. Even the processions to the imperial palace by nobles and samurais were attractions too.

 Osaka gathered people by its performances such as Kabuki. The book published in the early 19th century depicted, “At first, you should visit Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. The main purpose is entertainment, it is not so important to visit shrines and temples. However you must go to Ise.” It was easy to get a passport from a local government if they said they would visit Ise because it was a pilgrimage.

 The other popular destinations were Zenkouji Temple in the central Japan and Konpira Shrine in the western Japan, Shikoku. People went to Konpira shrine by ship; a voyage was very rare for the people from the eastern Japan.
 It was a one night trip in an inland sea, so the wave would be calm. I can say they enjoyed one night cruise with parties.

Zenkouji, Nagano, 善光寺

Following Konpiragu and Zenkouji, Koyasan was a popular destination.
It was famous for the tombs where people thought to rest in peace if people were buried there, so there were a lot of tombs of famous and rich people. Some people visited Koyasan to go to ancestors graves. Every area in Japan had its partner inn (syukubo) in Koyasan like Unno village had.

In Kanto (Edo and near Edo area), Ohyama, Fuji, Mitsumine were flourished. Naritasan temple became very popular by the promotion with Kabuki actors in thevEdo period. Chichibu pilgrimage became popular too.

Naritasan temple, Chiba, 成田山新勝寺

 To climb sacred mountains was popular too. Major mountains were Tateyama, Hakusan, Fuji, Dewasanzan and Buzenhikosan. It was difficult for rulers to ban the religious travels, so visiting shrines and temples was a good reason to submit passports.

Mt. Fuji in summer

 In the case of Honganji Temple in Kyoto, believers devoted eagerly. Satsuma-han (local government in the Edo period, south end of Japan) banned to visit Honganji Temple because believers were extremely religious so that it was hard for Satsuma-han to control them. It was similar to Minobusan near Mt. Fuji.

Nishi-honganji Temple, Kyoto, 西本願寺

 Pilgrimages were changing to entertainment gradually, but some people have been continuing pilgrimages.
 They visit 33 Kannon temples in western Japan which is called Saigoku-jyunrei, Saigoku means western Japan and jyunrei means pilgrimage. It became popular around the 15th century.
 Worshipers visit 33 temples in Kanto area and 34 temples in Chichibu area. Some visit all of them,  so in total they visit 100 temples (33+33+34). Visiting 88 temples in Shikoku (western Japan) is another popular pilgrimage even now.

 On the other hand, samurais were banned during private travels so there were few samurais in tourist spots. It was written in the book “Travels in the Edo period were totally for the ordinary people”. I think people felt freely during travel especially in the inns, because there were almost no samurais there.

 In front of the shrines and temples, there were tea houses, theaters, casinos and red-light districts. It is written “These kinds of entertainment were good hooks to invite pilgrims”. Such kinds of entertainment are no longer popular nowadays. I guess the reason is that travelers are changing from male groups to families. It was also written that “Merchants exploited travelers, because travelers came once in their lives”. It is common all over world.

↓Check the Part2
The history of travel of Japanese ordinary people (published in 1971) 2/2   庶民と旅の歴史 PartⅡ

3.庶民の旅と参詣
 江戸時代の民衆の人気の旅先は、京都奈良を中心とした畿内、すなわち、「景勝にすぐれ、その上文化財に富み、つねに日本人の心のふるさと」であった場所だった。一方、江戸は新しい町で名所が少なく、また、威張っている武士が多くて、庶民の親しむところではなかったという。

京都への庶民のあこがれは強く、御所には多くの人が集まるし、祇園祭など美しい祭りが人々を引き付けた。(祇園祭り見物だけでなく、貴族の参内、武家の行列もアトラクションだった。京都市歴史資料館)。
一方、大阪では、歌舞伎などの演劇が盛んで人々を集めた。「嬉遊笑覧」(文化の頃に出版)には、「まづ京、大坂、大和廻りすめり、神仏に参るは傍らにて、遊楽をむねとす。伊勢は順路なればかならず参宮す…」と述べられている。伊勢参宮と同時に、京大坂奈良を巡っている。伊勢参宮は、農閑期の年初から三月までに行く者が多数を占めた。農民が多いということだ。

伊勢神宮に続く人気の社寺は、東の善光寺と西の金毘羅宮。金毘羅宮は大阪から船で行くのがほとんどであった。特に、東国の人には船旅は珍しいものであった。波の優しい瀬戸内海だし、「金毘羅船舟、追い手に 帆かけてシュラシュシュシュ♪」を楽しんだのだろう。
続く旅行先としては高野山。高野山は納骨霊場として有名で、高野山に納骨すれば仏・菩薩になれるという信仰があったという。武将や富人の墓が多く、その墓に参る人も多い。長野県海野宿の例の通り、地域ごとに泊まれる宿坊があった。

関東では、江戸と繁栄を共にした社寺として、大山、富士山、三峰山が上げられている。江戸時代にキャンペーンで人気を得たのが成田山、成田山と首位を争ったのが秩父巡礼と書かれている。

霊山登山も盛んだった。死者と出会える立山、白山、富士山、出羽三山、九州豊前彦山、がメジャーだ。支配者側もお参りは禁止しにくく、旅立ちの良い理由でもあった。
一方、東西両本願寺詣は、日蓮宗の身延山と並んで、一神教的な崇拝を集める。しかし、信仰の強さゆえ、薩摩藩では浄土真宗を禁じており、本山詣をしたために死罪になったものもいる。

観光化する旅の中で、黙々と信仰の旅をつづける人々もいた。西国巡礼では、畿内数か国にまたがる33か所の観音寺院を巡礼する。室町時代以降盛んになった。さらに、坂東33か所巡礼、秩父34か所巡礼と合わせて100か所巡礼も行われていたし、四国88か所の四国遍路もあった。

一方、武士は私的な旅を事実上禁じられていた。したがって、観光地では武士は少なかった。「江戸時代の旅は、全く民衆の世界のものであった」という。宿屋でも庶民はのびのびできたのか??

寺社の門前には遊女屋や茶屋が沢山あった。芝居や博打も盛んだったという。「このような遊蕩機関こそ、参詣者招致のための有効な誘い水でもあった」と記されている。今日でも温泉地での遊興は定番だったと思うが、随分影をひそめたものだ。男達の旅から家族の旅に変わって来たためだろうか。また、一生に一度しかやって来ない旅人は、観光地の商人の営利欲の的になったと書かれている。


庶民と旅の歴史(新城常三、1971

人の楽しみの発見度:★★★

↓続きはこちら Part2
The history of travel of Japanese ordinary people (published in 1971) 2/2   庶民と旅の歴史 PartⅡ

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