When Information Moves People: The Universal Principle Demonstrated by 'Muromachi Outsiders'
The work 'Muromachi Outsiders,' featuring Hasuda Hyoe as the protagonist, is a historical drama that prompts a reconsideration of the essence of value and power in the information-saturated society of the early 21st century.
Historical Background of 'Muromachi Outsiders'
The Kansho Peasant Uprising was a large-scale revolt that occurred in Kyoto and Nara in the third year of the Kansho era (1462) during the mid-Muromachi period, taking advantage of the Great Kansho Famine to demand the issuance of a Tokuseirei (debt cancellation decree). In September of that year, ronin and even retainers of daimyo residing in Kyoto rose up, attacking dozura (moneylenders) to seize wealth and committing acts of violence such as arson in Shimogyo. In October of the same year, bashaku (packhorse drivers) from Kizu also rose up in Nara, and another uprising broke out in Kyoto, blocking the seven entrances to the city, temporarily occupying To-ji Temple, and attacking the east gate of Shokoku-ji Temple, showing momentum that threatened the Shogunate's Flower Palace. In response, the Shogunate ordered Taga Takatada, the Deputy of the Samurai-dokoro, and the resident daimyo Akamatsu Masanori to suppress the uprising. Ultimately, the armies of various daimyo in Kyoto and the Kofuku-ji Rokposhu of Yamato Province in Nara quelled the revolt. The leader, the local lord Hasuda Hyoe, was captured in Yodo and then beheaded, with his head exposed at the Four Mounds of Kyoto as a harsh retaliation. Notably, Hasuda Hyoe is the earliest known leader of a peasant uprising in the Muromachi period. Ryosuke Kakin, using this Hasuda Hyoe as the protagonist, wrote the novel 'Muromachi Outsiders' in 2016, and the film 'Muromachi Outsiders' based on this work was released in January 2025.
What is the 'True Nature of Money'? What is the identity of 'that which moves more than money'?
In 'Muromachi Outsiders,' there is a scene where the protagonist, Hasuda Hyoe, asks his disciple Saizo,'What is the true nature of money?'This 'true nature of money' literally refers to the fundamental properties possessed by currency (money). It goes beyond the conventional framework of merely being a means of exchange or a measure of value, possessing two aspects.
1. 'That which moves between people and things' – Currency (money) always mediates between people, or between people and things, transferring value. When currency (money) passes from someone (A) to someone else (B), value is transferred from someone (A) to someone else (B). This nature of circulation (transfer of value) is one of the essences of money, and with the emergence of exchange and credit transactions in the mid-Muromachi period, people, things, and money began to move rapidly, further accelerating the currency (money) economy that had developed from the late Kamakura period to the early Muromachi period. As a result, while the society of the mid-Muromachi period experienced economic and cultural leaps, those in power who utilized the power of money siphoned off profits, creating unprecedented inequality with the common people.
2. 'That which moves this world' – From the mid-Muromachi period onwards, the circulation of currency (money) itself became the driving force that moves social activities and power structures. When money moves, people's lives change, and the uneven distribution of wealth influences politics and order. The word 'that which moves' in Saizo's answer to Hasuda Hyoe's question encapsulates this mechanical and social role of currency (money). In other words, it is a point that 'the essence of currency (money) lies in moving/making things move,' and it shows the insight that this 'essence of currency (money)' keeps the world turning.
Hasuda Hyoe did not pose this question to Saizo just to explain the mechanism of the economy. In the chaotic mid-Muromachi period, facing people suffering from famine and plague, he aimed to make him discern 'what is truly moving the world.'
In the middle of the story, to Saizo, who has finished his training and grown, Hyoe asks an even more essential question.'What is it in this world that moves more than money?'The answer Saizo arrived at was,'Words'in other words,'Reputation'This shows the insight of the original author and filmmakers that what moves people's hearts and has a greater impact on society than currency (money) is 'words = reputation.' This 'words = reputation,' depicted as a driving force greater than currency (money), can be called 'information' in modern terms. In fact, the original author of this work, Ryosuke Kakin, also stated in a dialogue with Toyo Keizai that 'there is only so-called information that moves more violently than money and rotates the world.' In other words, the point that 'the true driving force that moves the world beyond currency (money) is the power of information (words, rumors, reputation, etc.)' is the axis of this work, 'Muromachi Outsiders.'
