Public record office - Kumonjo

An office that handles official documents. In the Heian period, they were established in the provincial government offices (kokuga) of each province, and the offices that handled and stored documents related to land and taxes in the regent families (sekkanke), imperial court offices (innocho), temple families, and shrine families were called fudono or komonsho. After Minamoto no Yoritomo gained control of the eastern provinces, he followed these examples and established a komonsho in Kamakura in 1184 (Genryaku 1), appointing Oe no Hiromoto as its chief (betto), and Nakahara Chikayoshi and Fujiwara no Yukimasa as yorinin (yorindo) to store documents and handle government affairs. In 1190 (Kenkyu 1), when the late Yoritomo was appointed Gon Dainagon (Senior Second Rank) and Ukonoe no Taisho (General of the Right Guard), he established the Mandokoro (Administrative Office) in January of the following year, following the example of the regents and other families (some say that the Mandokoro was established in 1185, the year Yoritomo was appointed Juunii), and made the Komonsho a department within the Mandokoro that was responsible for dealing with documents. It is known that the Hojo clan, who were regents, also established the Komonsho as an institution for handling household affairs.

[Eiji Nitta]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

公文（公文書）を取り扱う役所。平安時代には諸国の国衙(こくが)に置かれ、また、摂関家(せっかんけ)、院庁(いんのちょう)、寺家、社家などでも所領や年貢関係の文書を取り扱い、保管する所を文殿(ふどの)または公文所といった。源頼朝(よりとも)も、東国を支配下に治めると、これらの例に倣って、1184年（元暦1）鎌倉に公文所を設置し、大江広元(おおえのひろもと)をその長官（別当(べっとう)）に任じ、中原親能(なかはらちかよし)、藤原行政(ゆきまさ)を寄人(よりゅうど)として文書の保管、政務の処理にあたらせた。1190年（建久1）末頼朝が正二位権大納言(ごんのだいなごん)兼右近衛大将(うこのえのたいしょう)に任ぜられると、翌年正月、摂関家などの例に倣って政所(まんどころ)を設置し（政所設置を頼朝が従(じゅ)二位に叙せられた1185年とする説もある）、公文所を政所の一部局として、文書のことを担当させた。執権(しっけん)北条氏もその家政処理機関として公文所を設置していたことが知られている。

［新田英治］

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