Yamato Province - Yamato no Kuni

Part of the Gokinai. The old name of the area slightly south of the center of the Kinki region, including the entirety of present-day Nara Prefecture. In ancient times, it meant only the Nara Basin, and Yoshino, Uchi, Uda, and Higashisanchu were later added, but since this area is the original birthplace of the Yamato government, it has also come to mean the whole of Japan.

The Yamato government, which unified Japan, developed in the 4th and 5th centuries, mainly in the southeastern part of the basin, in the areas of Shiki, Iware, and Asuka. After accepting Chinese culture and Buddhism via the Korean Peninsula (538), the foundations were solidified and Asuka culture emerged, with many temples such as Asukadera and Horyu-ji being built. Later, the Chinese capital system was adopted and Fujiwara-kyo (694) was built, followed by Heijo-kyo (710) in the northern part of Nara. Following the example of Tang culture, the magnificent Tenpyo culture blossomed, and the culture of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, including Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji, flourished. In 784 (Enryaku 3), the capital was moved to Nagaoka-kyo, and then to Heian-kyo. Nara came to be known as Nara, and as the birthplace of the imperial family and the Fujiwara clan, it continued to have a unique existence as a Buddhist kingdom that strongly handed down traditional culture and followed the Six Sects of Nanto. Among these, Kofuku-ji Temple borrowed the divine power of Kasuga Shrine, and supported the military forces of its monks and citizens, oppressing other temples and shrines, expelling the provincial governors, and coming to own numerous manors. Thus, Nara fought against the Taira clan at the end of the Heian period, and suffered a major blow when they burned the area, but it recovered with the help of the Imperial family, the Fujiwara clan, and Minamoto no Yoritomo, and eventually many local industries were generated within the country through the protection of temples and shrines. Meanwhile, the Shugen sect flourished on Mount Yoshino from the mid-Heian period, and it became a religious holy place linked to the Kumano region. During the Nanboku-cho period, the Southern Court's confrontation with the Kyoto samurai for half a century was due to this religious and economic background.

In the Muromachi period, in the various villages and villages that had been under the control of the great temples, the power of the people, centered around local samurai, rose to power. Taking advantage of the loss of control by the shogunate and temples, they gradually grew, forming cliques and fighting among themselves. Tsutsui, Furuichi, Toichi, Ochi, and Hashio were the most powerful. Soon other religious sects infiltrated into the country, including the Hosokawa and Hatakeyama clans, who were powerful in the central political world, and further down the line, the Miyoshi Trio and Matsunaga Hisahide invaded, and an era of internal and external conflict and turmoil continued. However, in 1568 (Eiroku 11), when Oda Nobunaga invaded Kyoto, Tsutsui Junkei skillfully allied with him, defeated Matsunaga Hisahide, and overpowered various factions within the country, becoming Nobunaga's Yamato governor. After the Oda clan was defeated, the entire Yamato province came under the direct control of the Toyotomi government, and Hideyoshi's younger brother Hidenaga entered Koriyama Castle and ruled over 1 million koku, including Kawachi and Izumi. Then, in the Bunroku land survey, the entire Yamato province was assessed at 440,000 koku.

After the Battle of Sekigahara and the beginning of the Edo period, the early feudal lords were demoted, extinct, or transferred to other territories, and the province was divided into nearly 100 territories, including the seven daimyo, direct territories, fiefs for hatamoto and gokenin, and land for temples and shrines, resulting in a complex governance. However, during the long period of peace, roads were developed, including the roads to Osaka, the Kyoto Road, the Ise Road, the Ao Road, and the roads along the Yoshino River, and cities developed, including Nara, Koriyama, Imai, Yagi, Sakurai, Miwa, Tamba City, Tawaramoto, Tatsuta, Takada, Gose, Shinjo, Gojo, Shimoichi, Kamiichi, Yoshino, Matsuyama, and other large settlements in the provinces. Local industries gradually became more active from around the middle period, and rice, oilseed oil, Nara bleached cloth, cotton, lumber, tea, medicinal herbs, sake, somen noodles, tobacco, paper, and kuzu starch were exported across the Ikoma and Kongo mountain ranges to Osaka and other regions by riverboat on the Yamato River. It was also from around the middle period that tourism to Nara, Yoshino, Hase-dera, Taima-dera, and other places became popular. In the later period, things started to stagnate a little, but there were also sudden bursts of visits to Ise Shrine.

In the summer of 1863 (Bunkyu 3), the Tenchu-gumi (group of people who oppose Tenchu) rose up in revolt, sending shock waves through the peaceful country, but the Meiji Restoration was generally peaceful. In 1871 (Meiji 4), the territories directly controlled by the shogunate were first brought under the control of the new government, and the various feudal domains were subsequently abolished, all together forming Nara Prefecture. In 1876, it was merged with Sakai Prefecture, and in 1881 it became part of Osaka Prefecture. However, this caused great inconvenience, and a movement for independence arose locally, and in 1887, the re-establishment of Nara Prefecture was approved.

