Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Kida Sadakichi

1. Preface

What was the inherent nature of those unfortunate people once called "Eta," and through what circumstances did they fall into such pitiable conditions?
I believed this resolution was not only the most essential task for my research on Japanese ethnic history but also an issue that absolutely needed understanding first and foremost to achieve true reconciliation between these people and mainstream society.

Regarding this matter, I felt profound discomfort at the use of the unsympathetic characters “穢多” (Eta, derogatory).
As for what origins the name “Eta” possessed and what significance it held, I had already presented my observations in the separate section titled “Eta Name Analysis.”
Even if its significance were indeed as such, the characters “穢多” were undoubtedly phonetic substitutes used to represent the term “Eta.”
However, even if these were phonetic substitutes, there might have been some rationale for using these characters in an era when superstition led people to regard them as defiled. But now that we understood that handling meat and leather did not constitute impurity—that the gods did not abhor such acts—there was no need to persist with these offensive phonetic substitutes into the present age.

To speak truthfully, the appellation “Eta and Hinin (derogatory)” was abolished in the fourth year of Meiji (1871), so thereafter there should be no such thing as “Eta” in existence. Therefore, if at all possible, I wish to never utter this detestable term.
However, when elucidating past history, I cannot avoid this term entirely.
I too, though reluctantly, intend to use this term frequently in the main text hereafter; that said, I wish to avoid as much as possible the unsympathetic characters "穢多" (Eta).
Given that these are ultimately phonetic substitutes used to represent pronunciation, one could employ any Chinese characters desired. Therefore, I wish to use the characters 恵多 (“blessed many”), praying that divine favor may abundantly grace their future.
However, these characters are far too unfamiliar, and given concerns that readers may struggle to grasp their intended representation of what was once called "穢多" (Eta, derogatory), I shall endeavor for the time being to employ katakana or hiragana wherever possible.
In cases where Chinese characters must unavoidably be used, I hope that both myself and others will endeavor to revise them to the characters 恵多 (“blessed many”).

The purpose of this work lay in clarifying what position the so-called Eta occupied within our Japanese nation. For explanatory convenience, by presenting its conclusion first and stating my conviction in brief, it came down to this: those once called Eta were in no way ethnically distinct from those now termed the Japanese nation. It was precisely through their occupations and circumstances—having undergone various historical developments—that what became known as Eta during the Tokugawa period took shape. Even if its lower reaches formed a great current called Eta, its headwaters differed little from the ancestors of other common people. Within this flow, those who took unfortunate paths—from distant mountains and nearby valleys—converged in various ways, ultimately forming a great river called Eta. Had one traced these headwaters of main and tributary streams, they would have found them by no means all base. Moreover, even streams deemed base did not all become what later came to be called Eta. Some entered Hinin groups and were early emancipated; others became ordinary citizens without passing through the Hinin class; while a not insignificant number of ordinary citizens later converged there as well. Those formerly called Eta and currently recognized as special community members could be said to exist in nearly all regions nationwide, excluding Hokkaido and Okinawa Prefecture. In Hokkaido too there were migrants of such lineage, but having been early emancipated, they were not recognized as special community members. In regions with significant demographic influx like Tokyo, those forgotten were exceedingly numerous.

Those recognized as special community members at that time were most densely concentrated from the Kinai region to nearby areas such as Hyogo, Wakayama, Mie, and Shiga when compared numerically to the general populace. The Chūgoku region including Okayama and Hiroshima showed the next highest concentrations, followed by Shikoku and northern Kyushu. In Kantō, Saitama and Gunma prefectures had relatively large numbers, but their presence gradually diminished as one moved away from the center toward southern Kyushu and northern Ōu—in Aomori Prefecture, only a single community of 224 individuals was counted.

However, given that they were so widely distributed across the land, it was difficult to consider that they had solely propagated and migrated from a single source. It was easy to imagine that those who originally had different origins across various regions—those who existed under the same conditions—were later collectively subsumed under the same cruel legal designation of “Eta” (defiled). Therefore, depending on the region, there were still those that used different names to this day, and not a few places did not even know the name “Eta”.

2. Eta's Headwaters

The Eta of the Tokugawa period had two centers: Edo and Kyoto.
In Edo, the renowned Danzaemon served as "Eta chieftain" over twelve provinces spanning from Kantō's eight provinces to Kai, Suruga, Musashi, and Mutsu (including portions of Sanuki and Tōtōmi), governing 7,528 Eta and Hinin households at that time according to his written report from the twelfth year of Kansei (1800).
Meanwhile, in the Kamigata region, Shimomura Katsusuke in Kyoto had received a shogunal charter for over 109 koku of land and, as "Eta chieftain," exercised authority extending from Yamashiro to parts of Ōmi and Settsu.
However, in Kamigata following Shimomura Katsusuke's death in the fifth year of Hōei (1708), his position was abolished, leaving each village with Eta elders who governed only their direct subordinates.
In other provinces, it appears local lords had fully delegated control to Eta chieftains in accordance with regional customs.

In such circumstances—since there existed no great chieftain commanding universal reverence among all Eta during the Tokugawa period apart from Danzaemon of Edo—Danzaemon’s regulations naturally came to be regarded as laws governing both Eta and hinin. Even transmitted scrolls of the Kamigata-region Eta frequently invoked Danzaemon’s authority; yet given that Danzaemon himself was said to have originally migrated from Ikeda in Settsu Province to Kamakura, it stands to reason that many who had previously resided in various regions later became incorporated into his group. This confirms that the origin of the Eta nevertheless lay in the Kamigata region.

Moreover, even within that Kamigata region, Kyoto had long been recognized as the "headwaters of Eta." Therefore, when conflicts arose in regional areas and they found themselves at an impasse in reaching decisions under their unwritten laws, they would frequently come to Kyoto—referred to as the "headwaters of Eta"—to seek clarification on Eta customs.

In the seventh month of 1712 during the Shōtoku era, a jurisdictional dispute erupted between Eta communities and tea whisk artisans in Bingo Province. Consequently, Fukuyama's two Eta chieftains—Sekisuke and Kuronosuke from Miyoshimura Village—journeyed to Kyoto under their feudal lord's directive to consult established precedents. As recorded in the memorandum of Rokujō Village elders,

This time, regarding the matter between the tea whisk makers of Bingo Province and our contact group, a dispute arose; thereupon, by order of our lord, [we] proceeded to Kyoto—the headwaters of Eta—and were instructed to inquire into the circumstances of the matter of precedence between the tea whisk makers and Eta. However, the tea whisk makers of Bingo and Bitchū Provinces asserted that they performed their duties without being under Eta’s jurisdiction, leading to the dispute.
Therefore, the Fukuyama Eta chieftains requested to present in detail the particulars of the aforementioned dispute to the Kawata heads in Kyoto, and thereupon brought a written document.

Petition

1. Regarding the present matter of precedence between Kawata Village and tea whisk makers in our domain, when we reported to the magistrate’s office as done in previous years, they instructed: “Your heads shall proceed to Kyoto’s Kawata Village and make inquiries,” thus issuing this directive.
Therefore, we humbly present our inquiries to each honorable party.
Having received a detailed explanation of the particulars, we are deeply grateful. Hereby concluded.

Shōtoku 2 (1712), Seventh Month | Bingo Province, Fukuyama, Kawata Miyoshimura Village

Sanhachikyūrōsuke

Ditto Sekisuke

Kyoto Kawata Village

Honorable Heads

The resolution of this dispute was that while the tea whisk makers claimed to be under the jurisdiction of Kyoto’s Shijōbōmon Gokurakuin Kuya-dō Temple, asserting their names were recorded in the temple’s old ledgers, an investigation yielded the response that “no such individuals are found in this temple’s historical records,” resulting in victory for the Eta faction.

In the third year of Kyōhō (1718), a dispute arose between the Eta of Morijiri Village in Kōka District, Ōmi Province, and the hinin Yojirō regarding the imposition of a one-tenth tax on kabuki stage fees, leading them to come to Kyoto for inquiry.
As a result, through the magistrate’s office’s ruling, it was settled that “all kabuki stage fees’ one-tenth shall be collected by the Kawata of Morijiri Village as instructed, whereupon the local guards entirely ceased collecting the one-tenth fees.”

