Gambler - Bakuto

People who make a living through gambling. Also known as gamblers or wanderers, they emerged in the early Heian period when gambling began to spread among the common people. Gamblers became organized and armed during the Edo period, when the shogunate established the Kanto-Hachishu Toritsusho in 1805 (Bunka 2) to strengthen its crackdown on gamblers, leading gamblers from Edo and its suburbs to gather in the Joshu area and oppose the shogunate. The shogunate's crackdown was ineffective, and 20 years later, around 1827 (Bunsei 10), they were armed with guns and spears, becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Gamblers are called "long wakizashi" (long swords). During the Warring States period, the warriors of Minowa Castle, located on the slopes of Mount Haruna, liked to use long wakizashi (long swords), and so the gamblers who gathered in Joshu naturally began to arm themselves with long wakizashi, leading to the nickname. A group of gamblers forms a family, with the leader called the boss, and they have a set social hierarchy of subordinates, grandsons, brothers, uncles, and retired people, and they believe in strict unity. To become a subordinate of a gambler, a matchmaker is appointed and a solemn ceremony is held in which one swears "to sacrifice one's life for the family and never to do anything that would bring shame on the boss." The history of gamblers has risen and fallen with the rise and fall of gambling, but after World War II, they became mixed up with violent organizations that claim red-light districts as their territory, and it has become difficult to distinguish between them. The existence of gamblers and violent organizations despite government crackdown is a phenomenon not only found in Japan but in all civilized countries around the world. However, it cannot be overlooked that there are also elements within civilized society that make them necessary.

[Kuramochi Sadasuke]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

賭博(とばく)で世渡りをしている人々。博打(ばくち)打ち、渡世人(とせいにん)ともいい、賭(か)け事が庶民階級に浸透していった平安時代初期のころに発生している。博徒が組織化し武装したのは江戸時代で、幕府が1805年（文化2）に関八州取締所を設置して博徒の取締りを強化したため、江戸および近郊の博徒が上州付近に集まり幕府に対抗した。その後、幕府の取締りも効果がなく、20年後の1827年（文政10）ごろには鉄砲、槍(やり)などで武装し、ますます手のつけられない状態になった。博徒のことを長脇差(ながどす)というが、戦国時代に榛名(はるな)山の中腹にあった箕輪(みのわ)城の武士たちが好んで長い脇差(わきざし)を用いたところから、上州に集まった博徒たちが自然に長脇差で武装し、その別名となった。博徒の集団は一家をなし、統率者を親分といい、子分、孫分、兄弟分、叔父分、隠居という身分階級が定められていて堅い団結を信条としている。博徒の子分になるには、仲人(なこうど)をたて厳粛な儀式で、「一家のため身命を捨てても尽くすことと、親分の顔に泥を塗るような行為はけっしてしないこと」を誓う。博徒の歴史は賭け事の盛衰に伴い消長があるが、第二次世界大戦後は盛り場などを縄張りとする暴力組織と渾然(こんぜん)となり、区別がつかなくなっている。政府の取締りにもかかわらず、博徒の集団や暴力組織が存在することは、日本ばかりでなく、世界の文明国に共通しているが、反面、これらを必要とする要素が文明社会のなかにあることを見逃すことはできない。

［倉茂貞助］

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