Past - Past

A pass for ancient and medieval checkpoints and ports. Also written as "kasho." Under the ancient Ritsuryo system, checkpoints and ports had military and police functions, and because there was a need to regulate passage through them, government offices issued passes. These were called kashō, and their regulations were recorded in the Kanshiryō and their formats in the Kushikiryō. Wooden strips of kashō were excavated from the site of Heijo Palace. As the distribution economy developed, checkpoints and ports in the Middle Ages were established within their own territories by manorial lords and local feudal lords, primarily for the purpose of collecting customs duties. During the Warring States period, checkpoints once again took on military and police functions. Therefore, medieval kashō were certificates of exemption from customs duties and also certificates of safe passage. Therefore, the pass became indispensable for merchants and craftsmen who traded between long distances, and was issued by the Emperor, the Shogunate, Shugo, Sengoku daimyo, and others. The style of the pass was not uniform, and in the Muromachi Shogunate, it was a decree signed jointly by the magistrates. In the early modern period, the checkpoints took on military and police functions again, and to pass through them, a checkpoint pass was required instead of the passpoint.

[Atsuko Suzuki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代・中世の関、津の通行証。「過書」とも記す。古代律令制(りつりょうせい)下では、関、津は軍事・警察的機能を担っており、その通過を規制する必要から、官衙(かんが)が通行証を発行した。これが過所であり、その規定は関市令(かんしりょう)に、書式は公式令(くしきりょう)に載る。平城宮址(し)からは、木簡の過所が出土している。中世の関、津は、流通経済の発展に伴い、おもに関銭徴収の目的から、荘園(しょうえん)領主、国人領主らが自己の領域内に設置した。戦国期に入ると関所はふたたび軍事・警察的機能を帯びるようになった。それゆえ中世の過所は関銭免除状であり、さらに通行安全保証状でもあった。そこで過所は、隔地間取引商人や手工業者らに不可欠なものとなり、天皇、幕府、守護、戦国大名などがこれを発給した。過所の様式は一様でなく、室町幕府の場合には奉行人(ぶぎょうにん)連署の下知(げち)状であった。近世の関所は、ふたたび軍事・警察的機能を帯び、その通行には、過所にかわって関所手形を必要とした。

［鈴木敦子］

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