What, then, is the meaning of this “headwaters of Eta”?

3. Origin of the Eta

In *Yōshū Fushi*, there exists a passage that cannot be overlooked by those investigating the origins of the Eta.

"In general, the origin of the Eta [穢多] lies in Kishōin Minami Kojima."

We cannot now ascertain what sources Kurokawa Dōyū relied upon in making this statement, but we must conclude that during the Tenna and Jōkyō eras of antiquity, there existed reliable legends enabling him to produce such a definitive account.
Kojima was a village in the vicinity of the Katsura River, corresponding to the ancient Ishihara Village.
And the renowned Sabori was situated to its northwest.
West of Kojima, along the Katsura River, there had been an old settlement formerly called Kakeage.
Perhaps that area had been part of Sabori.
The fact that these lands had served as burial and pasture grounds during the Heian period seemed to have a connection with *Yōshū Fushi*’s identification of Kojima as the origin of the Eta.
In the entry for the thirteenth year of Jōgan in *Sandai Jitsuroku* (Veritable Records of Three Reigns),

On the 28th day of the intercalary eighth month, an edict was issued establishing commoners’ burial grounds and pasturelands.
One site was located in Yamashiro Province, Kadono District: Gojō Araki Nishisato and Rokujō Hisauhara-sato; another site was in Kii District: Jūjō Shimoishihara Nishi-soto-sato, Jūichijō Shimosabori-sato, and Jūnijō Kamisabori-sato.
The imperial edict stated: “The aforementioned riverbanks are designated as commoners’ burial and pasture lands.”
Yet ignorant people, failing to comprehend its intent, vie to occupy [the lands] for their own benefit, wholly disregarding public convenience; provincial governors must therefore conduct frequent inspections and compel them to cultivate [the designated areas].
For violations of regulations, there are laws to address them.

So it is written.
This Sabori was the place where the renowned folk legend of Sai no Kawara originated.

Kojima was sometimes called simply Island (Shima), after the Meiji Restoration merged with the nearby Ishihara Village to become Ishijima Village, and is now an ōaza (administrative district) of Kishōin Village.
Ishihara, Sabi, Hisauhara, and Araki were all lands along the Katsura River, situated diagonally from southeast to northwest, contrary to the river’s current.
This allows us to estimate their approximate locations through research on the ancient jōri land division system in Kii and Kadono districts.
Among these, Sabori appears related to the name Sabori Ōji—the Second North-South Avenue in Heian-kyō’s Right Capital (next to Nishiōmiya Ōji)—where this great avenue extended southward to reach the Katsuragawa River, that is, Sabori’s riverbank.
Given that both Sabori and Ishihara were lands designated as burial grounds and pastures for commoners, there must have been people there who tended to these duties.
Is it not that these [people] eventually formed the origins of settlements such as Kojima (Shima) and Kakeage (Tsukiyama, Ōyabu)?
The land of Shima, along with the Kamo Riverbed, appears to have been a commoners’ cemetery even before this time; in the tenth month of the ninth year of Emperor Nimmyō’s Jōwa era (842), an entry in *Shoku Nihon Kōki* records that “the Left and Right Capital Offices and the Eastern and Western Hiden [charity fields] were commanded by imperial decree, provided with materials, and made to burn all skulls—over 5,500 in total—at Shimada and Kamo Riverbank.”
This Shimada would correspond to what would later be called Shima (Kojima).
Kamogahara refers to what is now the Kamo River’s riverbed. At that time, the Kamo River flowed unchecked, frequently flooding from present-day Kyoto’s Kawaramachi to areas like Teramachi, forming an expansive riverbed.
And it is surmised that the present-day Amabe Tribe—originally residents of this Kamogahara riverbed, later also called the Shijōgawara Craftsmen—had its origins in those who tended to the pasture and burial grounds there.
Is it not that those who lost their original occupations as falconry handlers and artisan households flowed into these islands and Kamogahara, forming the so-called riverbank dwellers, with some coming to be called Eta and others Amabe Tribe?
Therefore, in Kyoto—the so-called “headwaters of Eta”—it is understood that those who originally tended to funerals and pastures at Kamogahara and Shimadagahara riverbanks merged with displaced falconry handlers and artisan households, forming what should be considered the main current among Eta’s source streams.
Among these, the article in *Yōshū Fushi* stating “The origin of Eta (derogatory) lies in Kishōin’s southern Kojima” is thought to reflect oral traditions identifying there as the Eta’s initial location.

4. Eta and Falconry Handlers

The Etorī were originally artisan households under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Falconry Office and corresponded to what later became known as Esashi (falconry handlers). As I have discussed in the separate section *Etorī Study*, they were not necessarily outcasts originally. That this might also constitute a potential origin of the name Eta has likewise been examined in my *Eta Name Study*. The original residence of these falconry handlers was located in the Third Ward of Heian-kyō's Right Capital, where their name persists in Etorī Lane at the third block west of Sabori Ōji Avenue.

However, these falconry handlers—having lost their positions following the abolition of the Imperial Falconry Office due to growing societal aversion to taking life—drifted to the lands of Sabori and Ishihara along the Katsuragawa riverbank near their former dwellings. It is surmised they joined those tending pastures and funerals. This must undoubtedly have been the most natural progression.

Geographically, the Kakeage settlement—present-day Ōyabu and Tsukiyama—lay a mere twenty *chō* directly south from Etorī Lane's southern end at Nanjingokoro, while Kojima was situated just six to seven *chō* eastward. Crucially, the thirteenth year of Jōgan—when Sabori and Ishihara were designated burial/pasture lands—occurred eleven years after the Imperial Falconry Office's abolition in Jōgan 2, providing substantial evidence supporting this hypothesis.

The fate that awaited the falconry handlers of the defunct Imperial Falconry Office—stripped of their positions—could be inferred from the course taken by their counterparts under the Genroku-era Edicts on Compassion for Living Beings.

In the *Kyoto Government Office General Memorandum*:

Matters Concerning Falconry Handler Notices Within and Outside the Capital

1. Town Falconry Handlers: Thirty-Four Individuals

The numbers of these handlers were not fixed; they resided scattered in various locations, though when His Majesty made an imperial visit to the capital, the Imperial Falconry Handlers would present themselves.
During Lord Itakura Naizen-no-kami's residence in the capital, following an investigation, their number was fixed at thirty-four individuals, with a notice issued permitting only the killing of small birds.
Subsequently, when notices were presented to the shogunal deputy, from Lord Naitō Yamato-no-kami's tenure as deputy onward, notices ceased to be issued.
In May of Genroku 7 (1694), Year of the Dog, during Lord Obara Sado-no-kami's tenure as shogunal deputy, Koide Awaji-no-kami proposed: "It proves difficult to maintain falconry handlers without His Majesty's falcons."
As they possessed no other family occupation and faced starvation, it was ordered that henceforth they should become town hunters.

In September of the Year of the Sheep, Genroku 16 (1703), during Lord Matsudaira Kii-no-kami’s tenure as shogunal deputy, Mizuno Shinano-no-kami proposed that since the killing of animals had been prohibited in Kyoto’s town falconry handlers’ affairs, they should be ordered to cease [their activities]; thus, a written directive was issued to thirty-four falconry handlers.

So it is written.
When falconry was abolished and the stipend-losing falconry handlers, lacking other occupations, faced imminent starvation, they were permitted to engage in hunting as town hunters; however, even that killing was later prohibited altogether.
However, even in this case, since they likely still lacked other occupations as before, they must have resorted to becoming day laborers, rag pickers, field watchmen, geta menders, and engaging in other trades people despised—all to survive.
In Hōei 7 [1703], when field watchmen near Nakagawara River in Kitayama, Kyoto—opened by Jinbei—faced destitution and consequently joined the group under Rokujō Village’s Eta elders, becoming members engaged in geta mending, does this not narrate the same fate as that of falconry handlers who lost their stipends from the former Imperial Falconry Office—even if they were not the degraded remnants of town falconers liberated at that time?

