Reassessing the Shōen System: Society and Economy in Medieval Japan

An International Conference

University of Southern California

June 4-6, 2012
10 AM-5:30 PM (All days)

Shoen, agricultural estates with a complex hierarchy of rights to income from the land and cultivators, represented a major landholding structure in classical and medieval Japan. Shoen received considerable attention in Japanese scholarship some thirty years ago and now, historians in Japan are beginning to revisit the topic. While knowledge about shoen has informed much English-language scholarship over the last few decades, there have been few intensive studies of the land-holding system per se. 

At this conference, scholars from Japan and the U.S.  presented research on shoen and shoen-related topics. Contributions from the ongoing Obe Estate Project at the University of Southern California are included, but coverage is not limited to a single estate.  Scholars from several disciplines, including history, archaeology, religious studies, and art history, participated. The conference focused on the ways that research on shoen can be applied more broadly to Japanese historical studies, as well as on methods to introduce shoen to undergraduates and non-specialists.

Flier PDF
Conference Schedule

Abstracts and Presentations

• Greeting and Dedication Joan Piggott (USC) and Jan Goodwin (USC)
  (in Japanese only)
   
• Keynote Address: Another Ideology of Land Reclamation: Chôgen, Ôbe Estate, and Sayama Pond Distinguished Emeritus Professor Ôyama Kyôhei (University of Kyoto)
  「もう一つの開発イデオロギー‐重源・大部庄・狭山池」 大山喬平、京都大学名誉教授
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• The History of the Distribution Economy and the Shôen System Sakurai Eiji (University of Tokyo)
  「流通経済史と荘園制」 桜井英治、東京大学
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Agriculture in Early Medieval Times—Another Look at Land Reclamation and Irrigation Kimura Shigemitsu (Teikyô University)
  「中世社会成立期の開発と灌漑を見直す」 木村茂光、 帝京大学
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Hijiri and Temple Monks—the People Who Supported the Management of Temple Landholdings Nagamura Makoto (Japan Women’s University)
  「 聖と 寺僧‐寺領荘園を支えた人々」 永村眞、日本女子大学
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Economic Surplus at Hine Estate, 1501-1504: How Much Was There and Who Got What? Lee Butler (Independent Scholar)
  「1501-1504年における日根荘の経済的余剰: その額と得をしたのは誰か」
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Hine no shô Remains: The Preservation, Exhibition, and Restoration of the Site Hirota Kôji (Izumi-Sano City History Museum)
  「日根荘遺跡—遺跡保存・博物館展示・景観復元」 廣田浩治、 歴史館泉佐野
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• The Challenges and Benefits of Teaching Shôen to American Undergraduates Ethan Segal (Michigan State University)
  「アメリカの大学生に荘園を教える：その課題と利点」
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Advance Rent Payment at Tôji Estates Takahashi Toshiko (Historiographical Institute, University of Tôkyô)
  「年貢の来納と荘園の領有」 高橋敏子、東京大学史料編纂所
   
• The Saionji Estates: Spatial Strategies and Economic Capital Rieko Kamei-Dyche (USC)
  「西園寺家の荘園：戦略的な地理上の配置と経済資本」 亀井ダイチ・利永子
   
• What Did Nyoin Gain from their Estates: Trading, Transportation, and Other Networks Sachiko Kawai (USC)
  「荘園がもたらす力の多様性：女院の所領経営とその実態」 河合佐知子
   
• Maritime Economy and Shipping Customs of Muromachi-era Seto Inland Sea Shôen Michelle Damian (USC)
  「室町時代の瀬戸内海における荘園の海洋経済・海運習慣」
   
• Arson, Murder, and Lawsuits: Border Disputes and Community Conflict in Medieval Kii Philip Garrett (University of Cambridge)
  「放火、殺害、訴訟：中世紀伊国における堺相論と地域社会の抗争」
   
• Tôdaiji and Its Shôen: Ôbe Estate in the Documentary Record Endô Motoo (Historiographical Institute, University of Tôkyô)
  「東大寺とその荘園‐古文書にみる大部荘」 遠藤基郎、東京大学史料編纂所
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• An Archaeological View of Ôbe Estate Nishida Takeshi (Kôkokan, Ono city, Hyôgo prefecture)
  「考古学の成果からみた大部荘」 西田猛、兵庫県小野市立好古館
   
• Claiming the Land: Chôgen and the Revival of Ôbe Estate Janet Goodwin (USC)
  「開発・勧進・共同体：重源と大部荘の復活」
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• The Emergence of Heian Kuroda Estate as a Tôdaiji Property, and Insights for the Study of Ôbe Estate Joan Piggott (USC)
  「平安時代の 黒田荘の登場、一荘園の始まりと 、大部荘 研究のための手がかりがあるか？」
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• The Jôdoji Amida Triad: How Its Iconography Advanced Chôgen's Mission Yoshiko Kainuma (Independent Scholar)
  「浄土寺阿弥陀三尊像---その特異性と重源の戦略」
   
• ’Evil Bands’ (Akutô) at Ôbe Estate Dan Sherer (USC)
  「大部荘における悪党活動」
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Warriors and Ôbe Estate in the Muromachi Period Noda Taizô (Kyoto Kôka Women’s University)
  「大部荘と武家‐室町時代を中心に」 野田泰三、京都光華女子大学
  Powerpoint presentation
   
• Hideyoshi in Harima: Militarization of the Late Medieval Shôen David Eason (SUNY Albany)
  「秀吉軍勢による播磨攻め‐在地社会の動向と中世後期荘園の軍事化をめぐって」

Conference organizers:  Joan Piggott, Professor of History, USC; Janet Goodwin, Associate in Research, East Asian Studies Center, USC.