Black hoe - Kurokuwa

They are also called Kurokuwa no mono or Kurokuwamono. In the Sengoku period, they were low-ranking subordinates who were involved in castle construction, road construction, transporting weapons and military rice, destroying enemy camps and collecting corpses. In the Edo period, they were under the control of the construction magistrate, and were organized into groups and group leaders to guard Edo Castle, prevent fires, and carry out civil engineering work, as well as cleaning and weeding within the castle grounds and carrying luggage. Their status was the same as that of chugen and komono, who were only allowed to wear wakizashi, and initially they were not allowed to have surnames. Their food allowance was 12 koku per person, and their head was given 100 koku. In 1731 (Kyoho 16), there were 430 of them. In addition, in the late Edo period, as the stratification of farmers in rural areas progressed, some poor peasants left the country to work, cultivating fields and building embankments and roads; these day laborers and those who settled in their local areas were called kuro kuwa.

[Nao Murakami]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

黒鍬之者または黒鍬者ともいう。戦国時代には、築城、道づくり、武器・兵糧米の運搬、敵陣の破壊や死体の収容などに従う軽輩をいう。江戸時代には作事奉行(さくじぶぎょう)の支配に属し、組、組頭(くみがしら)の編成で江戸城の警備、防火、土木工事にあたり、城内の掃除や草取り、荷物運搬の雑用に働いた。身分は、脇差(わきざし)だけは許された中間(ちゅうげん)、小者(こもの)と同列であり、当初は苗字(みょうじ)は許されなかった。食禄(しょくろく)12俵一人扶持(ぶち)、頭(かしら)は100俵。1731年（享保16）には人数430人。なお、これとは別に江戸後期に農村でも農民の階層分化の進行に伴い貧農のなかから出稼ぎにより、田畑の耕作、堤防・道路工事に従う者がいたが、これらの日雇労務者や出先で定住する者を黒鍬と称していた。

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