To rule their domains like independent states, Warring States daimyos established their own laws, called domain laws, and developed castle towns as centers of politics and the economy.
Basic Knowledge
Domain laws (family laws, family precepts, and domain laws) were laws established by Warring States daimyos to govern their domains. While referring to the Goseibai Shikimoku of the Kamakura shogunate, they aimed at stricter control of vassals. Representative examples include:
・Jinkai-shū: the Date clan (Date Tanemune), the largest at 171 articles
・Kōshū Hatto no Shidai: the Takeda clan (Takeda Shingen), also called the “Shingen Family Law,” 55 articles
・Imagawa Kana Mokuroku: the Imagawa clan (Imagawa Ujichika), 33 articles plus 21 additions by Yoshimoto
・Articles of Asakura Takakage: the Asakura clan, 17 articles
・One Hundred Articles of Chōsokabe Motochika: the Chōsokabe clan, 100 articles
・Jinkai-shū, Kōshū Hatto no Shidai, and Imagawa Kana Mokuroku are especially frequent in textbooks.
Common features of domain laws included:
① Mutual punishment in a quarrel (private fighting among vassals was strictly prohibited, and both parties were punished)
② Prohibition of vassals selling their estates (to maintain the economic foundation of the vassal groups)
③ Prohibition of marriage without the daimyo's permission (to prevent unauthorized marriages between vassal families)
④ Collective responsibility (relatives and neighbors shared responsibility for a vassal's crime)
A castle town was a planned city built around a Warring States daimyo's castle, bringing together vassals, merchants, and craftsmen. Locations shifted from mountain castles to hirayamajo and hirajo on or near plains. Vassals were made to live together in the castle town, promoting the separation of warriors from farming villages, a forerunner of later separation of warriors and farmers. Representative examples include Odawara (Hōjō), Fuchū (Suruga), Kasugayama (Uesugi), Gifu (Nobunaga), Yamaguchi (Ōuchi), and Ichijōdani (Asakura).
Jinkai-shū Date clan (Date Tanemune), 171 articles
Kōshū Hatto no Shidai Takeda clan (Takeda Shingen), 55 articles
Imagawa Kana Mokuroku Imagawa clan (Ujichika → Yoshimoto)
Articles of Asakura Takakage Asakura clan, 17 articles
One Hundred Articles of Chōsokabe Motochika Chōsokabe clan, 100 articles
Further Study (Background and Influence)
The rule of mutual punishment in a quarrel in domain laws was revolutionary. In earlier society, self-help justice, summarized as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” was taken for granted. The daimyos unilaterally prohibited it and monopolized the settlement of disputes. This suppressed private conflicts among vassals and strengthened daimyo power. It later influenced the practice of mutual punishment in a quarrel during the Edo period.
Castle towns were pioneers of urban planning. Areas were zoned into warrior residences, merchants' districts, craftsmen's districts, and temple districts, while streets were arranged in grid patterns. Ruins such as Ichijōdani (Asakura), Tsutsujigasaki (Takeda), and Kasugayama (Uesugi) reveal the urban structure of the period.
Merchants and craftsmen who gathered in castle towns later became the leaders of early modern commerce. In particular, Sakai (a self-governing city ruled by wealthy merchants called the naya-shū, and the birthplace of Sen no Rikyū), Hakata (a center of overseas trade), and Kyoto (where townspeople revived the Gion Festival) prospered even amid warfare.
- Domain laws = laws governing the domains of Warring States daimyos; development of the Goseibai Shikimoku
- Jinkai-shū = Date clan; largest at 171 articles
- Kōshū Hatto no Shidai = Takeda Shingen
- Imagawa Kana Mokuroku = Imagawa clan; used until just before the Battle of Okehazama
- Mutual punishment in a quarrel = common rule in domain laws; prohibition of private fighting
- Castle town = planned city centered on a Warring States daimyo's castle
- Sakai = self-governing city, naya-shū, birthplace of Sen no Rikyū
- Hakata = overseas trade center; Kyoto = Gion Festival revived by townspeople
Points of Caution (Easily Confused)
① Distinguish the Goseibai Shikimoku (Kamakura) from domain laws (Warring States period). They were connected, but belonged to different periods and had different scopes of application.
② Do not confuse Jinkai-shū (Date Tanemune) with Kōshū Hatto no Shidai (Takeda Shingen). A mnemonic is “Jin = Date” and “Kōshū = Kai = Takeda.”
③ Castle towns (Warring States and early modern periods), temple and shrine towns (towns formed in front of temples and shrines), port towns (such as Hakata and Sakai), and post towns (later in the Edo period) are different concepts.
④ Sakai's naya-shū were wealthy merchants who governed the city autonomously. Before it was called “the nation's kitchen,” Sakai was one of the world's leading cities during the Warring States period.
Practice
- Give the name of the domain law established by Takeda Shingen.
- Give the name of the rule commonly found in domain laws that prohibited private fighting among vassals.
- Give the name of the free city autonomously governed by wealthy merchants called the naya-shū during the Warring States period.