[Article] Edo Calendar Wholesalers and Daishō Calendars in the Early Modern Period : The Actual State of Shogunate Control as Seen in the “Calendar Records”

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  • [論文] 近世における江戸暦問屋と大小暦 : 『暦記録』にみる幕府統制の実態

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the actual conditions of the control of calendar publication in the Tempō period through an analysis of “Calendar Record Volume 4,” a record of the trials and applications of Edo calendar wholesalers. The conventional understanding of the clampdown on Edo calendar publication is that only calendar wholesalers were permitted to sell calendars, while the printing of calendars for distribution was tolerated. However, entries in the Calendar Records of the 13th year of Bunsei (1830) and the 6th year of Tempō (1835) indicate that private editions of samurai calendars (abbreviated calendars for exchange called “daishō”) were subject to control at the behest of the astronomer Takahashi Sakuzaemon (Kageyasu). An entry in the court record after this change, in the 7th year of Tempō (1836), is the only case in which an illegal seller was punished. This entry clarifies two things: the first is that daishō were actually illegally sold, and the second is that this case started with a complaint by a calendar wholesaler. The above analysis has made it possible to trace the evolution of the clampdown on calendar publication in Edo, and changes to the objects that were subject to control, which had not been clarified previously. Although the shogunate did implement a clampdown on the publication of calendars during the Tempō period, it was passive. However, we were able to confirm that developments at the Tenmonkata drove the criminalization of the production of daishō for exchange. The relevance of developments at the Tenmonkata to the publication of calendars is a matter for future research.

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