All Ports Are Not Created Equal: A Typology of Late Medieval Inland Sea Ports 中世後半期瀬戸内海港の比較と類型
Michelle Damian, Doctoral Candidate in History, USC
In this talk I will introduce a working hypothetical framework for assessing the types of port communities along the late medieval Seto Inland Sea. Though most of the islands were populated and many of their port names appear in the written record, different areas played different roles. I am exploring the concept that ports can be broadly categorized as “production ports” or “shipping ports.” While these were not mutually exclusive functions, ports tended to have one role or another. The former were usually smaller ports in residential areas, close to a production center for a particular item. Ports such as Yuge (Iyo province), which was known for its salt production, or Inbe (Bizen province) near the kilns famous for producing Bizen pottery, were possible representatives of production ports, with the goods shipped from those ports largely corresponding to the locally produced items. The best known and most studied “shipping ports” were larger ports such as Onomichi and Hyōgo, which became central hubs for shipping and transshipping goods.
I contend that shipping ports were not exclusively large ports, however, and that certain smaller ports played a vital role in transshipping specialty items in particular. For instance Takasaki and Kamagari in Aki Province were critical stopping points for goods from Kyushu, and Yura on Awaji was an important center for processed lumber (planks) that possibly originated from the Kii peninsula. I will look at “what makes a port” – the infrastructure, setting, and people associated with the location – and I will also explore the different types of ports so that we can better understand shipping networks in the late medieval Seto Inland Sea.
この報告では、中世後半期瀬戸内海の港の類型論についての仮説を紹介する。数多くの港名が史料に残っているにもかかわらず、詳細な研究のなされた一部の場所を除けば、その具体的な役割は明らかではない場合が殆どである地域により役割が異なり、そして大きく「生産港」と「運搬港」に分類できると考え、その存在を探りたい。もちろん同時に生産も運搬も行われたが、大体どちらかが主だった。一般的に「生産港」は比較的小型で、生産地に近かった。例えば、製塩業で有名な伊予国の弓削嶋や備前焼きの窯が近くにあった備前国伊部は「生産港」と言えるだろう。一方、尾道や兵庫は、年貢・商品をよく運んだことから、代表的な「運搬港」と呼べるだろう。
しかし、「運搬港」の全ては大きな港に限られず、小さな港でも荷物を積み替える重要な役割を果たした場合もあった。例えば、安芸国の高崎・蒲刈で九州からの商品を積み替えた例や、淡路国の由良港で紀伊半島で取れた槫を積み替えたと推測できる事例がある。この報告では特に、港のインフラ、地域、住民などの状態を検討しながら「港というのは何だろう」という質問に答えたい。また、港のそれぞれの種類を分析することで、中世後半期瀬戸内海の海運交通ネットワークをより深く理解することを目指したい。