The fact that butchers are called Etorī also speaks to the fate of the falconry handlers.
The people who came to the Katsura riverside and formed the foundation of the Eta likely did not simultaneously work as both gravekeepers and butchers. However, for those who took different paths—since their accustomed trade originally involved handling meat—it was only natural that they would flow into the slaughter of animals, much like how falconers, stripped of their stipends by order of the shogunal deputy, became town hunters.
Butchers do not constitute the entirety of former falconry handlers.
Falconry handlers constitute nothing more than a subset of butchers.
This has been discussed in detail in the separate section *Butchers Study*.
If liberated Etorī were to join the ranks of butchers, it would be natural for the name Etorī—familiar to Kyotoites—to extend to all butchers.
Is it not that here, all butchers came to be called by the name Etorī, and later, together with others engaged in outcast occupations, were collectively categorized as Eta—with the Kojima settlement south of Kishōin ultimately being recognized as the origin of these Eta?

The *Yōshū Fushi* also records matters concerning Kojima,

Here are those called Nobori. When guilty persons were exposed on the roads, paper flags recording their crimes and inscribed with their names were first affixed to poles and held aloft. These Nobori members daily took turns sweeping and cleaning the dust and debris outside Nijō Castle. They originated from those who handled impurity.

So it is written. This matter is also recorded in *Shiojiri* (as cited in *Kojiruien*),

Even now, the Nobori members of Shima (Kishōin)—another category akin to Hiden-in (charitable institutions), those who inscribe crimes and names on paper flags during punishments—daily sweep away dust and filth outside Nijō Castle. Is this not a custom dating from the medieval period?

So it is written.
"Nobori" derives from 幟 (nobori banners), a name obtained from the flags on which criminal charges were written.
They dealt with criminals and swept away filth.
This too was among their duties, and concerning these matters as well, it is thought that the people of Kojima—acknowledged as the origin of Eta—had originally maintained a special relationship.

5. Eta and Yōko

The matter of Yōko has been discussed in detail in the separate section *Yōko Study*.
They were people of zakkō artisan households engaged in miscellaneous occupations other than farming, originally placed outside the citizen registry; however, since at least the reign of Emperor Shōmu—when it was been decreed that zakkō be liberated and made equal to commoners—they became unquestionably good citizens.
Not only were they dispersed and settled in various regions, but the fact that they also resided within Kyoto’s major government offices and engaged in miscellaneous crafts, labor, and cleaning can be inferred from an old Daigaku-ryō diagram depicting a Yōko district.
Even entities like Tō-ji Temple’s Sanjō Hōshi—frequently appearing in documents from the Northern and Southern Courts through Muromachi periods—appear to have belonged to this category.
The fact that Sanjō Hōshi cleaners and others obtained the name Sanjo has been discussed in the separate section *Sanjo Study*.
These government office-affiliated Yōko naturally lost their positions as imperial discipline slackened and the offices fell into ruin; their descent into the same fate as that which befell the Imperial Falconry Office’s falconry handlers was undoubtedly inevitable.
The fact that the Amabe tribe—originally at Shijō Kawara—still retains the name Amabe today can likely be attributed to certain capital-dwelling Yōko who lost their positions, fell into menial occupations there, yet preserved their name.
The Amabe tribe originally resided at Shijō Kawara—the present-day site of Teramachi Daun-in Temple—and by the Northern and Southern Courts period appear to have been called craftsmen.
*Gion Santioryū Konkyūki* (included in *Zoku Gunsho Ruijū*) states:

On June 16 of Jōji 4 (1365), ninety Shijō Kawara craftsmen were summoned and dug torii foundation pits.
Sake allowance: one and a half strings.
Since the holes remained insufficient, using this [method/tool], they dug additional foundation pits.
For the lumber procurement funds of 1 kan 500 mon: though the initial carpenters [recorded/marked] damaged materials, as the allocated funds proved insufficient, [for divine purposes], Kawara craftsmen downstream from Horikawa [provided] nine logs (over 9 sun in circumference) and Tamba Saburō’s twenty pieces of framing timber; borrowing the Hōkyō Bridge from the Horikawa vicinity at dawn, they delivered [these] to shrine personnel today for miscellaneous duties.
...
It is recorded.

For further details on the relationship between Eta and craftsmen, please refer to the next section.

The *Geien Jisshō* interprets “Amabe” as being equivalent to Eta:
“The communities of Eta are referred to as Amabe.”
Upon examining the *Wamyōshō*, among village names recorded across various provinces, those termed Yōko numbered up to ten or more in a single province.
(Omission).
In ancient times when imperial virtue flourished, those who came to submit from Tang China and the Three Han states filled the pages of national histories without cease.
(Omission).
The uncouth ones were divided and placed across various provinces at that time, each forming their own villages without intermingling with native inhabitants.
Therefore, their communities came to be called Yōko.
Generally, foreigners were accustomed to butchering animal meat.
Therefore, they took up butchery as an occupation.
“When Buddhism flourished in later ages and people began avoiding human and animal meat consumption, they eventually came to view butchers as something not of humankind.”

Of course, this constituted a grave misunderstanding, but whether these theories were compiled into books, vulgar claims such as “the Eta are descendants of foreigners” were frequently circulated among the populace.

It went without saying that Yōko were not necessarily foreigners, nor were they Eta.
There had been many places across the provinces that bore the name Yōko, but beyond Kyoto’s Amabe tribe, I knew of no significant instances where they became Eta.
However, Kyoto’s Yōko—like the liberated falconry handlers of the Imperial Falconry Office—lost their occupations and either settled at Kamogawara to engage in menial tasks for Kyotoites such as cleaning, leatherwork, and other outcast trades, or joined the ranks of butchers. Consequently, they inevitably came to be recognized as part of Eta communities due to parallels in status and occupation—mirroring the fate of the falconry handlers of Ishihara Village, namely Kojima.

6. Eta and Riverbank Dwellers

In later periods, merely saying "riverbank dwellers" immediately invoked the label of *hinin*—a term particularly used contemptuously for kabuki actors—but in ancient times, the distinction between Eta and *hinin* remained unclear, and Eta were also called riverbank dwellers.
In the *Shimogakushū* from Bun'an 1 of the Muromachi period (1444):

Eta (butchers; riverbank dwellers)

So it is written.
At that time, both butchers—those who handled animal meat—and riverbank dwellers who lived by the river and engaged in menial occupations were collectively called Eta.
Rather, it may have been that some riverbank dwellers were simultaneously butchers, causing their names to become shared.
This also appears in the Muromachi-period *71st Occupational Poetry Contest* under the title “Eta,”

Though human, thus beasts—horses and cattle—

Even when riverbank dwellers gaze at the moon—what of it?

So it is written.
Furthermore, the *Ainōshō* (Bun’an 3 [1446]) states:

"What characters are used for ‘Etsuta’ in ‘riverbank dwellers Etsuta’?"

Titled as such, it explained that Eta were falconry handlers.
Thus, it can be inferred that by at least the Muromachi period, Eta were sometimes referred to as riverbank dwellers.
In particular, this article in the *Ainōshō* likely required such an explanation because while "riverbank dwellers" had been the common term until then, people found it strikingly novel that they were now being called "Eta" around this time.

The fact that Eta were originally called riverbank dwellers was acknowledged even by later Eta communities. Among the various Eta scrolls transmitted within their communities, many appended forced explanations regarding this matter. In a document titled *Kawara Saiku Yuishoki* (Record of Riverbank Craft Origins):

These craftsmen called Kawara Saiku craftsmen—as leatherworkers cannot become such without being near water—in ancient times migrated to riversides for this occupation. Therefore, they were called Kawara Saiku craftsmen (do not confuse with riverbank dwellers).

So it is written.

I will discuss the matter of craftsmen in a later section.
That the Eta bore the name "riverbank dwellers" was indeed confirmed by the text cited above, but it proved particularly noteworthy that a marginal annotation expressly stipulated, "They must not be confused with riverbank dwellers."
In later eras, what became commonly called riverbank dwellers consisted of vagrants whom they deemed inferior; thus did they elevate their own standing to prevent such conflation.

Another variant called the Kawaragawa Scroll records the Eta as Kawarahito,

"The ancestral deity reverently called Kawarahito," it states, "is Tenjiku Bishari-koku Daiō, Prince En Tarō."
...

