16 manuscript ledger volumes of cost estimates & construction details for various architectural & civil engineering projects in mid- & late Edo Japan.
Some manuscript brush & ink diagrams (several with flaps). Approximately 1800 folding leaves of text. All oblong 8vo of varying dimensions (mostly ca. 115 x 165 mm.), orig. wrappers, orig. & new stitching. [Japan]: 1778-1864.
These 16 thick ledger books contain specific construction details and estimates of the many costs of materials and labor involved in architectural and civil engineering projects overseen by the Sakujikata 作事方 (“commissioners for management and mediation of the authorities’ intentions and activities on the construction site”). This was the Edo-era shogunate and daimyo 大名 (domain feudal lords) governmental division in charge of public works, road and river-control projects, architectural design standards, and palace and castle construction and maintenance. The Sakujikata department had two roles: the first was to provide guidance on costs and quality control for projects, and the second to oversee the actual construction. The Sakujikata employed specialists skilled in judging the quality of building materials (including timber, bamboo, stone, rope, sand, tiles, etc.) and the quality of the workmanship (carpentry, plastering, scaffolding, roofing with tiles, lacquering, papermaking for sliding doors, pigments, tools, varieties of sands and gravels, moat and dike construction and maintenance, etc.). Other members were experts in transportation and logistics, labor relations, etc.
The information regarding materials used is extremely detailed, listing, for example, about 30 kinds of roofing tiles. These lists amount to a catalogue, often with illustrations, of the building materials of the day for both the supporting structures and the interior decoration.
These archival ledger books include Sekihōhōchō 積方法帳 (copies of former projects serving as models for contemporary public works administrators) and Hontochō 本途帳 (reference works to guide administrators on appropriate costs for projects, how to calculate them, and required standards). We find lists of various types of projects, from well digging to road construction to building palaces. As with projects of our times, there were many considerations: costs of design, materials including timber and stone, labor, transportation, etc. Also included are invaluable dictionaries of very specific terminology used at the time. There is also a fascinating list of kinds of projects that were not considered within the purview of the Sakujikata, with examples ranging from 1668 to 1828.
Well aware of the shogunate’s shaky finances, the Sakujikata was very mindful of potential price-gouging, financial irregularities, and cost overruns. There are instructions on how to identify and control these problems along with how to cope with fluctuating commodity prices and labor costs.
Many projects are included in these ledgers. More than a few deal with the imperial palace in Kyoto, which burned down in the Great Fire in 1788. We find accounts for the rebuilding of the palace during the 1790s and maintenance of the Seiryōden (the emperor’s residence) and various constructions at the Sentō gosho (retired emperor’s residence) and the Chūgū goten (empress’ residence quarters). There are also accounts for the Fuji river dike construction, construction and repairs to walls surrounding aristocrats’ residences (diagrams of specific estates, with the names of their owners, along with measurements; this kind of information is very rare), construction of the Sanjō ōhashi bridge across the Kamo river in Kyoto and the Momiji bashi bridge in the Sentō gosho garden, repairs made in 1820 to the buildings of the Tsukiji area of Edo following an earthquake, repairs to the Yodo bashi bridge in Osaka in 1826, moat construction and repairs, repairs to the Osaka castle in 1775, building new magistrates facilities in the Kansei area, etc.
Each volume has on the front or back wrapper the name “Daitō” 大東.
In fine condition. A few minor wormholes.
Price: $7,500.00
Item ID: 11488
