Bukeho (Samurai Law)

Japanese: 武家法 - ぶけほう

The legal system during the period when samurai were independent as a major social class and held political power. It began in the late Heian period and ended in the late Edo period.

occurrence

As the Ritsuryo system declined, the Imperial Court began to apply the law in a way that was more realistic, through the interpretation and practice of the Ritsuryo Code. This was called kuge law. Meanwhile, manor lords such as large shrines and temples, and aristocrats, formed their own laws as rulers of their manors. This was called honjo law. From within these two legal spheres, the samurai class emerged as local lords and formed indigenous legal practices, but it took the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate for this class to become independent as a legal sphere in its own right.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Kamakura period

Minamoto no Yoritomo established the shogunate and is said to have conducted trials based on the customary law of the samurai society, called "samurai customs, civil law," which became established as the "Udaishokenorei." Building on this, Hojo Yasutoki established the "Goseibaishikimoku," the first written code of samurai law, in 1232 (Joei 1), based on the principle of "reason." After that, many separate laws called "additions" were issued to supplement the original. While samurai law asserted its uniqueness, it did not deny kuge law or honjo law, and samurai groups under the shogunate's control also had their own uniqueness, some of which established written family laws, while others stipulated internal order within the clan and laws governing their territories in the form of okibumi. In addition, in order to maintain law and order, it was important for the parties themselves to assert and secure their rights.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Muromachi and Sengoku Periods

The Muromachi Shogunate took over the system of the Kamakura Shogunate, and additional legislation was enacted. However, while the Shogunate acknowledged the existence of the Imperial Court and the Honjo, it gradually narrowed the scope of their control, and in terms of individual legal principles, samurai law came to overwhelm kuge law and Honjo law. The Shogunate was not a strong central authority, and from the beginning there was a strong tendency toward decentralization among the shugo daimyo, but with the decline of the Shogunate due to the Onin War (1467-1477), the warring states daimyo who arose in the provinces formed an order for the control of their territories. In these cases, the power of the ruling daimyo was generally made absolute, and a tendency toward heavy-handedness in maintaining order can be seen in everything from regulating lord-vassal relationships to collecting taxes and controlling peasants. The legal codes issued by the warring states daimyo are collectively called warring states law or provincial law.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Edo period

The Edo Shogunate ended the division of the warring states and became the de facto ruler of the country. In terms of law, it strictly regulated the Imperial Court, temples and shrines through the Imperial Court and Noble Laws (Kinchu Narai Naru Kuge Shohatto) and the Various Sects and Temples Laws, and controlled the samurai through the Buke Shohatto. At first, customary law ruled, but after the 8th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, enacted the Kujikata Osada Megaki, the direction of codified law became stronger. The laws of the Edo Shogunate are collected in the "Collection of Imperial Notices" and the "Tokugawa Kinreikou." Various domains, especially large ones such as Okayama Ikeda, Tottori Ikeda, Kanazawa Maeda, and Yonezawa Uesugi, had their own domain laws. Both the shogunate laws and the feudal domain laws contained strict social status restrictions as laws by which feudal lords ruled the people, and even though they were written laws, they were not necessarily published; many of them were secret laws that served as standards for those in power.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

"An Outline of the History of the Japanese Legal System" by Ishii Ryosuke (1960, Sobunsha)" ▽ "A History of the Establishment of the Feudal System in Japan" by Maki Kenji (1935, Kobundo)" ▽ "Iwanami Lectures on Medieval Japanese History 2 (1963, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Iwanami Lectures on Medieval Japanese History 1 (1975, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "A Study of the Civil Litigation System in the Early Modern Period" by Kobayakawa Kingo (1957, Yuhikaku)" ▽ "A Study of Criminal Procedure Law in the Early Modern Period" by Hiramatsu Yoshiro (1960, Sobunsha)" ▽ "Criminal Law and Civil Law - Law and Power in the Shogunate-Fan State" by Hattori Hiroshi (1983, Sobunsha)

[Reference items] | Goseibatai Shikimoku | Tokugawa Kinryōko | Samurai laws | Branch law

"The Code of Punishment"
A book published in the Edo period. Published in 1607 (Keicho 12). Owned by the National Diet Library .