[Yoshitomo Hirai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

五畿内(きない)の一部。近畿地方の中央やや南寄り、現在の奈良県全体を含む地域の旧名。古代には奈良盆地内のみを意味し、吉野、宇智(うち)、宇陀(うだ)、東山中(ひがしさんちゅう)は、その後に繰り込まれたが、この地が大和政権発生の本源地であることから、日本全体を意味することばともなっている。

　日本の統一政権である大和政権は、4～5世紀のころ、盆地の南東部、磯城(しき)、磐余(いわれ)、飛鳥(あすか)の地を中心として発展したが、朝鮮半島を経て中国の文化や仏教を受容（538）して以来、その基礎を固め、飛鳥文化を現出し、飛鳥寺、法隆寺など多くの寺院も建造された。その後、中国の都城制を採用して藤原京（694）をつくり、さらに北部の奈良の地に平城京（710）を築き、唐文化に倣って華麗な天平(てんぴょう)文化を開花させ、東大寺、興福寺など南都七大寺の文化が栄えた。784年（延暦3）都が長岡京、ついで平安京に移ると、奈良は南都とよばれ、皇室や藤原氏の故地として、伝統的文化を色濃く伝え、南都六宗を奉ずる仏教王国として特異な存在を続けた。なかでも興福寺は春日(かすが)神社の神威を借り、衆徒・国民などの兵力を養って他の寺社を圧迫し、国司を追放し、多数の荘園(しょうえん)を擁するに至った。かくて南都は平安末期に平家と争い、その焼打ちにより大打撃を受けたが、皇室、藤原氏、源頼朝(よりとも)らの援助によって立ち直り、やがて国内にも寺社の庇護(ひご)によって多くの地元産業を発生させた。一方吉野山には平安中期以来、修験(しゅげん)宗が興隆し、熊野地方と結ぶ宗教上の聖地となった。南北朝時代、京都の武家方に対する南朝の半世紀にわたる対峙(たいじ)は、この宗教的・経済的背景があったからである。

　室町時代に入ると、旧来大寺院の制肘(せいちゅう)下にあった各所の郷村には、地侍(じざむらい)を中心とする民衆勢力が台頭し、幕府や寺院の統制力が失われるに乗じてしだいに成長を遂げ、徒党を結び相互に争うに至った。筒井(つつい)、古市(ふるいち)、十市(といち)、越智(おち)、箸尾(はしお)などはもっとも有力なものである。やがて国内へも他の諸宗教宗派が浸潤し、中央政界の雄たる細川、畠山(はたけやま)氏、さらに下って三好(みよし)三人衆や松永久秀(ひさひで)の侵入があり、対内対外の抗争動乱の時代が続いた。しかし1568年（永禄11）織田信長が京都に進駐すると、筒井順慶(じゅんけい)は巧みにこれと提携し、松永久秀を討滅し、国内諸党をも圧服し、信長の大和代官となった。織田氏が滅ぶと大和一国は豊臣(とよとみ)政権の直轄領となり、秀吉の実弟秀長(ひでなが)が郡山(こおりやま)城に入り、河内(かわち)、和泉(いずみ)をもあわせて100万石を治めた。ついで、文禄(ぶんろく)検地では大和一国は44万石と査定された。

　関ヶ原の戦いが終わり江戸時代を迎えると、初期の大名の改易・断絶・国替を経て、国中は七大名のほか直轄領、旗本・御家人(ごけにん)の知行所(ちぎょうしょ)、寺社の朱印料など100近い給地に細分されるという複雑な支配様相となっている。しかし長い平和な時代のなかで、街道は大坂への諸道をはじめ、京街道、伊勢(いせ)街道、阿保(あお)街道、また吉野川沿いの道も整備され、それにつれて都市も、奈良、郡山、今井をはじめ八木、桜井、三輪(みわ)、丹波市(たんばいち)、田原本(たわらもと)、竜田(たつた)、高田、御所(ごせ)、新庄(しんじょう)、五條(ごじょう)、下市(しもいち)、上市(かみいち)、吉野、松山など地方の大集落も発展した。地元の産業は中期ごろからしだいに活気を呈し、米、種油、奈良晒(さらし)、木綿、材木、茶、薬種、酒、素麺(そうめん)、煙草(たばこ)、紙、葛粉(くずこ)などが生駒(いこま)、金剛(こんごう)の山脈を越え、大和川の川舟を利用して大坂その他の地方へ輸出された。奈良、吉野、長谷(はせ)寺、當麻(たいま)寺などへの観光旅行が盛行したのも中期ごろからである。後期になるとやや沈滞ぎみとなるが、伊勢参宮への数度のお陰参りも暴発的に起こっている。

　1863年（文久3）夏には天誅(てんちゅう)組が蜂起(ほうき)して、平和な国中を震撼(しんかん)させたが、概して平穏に明治維新を迎えた。1871年（明治4）まず幕府直轄領が新政府に収められ、各藩もついで廃され、一括して奈良県となった。その後76年に至り堺(さかい)県に合併され、さらに81年大阪府下に入ったが、多大の不便を生じたため、地元では独立の運動が起こり、87年奈良県の再設置が認められた。

［平井良朋］

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