Castle town - Jokamachi

Japanese: 城下町 - じょうかまち

During the Sengoku period and after, these cities were formed around the castles of feudal lords and served as the capitals of their territories. Although they disappeared with the dissolution of the feudal domain system, most of the major modern cities were founded on former castle towns.

[Mieko Tsuruoka]

Sengoku Period

During the turbulent period of the Northern and Southern Courts, local feudal lords built mountain castles (yamajiro) on steep mountaintops and hills as military facilities, and formed residential settlements for their families and retainers around their residences (negoya) at the foot of the mountains, but in peacetime they were prepared to engage in farming, and no development of town houses was seen. With the development of the Shugo daimyo domain system in the Muromachi period, Shugosho were established in former provincial capitals and key locations for land and water transportation, and Shugo towns were formed, but these were Yakata towns, with the earthen residences of some of the stipendants surrounding the residences. Among the shugo towns, those that developed into Sengoku castle towns were Suruga Fuchū (Shizuoka City) of the Imagawa clan, Kai Fuchū (Kofu City) of the Takeda clan, Suō Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi City) of the Ouchi clan, Bungo Funai (Oita City) of the Otomo clan, and Satsuma Kagoshima (Kagoshima City) of the Shimazu clan.While the shugo became sengoku daimyo in this way, the sengoku daimyo who grew up among the shugodai and kokujin classes moved from the mountain castles of the previous era to relatively low flatland castles, enlarged the scale of their castles, installed permanent groups of specialized samurai, absorbed neighboring cities and towns to manage their territories and strengthen their military power, and organized traveling craftsmen into groups of official craftsmen, striving to improve their systems for procuring goods, and as a result, towns gradually formed around the castles in the second half of the 16th century. However, in castle towns during the Warring States period, the residential division between samurai and commoners was not clear, commerce was at the stage of periodic markets held by cities and towns, and vassals were organized into military units based on branch castles, so there was a limited concentration of people living in the main castle town, and many people still lived in rural areas. The forerunner of early modern castle towns was Omi Azuchi in 1576 (Tensho 4) under Oda Nobunaga, who promoted the attraction of merchants and industrialists by issuing orders such as exemptions from land taxes, free markets and free courts, and the abolition of checkpoints, but this was short-lived.

[Mieko Tsuruoka]

Early modern castle town

It was after the Toyotomi government that full-scale castle towns, with the separation of soldiers and farmers, were established. In particular, following the establishment of the Tokugawa government and the reassignment of various daimyo, the construction of castle towns by feudal lords took place on a nationwide scale in the first half of the 17th century (Genna to Kan'ei periods). Many subsidiary castles were demolished under the Genna One Castle per Province Order (1615), but as new bases for managing territories, the selection of castle sites was based more on transportation and economic factors than military considerations. However, many flatland castles were constructed, making defensive use of hills and rivers, and urban areas were developed. These involved the compulsory acquisition of land, rerouting river courses, and moving highways into castle towns, resulting in major alterations to the natural landscape. Most of the land below the castle was occupied by samurai families, but for military reasons, the residences of high-ranking vassals were placed within or near the castle enclosure, with middle- and lower-ranking vassals stationed around them, while the residences of foot soldiers and other group retainers, as well as the grounds of temples and shrines, were usually located on the outskirts of town, separated by town houses, or in the outskirts of the castle town.

Furthermore, the concentration of all vassals in the castle town due to the separation of soldiers and farmers made it inevitable that there would be merchants and industrialists in charge of producing and distributing military and daily necessities for the lord and samurai class. In addition to merchants and industrialists who were attracted from outside the domain through various preferential treatment by the lord, such as land tax exemptions, merchants and industrialists from towns and villages within the domain were also forced to relocate to the castle town, resulting in a social division of labor between urban and rural areas, i.e., a separation of commerce and agriculture. In the early division of towns, land for houses was allocated by type of trade through leaders such as the master carpenter or the head merchant, and the area was characterized by people of the same trade and occupation living together in the same place. The names of towns such as Kokucho (rice shops), Shiomachi, Sakana (fish shops), Aomonomachi (greengrocers), and Kamiyamachi as merchant towns, and Kajimachi, Daikumachi, Konyamachi as artisan towns are remnants of this tradition in the cities of former castle towns. In particular, artisan towns were obligated to prioritize production to meet the needs of the feudal lord in exchange for the privilege of being exempt from town duties. Also, in the case of merchant towns, there were many cases in which monopoly privileges (choza) were granted to specific towns as a measure to support commerce.

