Kawata peasants - Kawata peasants

...According to the Christian missionary Luis Frois, the eta, who made a living during this time by "skinning dead animals and selling the skins" just like the Kawata, were "the most despicable and outcast of the outcasts" and "always lived away from the villages, as if they were unclean people unworthy of associating with others" (History of Japan), so the commonality between the eta and the Kawata is obvious. However, at the same time, it is not appropriate to assume that they were "miserable poor people" simply based on the impression from these observation records or the impression from being "discriminated against." At least in the case of the Kinki region in the early modern period, the amount of farmland owned by the Kawata peasants was not inferior to that of other peasants, and in fact, many of them exceeded it. Not all "kawata" were specialists in leather production; there were also many "kawata peasants" who worked in agriculture in addition to leather production, strengthening their character as "peasants."

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kawata Peasants" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…キリシタン宣教師ルイス･フロイスの言によると，〈かわた〉と同じくこの時期に，〈死んだ獣類の皮を剝いでその皮を売〉って生活していた〈えた〉は，〈最も卑しい，仲間外れにされた賤民〉であり，〈まるでほかの人たちと交際するに価しない不浄な人たちのように，いつでも村落から離れて住んでい〉たといわれており(《日本史》)，〈えた〉と〈かわた〉との共通性は明白であろう。しかし同時に，こうした観察記録からの印象や，〈被差別〉ということから受ける印象を一面的にたもつことによって，一概に彼らが〈悲惨な貧窮民〉であったかのように考えてしまうのは，けっして適切ではなく，少なくとも近世初頭の近畿地方の実例では，〈かわた百姓〉たちの農地保有高は他の百姓の場合に比して遜色（そんしよく）がないどころか，むしろそれを越えるものも少なくはなかった。〈かわた〉のすべてが皮革生産の専業者というわけでなく，皮革生産とあわせて農耕に従事し，〈百姓〉としての性格を強めていた〈かわた百姓〉も多数いたのである。…

※「かわた百姓」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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