Navy - Suigun

They were called kaizoku-shu, kego-shu, funate-shu, funatekata, funategumi, etc., and were military groups that engaged in maritime business under the auspices of feudal lords during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods. In many cases, their predecessors were pirates whose livelihoods were based on various interests at sea. One of the reasons they were organized into a navy was when the Muromachi Shogunate ordered the guards of coastal areas and powerful local lords to guard the area in order to protect against pirate damage when dispatching ships to China. The Yamana clan, the shugo of Bingo, ordered the Murakami clan, who were based in Innoshima within their domain, and the Otomo clan, the shugo of Bungo, ordered the three maritime local lords of the Kunisaki Peninsula, Kibe, Tomiku, and Kushiki, who would later act as the Otomo navy, to guard the ships bound for Tang China. Later, the Innoshima Murakami clan served the Yamana clan during the Onin War (1467-77) and distinguished themselves in battle. The Takeda clan, Shugo of Aki, granted the Shirai clan, a member of the Keigo shogunate, "official maritime affairs on Nihojima Island in Aki Province" in April 1495 (Meiō 4). In this way, the Shugo daimyo established a relationship of lord and vassal with the seaside local lords by granting them fiefs and granting them the various maritime interests they held, and positioned them as a navy under the Shugo's vassalage.

Some Sengoku daimyo continued to use the guardian kegoshu, but they also actively pursued naval policies. The Mori clan of Aki, the Otomo clan of Bungo, the Gohojo clan of Sagami, and the Takeda clan of Kai are well-known Sengoku daimyo who organized navies. From the Tenbun 10s (1541-50), the Mori clan established "kegoryo" and "funakatakyu" in Sato County, Aki Province, as land grants for mobilizing their navies, and developed a navy that was directly linked to their own power. As their territory expanded, they added a naval base to Yashirojima in Oshima County, Suo Province. The Otomo clan of Bungo, who opposed the Mori clan, made local lords along the coast of the Kunisaki Peninsula guardians during the shugo period, but in particular exempted local lords living in the direct coastal territories of Sagago and Tsukumi in Amagun, and Hijiura in Hayamigun from taxes and made them serve as naval forces. The Wakabayashi clan was a naval force directly under the Otomo clan, based in Isshakuya in Sagago. During the Eiroku period (1558-70), the Later Hojo clan of Sagami invited the Kajiwara clan, a pirate clan from Kii, to be the commander of their naval force. During the Tensho period (1573-92), the Later Hojo clan provided the Kajiwara clan with land to train crewmen and other personnel. Around 1568 (Eiroku 11), the Takeda clan of Kai invaded Suruga and seized the former territory of the Imagawa clan, and appointed the Ise pirate Obama clan as the commander of the navy. Among the boatmen of the Toyotomi government were the Ishii, Kan, and Kuki clans, who were descended from medieval pirates, but the core of the group was the Todo, Wakizaka, and Kato clans, who were the boatmen of the protégés of the Toyotomi government, who became daimyo as the government rose to power. The existence of pirates was denied by the "ban on pirate ships at sea" issued in 1588 (Tensho 16), and the navy of the unified government was strengthened. In the early modern period, under the rule of the daimyo, the navy was mainly responsible for the maritime traffic and shipping of the domain, such as visiting Kyoto and going to Kyoto.

[Takehisa Udagawa]

"The Setouchi Navy by Takehisa Ueda (Kyoikusha History Paperbacks)" ▽ "Japanese Pirates by Takehisa Ueda (1983, Seibundo Shinkosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

海賊衆、警固衆、船手(ふなて)衆、船手方、船手組などと称され、室町～戦国時代の大名に付属して海上業務に従事した軍事集団。その前身は、海上の諸権益に生活の基盤を置く海賊である場合が多い。彼らを水軍へと組織化する一つの契機は、室町幕府が遣明船(けんみんせん)を派遣するにあたって、海賊の被害を防御する目的で、海辺の守護や有力土豪に警固を命じたことにある。備後(びんご)の守護山名(やまな)氏は領国内の因島(いんのしま)に根拠を置いた村上氏に、また豊後(ぶんご)の守護大友(おおとも)氏は、のちに大友水軍として活動することになる、国東(くにさき)半島の海辺土豪岐部(きべ)・富来(とみく)・櫛来(くしき)の3氏に渡唐船の警固を命じている。その後、因島村上氏は応仁(おうにん)の乱（1467～77）のとき山名氏に属して戦功をあげている。安芸(あき)の守護武田氏は1495年（明応4）4月、警固衆の白井氏に「安芸国仁保島海上諸公事(くじ)」を安堵(あんど)している。このように守護大名は海辺土豪の保有する海上諸権益の知行・安堵を通じて彼らと主従関係を結び、守護被官の水軍として位置づけた。

　戦国大名のなかには守護の警固衆をそのまま引き継いだ者もいたが、水軍の施策は積極的に進められた。安芸の毛利氏、豊後の大友氏、相模(さがみ)の後北条(ごほうじょう)氏、甲斐(かい)の武田氏が水軍を組織した戦国大名として著名である。毛利氏は天文(てんぶん)10年代（1541～50）から安芸国佐東(さとう)郡に、水軍を動員するための給地である「警固料」「舟方給」を設定して、自己の権力と直結した水軍を育成し、領国の拡大につれて周防国(すおうのくに)大島郡の屋代島(やしろじま)に水軍基地を増設した。毛利氏と対抗した豊後の大友氏は守護時代国東半島の海辺土豪を警固衆としたが、とりわけ海辺の直轄地である海部(あま)郡の佐賀(さが)郷や津久見(つくみ)、速見(はやみ)郡の日出(ひじ)浦などに居住する海辺土豪の諸役を免除して水軍の役目を課した。若林氏は、佐賀郷一尺屋(いっしゃくや)を根拠とした大友氏の直属水軍である。相模後北条氏は永禄(えいろく)年間（1558～70）紀伊の海賊衆梶原(かじわら)氏を招いて水軍の将とした。天正(てんしょう)年間（1573～92）梶原氏は乗組衆などを仕立てるための土地を後北条氏から給されている。甲斐武田氏は1568年（永禄11）ごろ、駿河(するが)に侵入して今川氏の旧領を手中にすると、伊勢(いせ)の海賊衆小浜(おばま)氏を水軍の将とした。豊臣(とよとみ)政権の船手衆のなかには中世海賊衆の系譜をもつ石井氏、菅(かん)氏、九鬼(くき)氏らがいたが、その中心は豊臣政権の上昇に伴って大名になった子飼い大名の船手衆である藤堂(とうどう)氏、脇坂(わきざか)氏、加藤氏らにあった。海賊の存在は1588年（天正16）に出された「海上賊船禁止令」によって否定され、統一政権の水軍は強化された。なお近世大名治下では参勤、上洛(じょうらく)など、おおむね藩の海上交通や船舶に関する業務を行った。

［宇田川武久］

『宇田川武久著『瀬戸内水軍』（教育社歴史新書）』▽『宇田川武久著『日本の海賊』（1983・誠文堂新光社）』

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