The main townspeople of castle towns were those who received land allotments during this period, and the castle towns developed as new townspeople were added to meet the new demands created by these townspeople. In other words, this urban planning based on territorial management also collapsed as the city area expanded due to the increase in the population moving into castle towns in the early period, and the principle of living together in the same trade collapsed. The decline in military demand due to the prolonged peace changed the content of handicraft production, and the monopoly privileges of specific towns disappeared. Then, in place of the early minority rule by the powerful townspeople, a remote commercial organization centered on newly emerging wholesale merchants was formed from the late 17th century to the early 18th century. However, even though it is simply called a castle town, there are differences in the economic functions that it played in the regional economy depending on the size of the lord's territory and the geographical location. Thus, while the periods of rise and fall of each castle town were not uniform, they generally reached their peak around the Genroku period (1688-1704), but thereafter the economic status of castle towns stagnated or declined due to factors such as increased dependence on merchants from central cities as the feudal lords' economies became impoverished, and the growth of rural towns both within and outside the domains. After the abolition of the feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures, most of the castles were destroyed and the samurai, who made up the majority of the population, were scattered, but many of the representative castle towns became prefectural capitals and were at the heart of local autonomy, or were revived as military towns with the establishment of chindai.

[Mieko Tsuruoka]

"Feudal Cities" (Toyoda Takeshi Collected Works Volume 4, 1983, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Castle Towns" by Chubu Yoshiko (1978, Yanagihara Shoten)" ▽ "Study of Urban Planning" by Yamori Kazuhiko (1970, Daimeido)" ▽ "Castle Towns" by Yamori Kazuhiko (1972, Gakuseisha)" ▽ "Lecture Series on Japan's Feudal Cities, edited by Toyoda Takeshi, Harada Tomohiko, and Yamori Kazuhiko, 3 volumes (1981-83, Bunichi Sogo Shuppan)"

[Reference] | Castle

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

戦国期以降、大名の居城を中心に形成された都市で、大名領国の首都としての性格をもつ。幕藩体制の解体によって消滅したが、近現代の主要都市のほとんどは旧城下町を母胎としている。

［鶴岡実枝子］

戦国期

南北朝動乱期、在地領主は軍事施設として峻険(しゅんけん)な山頂や丘陵などに山城(やまじろ)を築き、麓(ふもと)の居館（根小屋(ねごや)）の周辺に家子郎党(いえのころうとう)の屋敷集落を形成したが、彼らは平時には農耕に従事する態勢にあり、町屋の発達はみられなかった。室町期に至り守護大名領国制の展開に伴い、かつての国府や水陸交通の要地に守護所を設け、守護町を形成したが、居館の周囲に一部の給人の土居(どい)屋敷を巡らした屋形町であった。なお守護町のうち戦国城下町に進展しえたのは、今川氏の駿河府中(するがふちゅう)（静岡市）、武田氏の甲斐(かい)府中（甲府(こうふ)市）、大内氏の周防(すおう)山口（山口市）、大友氏の豊後(ぶんご)府内（大分市）、島津氏の薩摩(さつま)鹿児島（鹿児島市）などがある。このように守護の戦国大名化がみられる一方で、守護代・国人(こくじん)層のなかから成長した戦国大名は、前代の山城から比較的低い平山城(ひらやまじろ)へ移って城郭の規模を拡大し、専門武士団を常置するとともに、領国経営・軍事力強化のために近隣の市町を吸収し、遍歴の巡回職人を御用職人集団に編成するなど、物資調達態勢の整備に努めたから、16世紀後半には漸次城郭の周辺に町場が形成された。とはいえ、戦国期の城下町は士庶の居住区分も明確でなく、商業も市町による定期市の段階にあり、家臣団も支城を単位とする軍事編成がとられており、本城下への集住は限定され、なお農村に居住する者が多かった。近世城下町の先駆をなすのは1576年（天正4）織田信長の近江(おうみ)安土(あづち)であって、地子(じし)免除に加え、楽市(らくいち)・楽座(らくざ)、関所の撤廃などを令して商工業者の誘致を進めたが、短期間で終わった。

