Courier - Hikyaku

Japanese: 飛脚 - ひきゃく

A person who delivers letters and documents. The origin of the word is one who runs fast, or a messenger. Since communication means are essential in places where power and the transportation of goods are carried out, they must have existed in every era.

[Junichiro Fujimura]

Ancient and Middle Ages

In ancient times, there were hiyakushi (flying postmasters) and ekishi (postmasters) who used postal horses to transport official documents. The daily journey for the former was over 160 km, and for the latter 128 km. The station system collapsed during the Heian period, so the circumstances are unclear. During the Kamakura period, there were couriers using horseback riding between Kamakura and Kyoto, Kyushu, and other areas. The average journey between Kyoto and Kamakura was initially 14-15 days, but this was reduced to 3-4 days with the establishment of the station system. Express mail from Hakata in Kyushu to Kamakura also took about 12 days during the Koan War (1281). The Muromachi Shogunate did not actively establish the station system, so it is unclear. The Sengoku daimyo placed importance on the station system for military purposes, and craftsmen living in or near castle towns were used as couriers, and they could travel without a seal or a ticket for horseback riding.

[Junichiro Fujimura]

Early modern period

In the early modern period, the five main roads, the East Route, and the West Route were developed, and various courier services existed. However, there are still many unknowns.

[Junichiro Fujimura]

Continuation couriers and daimyo couriers

First, regarding the couriers of the shogunate and feudal lords, Edo was the political center, and the shogunate's relay couriers were prepared in each post station to connect with major cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, Nagasaki, Kofu, and Sunpu. The relay couriers were the first to cross the river when stopping at a river, and the journey between Edo and Osaka took 4 to 5 days.

Daimyo needed couriers to communicate between their home provinces and their Edo residences and storehouses in Osaka. Famous examples include the Shichiri courier service (a hut was set up every seven ri) in the Owari and Kishu domains, and the Edo Sando service (three trips per month) by the Maeda clan of the Kaga domain. Some courier huts were set up along the highway, but depending on the time period, they were outsourced to town couriers. These couriers were generally foot soldiers or town couriers. Within the domain, there were regular couriers that connected castle towns with major locations. In addition, there were day laborers who were involved in the daimyo's alternate attendance. They were also called Jōge. The famous ones were in Edo, Kyoto, Fushimi, and Osaka, and in Edo they were also called Mukumi couriers. Although these were also engaged in communication, they had a strong character as lodgings for people, and it is thought that some of the laborers were similar to Kumosuke. There were day laborers in the castle towns along the roads, and they also appear to have been engaged in daily labor.

[Junichiro Fujimura]

Town courier

The most famous town courier service was between three major cities. Edo's aishi (wholesalers with which it traded) were Kyoto and Osaka, and the wholesalers in the three major cities communicated with each other to do business. All of these companies used the word "regular courier" in their names, with Edo being called "jou hikyaku," Kyoto being called "junban hikyaku," and Osaka being called "sando hikyaku." Also, couriers with place names, such as "kyo hikyaku," mean that they were couriers addressed to the place named after the place. Incidentally, "sando hikyaku" originally meant official couriers (three round trips per month) to the shogunate's Kyoto, Osaka, and Sunpu guards, but it has come to mean "town couriers" that are scheduled. This may have come about because town couriers took on the former kind of work.

The commander (sairyo) (talented person) was responsible for directing the town couriers' journeys. They probably belonged to the poor class of the city, and were known along the roads, hiring and cajoling laborers and horse carriers along the way. Laborers and horse carriers were side jobs for farmers living near the roads, and some of them must have been unsuke. Courier lodgings along the way were doubled as wakihonjin (side inns) or inns. Laborers were not necessarily stayers, and especially in the case of fast couriers, if they were delayed on the road and the deadline for their delivery was approaching, there were cases where they used fast palanquins. In the Seto Inland Sea, fast ships were sometimes used instead of the land route. For cargo such as silk and raw silk, a kind of caravan was organized by the commander and several horse carriers.

The courier wholesalers in the three capitals do not cover the entire country. There are couriers in the center of each city to individual areas. The relationship between these and inns in the cities is unclear. There are also regular couriers connecting rural areas to cities, but those who carry specific goods may also be contracted to deliver letters, and letter deliverers may also be asked to carry shopping. Within the cities, town couriers are called "chin-chin-no couriers" and sometimes wear bells. They live in long houses, and one of their main customers is the brothels. Palanquin carriers also deliver letters.

During the Meiji period, when postal services were established, couriers no longer served to deliver letters, but in some cases couriers continued to transport packages.

[Junichiro Fujimura]

"Transportation History" edited by Takeshi Toyoda and Kota Kodama (Systematic Japanese History Series 24, 1970, Yamakawa Publishing)

[Reference] | Ekiden System | Postal Service

Relay courier
These were official couriers for the shogunate, delivering official documents between major cities, mainly in Edo. They ran in a relay style, with one person shouldering the burden during the day and the other carrying a lantern at night. Katsushika Hokusai's "One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji" "Fuji at Dawn" (part) - National Diet Library

Relay courier

Town courier
It depicts a leader who directs and supervises regular couriers. He is wearing a three-cornered hat, a half-coat and a breastplate, and has a "regular courier" sign stuck on his luggage. "Tokaido Meisho Zue" Volume 4 (partial), owned by the National Diet Library .

