▕ Factional Dispute Within the House

There was an area called "yachi," an uncultivated swampy lowland between two districts: Fukaya in the Toyoma district owned by the Toyoma-Daté family, and Toda district owned by the Wakuya-Daté family. Those two families were working on the development of yachi, which was supposed to belong to the developer. In October 1667 (Kambun 7), Munetomo intended to give a part of yachi to Wako Hanemon. This document is a transcription of a document (kojogaki(*1)) by Muneshige, who states that he has no objection to dividing yachi to Hanemon, but asks for making a clear boundary between two districts.

[Note]

*1 kojogaki: A record of a verbal statement of the parties involved in a lawsuit.

Kojogaki(*1) of Munetomo's objection to Muneshige's statement. This item is thought to be a draft of what was actually submitted. Munetomo strongly demands that the resolution should be based on the domain's clear decision. He also refutes Muneshige's statements one by one showing evidence from the Monou district party.

Draft of Munetomo's verbal note to the magistrate Shibata, Harada, and Furuuchi. Discussions between Munetomo and Muneshige heated up through their kojogaki(*1). In this document, Munetomo strongly rejects mediation by the domain's chief vassals. In addition, he states that if he follows Muneshige's claim, he will be seizing Muneshige's land, which is against "Samurai's duties." He also requests to inform to the guardians of his thought that he was willing to give up his status to solve the problem for the sake of the lord.

Record of the dispute over yachi written by the Toyoma-Daté family. The part shown in this image is Munetomo's response to the proposal presented by the guardians Munekatsu and Muneyoshi in 1669 (Kambun 9). This proposal is to give two-thirds of the land to Munetomo and one-third to Muneshige. Munetomo agrees to the proposal for the sake of the lord but expresses his dissatisfaction that his claim seems to be considered unreasonable in that the proposal mentions that Muneshige is older than him. In addition, he refers to Muneshige just as "Geishu" dropping his honorific title, which reveals Munetomo's strong emotions.

The dispute over yachi was once resolved, leaving strong dissatisfaction on both sides, Toyoma and Wakuya. Afterward, the Toyoma-Daté family notified the Okubo village of the Toyoma district, where the new boundary is,  that the land will be divided into two-thirds and one-third. This document is the notification intended to tell the legitimacy of the Toyoma side's claims to Okubo village by showing the records related to the case and to prepare for future objections from the Wakuya side.