Operations at the Hyogo customs gates during the Muromachi period

ARIMA Kaori

doi:10.24471/shigaku.117.12_2101

There were two customs gates in operation at the port of Hyogo (present day Kobe) during in late medieval Japan. The northern gate had been placed under the authority of Todaiji Temple, the southern gate under Kofukuji Temple. This article discusses how the northern customs house was being operated as of 1445, based on an analysis of three customs ledgers compiled during that year: Hyogo-kitaseki-irihune-nocho 兵庫北関入船納帳 held by the University of Tokyo Faculty of Letters (A), Hyogo-kitaseki-irihune-nocho 兵庫北関入船納帳 held by the Kyoto Metropolitan History Museum (B), and Hyogo-kitaseki-zassen-nocho 兵庫北関雑船納帳 held in the Todaiji Temple archives (C). The key to understanding how vessels were processed at the customs gates are practices surrounding fuda 札, a ticket that could be purchased cheaply by any vessel with a permit (kasho 過書) to pass through the gate, thus exempting them from high custom fees. Since the northern and southern gates were connected, customs exempt vessels passing out the southern gate would be relieved of the fuda (fudagari 札狩) they had purchased at the northern gate. How the customs gates were managed is clarified by the author based on an examination of the differences existing among the three ledgers. First, (A) and (B) are ledgers recording deferred customs fees payments, while (C) lists payments made at the time of passage. Secondly, the content of (C) was recorded in two stages, the second more detailed than the first. Next, while having the same title (A) and (B) were kept separately, since the latter contains the term kubo 公方, and the former does not. Finally, there is no content that corresponds in (A) and (C), while the information in (B) and (C) concerning fuda matches. The changing content of (C), the differences between (A) and (B) and the complementary relationship between (B) and (C) all reflect changes in management of the northern gate that occurred together with Todaiji's direct takeover of operations, which was characterized by efforts to increase customs revenue by stricter limitation and regulation of vessels exempt from duties and to firmly establish the new system.

Operations at the Hyogo customs gates during the Muromachi period

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