In variant texts, this Prince En Tarō is also referred to as Entara—a name that appears to have been devised to explain the etymology of the term "Eta."

Furthermore, in a variant titled *Kawara Saiku Yuishokan*, it was written as "riverbank crafts."

The reason this occupation came to be called riverbank crafts was that leather processing could not be properly conducted without flowing water; therefore, those who engaged in this work were required to always operate in riverbank areas.
Hence it was termed riverbank crafts.
Those who practiced this occupation were permitted to freely construct their residences along riverbanks.

So it states.
As I previously mentioned regarding the Amabe tribe being once called Shijō Kawara Saiku, this refers precisely to these riverbank crafts.
Furthermore, an undated document from Meiwa 7 (Year of the Tiger) in early spring—signed by a certain Inbe Kawata, a *gohōshi* palace attendant—also records that their ancestral deity was enshrined as Kawara Shrine at Abe Kawara in Watarai District, Ise Province.
That some among them were once called riverbank dwellers remains utterly beyond doubt.
For further details on riverbank dwellers, I direct readers to the separate section titled *Riverbank Dwellers Study*. In essence, those once designated by this name comprised what would today correspond to lower-class laborers inhabiting flophouses, miscellaneous entertainers, or temporary day workers. Among these groups, those involved in leatherwork became Eta, while those engaged in celebratory events or entertainment came to be known in later periods as so-called riverbank dwellers.

7. Eta and Cleaning

Even during the Tokugawa period, there were regions where an outcast class called "cleaning" existed alongside the Eta.
As I wrote in Volume 1, Issue 2, page 38 of this journal, in Awa they often became puppeteers and gidayū reciters alongside Sarukai.
The cleaning class appears to have been numerous in Awa’s Mima and Miyoshi regions, but in other areas likely became absorbed among the Eta, Sarukai, and Chasen groups.
In the Kyoto region, the Eta under the leadership of Shimomura Katsusuke at the beginning of the Tokugawa period had the cleaning of Nijo Castle as their official duty.
Furthermore, those called palace cleaners who performed cleaning duties at the imperial palace were also Eta from the Kyoto vicinity.
The *Yōshū Fushi* states:

Those who sweep and discard dust and debris in the imperial palace grounds are called Fukai. These are people from Tanba Yamakuni.

states, and in the Shiojiri (cited in Kojiruien),

Those who sweep dust and filth from the imperial palace’s earthen walls come from Tanba Yamaoka (erroneously written as 国), and this role is called Kiboshi (palace cleaners). Is this not what is meant by “covering and discarding filth”?

According to these records, while they may have originally come from Yamakuni, by at least the Genroku and Shōtoku eras (1688–1716), the Kiboshi palace cleaners responsible for the imperial palace’s cleaning duties primarily came from the Amabe tribe. The Kyoto Government Office Memorandum states:

Amabe Village Kiboshi Palace Cleaners’ Duties

1. Regarding His Majesty’s Viewing: The Cleaning of Imperial Palace Grounds – Eight Kiboshi palace cleaners from Amabe Village were assigned to this duty for the following reasons.

From Saiin Village: Rice – 6 koku, 3 to, 3 shō, and 8 gō

Sanjō Nawate-ura: Same [rice] – 5 to 5 shō

Chion-in Higashigawa-batayashiki: Same [rice] – 1 to 1 shō 8 gō

Stipends were granted from these three locations as stated above.
Additionally, an official rice stipend of 4 koku was distributed in two installments during February and November.
When cleaning duties were ordered, seven gō of rice per person was allocated for midday meals.

Those mentioned above had been named Kiboshi palace cleaners since ancient times for their cleaning duties and were now granted an official rice stipend.
Six individuals were consequently stationed in Amabe Village.
Teramachi Imadegawa Shimochō: one person; Kamitachiuri Kudaru Hyōtan no Zushi: one person.
The aforementioned two individuals acted as messengers for official cleaning duties, working alongside the aforementioned eight individuals to fulfill their responsibilities.

So it is written.
The Rokujō Village Eta Elders’ Records also show that in Genroku 11 (1698), they compiled and submitted to the lord of Yodo Castle a written report on Amabe Village’s duty fields and Kiboshi stipend fields.

However, around June 1724 (Kyōhō 9), when the Kiboshi palace cleaners of Amabe Village had committed an indiscretion, their official duties were revoked and their seven-koku stipend was rescinded.
Subsequently, when Kyōhō 12 [1727] arrived, eight individuals from Yamato Tanbaichi and six other villages were permitted to serve as Kiboshi palace cleaners.
It is thought that their being supplied from Rendaigahara occurred after this period, but the exact date remains uncertain.
It is also thought that the Kiboshi palace cleaners may have come from elsewhere, with Noguchi Yojihei of Rendaigahara serving as their group head.
Noguchi Yojihei of Rendaigahara continued to serve in this role until the Meiji Restoration, and in Meiji 32 (1899), it is said that he submitted a petition regarding their lineage and was enrolled into the shizoku class.
(While there are indeed issues with this shizoku enrollment incident,) according to a 1760 petition copy submitted by Noguchi Yojihei to the palace cleaners’ leadership—which states, “This official and his lineage have served without incident for three generations since my ancestors’ time as Kiboshi palace cleaners”—the timeline aligns if duties were transferred to this party shortly after 1724.
I hope to further research and write about the Kiboshi palace cleaners separately, but in essence, they were cleaners employed at the imperial palace.
This is similar to how the cleaning staff at To-ji Temple were called Sanjo Hōshi; it appears they originally adopted a monk’s form.
In the *Kiboshi Lineage Document* submitted to Kyoto Prefecture in Meiji 32 (1899),

[They were] former monks who, at the time of the ancient honorable capital relocation (from Nara to Kyoto), accompanied [the imperial retinue] from the southern capital, migrated to Heian-kyō, and for dozens of generations unbroken, day after day attended to the imperial court’s inner affairs and honorable directives, serving in the honorable cleaning duty of purifying the palace grounds and garden perimeters.

So it is written.
I cannot say how much value this oral tradition holds, but just as there were surplus households at the Daigakuryō and Sanjo Hōshi temple cleaners at Tō-ji, it appears that from ancient times there were also those called Kiboshi palace cleaners responsible for cleaning duties at the imperial palace.

The connection between Eta and monastic appearance traced back to extreme antiquity. In Kishū province, there reportedly existed areas where they were formerly called Eta Hōshi ("Eta Monks"). The *Study of Lowly People* documents that in eastern regions, Eta were colloquially termed "Ettabōshi" (literally "Eta bonzes"). As recorded in the *Engishiki*,

The southern area of Kamo Mioya Shrine, although located outside the four boundaries, prohibited residence by unordained monks and butchers.

The text refers to these unordained monks as “Rōsō” and includes them among the Eta in the Kōan-era *Chiribukuro*. In the southern part of my home province of Awa, there existed a term called *Rōsō* for those of disheveled appearance. When we children looked untidy, people would laugh and say, “You look just like Rōsō!” The *Chiribukuro* states:

“Those ignorant of particulars call beggar-monks—who adopt the form of *shamon* ascetics yet lack monastic conduct—*ransō* (‘unordained monks’), while those receiving alms are termed *ransōgu* (‘alms-receivers’). Since these—hinin, katahi, eta, and others—were never clearly distinguished from one another, they conflated the terms and attached the name ‘hinin’ to ‘eta.’”

The aforementioned statement appears to reflect the actual conditions of the Kamakura period. If that is so, then the term *Kiboshi palace cleaners* can be interpreted not as deriving from *fukusu*—that is, spilling and discarding dust and debris—as stated in *Yōshū Fushi* and *Shiojiri*, but rather from *kiyome* (“purifiers”), those engaged in cleaning who adopted a monastic form.

The fact that cleaning laborers were called Eta during the Kamakura period is also most clearly substantiated by the *Chiribukuro*.

In the same work,

What manner of term is it that calls *kiyome* “Eta”?
Eta.
The root [of the term] should perhaps be said to lie in “falconry handlers.”
The term “feed” refers to feed for Shishimura falcons; those who took it are what was meant.

