Public affairs officer - Kujishi

Also called deirishi. In the late Edo period, a person who worked as a lawyer in litigation. Originally, in litigation or court cases, the kujiyado where the parties stayed usually took charge of directing the proceedings, from writing the complaint to negotiating on the white sand. Sometimes both kujiyados had the ability to act as arbitrators and resolve the matter, but as the number of lawsuits increased dramatically, private specialists who assisted in litigation began to appear. This is why they came to be called kojishi. However, they often used their skillful litigation techniques to cause trouble for ignorant people. The shogunate often cracked down on them strongly, but with the remarkable development of the monetary economy in the late Edo period, village kojishi also became rampant, and when the shogunate's ability to handle lawsuits declined significantly during the civil war at the end of the Edo period, some began to act as private village arbitration institutions.

[Michio Aoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

出入師(でいりし)ともいう。江戸後期、訴訟の際、弁護人の役割を職業とする者。元来訴訟や裁判では、訴訟の当事者が宿泊する公事宿が、訴状の作成から白洲(しらす)での駆け引きなど、訴訟指揮を請け負うのが普通で、ときには双方の公事宿が仲裁者になって解決する能力ももっていたが、訴訟件数の激増に伴い私的に訴訟を補佐する専業者が現れるようになった。そのため公事師といわれるようになった。しかし、どちらかというと巧みな訴訟技術を利用して無知な人々を困らせることも多かった。幕府はしばしば強く取り締まったが、江戸後期の貨幣経済の著しい発展に伴い村の公事師も横行するようになり、幕末の内乱期に幕府の訴訟処理能力が著しく低下すると、村の私的仲裁機関として活躍する者も現れた。

［青木美智男］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例