The territorial basis of early counties and the process of their proclamation in ancient Japan

Abstract

The administrative area of Kohri, the early form of 'county' in late seventh century Japan, has been regarded as a succession to the territory previously held by a specific powerful clan. In this paper, the author has surveyed the distribution of ancient tombs and has reexamined the folklore on the powerful clans in the provinces of Tango, Wakasa, Hitachi, Ise and Harima. As a result, Kohri can be classified into four types: A) those consisting of the area ruled by specific powerful clan; B) those contianing the area ruled by specific powerful clan as a part; C) those containing the areas ruled by plural powerful clans; D) and those not containing the specific areas ruled by powerful clans. Among these types, the old image of the territory of Kohri assumed they were all type A. However it is remarkable that thre were many cases of types B, C and D. This means that the territory of Kohri was demarcated not only by succeeding to the territory of a specific powerful clan, but also by following a policy of the ancient state. Examining historical records, it has been found that type B was standard, but A was not. The process of the establishment of Kohri is summarized. The territory of Kohri is fundamentally a region that was formed by the political intention of the ancient state, and the character as a formal region is stronger than that as a substantive region.