Shumon-aratame records

[jpngenealogist]

Hello-

Does anybody here know how I can find shumon-aratame (宗門改め) records? These were religious inquisition census records and from what I've read on the internet, may be available at prefectural archives, libraries, etc. I'm especially looking for the records from the following villages:

KUMAMOTO

-Komoya (formerly in Tamana-gun, now in Arao City)
-Nagasu (part of Tamana-gun)
-Waifu (formerly in Kikuchi-gun, now in Kikuchi City)

HIROSHIMA

-Kawaminami (formerly in Yasuna-gun, now in Fukuyama City)
-Kusado (formerly in Numakuma-gun, now in Fukuyama City)
-Mikawa (formerly in Asa-gun, now in Asaminami-ku)
*The records for Kawaminami and Kusado may have been destroyed; the area of Fukuyama was firebombed during World War II by the US.

YAMAGUCHI

-Ikimi (formerly in Kuga-gun, now in Iwakuni City)
-Kamitabuse (formerly in Kumage-gun, now in Hikari City)
-Murozumi (formerly in Kumage-gun, now in Hikari City)
-Ozekawa (formerly in Kuga-gun, now in Iwakuni City)
-Saga (formerly in Kumage-gun, now in Hikari City)
-Sakaue (formerly in Kuga-gun, now in Iwakuni City)

Would I be able to find the location of them on the internet? If so, would they be listed as part of "special collections" in the catalogs of any archives or libraries? I'd also be interested to see if the goningumi records survive as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[kitsuno]

I doubt you'll be able to locate where the records are held via the internet, but I'd recommend contacting the town/city halls for the towns whose records you are interested in, I'm sure they'd be willing to help. State and federal workers in all countries tend to have a lot of free time.
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[lordameth]

Actually, if you can search in and read Japanese, I think you may be able to find what you're looking for here:

日本古典籍総合目録

Search for 「宗門御改」 and you get a whole bunch of results, including, for example (though I know this isn't specifically one of the ones you said you're looking for), 濃州不破郡笠毛村宗門御改帳 (Shinano, Fuwa district, Kasage village shûmon o-aratame-chô).

Click on it, and it brings up a page which includes the line:
国書所在 【写】大阪府（文政一一写）

The 写 means handwritten manuscript, either a copy or an original. If the document were available typed up into a published book, it would say （活） and give the name of the book. Apparently, this particular shûmon aratame has not been typed up into a publication, and exists only in manuscript form, in the possession of Osaka Prefectural Government, Prefectural Library, or Prefectural Museum (I'm not fully sure which based on the listing).

I poked around at a couple of different ones in the hopes of finding a good example for you, but it looks like most of these only exist in manuscript form and are not widely available at all. Nevertheless, poke around this website; hopefully you'll find something you can use!
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紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[jpngenealogist]

Hello-

Thank you both for your replies. I'll try and contact the town/city halls and ask them if they know where they are. I've obtained my ancestors' koseki records from them in the past and they were very helpful. Unfortunately, lordameth, that link didn't contain any records from the villages I was looking for. It did give me an idea on what to look for, though.

Thanks again!