Circular (Circular) - Kaijo

Japanese: 廻状(回状) - かいじょう

Generally speaking, it is a document that conveys the same matter by circulating it to multiple recipients in sequence. It is also called a circular or a kaisho, and in the Middle Ages, this type of document was often used when ordering attendance at various government offices or the appearance of parties in lawsuits. In the early modern period, circulars were used when feudal lords or magistrates conveyed orders to villages under their control, for daily communication between villages, or for documents calling for participation in uprisings (ikki circulars), but in the early modern period, the term "circulars" generally refers to the former. In many cases, documents related to general legal regulations were called "hokushō," while kaijō mainly consisted of orders to collect taxes and labor services and special notices, but hokushō were also usually conveyed in the form of a circular, making it difficult to distinguish between them in paleographic studies.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

一般的には，複数のあて先に対し，順次に回覧させる方法をもって同一の用件を伝達する文書のこと。廻文，廻章とも言い，中世には，諸役への参勤や訴訟当事者の出頭を令する際に，この形式の文書が多く用いられた。近世では，領主や代官が支配下の村々に命令を伝える場合や，村々の日常的な連絡あるいは一揆への参加を呼びかける文書(一揆廻状)に，廻状が使用されたが，ふつう近世で廻状と言えば，前者を指す。多くの場合，一般的法規制にかかわる文書が触書と呼ばれたのに対し，廻状は年貢，夫役の徴収命令や臨時の通達などを主としたが，触書もふつうは廻状形式をとって伝達されるのであり，古文書学上の区別は難しい。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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