Matsura-to: Pirate-warriors in northwestern Kyushu, Japan, 1150--1350.

摘要

This dissertation deals with the origins and early development of the Matsura-to, a group of pirate-warriors who controlled the northwestern Kyushu areas in medieval Japan. It focuses on the forms of organization of the Matsura-to from the late Heian to the late Kamakura periods in order to present the basic nature of ikki (league or confederation) and to (league of bands) in their earlier stage.;Using as its primary sources not only Matsura-to family documents but also reliable contemporary or later-compiled supplementary works such as Bakufu chronicles, diaries of courtiers, Korean chronicles, and genealogical records, it stresses the dual nature in the formations of the Matsura-to, that is, horizontal fragmentation as well as vertical consolidation: the Matsura-to as kinship affiliation represents the loose, divisive relations among coequal kindreds whereas the Matsura-to as regional affiliation represents the solid, tightened top-to-bottom relations among unequal kindreds and nonkindreds.;The study argues that political upheavals such as Mongol invasions sometimes provided the momentum for Matsura-to coequals to unite: those Matsura-to kindreds grouped together to form wider horizontal confederations while utilizing the individual, vertical bonds with their nonkindred inferiors. However, those interfamily assemblies were far from permanent ones: while coping with their outside enemies, Matsura-to families continued to be at odds with one another in internal matters such as headship and inheritance disputes.