Study on the Wealthy Leaders (dogo) and the Villages during the Period of Transition from the Medieval to the Early Modern Period

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This study takes a holistic approach to the analysis of the wealthy leaders (dogo) in the villages in order to better understand Japanese society during the period of transition from the medieval to the early modern period. Wealthy leaders (dogo) can be seen as the political, economic, and military representatives of the provinces and the villages. This research focuses particularly on the basic elements of their relationship with the village.The subjects of this study lived in villages in the Kanto Region where many of those families were to be found. Specifically, the Uematsu family in the village of Shishihama in the Uchiura region of Suruga Province ; the Okawa family in Mito village, and the Okawa families in Nagahama Village, both in the Nishiura region of Izu Province; the Mochida families in Arakawa Village in Musashi Province, and the Iizuka family in Sanbagawa Village in Kozuke Province.Firstly, using fieldwork data this study attempts to reconstruct the actual circumstances surrounding land cultivation and village life, and also the nature of land ownership by wealthy leaders. Secondly, it analyzes as both medieval and early modern history those writings passed down by village leaders from the age of civil war until the early modern era. The aim is to understand the true circumstances of family administration, and to gain an understanding of how these families operated and existed within the villages.The report consists of the following parts: an examination of the issue as a whole, the analysis of particularly relevant historical materials, the fieldwork report, a list of photographs, and a collection of as yet un-reprinted historical materials.