"Performance Evaluation of Medieval Samurai: Military Actions and the Reward System during the Nanboku-cho Period"

2019/10/09

Having studied Japanese medieval history at Keio University, I became a high school teacher in my hometown of Tochigi Prefecture after graduation. However, with the strong encouragement of my late supervisor, Professor Masahiko Takahashi, and my senior colleague Toru Urushihara (now a professor at Musashino University), I resumed my specialized studies in my second year of teaching. Eighteen years later, I was awarded a Doctorate in History from my alma mater's graduate school for my research titled "A Study of Shugo in the Eastern Provinces during the Nanboku-cho and Early Muromachi Periods." Since then, I have continued my research on medieval history, focusing on Shimotsuke. In the process, I began to have some doubts about whether the results of analyses based on official documents—which make up the majority of the historical materials—truly capture the reality of history. While I do not deny the importance of such heavy and systematic historical research, I have come to believe that we can catch a glimpse of the shining truth of history within the fragmentary wording of these materials.

The medieval period was an era of war; in particular, the Nanboku-cho and Sengoku periods were times when, to put it somewhat extremely, daily life existed within war. Usually, when discussing battles, the focus is on matters such as when and where they were fought, who the generals of both armies were, which side won as a result, and how that affected the subsequent political situation. However, in this book, I decided to address the actual situation of procuring military provisions (hyoro), which is essential for conducting war, as well as the weapons and combat methods used during battles, the actual conditions of people in various positions other than the samurai who were regular combatants, and issues regarding encampments and fortifications. This kind of microscopic examination of war itself has actually become popular in academic circles in recent years. Although each is a minute issue, I believe that considering these things is actually effective in grasping the society of the Nanboku-cho period.

In this book, as a premise to those issues, I also explain how the military merits of medieval samurai were evaluated in the first place, using "performance evaluation" as a keyword. I follow the flow of procedures while introducing related documents such as military mobilization orders (gunzei saisokujo), arrival notices (chakutojo), reports of military merit (gunshujo), letters of recommendation (kyojo), letters of commendation (kanjo), and land grant documents (ategaijo). I also introduce recent research trends regarding this subject.

Performance Evaluation of Medieval Samurai: Military Actions and the Reward System during the Nanboku-cho Period

Kazuo Matsumoto

Ebisu Kosyo Sensho

196 pages, 1,800 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.