Paper short abstract:

Focusing on violence (the power that forcibly destroys or detains a person; or destroys or confiscates a person's property) as a tool to understand 13th-century Japan, this paper reviews definitions of the Kamakura Bakufu's laws and their consequences on the life of the Gokenin (shogunal retainers).

Paper long abstract:

Focusing on violence (the power that physically or forcibly destroys or detains a person; or destroys or confiscates a person's property) as a tool to understand thirteenth-century Japan, this paper reviews definitions of the Kamakura Bakufu's laws and their consequences on the life of the Gokenin (shogunal retainers). This paper consists of three sections. The first compares and reviews regulations on violence of the late Heian-period Imperial Court and the thirteenth-century Kamakura Bakufu. The second studies how these regulations changed throughout the 13th century. The last reviews how these regulations corresponded to the actual violence observed in the Gokenin's lives.

"Goseibai-shikimoku (Formulary of Adjudications)" is a major historical source, but it is not sufficient to understand specific details of the Kamakura Bakufu's laws. Tsuikaho (additional laws) and Satamirensho (the legal code guidebook for the Kamakura Bakufu's legal system) are also important, reciting crimes subject to criminal prosecution. The majority of such crimes were Youchi (night attack), Goutou (robbery), Sanzoku (banditry), Kaizoku (piracy), Satsujin (murder), and Houka (arson). Also, certain types of Akko (defamation) were defined as crimes because of their nature to incite violence. As the recounting of such violence is nearly identical in many historical sources, comparing similarities in these accounts through a detailed study of violent acts and crimes can help us further understand how the Kamakura Bakufu categorized violence.

Reviewing established laws can never give us full understanding of actual violence in a society; therefore, Saikyojo (judicial decisions) of the Kamakura Bakufu and various ancient documents retained by Gokenin families are also reviewed to shed light on what kind of crimes were actually inflicted by the samurai and how society reacted to them.