So it is written.
The author of *Chiribukuro*, while acknowledging that *Eta* derived phonetically from “falconry handlers” (*etori*), also explained the term because *kiyome* (purifiers) were called *Eta* at that time.
Kiyome was, needless to say, “purification”—the name for those who cleaned away filth.
The *Imamono-gatari* contained a story about a Fifth-Rank Chamberlain who followed a beauty to a Kiyome hut at Ichijō Riverbank.
That is to say, they were groups like the Kiboshi palace cleaners and Sanjo Hoshi temple cleaners, whom people during the Kamakura period grouped together with butchers and called Eta.
Whether the Kiboshi palace cleaners joined the Eta group because they were kiyome cleaners, or whether kiyome cleaners called Kiboshi emerged from the Eta group remains uncertain; however, it is undeniable that those engaged in the menial occupation of waste disposal formed yet another tributary to the Eta’s origins.

Incidentally.
The Kiboshi palace cleaners, beyond their duty of cleaning the imperial palace gardens, had the custom of presenting straw brooms and honorable straw sandals, and were even permitted to use lanterns bearing the imperial crest.
I do not know when this practice began, but it also serves as evidence that they were not originally regarded as particularly defiled.
The descendants of Noguchi Yojihei, head of the Kiboshi palace cleaners group, still possess those actual items and showed them to me.
Furthermore, in an explanation of tribal names under Nara Prefecture contributed by a certain Ryokuunsei to *Meiji no Hikari*, it is noted that Himekuri Iori of Umado, Kawanishi Village in Shiki District—a member of an old family that until the previous generation had presented the imperial court’s honorable Ota cords—is said to preserve crest-bearing official emblems and crest-bearing lanterns.
It is said that the descendants of Asada Gen'emon, an old family of Kami-Tajima in Miyake Village of the same district, also preserve imperial emblems for court use.
In the "Danzaemon Report" of Kyōhō 4 [1719] (cited in *Edo Official Key Secret Notes*), it states: "His Majesty the Emperor’s honorable Awai Kongō [linen fabric] was presented by the Yamato Province chieftain and received by us as stipend substitutes."
Additionally, the cleaning of the imperial flower beds was performed by eight individuals called Kiboshi palace cleaners under the chieftain, and we received stipends.
“Furthermore, it was reported that there existed various honorable bestowed items.” So it is written.
As with the well-known imperial kitchen officials, it can be known from these records that from a certain era onward, they sought connections and frequently gained proximity to the imperial court.

The relationship between the Eta and cleaning extended beyond these Kiboshi palace cleaners and Nijo Castle’s cleaning laborers. Before the Tokugawa period, cleaning had come to be understood almost as if it were the Eta’s primary occupation. In the Keichō Kenmon Sho (quoted in Kojiruien), the monk-prince of Tsukinowa-in Temple in Kōte, Bushū Province explained the Eta’s origins as follows:

"[The emperor] dispatched Minister Ono no Imoko as an imperial envoy to Tang China, through whom the Eta first crossed over.
(Omitted).
His descendants multiplied and were sustained by temple leftovers at mountain bases to clean shrines and temples—those of Ise’s Amano Mountain, Kōya’s valleys, Kitano’s shrine grounds, Gion’s Tsurumesō (shrine attendants), and Hiei’s Inugami shrine servants all existed for temple cleaning purposes."

The aforementioned account certainly held no value as an explanation of origins, but through this we could understand the actual fact that the Eta had made shrine and temple cleaning their occupation.
The Sanjō Hōshi of Tō-ji Temple would have been another such example.
Thus it was from the Kamakura period onward that these kiyome and others came to be collectively referred to as Eta.
A document issued in the third year of Daiei (1523) by Bettō Hōgen Yoshiyoshi of Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine to the chieftains of Yamanouchi and Fujisawa stated: "Subordinate cleaners of Hachimangū Shrine must perform [their duties] without negligence."
The cleaning of Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine had also originally been the duty of the Eta.
In Tokushima Domain as well, the nearby Eta performed the cleaning of the castle.

8 Eta and Craftsmen

As previously mentioned, when Kyoto’s Amabe community was once located at the site of Shijō Kawara Daigun'in Temple, they were called Shijō Kawara zaiku (riverside craftsmen). That certain Eta were referred to as craftsmen or artisans remains beyond doubt. Saiku Village in Mikata District, Wakasa Province, was originally recognized as an Eta village. According to reports by Mr. Makino Shinnosuke, who was engaged in compiling the Fukui Prefectural History, and Mr. Ueda Sanpei, a member of the same prefecture’s historic site investigation committee, there appear to have been two additional locations in Wakasa designated as special communities under the name *Saikubo*, recorded in the Bun’ei 2 Wakasa Ōtabumi. In the *Kawara Saiku Yuki-ki* (Record of Riverside Craftsmen’s Origins), previously cited and handed down among their comrades,

Regarding those investigating the origins of leather craftsmen: during the reign of Emperor Suinin, the 11th human emperor, there was a hero from Kōzuke named Tsunada Mutsumoeno Tani Nekotake who was recognized at the imperial court.
At this time, Sahohiko the petitioner instigated a rebellion.
By this, these two individuals having received the imperial edict to be punished, [they] immediately led out the imperial army and subjugated the rebellious people.
At this, the Emperor’s countenance brightened, his imperial gratitude profound.
An immense imperial reward was bestowed.
However, how could it be that...
The schemes of flatterers and traitors being barely exposed and reported, Nekotake alone incurred imperial censure.
He was additionally exiled to Tsukushi in Chikuzen Province.
Alas! How tragic that he met his end like a falling star in the land of exile.
At that time, there was a surviving child named Fukukuni.
(Saekuni [phonetically corrupted] as transmitted by the craftsmen)

So it is written.
It states that this Fukukuni began leatherwork under the instruction of Tenmemikoto, thereby becoming the progenitor of the Eta.
Another version records the surviving child’s name as Saekuni.
While this account is patently absurd and not worth serious consideration, we must acknowledge that they were indeed referred to as craftsmen.
The term “craftsmen” (*saiku*) served as a counterpart to carpenters and was not exclusively limited to leatherworkers.
Nevertheless, among these diverse artisans, those engaged in leatherwork ultimately became subsumed within the Eta community.
Consequently, when certain Eta came to bear the title of craftsmen, contrived legends likely emerged attributing their ancestry to figures like Saekuni.
An examination of Rokujō Village’s records reveals the term *Hiraba Saiku*.
This presumably encompassed leatherwork, straw crafts, bamboo bark crafts, and similar trades.
Regardless, these craftsmen handled leather—deemed ritually defiling—and fashioned footwear trodden underfoot, earning society’s contempt.
Across regions, the Eta were called *kawaya* (leatherworkers) or *kawabō*, with dialectal variants like *kawappō*, *kabō*, and *kanbō*.
Alternatively, their widespread designation as Kawata (leather workers) derived from these leather artisans.
Kawata (皮田) occasionally appears written as “皮多.”
Originally, this term saw broader and more frequent usage than “Eta.”
An antique map—likely depicting villages under Osaka magistrates during the Kyōhō era—marks all Eta settlements in Settsu and Kawachi as distinct entities, with only two labeled “穢多” (Eta) and the remainder “皮多” (Kawata).
The Eta near Kyoto were likewise predominantly Kawata in origin.
The “-ta” in “Kawata” might stem from a contraction of *kawato* (leatherworker), akin to *ototo* for younger brothers or *shiroto* for laypeople—or perhaps functioned as a meaningless suffix like those in *banta* (watchmen) or *maruta* (logs).
In any case, Kawata unequivocally denotes leather craftsmen.
*Senjamono Kō* posits that Kawata should be read not as “Kawata” but “Hiden.”
This theory claims the term originated from Kyoto’s Hiden’in hinin outcasts—with 悲田 written as “皮田” and pronounced “Kawata”—but I find this untenable.

As recorded in the aforementioned scroll, they lived along rivers and engaged in leatherwork, but as their population grew and could no longer sustain themselves through that alone, they opened fields along those rivers and took up farming. Therefore, it explains that they were called *Eda* (穢多; Eta [derogatory]) or *Kawata* (皮田; Kawata [leather workers]). Of course, this contrived connection is not worth considering, but the fact that they were called Kawata can also be discerned from this.

