Boatman - Sendou

The captain of a ship, the head of a sailor, and today's captain, are commonly understood to refer to rowers and sailors of small rowing boats. Historically, they were originally called kajitori, and gradually the word "sendō" began to be used in conjunction with them from the Northern and Southern Courts period. In the Muromachi period, the term "sendō" referred exclusively to the captain of a merchant ship, who not only directed the operation of the ship but also handled the cargo and bought and sold it himself, and was both the shipowner and merchant. In the early modern period, the term "kajitori" gradually fell out of use, and the captain of all ships, from the largest ships in the cargo shipping and fishing industries to the small "hashike" barges, came to be called "sendō." Among the boatmen, those who owned a ship were called the "shipowner's boatman" or "direct boatman," but as the scale of business and the business transaction system expanded and became more complex, it became difficult for one boatman to handle both sea work and business, and roles began to be differentiated. As a result, the shipowner took charge of management on land, while the boatman was employed by the shipowner and specialized in directing navigation and sea work. On the other hand, on fishing boats, as the scale of fishing expanded, a differentiation occurred between those responsible for fishing work and navigation, and the term "boatman" came to refer to the person responsible for navigation. However, in modern large fishing boats, the fishing chief is called "boatman" to distinguish him from the captain, and in some cases he receives a higher salary than the captain. Since the Meiji period, the head of a ship, from large to small fishing boats, has generally been called the "captain," and the term "boatman" has come to be limited to the person who operates ferries and other small boats.

[Takenori Noguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

船の長(おさ)、船乗りの頭(かしら)、今日いう船長のことであるが、現在の一般通念としては、小さい漕(こ)ぎ船の漕ぎ手や船乗りをさす。歴史的にみると、古くは梶取(かじと)りとよばれており、南北朝時代からしだいに船頭の語が並称され始めた。室町時代には、船頭といえばもっぱら商船の長をさし、船の運航の指揮をとる一方で自ら積み荷の荷さばきや売買も行う、船主であり商人でもあった。近世期には、しだいに梶取りの名称は用いられなくなり、廻船(かいせん)業でも漁業でも、上は千石船から下は小型の「はしけ」に至るまで、すべて船の長を船頭とよぶようになった。そして船頭のなかでも、船持ちの者を船主船頭とか直(じき)船頭とよんだが、経営規模や商取引の機構が拡大・複雑化するとともに1人の船頭が海上作業と商売とを兼ねることが困難となり、役割の分化がおこった。その結果、船主は陸上で経営の指揮をとり、船頭は船主に雇われて航海や海上作業の指揮を専門とするようになった。一方漁船でも、漁労の規模が拡大すると、漁労作業と航海の責任者に分化が生まれ、船頭は航海の責任者をさすようになった。しかし、近代の大型漁船において、漁労長を船頭とよんで船長とは区別し、配当も船長より高いという場合もある。明治期以降は、大型船から小型漁船まで船の長は一般に船長とよび、船頭といえば渡し船やその他の小舟を操作する人に限られるようになってきた。

［野口武徳］

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