Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident

408 Pages·2020·6.196 MB·English

by  Fumiko Miyazaki, Kate Wildman Nakai, Mark Teeuwen

Christian Sorcerers on Trial

Christian Sorcerers on Trial
Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident
Translated and with an introduction by Fumiko Miyazaki,
Kate Wildman Nakai, and Mark Teeuwen
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press wishes to express its appreciation for assistance given
by the Wm. Theodore de Bary Fund in the publication of this book.
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup . columbia . edu
Copyright © 2020 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Miyazaki, Fumiko, translator. | Nakai, Kate Wildman, translator. |
Teeuwen, Mark, translator.
Title: Christian sorcerers on trial : records of the 1827 Osaka incident / translated
and with an introduction by Fumiko Miyazaki, Kate Wildman Nakai, and
Mark Teeuwen.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019050828 (print) | LCCN 2019050829 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780231196901 (cloth) | ISBN 9780231196918 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780231551885 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Osaka (Japan : Prefecture )—C hurch history— To 1868. |
Martyrdom— Christianity. | Osaka (Japan : Prefecture)—H istory— 1600– 1868.
Classification: LCC BR1310.O7 C47 2020 (print) | LCC BR1310.O7 (ebook) |
DDC 272/.90952— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019050828
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019050829
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable
acid- free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Milenda Nan Ok Lee
Cover image: Fūryū ningyō no uchi: Watōnai, O-tsuji, Bōtarō. Artist: Utagawa
Kuniyoshi. Description: The print depicts a famous scene from a play in which a
woman seeking the success of a vendetta performs water austerities with great
determination. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
CONTENTS
acknowledgments vii
maps x
introduction xv
translation strategies xxxvii
main protagonists xli
PART I: TESTIMONIES 1
Chapter 1. Sano and Her Associates 3
Chapter 2. Kinu and Her Associates 35
Chapter 3. Mitsugi, Mizuno Gunki, and Wasa 53
Chapter 4. Gunki’s Male Disciples Umon and Heizō 81
Chapter 5. Gunki’s Associates and Son 100
Chapter 6. Kenzō and Others Implicated in the Investigation 128
vi CONTENTS
PART II: THE JUDICIAL REVIEW PROCESS 141
Chapter 7. Submitting the Dossier for Review 157
Chapter 8. Deliberations in Edo 176
Chapter 9. The Senior Councillors’ Orders
and Their Implementation 203
Chapter 10. Aftermath 218
PART III: RUMORS AND RETELLINGS 231
Chapter 11. The State of the Floating World 241
Chapter 12. Night Tales from the Kasshi Day 268
Chapter 13. A Biography of Ōshio Heihachirō 277
appendix 1: mitsugi’s 1822 arrest 283
appendix 2: disposition of the proscribed books 287
appendix 3: manuscript versions of the keihan
kirishitan incident dossier 289
glossary 293
notes 299
references 341
index 347
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The idea for this book originated when one of the authors, Fumiko
Miyazaki, came across a facsimile manuscript titled “Record of the Case
of the Pernicious Sect” at the Historiographical Institute of the Univer-
sity of Tokyo. What immediately drew her attention was the wealth of
details that this judicial record dating from 1827– 1829 had to offer about
the lives of a group of people in Osaka and Kyoto who were accused of
engaging in subversive religious activities. The prominent place of women
in the incident added to the fascination of this material, and it struck us
as a compelling candidate for a new translation project.
This volume is a sequel to Lust, Commerce, and Corruption: An Account
of What I Have Seen and Heard, by an Edo Samurai, on which the authors
collaborated together with Anne Walthall and John Breen (Columbia Uni-
versity Press, 2014; abridged paperback, 2017). That book presented a
translation of a comprehensive critique of Japanese society as it appeared
to an Edo warrior in 1816. Like the vast majority of Edo- period sources,
the critique projects a male and upper- strata perspective on the circum-
stances of the time. The author undoubtedly would have felt that the 1827
incident confirmed his conclusions about the sorry state of contemporary
society, particularly as regards the activities of the marginal floating
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
population of urban residents whom he condemned as “idlers.” At the
same time, the records of the case offer a view from a quite different
angle into the world of such “idlers.” This second translation thus comple-
ments Lust, Commerce, and Corruption while also opening a window into
corners of late Edo society rarely visible in a manner this direct.
We have received advice and assistance from numerous people and
organizations in preparing this volume. We are indebted to the institu-
tions holding the two manuscript copies of the judicial record on which
the translation is based: the Historiographical Institute of the University
of Tokyo and the Center for Modern Japanese Legal and Political Docu-
ments attached to the University of Tokyo Graduate School for Law and
Politics. We would like to express our gratitude especially to Yabuta
Yutaka, professor emeritus at Kansai University, who offered his exper-
tise on matters related to the Edo- period administration of Osaka. The
maps were produced by Satō Hirotaka of Ritsumeikan University; the
Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages of Oslo Univer-
sity provided funding for them. The illustrations were edited for this pub-
lication by Chiba Azusa. Shimura Kiyoshi kindly allowed us to use his
redrawing of the Tobita execution grounds.