Therefore, it is evident that among those later called Eta, a great many were those who had been engaged in leatherwork and were thus collectively grouped into their ranks; this must indeed be said to constitute one of the principal tributaries among the various origins of the Eta. Moreover, these leather craftsmen were originally leatherworking artisan households and were not outcasts. For further details regarding leather craftsmen, I would ask that you consult the separate section titled “Craftsmen Study.”

9 Eta and Dyers

In ancient times， dyeing artisans—known by names such as Aoya indigo dyers，*aizomeya* indigo-dye specialists，or *konya* general dyers—were recognized as members of the Eta community.

In the *Yōshū Fushi*,

All *konya* (dyers) within and outside Kyoto who dye garments with indigo juice are designated Indigo Dyers (*Aoya*) or alternatively referred to as Indigo Artisans (*Aiya*).
Nowadays, *konya* has become the common term for dyers.
Among them, the Indigo Dyers were originally a type of Eta (derogatory).
Whenever there were punishments or executions, the Eta (derogatory) and Aoya were invariably required to attend the site and manage such matters.
Some crucifixions of corpses; some displays of severed heads.

So it is written.
This recorded actual conditions from the Jōkyō era (1684–1688) by Kurokawa Dōyū, but doubts remain regarding his claim that “Among them, the Aoya were originally a type of Eta (derogatory).”
According to the *Danzaemon Shojo*, Aoya dyers were supposed to be subordinate to the Eta; however, at least in the Kantō region, they were not considered Eta (derogatory).
The *Keichō Kenmon-sho* also stated that the Eta (derogatory) declared the Aoya to be under their authority.
However, in the Kansai region, they were incorporated into the Eta community and—under the command of Eta elders—were initially assigned cleaning duties at Nijō Castle; later they were ordered to serve as prison guards, carry out executions, and stand watch over executed criminals. Those called Aoya carpenters were commissioned to manufacture tools for punishments like burning at the stake, sawing, and crucifixion.
Some Aoya dyers devised pretexts to refuse this, but none could resist a land steward’s commands any more than one could silence a crying child.
Regardless of their origins, all who engaged in occupations like Aoya indigo dyeing, Konya general dyeing, Aizomeya indigo specialization, or Kasezomeya resist-dyeing were lumped together into their ranks.
These circumstances are detailed in the separate “Aoya Study” section and will be omitted here; suffice it to say I have no doubt they were grouped thus due to occupational misunderstandings.
I suspect Aoya dyers originally used animal-based dyes in indigo work—a matter requiring textile historians’ input—but regardless, Buddhists deemed them base for this reason.
Their incorporation into the Eta ranks stands as the clearest proof that what later became known as Eta coalesced from diverse occupational streams.

The recognition of the Aoya dyers of Kansai as members of the Eta community dated back to before the Tokugawa shogunate.
This was evidenced by the *Miyoshi-ki* cited in another section.
Once they had become members of the Eta community, numerous obstacles naturally arose in forming marital ties with mainstream society, resulting in actual instances where some resorted to adopting children from Eta villages.
However, their occupations bore far too great a disparity from those commonly associated with the Eta.
Particularly among dyers, those such as safflower artisans who had used purely plant-based dyes from the outset were never deemed base.
When indigo dyers too began employing plant-based indigo and dispelled misunderstandings about being particularly defiled, they naturally distanced themselves from the Eta community.
Regarding duties like prison guard service, they disdained undertaking these roles themselves by paying substitute silver to the Eta; furthermore, it appeared they later withdrew entirely from such menial tasks.
This phenomenon—alongside the Enshū region's custom where even Eta could abandon their profession over time and become ordinary citizens—should serve as a prime example of how these groups were originally distinguished by occupation.

10. Eta and Midwives

The existence of Sanjo midwives as a type of outcast class had long been noted in works such as *Senjamono Kō* (*Study of Outcasts*) and *Ōmi Yochi Shiryaku* (*Brief Topography of Ōmi*), and this theory also appeared in Mr. Yanagita’s *Kyōdo Kenkyū* (*Local Studies*). I have already provided a detailed discussion of my research on this matter in the separate section *Sanjo Study*, so I would ask that you refer to that. It seems they originally resided in areas with birthing huts and made their livelihood by caring for women in childbirth. However, as the custom of birthing huts gradually faded in later years, they could no longer sustain themselves through that alone; some became cleaning laborers, others entertainers, until today they have nearly vanished from all regions. And some of them, as might be expected, merged into the ranks of the Eta, constituting what might be called one of the tributaries to the Eta’s origins, I believe. Indeed, in Tango there are special community members referred to as Sansho. The Sanjō Hōshi (scattered temple attendants) of Tōji Temple resided in the Kujō district of Heian-kyō, west of Shinano Kōji Inokuma; thus, it is thought that what later came to be called the Kujō Eta might have been descendants of this group. (This community disbanded early and no longer remains.) Even now, there are not a few regions where members of former Eta villages still maintain the custom of handling the disposal of childbirth waste; this is thought to be connected. According to a report by Mr. Shōichi Shimao in another section, tribal people referred to as Tōnai in Etchū Himi are said to still practice midwifery to this day. They are called *haba* or *habasa*, are summoned to the homes of women in childbirth, and take care of all matters. In the Misa area of Izumo, there was reportedly a custom of going to the Hachiya Tribe to give birth. These customs might very well be surviving remnants of the Sanjo midwives’ practices.

In addition to those Sanjo midwives who remained in their original birthing hut areas and became a distinct special class, there were also those who, like the Sanjō Hōshi of Tōji Temple, took on roles as cleaning laborers responsible for waste disposal and consequently became members of the Eta community as so-called purification workers—a process I had already discussed in the chapter “Eta and Cleaning.”
However, those who became entertainers—particularly puppet theater performers—though originally part of the same lineage, did not join the Eta; instead, they were long treated as Hinin. Yet having been liberated long ago, no one avoids them today.
Simple farmers would organize lively puppet plays at their tutelary shrine precincts during rice-planting breaks and autumn festivals, joining their ranks and performing puppetry without hesitation.

As for Sanjo, I hold another view, but shall defer that explanation to the *Sanjo Study*.

11. Eta and Shuku no Mono

What are now referred to as special communities are mostly former Eta; however, particularly in the Kansai region, there are many called Shuku that constitute a distinct category separate from the Eta. These were not despised to the extent of the Eta during the Tokugawa period; however, even now, not a few continue to be regarded as special. It appears that from the Eta perspective, they regarded themselves as leaders of outcasts and looked down upon them [the Shuku], but conversely, the latter seem to have claimed they were of better lineage than the Eta. As for the origins and historical development of the Shuku, I have already discussed this in detail in the separate section *Shuku Study*. In summary, the Shuku too were originally guards of imperial mausoleums (*mori-go*) who, though initially commoners, came to be despised due to their occupation; in terms of their degraded status, there appears to have been little difference between them and the Eta. However, when the Eta came to be specially despised due to their occupations, they [the Shuku] were excluded from this [designation], and thus were not reviled by society to the extent that the Eta were. It is not that all later Shuku were entirely mori-go; many likely came to bear that name due to similarities in social class. In any case, since they were despised by society, even among those originally called Shuku, those who engaged in occupations like leatherwork ultimately ended up joining the ranks of the Eta. "Shuku" can also be written as "宿," and given that many apparently established residences along riverbanks as well, there exist place names such as "Shukugawara" (Shuku Riverbank) in various locations. In Kansai, these [Shukugawara] existed in both the former Shimoshima District and former Muko District of Settsu Province; however, while the Shukugawara famous in *Tsurezuregusa* for a komusō’s vendetta is commonly understood to refer to the Muko District side, in truth it remains unclear which it actually was. The one in Muko District continued to be recognized as “Shuku Village” even in later periods, and according to Mr. Yoshii Yoshihide’s theory in *Muko no Kawachidori*, the “Genroku First Year Temple and Shrine Inspection Ledger” reportedly lists a branch village called “Shuku” in Nishinomiya Town. Later, Shuku was rewritten as Mori-gu, further read as Morigu, and now appears on maps as Morigu. However, even within Settsu’s Shukugawara, those in Shimoshima District served under the command of Kyoto’s Eta chieftain Shimomura Katsusuke as cleaners of Nijō Castle and were later assigned to duties such as prison guard service and executions. Their name is counted among the Kawada Village in Settsu Province’s thirteen villages. In the investigation report from Kyōhō 3 (1718), when three subordinates—Izaemon of Amabe Village, Gonbei of Rokujō Village, and Ōnishiya Shōzaemon—descended to Settsu Province for the reorganization of Kawada Village, it is recorded that in Shimoshima District, alongside the Eta villages of Nishitomita, Kishibe, and Suita, “Shukugawara comprises approximately twenty households, with two officials: group leaders Kizaemon and Jinbei.”

