500彩票网

This book chronicles the history of the figures known as “Nishi-no-kyō jinin” who worked in the production of rice-malt in medieval Kyoto. The term ‘jinin’ was used in medieval times as a designation for people involved in commerce and industry who had particular connections with shrines. The Nishi-no-kyō jinin were affiliated with Kitano Tenmangū Shrine in Kyoto and resided in an area of Kyoto known as Nishi-no-kyō, which came under the shrine’s jurisdiction.
 
The Nishi-no-kyō jinin first appear in textual sources in the second half of the thirteenth century, and they are known to have been engaged in malt-making by the fourteenth century at the latest. Their malt-making reached the height of its prosperity in the early fifteenth century during the rule of Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fourth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate. A devout devotee of Kitano Tenmangū Shrine, Yoshimochi granted the Nishi-no-kyō jinin exclusive rights to malt-making in Kyoto, and they also helped to revive the Kitano Festival, which had its origins in the Heian period but had declined during the Nanbokuchō period, supporting it with regard to both its actual performance and its economic foundations. However, the shogunate’s preferential treatment of the Nishi-no-kyō jinin provoked strong discontent and opposition among other maltsters and sake brewers, and in 1444 (Bun’an 1) their exclusive rights were revoked. In an attempt to defend their monopoly, the jinin barricaded themselves inside Kitano Tenmangū Shrine. The shogunate dispatched troops, leading to an armed clash that resulted not only in the burning of the shrine buildings but also in many casualties and business failures among the maltsters. This incident, known as the “Bun’an malt disturbance,” marked the beginning of the decline of malt-making by the Nishi-no-kyō jinin.
 
As is evident from the fact that the majority of references to jinin appearing in medieval textual sources do not extend over any great length of time, the medieval period was a time when it was difficult for those involved in commerce and industry to maintain their means of livelihood. Nonetheless, the Nishi-no-kyō jinin survived into the early modern period, preserving medieval documents related to their malt-making rights, and to this day they continue to be involved in Shinto rituals rooted in medieval traditions. At the heart of their survival lie the history of their ancestors, who served Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) during his lifetime and accompanied him to Dazaifu, and their beliefs in Tenjin, and this shared history and its transmission have enabled them to preserve their community.
 
My first visit to Nishi-no-kyō about twenty years ago led to an unexpected encounter with a descendant of the Nishi-no-kyō jinin. As I listened to the stories of descendants of jinin and witnessed their involvement in Shinto rituals, I was repeatedly blessed with opportunities to experience a living medieval world, one that was contiguous with the present day. Previously I had viewed the medieval period in the distant past solely as something in the distant past and had focused on reading and interpreting textual sources. These experiences not only provided the impetus to com­pletely change my research methods but also became an opportunity to discover the power of ordinary people as agents of history. The writing of this book was guided by these experiences.
 

(Written by MIEDA Akiko, Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2024)