KYOTO MAP KEY
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH GUNKI 16. Sanbongi; where Umon first met
Gunki
1. Samegai, south of Gojō street; where
Gunki lived in rental housing owned PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH GUNKI’S FRIENDS
by his friend Tomitaya Riemon
2. Intersection of Kiyamachi and 17. Intersection of Akezu and Matsubara
Matsubara streets; Gunki’s final streets; residence of Nakamuraya
residence Shintarō
18. Intersection of Akezu and Gojō streets;
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH WASA residence of Kamaya Kyūbei
19. Chion’in Furumonzen Moto- chō;
3. Intersection of Shinbashi and Nawate residence of Tsuchiya Shōni
streets; teahouse operated by Wasa 20. Rental horse grounds north of
4. Intersection of Higashi- no- tōin and Gionsha; where Shōni first met Gunki
Nijō streets; residence of Wasa’s 21. Butsuguya- chō on the north side of
adoptive daughter Ito Kitakōji street; residence of Hōki
Masasuke
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH MITSUGI 22. Intersection of Nishi Ishigaki and Shijō
streets; residence of Matsusakaya Nihei
5. Yasaka Kami- chō; Mitsugi’s residence 23. West side of the Takase River, south of
6. Benten- chō off Shimokawara street; Matsubara street; residence of Minoya
where Mitsugi lived with Iori Kohachi
7. Nijō Shinchi; the brothel where 24. Intersection of Yanagi- no- banba and
Mitsugi worked Maruta- machi streets; residence of
8. Saiin; where Mitsugi first lived in Kyoto Teradaya Kumazō
9. Uchino Niban- chō; where Mitsugi’s 25. Shichiken- chō; residence of Minoya
brother and mother lived Bunsuke
10. Katagihara; native village of Mitsugi’s
adoptive son, Kamon TEMPLES
PLACE ASSOCIATED WITH KINU 26. Unseiji, intersection of Samegai and
Uonotana streets, south of Gojō street;
11. Nushiya- chō, off Shichijō street; where Gunki’s temple
Kinu lived with her husband 27. Daijōin, Nijō street, on the east side of
the Kamo River; Wasa’s and Mitsugi’s
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH SANO temple
12. Area in front of Kyoto Daibutsu; where OTHERS
Sano lived with her husband
13. Uma- chō; where Sano lived with Kinu 28. Kiyomizu; where Mitsugi and others
14. Area on Imadegawa street where Sano’s performed water austerities
grandparents lived 29. Nyakuōji; where Mitsugi and others
performed water austerities
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH UMON 30. Kyoto Eastern Magistracy
31. Kan’in princely house
15. Kami Goryō- mae; where Umon worked 32. Nijō house
as an Yijing diviner 33. Yamanoi house