According to *Senjamono Kō* (*Study of Outcasts*), in Kii Province, among ten villages bearing the name "Shuku," the other nine were ordinary Shuku communities, but Karishuku Village within Natego's Umashuku Village of Naka District was recorded as Kawata (leatherworkers), marking it as distinct. This too—like Shukugawara in Shimoshima District of Settsu Province—likely became part of the Eta community due to their occupation, even if they originally bore the name Shuku.

Horamura Village at the foot of Mount Unebi in Yamato—thought to have originally comprised ryōko or morigo (imperial tomb guards)—was labeled as “Eta” (derogatory) on later-period maps. Had they been morigo, they would have qualified as commoners believed to form the Shuku’s origins; yet that community ultimately became an Eta village. Thus certain members of the Shuku came to constitute one of the headwaters feeding into the Eta’s formative stream.

12. People Who Joined the Eta Community Due to Circumstances

The chief priests of temples once ostracized as Eta temples had originally taken up residence there to proselytize the Eta and were undoubtedly not Eta themselves from the start. Therefore, that descendants who inherited this lineage naturally possess the qualification to receive special reverence as martyrs’ descendants is something I have already expounded upon in detail in the separate section *Special Communities and Temples*. Moreover, regarding Eta chieftains and elders as well, it is not difficult to imagine that there were not a few cases where those who had been controlling them from outside ultimately ended up joining their ranks.

It was said that Danzaemon of Asakusa had originally relocated from Settsu Ikeda to Kamakura and was ordered to govern due to the influence wielded by the chōri and those below them. Some even claimed he was an illegitimate descendant of Minamoto no Yoritomo, though no reliable evidence existed for this assertion. Even in ancient times, those called Tomobe no O who governed bemin groups were not necessarily of identical origin to those they ruled. Saeki no Sukune, leader of the Saeki unit composed of Emishi soldiers, was believed to have belonged to the Ōtomo clan. The Hajibe no Muraji, overseeing the Hajibe, was considered a descendant of Nomi no Sukune originating from the Izumo provincial governor family. However, when their subordinates' occupations became despised, this naturally tainted the status of their leaders. As the Hajibe managed funerals under their command, the Hajibe no Muraji gradually became disliked by people. Therefore Emperor Kanmu—who counted the Hajibe clan as maternal relatives—reformed their ancestral occupation, reassigning them to scholarly houses like the Sugawara and Ōe lineages. From these houses emerged eminent figures including Right Minister Sugawara no Michizane and Ōe no Masafusa and Ōe no Hiromoto. Had the Hajibe clan not changed occupations then and continued overseeing funerals into later eras, they might have eventually faced societal ostracism.

Someone like Elder Matsuura of Kyoto's Amabe community—originally from the Hirado Matsuura clan—was said to have sought seclusion there when the community's land remained vacant. During the Tenshō era (1573-1592), the Amabe community happened to relocate from Daun'in Temple's site at Shijō Riverbank to this area. As particular aversion toward them remained minimal at that time, the Matsuura clan reportedly came to live adjacent to them and ultimately assumed Eta elder roles.

Elder Ji-emon of Kyoto Kawasaki Village—present-day Tanaka Community—had originally been an outsider residing behind Rishōji Temple at Imadegawaguchi. His family still preserves Genroku 12 [1699] religious census records listing "Ji-emon Residence in Kamo District's Rishōji Temple Back Street"—not only had I resided there myself, but he also owned several rental houses where numerous townspeople lived as tenants. (Rishōji Temple stood west of Kamo River near modern Demachi.) When a dispute arose in Enpō 8 [1680] between Yosabee of Rokujō South Group and Kabei of North Group elders, leading them to petition the town magistrate's office, Ji-emon of Kawasaki Village and Jinzaemon of Senbon Noguchi mediated a peaceful resolution. The settlement document recorded him as "Ji-emon, elder of Imadegawaguchi." His name also appears in Kyōhō 6 [1721] settlement records.

Considering his family's oral traditions, Ji-emon likely originated as an external governor of the community who later joined its ranks and relocated within it. Viewed through later eras when Eta became specially despised, this might seem implausible; however, in antiquity such occurrences were neither particularly strange nor uncommon.

There are a great many who, while being Eta, claim descent from noble houses; it goes without saying that not everything they assert should be believed in its entirety.
For in former times, many among the Eta were rather affluent; thus, as they came to be severely despised by society, it is not unlikely that some—seeking to ennoble their own origins and respond to this stigma—commissioned scholars to fabricate genealogies.
There were not a few cases where down-and-out scholars took it upon themselves to solicit and create genealogies for profit.
During my visit to a certain puppeteer community in Hyūga, a majority of the villagers each possessed splendid genealogies tracing back to the Genji, Heike, Fujiwara, and Tachibana clans.
Moreover, all of these were from around the Genroku period and were recognized as likely having been produced by the same hand.
For these reasons, it goes without saying that many of the genealogies they transmit are no more credible—or perhaps even less so—than the numerous unreliable genealogies found in society at large; yet I think we cannot dismiss every single one of them as mere fabrications.

According to a communication sent from Nagasaki by Mr. Sakakibara Masamoto (Volume 1, Issue 6, page 43), it was reported that in that region, many Christian believers had taken refuge in semi-extraterritorial Eta communities to evade government persecution. There were also contradictory accounts on this matter; while I have not yet had occasion to conduct a thorough investigation, given the historical fact that missionaries of that era took particular notice of the Eta, it remains possible that some originally from Eta communities became ardent Christian converts. However, as oral traditions suggest, it seems equally plausible that those who persisted in their faith while sheltering in autonomous communities with relatively scant government oversight ultimately came to be counted among the Eta community members.

The aforementioned groups, though originally commoners outside the communities, became members due to their circumstances and should thus be counted as one of the headwaters constituting the stream of the Eta.

13. Social Dropouts and the Eta

The population growth of Eta community members was considerably greater than that of ordinary community members throughout the Tokugawa period.
This is as discussed in the separate section *Population Growth of Special Communities*.
And this population growth undoubtedly involved not only internal factors—namely the difference between birth and death rates—but also numerous external causes, as social dropouts flowed in great numbers to seek relatively peaceful lives there or use it as a suitable place to hide themselves.

In Hōei 7 (1710), within Kitayama Hachibei’s development in Kyoto, hut dwellers along Kamiya Riverbank—facing livelihood difficulties—submitted a written pledge and became subordinates of Rokujō Village to engage in geta repair.

Petition Statement

1. We humbly serve as field watchers in the Kitayama area.
However, for our livelihood, though we humbly ventured to the town to engage in geta repair, due to there being no elder responsible for leatherworker duties, we found work in town difficult. When we petitioned the elders of Rendaigahara Village regarding this matter, they declared: "As this village is a branch settlement of Rokujō Village, you must entreat Rokujō Village as the head village." Therefore, after consulting with Rendaigahara Village, we now respectfully request to be made subordinates of Rokujō Village and placed under its governance.
In accordance with this, we shall strictly abide by the intent of the laws decreed by the authorities.
Thus we humbly submit this written petition as stated above.

End of document

Hōei 7, Year of the Tiger, Eighth Month Kamiyagawa Group

Saburōbei (and fourteen others)

This stands as one example of guard hinin who ultimately became subordinates of the Eta and came under their governance due to livelihood hardships; however, it need hardly be said that even ordinary people, in their struggle to survive, were often compelled to engage in despised occupations and become their subordinates to secure employment.
In eras when the Eta had not yet come to be severely reviled, such instances were undoubtedly even more numerous.

