@article{oai:rekihaku.repo.nii.ac.jp:00000785,
 author = {白石, 太一郎 and Shiraishi, Taichiro},
 journal = {国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告, Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {application/pdf, 七世紀から八世紀頃、奈良盆地内の交通の要衝には、衢（ちまた）とよばれ、市が立ち、多くの人びとが集まる場所があった。下ツ道と阿部・山田道の交叉点の「軽衢（かるのちまた）」、同じく下ツ道と横大路の交叉点の「八木衢（やぎのちまた）」、横大路と山辺道、さらに難波との水路として機能を果たした初瀬川などが交わる付近にあった「海石榴市衢（つばいちのちまた）」、横大路の西端で河内に至る大坂越えの大津道と竹内越えの丹比道に分岐する「当麻衢（たいまのちまた）」、上ツ道と竜田道が交叉する「石上衢（いそのかみのちまた）」などが知られる。『日本書記』『霊異記』などによると、これらの衢には交通の要衝として厩などの施設がおかれ、また市が立つほか、葬送儀礼を含むさまざまな儀礼の場でもあった。そこでは相撲などの遊戯もおこなわれ、また歌垣など男女交際の空間としても機能し、さらに刑罰執行の場でもあり、人びとへの情報伝達の場でもあった。まさに多くの人びとの交流空間の広場として重要な役割をはたしていたのである。これらの衢は、遅くとも七世紀の初めには出現していたものと想定され、藤原京以前に成立していたことは疑いない。
六世紀以降の官司制の発展は、多くの官人の宮室近くへの集住をうながし、その結果七世紀には大王の宮室は飛鳥地方に継続して営まれるようになる。こうした地域の共同体から遊離した貴族や官人、さらにそれを支えるさまざまな職掌の人びとの集住は、必然的に市をはじめとする都市的な住民の生活を支える機能をもつ場所を生みだした。こうした機能をはたしたのが衢に他ならない。藤原京、平城京など日本の古代都市は、律令国家が天皇を中心とする支配のために、中国の都城制に倣って上から設定した政治都市にほかならないとする理解が一般的である。しかしそうした人為的に造成された政治都市が存立しうる前提には、都市の経済機能をささえる市や市人が存在し、流通システムやそれを補完する交通路の整備などが必要である。衢の存在は、こうした日本列島における都市成立の前提条件を考える上に重要な視点を提供するものといえよう。, A feature of the transportation system of the Nara Basin in the seventh and eighth centuries were the chimata, places located at major crossroads where markets were held and people gathered. Among these crossroads were the Karu-no-chimata at the intersection of the Shimotsu-michi and Abe-Yamada-michi routes ; the Tsubaichi-no-chimata at the intersection of the Yoko-ōji and Yamanobe-no-michi roads and near the convergence of rivers such as the Hasegawa, a major water route to Naniwa ; the Taima-no-chimata where the western end of the Yoko-ōji road branched into the Ōtsu-no-michi and the Tajihi-michi, both leading to Kawachi via Osaka and Takenouchi, respectively ; and the Isonokami-no-chimata where the Kamitsu-michi and Tatsuta-michi routes met.
According to Nihon shoki, Nihon ryōiki and other ancient texts, as major cruxes in the road network the chimata often had permanent stable facilities. In addition to markets and fairs, they were also used as venues for funerals and other rites ; for sports and amusements such as sumo wrestling ; for utagaki parties and other social gatherings for young men and women ; for the execution of criminal punishments ; and for the dissemination of public information. They thus fulfilled a truly vital function : public spaces where large groups of people could gather and interact for a diverse range of purposes.
Their development being closely associated with the establishment of the major traffic routes of the ancient era―the Kamitsu-michi, Nakatsu-michi, Shimotsu-michi and Yoko-ōji, for instance―chimata are thought to have first appeared no later than the early-seventh century, and definitely existed before the establishment of the Fujiwarakyō capital in 694. With the creation of the court bureaucracy in the sixth century, many officials came to reside in the vicinity of the imperial palace. One result of this assemblage of large numbers of court-related people was that, in contrast to the frequency with which the court had until then been moved from place to place, in the seventh century the emperor's palaces were built in Asuka or its vicinity. Many people thus lived in the Asuka area. But as the nobility, the bureaucracy and their various functionaries―detached from existing local communities―grew in number, this inevitably required places to conduct markets and other kinds of activities that sustain a distinctively urban lifestyle. The chimata fulfilled this role.
This account casts new light on the accepted view that major ancient cities such as the Fujiwarakyō and Heijyōkyō capitals were “political cities” purposely built in the style of China's castle capitals in order to consolidate the ritsuryō state whose authority centered around the Emperor. In order for the politically inspired, artificial construction of such a city to take place, there must be markets and traders that sustained the economic function of the city, as well as the distribution systems and networks of roads that supported those systems. In this sense, chimata provide an invaluable point of reference in any consideration of the historical preconditions of the rise of cities in Japan.},
 pages = {137--157},
 title = {古代の衢(ちまた)をめぐって},
 volume = {67},
 year = {1996},
 yomi = {シライシ, タイチロウ}
}