Landmarks in Japanese Warrior Law, Part 1: Sato Yuki on the "1232 Formulary"

This is Part 1 of a two-part webinar series exploring the development of warrior law during Japan’s Kamakura period through two foundational texts. More information will be available soon.

These lectures will be presented in Japanese. English translations of the full talks will be available, and interpretation will be provided during the Q&A. Questions in English and Japanese are welcome.

Register for the webinar series here.

Webinar 1

Friday, Nov. 13 | 3–5 PM

How Did the 1232 Formulary (Goseibai shikimoku) Become the Celebrity of Kamakura Legal Sources?

Lecture by Yuki Satō, Rikkyo University

Webinar 2

Friday, Nov. 20 | 3–5 PM

Warrior Law After 1232: Supplementary Lawmaking in the Mirror of the East (Azuma kagami)

Lecture by Nishita Tomohiro, Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo

About the Speakers

Tomohiro Nishita (Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo)

佐藤雄基（立教大学）

Nishita Tomohiro is Associate Professor at the Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in research on medieval policing and criminal investigatory powers, as well as social structures. He graduated from the Department of History and Culture in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo and then withdrew from the Ph.D. program at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Socio-cultural Studies division. He now holds a Ph.D. in literature. He joined the Historiographical Institute as a research assistant, and then became assistant professor, and now associate professor in the medieval materials department. Notable works include a modern-Japanese translation of the Azuma kagami (Mirror of the East) in 16 volumes, Akuto Meshitori no Chusei (Medieval Japan’s Cackdown on Banditry, 2017), Shoen no shikumi to Kurashi (The Structure and Daily Life of Landed Estates, 2021), and Japanese Classics for Beginners: Azuma kagami in 2021.

Yuki Satō (Rikkyo University)

佐藤雄基（立教大学）

Yuki Satō is Professor of History at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 2011. His primary areas of expertise are diplomatics (paleography) and the legal and social history of early medieval Japan (11th–14th centuries). His notable works include Chusei-shoki no Monjo to Soshō (Early Medieval Documents and Lawsuits in Japan, 2012) and Goseibai-shikimoku: Kamakura Bushi no Hō to Seikatsu (Japanese First Samurai Code of Law: The Legal Life of Kamakura Warriors, 2023).

Discussant

Kiyoshi Jinno (Tokyo University of Science)

神野潔（東京理科大学）

Kiyoshi Jinno is Professor at the Institute of Arts and Sciences at Tokyo University of Science. His areas of expertise include the legal history of medieval Japan and the history of legal thought in modern Japan. His publications include The Handbook of the Goseibai Shikimoku (2024) and Outline of Japanese Legal History (2022). He is currently researching the law and judiciary of the Kamakura shogunate and the history of legal studies in modern Japan.

This webinar series is co-presented by the Yanai Initiative.