That those who received the punishment of exile and journeyed to other provinces found it difficult to easily obtain a place of settled residence was as discussed in the separate section *Status and Occupations of Migrants*. Even if they were fortunate enough to settle within ordinary communities, their descendants for generations remained alienated as migrants. Moreover, the difficulty of securing livelihood resources until obtaining that settled residence must have been beyond imagination. In such circumstances, there must have been no small number who threw themselves into the Eta community to survive and sought a lifeline in relatively obtainable occupations. In Bunka 9 (1812)'s *Official Inspection Register of Eta Buildings Attached to the Granary in Tara Village, Kaifu District, Awa Province*,

1. One Household: Otoishi — Age 13

This individual’s great-grandfather Tarozaemon had been registered as an unregistered Eta in the Kyōhō 12 [1727] building inspection register; upon this occasion’s building inspection investigation, after various deliberations, they were instructed to be formally labeled as Eta and thus reported as stated above.
(Family members’ names omitted)

1. One Household: Kichibē — Age 46

This individual’s grandfather Kichibē [text omitted; remainder identical to previous entries] [...]

1. One Household Sukesaburō Age 34

This individual’s grandfather Gorōbei—though it remained unclear which Eta (derogatory) community he belonged to—migrated to this village years ago, built a house, and through his son Suke no Jō to his grandson Sukesaburō here, three generations had resided.
On this occasion of conducting the building inspection, though it was earnestly carried out, as the origins of the residents could not be ascertained, we humbly and respectfully reported this matter. After due deliberations, it was ordered that they be designated as Eta of this village.

and similar cases existed.
The term *mikakebito* referred to those without official household registration in a village who were found residing there and made to pay an observation fee; they consisted largely of vagrants from other provinces who had become settlers.
The aforementioned Otoishi, Kichibē, Sukesaburō, and others came from elsewhere during their grandfathers’ or great-grandfathers’ time and settled in this Eta village.
Whether they had already been Eta in their hometowns remained unknown; yet even if they had been Eta from the outset, when migrating to other provinces—individuals whose origins were indiscernible would hardly go out of their way to declare themselves Eta. Eventually, unable to secure suitable refuge, they settled into these Eta communities and ultimately became classified as unregistered Eta—or so it was reasonable to surmise.

There were likely many who sought safe refuge in this community—where society’s harsh winds did not fully reach—as a means to endure the world themselves. In revenge plays, there was often a plot where a filial son would disguise himself as a hinin to spy on enemies. In theatrical depictions, those with criminal records frequently appeared in full samurai regalia, acting arrogantly, while filial sons were portrayed as having fallen into hinin communities—a structure skillfully designed to elicit both hatred and sympathy from audiences. However, I believe that in reality, it was more often those with criminal records who sought safe haven among Eta or hinin communities. I have heard a true account of a retainer from a major domain who committed murder, became an enemy of the state, and ultimately hid in a community—now in its third generation. In an era when even those who committed lesser crimes—such as extortion or fraud—often lost their heads, those who had broken the law concealed their whereabouts and settled as mikakebito—people “unable to determine which Eta (derogatory) community they belonged to”—undoubtedly existed in exceedingly large numbers. Rumors that many criminals hide in the pits of coal mines and copper mines persist even today. Places where society’s light did not fully reach were not limited to coal mine and copper mine pits; in the past, they had also existed in Eta communities.

Such social dropouts should indeed be counted as one of the headwaters of the Eta.

14. Conclusion

To define the Eta as falconry handlers was also insufficient.
To define the Eta as butchers was equally inadequate.
As for claims labeling them Ainu or naturalized Han/Korean peoples—these deserved no consideration whatsoever.
The headwaters of the Eta, as outlined above, branched across numerous directions.
From these divergences coalesced the great torrent later generations termed Eta.
This resembled how tributaries—the Sahogawa, Hatsusegawa, Teragawa, and Asukagawa—merged to form the Yamatogawa, which then joined with the Tomioigawa, Katsuragigawa, Tatsutagawa, Katsushitagawa, and Ishikawa to become today's Shin-Yamatogawa.
Yet not all these headwaters wholly became Eta; from shared origins, some streams flowed into nobility, others into commoner status, while many became hinin who later gained liberation.
Among these, the Eta had settled earlier than those called hinin, securing stable occupations to serve as quasi-village officials.
Thus though sharing a common source, the Eta occupied higher standing than hinin—a hierarchy institutionalized through shogunal policy. However, as defilement clung tenaciously to the Eta but less so to hinin, society reviled them less intensely, allowing hinin earlier liberation.

As described above, the Eta, Hinin, and ordinary people were interrelated in such a way—their main and tributary streams intertwining like a mesh of a net—that they could not be represented by any simple genealogical chart.
Thus, if one traces this mesh to seek marital connections, even those later termed Eta would share some connection with all those referred to as the Japanese people—thereby making it clear that their distinction did not stem from ethnic causes.
Though the leatherwork and butchery occupations they engaged in were not necessarily considered lowly in their ancestors' time, unfortunately from the medieval period onward these came to be greatly despised by society; this naturally led to workers being demeaned, caused many who took up reviled occupations to flow into these roles, and further burdened them with numerous other despised duties—ultimately resulting in the pitiable circumstances of severe oppression witnessed in later generations.

Now that the designations *Eta* (derogatory) and *Hinin* have been abolished for nearly fifty years, the sanctity of occupations has also come to be recognized by society at large.

Moreover, that people at large still distinguish those once called Eta, and that they themselves often retreat into fortress-like enclosures among their own kind, stems entirely from longstanding customs and their practical lag of several steps behind worldly progress in both thought and daily life.
If society were to clarify where their headwaters lie while reflecting on occupational sanctity, the fundamental notion of their exclusion should naturally vanish.
If they too clarify their headwaters through self-reflection to avoid lagging behind societal progress—reaching parity with ordinary people in thought and livelihood—harmony between self and others would naturally emerge, dissolving barriers erected over decades.
To enable their achievement of this, society must first lift its oppression against them.
To have society accomplish this, they themselves must first strive to improve their thought and livelihood.
The crux lies in mutual effort; neither aspect can be neglected.
To properly realize this, both society and they must thoroughly investigate their headwaters’ origins, clarify their shared identity as members of the Japanese nation, and fundamentally eradicate customary delusions.

*

This work primarily sought materials in the Kyoto area, known as the so-called “headwaters of the Eta (derogatory).”
In the Tokugawa period, Edo became the political center, and consequently there were many cases where Danzaemon’s legal framework came to be regarded as the standard for the Eta; those who had traditionally discussed the Eta habitually sought materials from this system. Yet in the Kansai region, there also existed its own ancient customs and developments.
In other regions as well, many customs differing from those in Kantō remained.
Therefore, it was impossible to thoroughly investigate the headwaters of the Eta by relying solely on Danzaemon’s regulations.
This was precisely why I particularly sought many materials from the vicinity of Kyoto.
My research naturally did not presume completeness through this approach alone.
I intended to increasingly seek materials from various regions in the future and hoped to achieve a more comprehensive study in time to come.
I earnestly request that you gentlemen assist this research of mine: do not disdain even fragmented writings and scattered notes, nor discard what may seem trivial oral traditions; instead grant me the effort of providing and reporting these materials.
If you would transcribe and send me records of old customs still preserved in various regions—particularly historical accounts retained in elders’ knowledge—it would bring me the greatest happiness.

As I concluded, I expressed my respect to the gentlemen of various regions who had already provided much valuable material, and to the respected pioneers of the communities who granted me unimpeded access to investigations by understanding my true intentions. To Mr. Usui Kosaburō, who kindly permitted me to borrow from his abundant repository of materials, I offered my deepest gratitude.

The essays included below supplemented the arguments presented in this main text and attempted to provide detailed explanations across its various sections. Consequently, while I personally regretted the considerable overlap between them, I had to humbly ask for your generous understanding that this was indeed unavoidable to ensure the research was exhaustive in both broad and minute details. The portions that could not be included in this issue would be serially published in subsequent issues.