Letter of seal - Inbanjo

One of the samurai document styles. A document in which a seal is stamped instead of a signature. There are examples of this being done by Zen monks in the late 14th century, but as a samurai document, it became popular among daimyo in the Sengoku period from the 15th century onwards, through the Shokuho period and into the Edo period. It was first issued by Imagawa Ujichika of Suruga (Shizuoka Prefecture) in 1487 (Chokyo 1) before his coming of age, and was subsequently used by eastern daimyo such as the Imagawa, Gohojo, Takeda, and Uesugi clans, as well as Oda Nobunaga. After Nobunaga entered Kyoto, it spread to the Keiki region, and then throughout the country after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the country. Inbanjo are roughly divided into Hosho-shiki and Jikijo-shiki, the former are issued by the daimyo through his servants, and the latter directly by the daimyo, with either a red or black seal stamp. Inban is simpler and less formal than Kao, and since it is possible to create many identical documents in a short time, it was used for documents related to territorial management, such as rules, official notices, Tenma-tegata, chigyo-atekoi-jo, and commendations, as well as letters issued from above. Hideyoshi and the Edo Shogunate also used shuinjo as international documents in their overseas negotiations.

[Masaki Kubota]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

武家文書様式の一つ。花押(かおう)のかわりに印判（印章）を捺(お)した文書。14世紀末、禅僧が行った例があるが、武家文書としては15世紀以降、戦国大名間で盛んとなり、織豊(しょくほう)期を経て江戸時代に及ぶ。その初見は駿河(するが)（静岡県）の今川氏親(いまがわうじちか)が元服前、1487年（長享1）に出したもので、以後、今川、後北条(ごほうじょう)、武田、上杉氏などの東国大名や織田信長により行われ、信長の入京後は京畿(けいき)地方に、さらに豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉の天下統一により全国に普及することになった。印判状は奉書(ほうしょ)式と直状(じきじょう)式に大別され、前者は大名が奉者を介して、後者は大名が直接に、それぞれ主として朱か黒の印判を捺して出す。印判は花押より簡略、薄礼であり、多数の同一文書作成が短時間で可能なため、上意下達文書として、掟(おきて)、制札(せいさつ)、伝馬(てんま)手形、知行充行(ちぎょうあておこない)状、感状など、領国経営に関するものや書状に用いられた。また秀吉や江戸幕府は海外交渉にあたり、国際文書として朱印状を使用した。

［久保田昌希］

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