［鶴岡実枝子］

近世城下町

兵農分離を伴う本格的な城下町の設営が行われたのは、豊臣(とよとみ)政権以後である。とくに徳川政権確立後の諸大名の配置転換に伴って、領主権力による城下町の建設は17世紀前半（元和(げんな)～寛永(かんえい)期）に全国的規模で行われた。元和の一国一城令（1615）によって支城の多くは破却されたが、新しい領国経営の拠点として、城地の選定は軍事的条件よりも交通・経済面が重視されたものの、多くは山丘と河川を防御的に利用した平山城が構築され、市街地の造成が行われた。それらは土地の強制収用、河道の付け替え、街道の城下への繰り入れなど、自然的景観の大改造を伴うものであった。城下の大半は武家地で占められたが、軍事上の配慮から、上級家臣の屋敷地を城の郭内あるいは近くに固め、その周囲に中・下級家臣を配し、足軽などの組屋敷や寺社地は町屋を隔てた場末や城下周辺部に配置するのが一般であった。

　なお兵農分離による全家臣団の城下への集住は、領主・武士層の軍事的・日常的な必需品の生産と流通を担当とする商工業者の存在を必然とした。地子免除など領主の種々の優遇策によって領外から誘致された商工業者に加え、領内の在町(ざいまち)在村(ざいむら)の商工業者も城下に強制移住させ、都市と農村との社会分業＝商農分離が行われた。初期の町割にあたっては、業種別に棟梁(とうりょう)とか商人頭といった統率者を通じて屋敷地が割り当てられ、同業同職集居を特色とした。商人町としての石町(こくちょう)（米屋）、塩町、肴(さかな)（魚）町、青物町（八百屋(やおや)）、紙屋町、職人町としての鍛冶(かじ)町、大工(だいく)町、紺屋(こんや)町などの町名が旧城下町の都市に多いのは、その名残(なごり)である。とくに職人町の場合、町役免除の特権と引き換えに、その生産を優先的に領主の需要に振り向けることが義務づけられていた。また商人町の場合も、商業助成策として特定町に専売特権（町座）が付与された例が多い。

　城下町の本町人とは、このような成立期に屋敷割を受けた者たちであり、これらの町人が生み出す新たな需要に応じるための町人がこれに追加されて城下町の発達がみられた。すなわち、このような領国経営の核とする都市計画も、前期における城下町への流入人口の増加による市域の拡大とともに、同業集居の原則は崩れ、平和の長期化による軍需の減退は、手工業生産の内容を変え、特定町の専売特権も消滅していった。そして初期的な門閥町人による少数支配にかわって、新興の問屋商人を中心とする遠隔地商業組織が17世紀後半から18世紀前半にかけて形成された。もっともひと口に城下町といっても、領主の所領規模の広狭や地理的立地条件によって領域経済に果たしえた経済的機能には格差がある。したがって各城下町の盛衰の時期は一様ではないが、概して元禄(げんろく)期（1688～1704）前後に最盛期を迎えたが、その後、領主経済の窮乏による中央都市商人への依存度の増大、領内外の在郷町の成長などによって、城下町の経済的地位は停滞ないし減退するに至った。廃藩置県後、城郭の大部分は破壊され、人口の大半を占める士族は四散したが、代表的な城下町の多くは県庁所在地として地方自治の中枢にあり、あるいは鎮台(ちんだい)設置による軍事都市として蘇生(そせい)した。

［鶴岡実枝子］

『『封建都市』（『豊田武著作集　第4巻』1983・吉川弘文館）』▽『中部よし子著『城下町』（1978・柳原書店）』▽『矢守一彦著『都市プランの研究』（1970・大明堂）』▽『矢守一彦著『城下町』（1972・学生社）』▽『豊田武・原田伴彦・矢守一彦編『講座日本の封建都市』全3巻（1981～83・文一総合出版）』

[参照項目] | 城

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