The collection

A8 is divided into six groups (A8.1–A8.6). Each group is wrapped (with paper from an opened and stamped postal bag, photographic paper, etc.) and tied with twine. The documents in each group are also individually wrapped with newspaper or other materials. The following newspapers were used as wrappers: Osaka Mainichi (English), Hōshū Shimbun, Ōita Shimbun, Nihon Katorikku Shimbun, and Fukuoka Nichi Nichi Shimbun. The oldest one is from 1938/05/29, and the latest one from 1942/01/04. One finds postal addresses such as the Roman Catholic Church in Kon’yachō, Ōita City. It is highly like that the files’ documents were organized when Marega was in Ōita.

There are 440 items in this file. The documents (jō) originally from the Usuki Domain’s Office of Religious Affairs are as follows: (a) 269 Christian inquisition-related documents, (b) 2 oaths, (c) 7 notifications regarding birth, death, and marriage, (d) 1 inquiry regarding a name, and (e) 1 name list.

Their dates are as follows: (a) Christian inquisition related documents – 1 from second half of 17th century (1 from Jōkyō 3), 72 from first half of 18th century (8 from Genroku 16, 18 from Hōei 8, 6 from Kyōhō 6, 39 from Kyōhō 10, 1 from Genroku 2), 5 from second half of 18th century (1 from Hōreki 5, 2 from An’ei 2, 1 from Tenmei 3, 1 from Kansei 2), 146 from first half of 19th century (1 from Kyōwa 2, 1 from Bunka 3, 2 from Bunka 10, 1 from Bunsei 4, 21 from Bunsei 9, 52 from Tenpō 9, 18 from Tenpō 10, 25 from Tenpō 15, 25 from Kōka 2), 45 from second half of 19th century (25 from Kaei 5); (b) oaths – 1 from first half of 17th century (1 from Kan’ei 12), 1 from first half of 19th century (1 from Tenpō 11); (c) birth, death, and marriage notifications, (d) name inquiries, and (e) name lists – 1 from second half of 17th century (1 from Genroku 2), 6 from first half of 18th century (1 from Hōei 3, 2 from Shōtoku 2, 1 from Shōtoku 4, 1 from Kyōhō 3, 1 from Kyōhō 12 [includes estimated dates]), 1 from first half of 19th century (1 from Kōka 4), 1 unknown. There are 280 jō. The oldest is from 1635 (Kan’ei 12), and the newest is from 1852 (Kaei 5). Approximately seventy percent of them are from the 19th century.

Most of them are reports that inquisitions were carried out in each Usuki Domain retainer group to the Office of Religious Affairs. Generally higher ranked government officials would indicate that they confirmed that the content of each unit / organization inquisition report is correct. In the case of domain chief retainers, such a statement is not included. There are two of the latter kinds of documents: one regarding a single chief retainer, and one regarding a group of retainers.

Of the two oaths, one is from the fifth day of the eleventh month of 1859 (Kan’ei 12) and by the domain retainer Ebata Ichibee 江端市兵衛. It appears to have been made when the shogunate called for country-wide simultaneous inquisitions. In this document the characters 貴理師旦 are used for “Christian.” It was a normal oath indicating that people are not Christian, not a so–called nanban seishi 南蛮誓詞 (Southern Barbarian oath) used for former Christians. On the edge of the backside is an attestation by the Zen (Rinzai) sect priest Sessō, who carried out anti-Christian activities during the first half of the seventeenth century in this area. The other oath is dated the fourth month of 1840 (Tenpō 11) and is written by the headman of the Kumamoto Domain’s Tsunagi–tenaga Akazawa Utarō 赤沢宇太郎, promising that all residents in this tenaga (a kind of administrative area in the Kumamoto Domain) are not Christian. The existence of such Kumamoto Domain documents within the Marega Collection—which is primarily comprised of ones from the Usuki Domain—shows that Marega collected Christian-related historical materials from outside of the Ōita Prefecture area as well. However, it is unclear why they are found here.

The major characteristics of the six groups of documents in A8 and their Marega Numbers are as follows. A8.1 is primarily Christian inquisition documents from the Kōka (1844–1848) and Kaei (1848–1854) periods. Their Marega Numbers span from M942 to M1000 and B1 to B8. A8.2 is primarily Christian inquisition documents from the Hōei (1704–1711), Kyōhō (1716–1736), and Kaei periods. Their Marega Numbers span from 653 to 709. In A8.3, while there are multiple Christian inquisition documents, one also finds oaths and memos (oboegaki 覚書). Their Marega Numbers span from M205 to M216. There is also a document numbered 28-T. A8.4 is primarily Christian inquisition documents from the Genroku (1688–1704) to the Bunsei (1818–1830) period. Their Marega Numbers span from M803 to M848. A8.5 is primarily Christian inquisition documents from the Tenpō period (1830–1844). Their Marega Numbers span from M849 to M900. A8.6 is primarily Christian inquisition documents form the Tenpō period. Their Marega Numbers span from M901 to M941. Judging from the order of the Marega Numbers, it appears that these groups were originally in the following order: A8.4, A8.5, A8.6, A8.1, A8.2. A8.3 is different from the other groups: it appears that it was mixed into this file from another set of documents for some reason.