Crime on the Estates: Justice and Politics in the Kōyasan Domain

In the early medieval period, Kōyasan developed increasingly close institutional and personal links with the society of its home province of Kii. To expand its control over nearby estates, the temple exploited the occurrence of “crime” and its ability to mete local justice to weaken the position of provincial warriors. Combining its judicial authority as estate proprietor with religious might, it imposed binding vows on troublemakers. This article traces the complex relationship between shōen society and temple power through a series of incidents and considers the balance between local and national sources of authority in the Kamakura period.