"The Code of Punishment"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

武士が主要な社会階級として自立し、政治権力を掌握していた期間の法体系。平安末期に始まり江戸末期に終わる。

発生

律令(りつりょう)制の衰退とともに、朝廷では、律令格式(きゃくしき)の解釈や慣行によって現実に即した法の運用を行うようになった。これを公家(くげ)法とよぶ。一方、大社寺・貴族などの荘園(しょうえん)領主は、荘園の支配者として独自の法を形成する。これが本所(ほんじょ)法である。この二つの法圏のなかから、在地領主としての武士階級が発生し、土着の法慣習を形成するが、これが一つの法圏として独立するには、鎌倉幕府の成立を要した。

［羽下徳彦］

鎌倉時代

源頼朝(よりとも)は幕府を確立し、「武家の習(ならい)、民間の法」とよばれた武家社会の慣習法に基づいて裁判を行ったと伝えられ、それは「右大将家例(うだいしょうけのれい)」として定着した。そのうえにたって北条泰時(やすとき)は1232年（貞永1）、「道理(どうり)」を理念として、武家法最初の成文法典たる「御成敗式目(ごせいばいしきもく)」を制定した。その後はそれに対する追加という意味で、「追加」と称する単行法令が多数発せられた。武家法はその独自性を主張しながらも、公家法、本所法を否定するものではなく、幕府支配下の武士集団も、それぞれ独自性を有し、成文の家法(かほう)を制定するものもあれば、置文(おきぶみ)などの形で族内秩序や所領支配の法を規定するものもあった。また、当事者自身による権利の主張・確保が法秩序維持のために重視された。

［羽下徳彦］

室町・戦国時代

室町幕府は鎌倉幕府の体制を継受し、立法も追加の形でなされた。しかし幕府は、朝廷、本所の存在は認めつつも、しだいにその支配の場を狭め、個々の法理の面でも武家法が公家法、本所法を圧倒してゆく。幕府は中央権力としては強固でなく、初期から守護大名らによる分権的傾向が強かったが、応仁(おうにん)の乱（1467～1477）による幕府の衰微を機として、地方におこった戦国大名が、領国支配の秩序を形成する。そこでは一般に支配者たる大名の権力を絶対化し、主従関係の規制から年貢収納、農民支配に至るまで、秩序維持のための強権的傾向がうかがわれる。戦国大名の発布した法典を総称して戦国家法(かほう)、分国法という。

［羽下徳彦］

江戸時代

江戸幕府は戦国の分裂を収束して国土の事実上の支配者となり、法の面でも禁中並公家諸法度(きんちゅうならびにくげしょはっと)（禁中并公家中諸法度）、諸宗本山本寺法度で、朝廷、寺社を厳しく規制し、武家諸法度で武士を統制した。当初は慣習法支配の性格が強いが、8代将軍徳川吉宗(よしむね)のとき公事方御定書(くじかたおさだめがき)が制定されてから、成文法主義の方向を強めた。江戸幕府の法令は「御触書(おふれがき)集成」や、「徳川禁令考(きんれいこう)」に収められている。諸藩、ことに岡山池田、鳥取池田、金沢前田、米沢(よねざわ)上杉などの大藩は、独自の藩法をもっている。幕府法、藩法とも、封建君主による民衆支配の法として、厳重な身分規制を有しており、また成文法であってもかならずしも公布されたものばかりではなく、権力の側の基準として秘密法の性格を有するものも多い。

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『石井良助著『日本法制史概説』（1960・創文社）』▽『牧健二著『日本封建制度成立史』（1935・弘文堂）』▽『『岩波講座　日本歴史　中世 2』（1963・岩波書店）』▽『『岩波講座　日本歴史　中世 1』（1975・岩波書店）』▽『小早川欣吾著『近世民事訴訟制度の研究』（1957・有斐閣）』▽『平松義郎著『近世刑事訴訟法の研究』（1960・創文社）』▽『服部弘司著『刑事法と民事法――幕藩制国家の法と権力』（1983・創文社）』