文化三寅年 琉球人綱引人足割方帳 / Arrangement notes of boat tracking laborers for Ryukyuan procession, 1806

This is a copy of a record of the Ryukyuan envoys' procession to Edo conducted in 1806. The Ryukyuan envoys traveled from Osaka to Fushimi by sailing up the Yodo River in kawa gozabune (river sailing boats), which were owned by the local Japanese daimyos (feudal lords). The tsunahiki ninsoku, laborers who tracked the boats with ropes from the both sides of the river, were gathered from the villages nearby. This material is a wariate-chō (an account book describing the set number of laborers required from each village) for those laborers. According to this record, 335 tsunahiki ninsoku and 8 tsunamochi ninsoku (who held and secured the ropes) were mobilized for this occasion.(Updated on September 30, 2015)