<研究ノート>東北地方のカリヤドという地名 --中世の道と渡河--

Abstract

Place names are given to locations after people have recognized their distinctive characteristics based on such factors as natural features, social functions and historical background of the locations. Place names, therefore, can serve as excellent historical source materials. In order to confirm their value as reliable sources for historical studies, it is indispensable to conduct empirical studies of such place names. With this in mind, this article seeks to reach a general understanding of place names by taking an inductive approach, examining a specific place name that is found in multiple locations in Japan and considering the characteristics of each site and then comparing them. Specifically, this article focuses on the place name Kariyado. This name was examined in a previous article (Aoyama, 2018), which confirmed that the name is found mainly in central and northern Japan, i.e., ranging from the Tōkai and Kantō-Kōshin regions up to the southern Tōhoku region. The article focused on five cases in the Kantō region: Kawasaki City (in Kanagawa Prefecture), Hatoyama Town (in Saitama Prefecture), Hinode Town (in Tokyo), Isesaki City (in Gunma Prefecture) and Ashikaga City (in Tochigi Prefecture). The case study determined that the place name Kariyado is: (1) found in places along rivers and in relatively stable conditions; and (2) found along medieval highways, particularly at river crossings on the Kamakura Kaidō, which starts in Kamakura, the capital of the Kamakura Shogunate, and from which several highways heading in various directions originate. Based on those findings, this article focuses on the Tōhoku region, which is one of the major distribution ranges of this place name, and examines in detail places named Kariyado in the following four locations: Natori City (in Miyagi Prefecture), Shirakawa City, Kagamiishi Town and Nihonmatsu City (all in Fukushima Prefecture). The findings were as follows. Kariyado in Natori City is located at a slightly elevated point that protrudes in a tongue shape into a small valley bottom plain. The point is located where Oku-no-Daidō, a major highway that ran through the Tōhoku region from north to south in medieval times, crosses Iwasawagawa river. Kariyado in Shirakawa City is located in a fluvial terrace that protrudes in a tongue shape into the valley bottom plain along Abukumagawa river. It is the point where the ancient Tōsandō highway and Oku-no-Daidō highway crossed the Abukumagawa river. Kariyado in Kagamiishi Town is located on a tongue-shaped protruding terrace along Shakadōgawa river and beyond. It is also a point where Okuno- Daidō, a highway running north to south, and an east-to-west highway crossed one other and was also a crossing of the Shakadōgawa river. Kariyado in Nihonmatsu City is located near the confluence of the Abukumagawa and Sugitagawa rivers. It lies at the edge of a hill facing the valley bottom plain along the Sugitagawa, close to the juncture of land and water traffic routes and was very likely a point where the highway crossed the river. Thus, all four of the above-mentioned locations named Kariyado are located at the edge of a hill or plateau protruding into a river. These places are where medieval highways passed through and points where these highways crossed rivers. The characteristics and functions of places named Kariyado in the Tōhoku region correspond to the results obtained in the previous article that focused on the Kantō region. In the Kantō region, it is evident the place name Kariyado has a relationship with the Kamakura Kaidō. This article has determined that in the Tōhoku region, too, this name has a relationship with the Oku-no-Daidō, which is an extension of the Kamakura Kaidō into the Tōhoku region. Yet, not all places named Kariyado are along the Oku-no-Daidō. Although they are not discussed in detail due to space restrictions, Kariyado in Namie Town, Ishikawa Town and Furudono Town (all in Fukushima Prefecture) are not located along the Oku-no-Daidō. These places, however, are along important roads in their regions and also at river crossing points. These findings indicate that places with the place name Kariyado are found not only along extensive national-level highways, such as the Oku-no-Daidō, but also similarly important regional highways and have specific characteristics and functions.