Modern Japanese and English translations and content analysis of 'Operational Affairs of the Forest Administration Bureau [Yamabugyousho Kujichou]' from the 'Eight Volumes on Forest Administration'

This Yamabugyousho Kujichou (Operational Affairs of the Forest Administration Bureau) consists of 87 articles in total and contains provisions related to aspects such as the duties of forest officials, the procurement of limber and forest products, the management of goyouboku (official-use trees), lumber for ship construction, forest buyaku (labor exacted instead of taxes), the care and administration of somayama and afforestation. It is far and away the longest of the documents within the Rinsei Hassho (Eight Writings on Forest Administration). In terms of the articles within Yamabugyousho Kujichou, when we extract and examine the main keywords the structure of the content is as follows. Out of a total of 87 articles, 30% deal with office regulations for forest officials, 24% with rules and regulations for lumber and forest products, 11% with provisions for goyouboku, 10% with both rules for farmer buyaku (labor exacted instead of taxes) and lumber for ship construction, 8% with regulations for somayama administration and 7% with provisions for afforestation. The main points related to the primary content of Yamabugyousho Kujichou are summarized below. The first content area is the establishment of hattoki, or trees prohibited from being cut down without explicit permission. In Article 57 there are 21 tree types designated as prohibited. These include types such as Kashiki (Inumaki/Podocarpus macrophyllus), Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica), Kouyouzan (Cunnighamia lanceolata), Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa), Momi (Abies firma), Kusunoki (Cinnamomum camphora) and Kashinoki (Okinawa Urajirogashi/Quercus miyagii). Among these there are native species and species that have been introduced. Others have special applications such as materials for dyes, medicines and candles. Of these prohibited trees, the native Matsunoki (Ryuukyuu Matsu/Pinus luchuensis) is not included but because large Matsu lumber is used in the construction of ships it is designated as a goyouboku (official-use tree) and its use is strictly controlled. The second content area is related to prohibited trees but concerns the procurement of trees in the production areas and the process followed through to transportation and delivery of lumber or forest products to the consumption areas. A thorough monitoring system has been set up to cover these processes. Within Yamabugyousho Kujichou the names of record books such as the Shobokuhon Suusouchou and Goyoubokuchou appear frequently. Since these books have not survived to our present day it is impossible to analyze their contents with any certainly. All we have are the explanations and descriptions about both books in the Yamabugyousho Kujichou. The Shobokuhon Suusouchou would appear to be a record of tree planting areas as well as tree names, the number of trees, tree dimensions and the locations of areas where particular trees can be cut down in each magiri. Because the Goyoubokuchou is a ledger for the specific purpose of administering government-use tree types it is thought that the content is a record of species names, tree locations, the number of particular trees as well as sizes and information about whether logging activities are taking place or not. It is probably the case that the aforementioned hattoki, or trees prohibited from being cut down, are recorded in the Goyoubokuchou. These and other ledgers were kept at the Royal Government's Yamabugyousho (Bureau of Forest Administration) as well as at the bansho (county offices) at each of the magiri. They seem to have been used as a ledger when there was a need to record receipts and disbursements as well as for the management of useful trees. A major objective of keeping the Goyoubokuchou was the strict supervision and control of valuable trees designated as prohibited within somayama (exclusive government-use forests) and sanya (community forests). Particularly so as to ensure a stable supply of large lumber for Chinese-style ship building and for the construction, repair and maintenance of palace buildings at Shuri Gusuku. Because palaces at Shuri Gusuku had been built using various types of wood they had to be rebuilt every twenty years or so. As this proved to be a large burden on the national treasury it was encouraged that large numbers of long-lasting trees such as Sugi and Inumaki should be planted. If the same palace construction were carried out with Sugi and/or Inumaki those same building might last for several hundred years. For this purpose it was ordered that officials must ascertain where good quality trees such as Sugi and Inumaki were located, whether within the somayama, in the vicinity of villages, within residential areas or in sanya, including young trees. All this information was to be added to the Goyoubokuchou and carefully preserved. Another problem that the Yamabugyousho Kujichou addresses is the issue of illegal timber trafficking. In order to prevent such activities port and harbor supervision was strengthened and personnel were put in place, particularly at ports so as to carry out cargo inspections in the search for smuggled wood. Inspectors would investigate the cargo while a ship was at anchor and issue a cargo tegata (inspection certificate) so that inspectors at the destination port can check the cargo again and see that it matches the cargo listed on the tegata. The third content area is related to the presence of lower-level forest-related officials in the magiri and villages known as yamashi and yamakounin. These officials fall under the jurisdiction of both the jitoudai (magiri head official) and the yamabugyou who have the highest responsibility for forest administration in the regions. The yamashi and yamakounin work directly in conjunction with the souyamaatai and yamaatai (forest official) in providing guidance on forest-related matters to local farmers. They are low-level forest technicians involved in the growth and protection of forests. When a request for timber is received from the Royal Government, the yamashi is a tree appraiser who will go out into the forests to select the best quality and most appropriate trees available for the use specified in the request. The yamakounin is a forest technician who carries out forest care and lumber sawing work. The yamakounin cuts down the trees appraised by the yamashi and the intended lumber is cut down with a yamagatana (woodman's hatchet) or nokogiri (saw). Depending on the region the yamakounin might also bake/heat charcoal. The fourth content area is related to the use of farmers for buyaku (compulsory labor) to carry out afforestation, tree felling and lumber hauling work. Farmers in each magiri are obliged to perform buyaku (compulsory labor duties) for the Royal Government once per month. Hiyousen is the conversion of this buyaku into cash money. The amount of money for labor duties differes depending on the sex of the laborer and their age. The rate of hiyousen is set according to how near or far the village or magiri is from Shuri. When official duties are carried out for the Royal Government (such as afforestation, tree felling and lumber hauling work), part of the hiyousen goes to the magiri where the work is being carried out. In actuality this genbu (compulsory labor) is a means of offsetting the hiyousen that ought to be paid to the government in taxes. That is to say, for the farmers the provision of labor is a means of paying taxes instead of with money. The fifth content area is related to the purchase of kurifune (dugout canoes), trees and bamboo for the procurement of ship building materials by people from Amami Ooshima coming to and from Ryukyu. This kind of content can be found in Articles 38, 62 and 63. In Somayama ni tsuite Soubakari no Joujou (Provisions Related to Forest Planning), issued in 1748, the people of Miyako Island purchased house building lumber from Yaeyama of Okinawa Island. Moreover, lumber could be purchased from Japanese ships (Yamatobune) as well as from maaransen (Chinese junk-style vessels used throughout the Ryukyu Kingdom). Despite the strict supervision of cargo at every port and attempt to crack down on illegal tree smuggling activities, we can imagine that this supervision was not watertight and that that, whether public or private, timber distribution throughout the realm and beyond was active.