Short Abstract

This paper explores how inhabitants of Katsura Shuku, an outcast village in early modern Kyoto, claimed connections to Iwashimizu Shrine, linked their identity to the legendary Empress Jingū, and used other myths and narratives to legitimize their social position and protect their rights.

Long Abstract

This paper examines documentary strategies employed by the residents of Katsura Shuku, an outcast village located on the eastern bank of the Katsura River in Kyoto that existed until the early Meiji period. Drawing on petitions, genealogical statements, and origin narratives (yuisho), the study explores how villagers articulated claims about their past in response to social marginalization.

The sources analyzed—preserved in the Kyoto City Historical Archives—refer to medieval myths and claim connections to Iwashimizu Hachimangū Shrine, dedicated to Emperor Ōjin (the Hachiman deity) and his mother, Empress Jingū. In these texts, the community is described as “divine people of bows and arrows,” and its origins are traced to the legendary figure of Empress Jingū and her conquest of foreign lands.

The paper argues that such historical narratives were employed primarily in contexts of negotiation with landowners and Edo-period officials. By presenting their status as the outcome of long-standing ritual or martial service (such as participation in ritual archery during the Mongol invasions), villagers sought to justify social rights and protect themselves against discrimination. Attention is paid to how these claims were formulated, what precedents they invoked, and how they were adapted to specific disputes.

By focusing on the language and structure of these documents, this study highlights the role of historical memory and mythic pasts in the self-representation of marginalized communities. The case of Katsura Shuku demonstrates how outcast groups in early modern Japan employed historically grounded narratives to protect themselves against intensifying social stigma by distinguishing their community from other marginalized groups, presenting themselves not as “polluted” but as “divine” people endowed with specialized ritual skills, without formally challenging the existing social order.