Town courier

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

信書・文書などの送達にあたった者。語源は早く走る者、文使(ふみづかい)という意味である。通信手段は、権力と物資輸送の行われる所では不可欠であるから、いずれの時代にもあったはずである。

［藤村潤一郎］

古代・中世

古代には駅馬を利用した飛駅使(ひやくし)、駅使があり、公用の文書の輸送を行った。1日の行程は前者が160キロメートル以上、後者が128キロメートルである。平安時代には駅制が崩壊したので事情は明らかでない。鎌倉時代には鎌倉を中心に京都、九州などの間に伝馬による飛脚があった。京―鎌倉間の平均行程は、初め14～15日であったが、駅制の整備により3～4日に短縮された。また九州博多(はかた)から鎌倉への急便も弘安(こうあん)の役（1281）のおりには約12日で到達するようになった。室町幕府は積極的な駅制の整備を行わなかったので明らかでない。戦国大名は軍事上の目的から駅制を重視し、飛脚には城下町かその付近に住む手工業者が用いられ、伝馬継立(つぎたて)の印判手形がなくても通行した。

［藤村潤一郎］

近世

近世には五街道、東廻(ひがしまわり)、西廻海運が整備され、各種の飛脚が存在した。しかしまだ不明の点が多い。

［藤村潤一郎］

継飛脚と大名飛脚

まず幕府、大名の飛脚については、江戸が政治上の中心地であり、京、大坂、長崎、甲府、駿府(すんぷ)など主要都市との連絡のため、幕府の継(つぎ)飛脚が各宿に準備されていた。継飛脚は川留(かわどめ)に際しては最初に渡河し、江戸―大坂間では4～5日で通行している。

　大名は国元と江戸屋敷、大坂蔵(くら)屋敷とを連絡するため飛脚が必要で、尾張(おわり)、紀州藩などの七里飛脚（七里ごとに小屋を置く）、加賀藩前田氏の江戸三度（月に三便）などが有名で、街道に独自の飛脚小屋を設けた場合もあるが、時期によっては町飛脚に請け負わせたこともある。脚夫は一般には足軽(あしがる)によるか、町飛脚によっている。藩領内では城下町と主要な地点を結ぶ定期的な飛脚があった。このほかに大名の参勤交代に関係して通日雇(とおしひやとい)がある。上下(じょうげ)とも称する。江戸、京都、伏見(ふしみ)、大坂のそれが有名で、江戸では六組(むくみ)飛脚とも称している。これらは通信にも従事しているが人宿(ひとやど)的性格が強く、人足は雲助に近い者もいたと考えられる。街道沿いの城下町には日雇頭があり、彼らも通日雇に従事していたようである。

［藤村潤一郎］

町飛脚

町飛脚については三都間のものが有名である。江戸の相仕(あいし)（取引相手の問屋）として京、大坂があり、三都の問屋が互いに連絡をとって営業を行った。これらはともに定期的な飛脚を意味する語を問屋名とし、江戸は定(じょう)飛脚、京は順番飛脚、大坂は三度飛脚と称した。また京飛脚など地名を冠した飛脚は、その地名地宛(あ)ての飛脚であることを意味している。なお三度飛脚とは、もともと幕府の京、大坂、駿府御番衆宛ての公用の飛脚（月三往復）だが、転じて定期的な町飛脚を意味することばにもなった。おそらく町飛脚が前者の仕事を請け負ったことなどから転化したのではあるまいか。

　町飛脚の道中での運行を指示するのは宰領(さいりょう)（才領）である。彼らはおそらく都市の細民層に属し、道中での人足や馬持を採用したり、なだめすかしたりして仕事をし、街道筋では顔を知られた存在であった。人足と馬持は街道付近の農民の副業として行われ、一部には雲助もいたはずである。途中の飛脚宿は脇本陣(わきほんじん)や宿屋が兼ねている。人足はかならずしも宿継(しゅくつぎ)ではなく、とくに早飛脚の場合には、道中で遅れて請負刻限が迫ると、早駕籠(かご)を使用する例もある。瀬戸内海では陸路でなく早船を利用する場合があった。絹、生糸などの荷物は、宰領が率いて数頭の馬持が一種のキャラバンを組織している。

　三都の飛脚問屋が全国を完全に連絡しているのではない。各都市中心に個別地との飛脚がある。これと都市の宿屋との関係は明らかでない。また農村と都市の連絡には定飛脚もあるが、特定の物資を運ぶ者が書状を請け負う可能性があり、書状を運ぶ者が買い物を頼まれる場合もある。都市内では町飛脚はチリンチリンの飛脚などと称せられ、鈴をつけている場合がある。彼らは長屋の住人であり、主要な顧客の一つに遊廓(ゆうかく)がある。駕籠(かご)かきなども書状を請け負っている。

　明治期になり郵便が成立して書状は飛脚から離れたが、一部では荷物の運搬は飛脚によって行われた。

［藤村潤一郎］

『豊田武・児玉幸多編『交通史』（『体系日本史叢書24』1970・山川出版社）』

[参照項目] | 駅伝制度 | 郵便

継飛脚
幕府公用の飛脚で、江戸を中心に主要都市間に公用文書を送達した。宿継のリレー方式で、2人1組となり、昼間は1人が肩代わりとして、夜間は1人が提灯を持って走った。葛飾北斎画『富嶽百景』　「暁の不二」（部分）国立国会図書館所蔵">

継飛脚

町飛脚
定飛脚を指揮・監督する宰領を描く。三度笠に半纏・胸当てを着け、明け荷に「定飛脚」の絵符がさしてある。『東海道名所図会』　巻4（部分）国立国会図書館所蔵">

町飛脚

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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