Profiles

Associate Professor KAGOHASHI Toshimitsu

Affiliations :

A Bragging Contest of Lords

Did you enjoy fairy tales when you were children? Maybe your parents read you picture books, or maybe you watched anime series based on fairy tales. These tales, and especially those told in Miyagi prefecture, sometimes depict the Lord of Sendai. Let me give you an example.
When the Lord of Sendai was staying at Edo, he had a bragging contest with other lords about mountains. While other lords boasted about high mountains found in their lands, the Lord of Sendai pointed out that mountains in Sendai were low, but convenient for the people of the domain. This earned him the highest praise.
I never intended to claim that this tale was based on a historical fact. But it does include several curious points: lords amusing themselves by comparing their domains, a wise ruler who gives the ideal answer, and common people who have appropriated the story. Each of these elements reflects various shapes of Edo society. Those shapes are discernible in the literary works written at the time, and reading between the lines one can discover something new and exciting. Will you join me in this endeavor?

  • Research, History
  • Books, papers, etc.
  • Courses
    Japanese History (Seminar); Japanese History (Field Work); Paleography; Early Modern and Modern History in Japan (Advanced Seminar); Japanese History (Special Lecture)
    Personal History
    Born Ibaraki Prefecture.

    Graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
    Completed the doctoral program (without a doctoral degree) at the Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University

    Career:
    Research Associate, Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
    Curator, Tohoku History Museum
    Current position
    Degree
    Ph.D. (Literature)
    Field
    Japanese History (Early Modern History)
    Research Subject
    Early modern Japanese history;
    History of local communities in the early modern period;
    Rural history;
    History of Japanese clans
    Keywords
    Japanese history; early modern history; Edo period; local communities; village; clan
    Affiliation
    The Japanese Society for Historical Studies; Japanese Historical Association; Regional History Research Council; Tohoku Historical Society
    Database of Researchers Information
    http://db.tohoku.ac.jp/whois/detail/1886698017d31e0eca2031de3f20c492.html
  • Books
    『近世藩領の地域社会と行政』、清文堂出版、2012
    Academic Papers
    「「御見抜」と地域社会」、『歴史』第127輯、2016
    「京にのぼる鮭」、『東北史を開く』、山川出版社、2015