Village-kun

It refers to a leader in fishing in a fishing village, and is a word that appears in old documents such as "Harima no Kuni Fudoki". It is also called Muragime, Muragin, or Muragami, and is currently passed down mainly from the Seto Inland Sea to Kyushu. The word "murakimi" generally refers to a manager such as a net owner or boss in the fishing industry, or a leader in offshore work such as a fisherman or fishing chief. However, considering the fact that in the Edo period in Uchiura, Izu (present-day Numazu City), the murakimi was the manager of the village's large net fishing business and also served as the headman who ruled the village, and that on Fukue Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, the word murakimi refers to a village position such as ward chief, it seems that originally it referred to a person who held a leadership position not only in fishing but also in village life in general, in other words, the village chief.

[Takenori Noguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

漁村における漁業上の指導者のことで、『播磨国風土記(はりまのくにふどき)』などの古い文献にもみえることば。ムラギメ、ムラギン、ムラガミなどともいわれ、現在、主として瀬戸内海から九州地方に残り伝えられている。村君といえば一般に、漁業における網主・親方などの経営主、または漁夫長・漁労長などの沖合いでの作業上の指揮者をさす。しかし、江戸時代に伊豆の内浦（現沼津市）での村君は村の大網漁の経営主であるとともに村を支配する名主を務めた事実や、長崎県の福江島で村君が区長のような村の役職をさしている例からみると、元来は漁業だけではなく、村落生活全般において指導的地位にあった者、つまり村の長(おさ)のことをさしたものらしい。

［野口武徳］

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