The Duality of 'Currency (Money)' and the Superiority of 'Words (Reputation)'
The'true nature of money'that Hasuda Hyoe asks about refers to the following two essential functions possessed by currency (money):
First, the function as'liquidity'. This does not merely mean physical movement of 'moving between people and things,' but that it has the power to liquefy social relations and dismantle fixed status orders. The frequent occurrence of Tokusei uprisings in the Muromachi period can be interpreted as the result of this liquidity of currency (money) colliding with the existing social structure.
Second, the function as'social power'. As 'that which moves this world,' currency (money) goes beyond mere economic exchange to reorganize political and social power relations. Saizo's concise answer of 'that which moves' accurately captures this dynamic essence.
However, the true insight of this work lies in presenting'that which moves more than money'as'words (reputation)'. This suggests the budding of an information revolution in Japanese society starting from the mid-Muromachi period.
Words (reputation), that is, information, surpasses currency (money) in the following characteristics:
1. Superiority in information propagation speed: Information propagates faster than physical currency (money) and has an instantaneous, widespread social impact. The transmission of information by word of mouth by 'bashaku' (packhorse drivers), the communication means of the Muromachi period, is faster than the movement of physical currency (money).
2. Collective mobilization power of information: Common stories or reputations unite people beyond economic interests. Words weave a common story and give a collective identity to the people who were called 'insects.' Economic demands such as debt cancellation are sublimated into collective movements.
3. Cognitive transformation power of information: While currency (money) operates within the existing value system, words have the potential to question and overturn the value system itself. Hasuda Hyoe's strategy is one that maximizes this transformative power of words.
The Dialectical Relationship between 'Currency (Money)' and 'Words (Reputation)'
The core of Hasuda Hyoe's revolutionary practice lies in integrating the two seemingly opposing forces of 'currency (money)' and 'words (reputation)' into a higher-order revolutionary practice.
Hasuda Hyoe's strategy unfolded as follows:
Thesis: The reality of domination by currency (money). A state where high-interest lending by dozura (moneylenders) and sakaya (sake brewers) economically pressures the people, and 'money' functions as a tool of power and exploitation.
Antithesis: The possibility of resistance through words. The philosophy of 'Tokusei' (benevolent rule) and the 'words' expressing the people's anger emerge as a spiritual and moral force opposing the logic of currency (money).
Synthesis: Hasuda Hyoe sublated both by linking the concrete economic demand of debt cancellation (the dimension of currency (money)) with consciousness reform through 'words.' In other words, he created a revolutionary practice that unified material liberation and spiritual liberation, restoring the dignity and agency of the people through economic struggle.
What is important in this integration is that he did not abandon economic demands, nor did he escape into spiritualism. The action of the people, who were despised as 'insects,' gathering at the Seven-Story Pagoda was a truly dialectical revolutionary practice that simultaneously realized liberation from debt (economic dimension) and the acquisition of pride as human beings (spiritual dimension).
Information Strategy and Value Transformation
What Hasuda Hyoe aimed for was not limited to mere debt cancellation (Tokusei) or the looting of property. He aimed to evoke the subjective actions of people through the power of words, and ultimately to shake the existing system itself. In historical fact, Hasuda Hyoe's name remains in only one line of record, but the original author, Mr. Kakin, wrote 'Muromachi Outsiders' based on the bold hypothesis that 'perhaps Hasuda Hyoe intentionally tried to spread his own name.' In other words, it is a hypothesis that Hyoe tried to gather outlaws and farmers through an information strategy of spreading his own reputation and advertising. Commoners who were despised by the powerful who held money and called 'insects' gathered and rose up under Hyoe's name. This is the result of information called reputation transforming people's values, and it is symbolically depicted in the work as the figure of Hasuda Hyoe gathering countless 'insects' to the Seven-Story Pagoda.
The vision Hyoe drew was to overturn the world ruled by the currency (money) economy and establish an order based on new values. It was also an attempt to place people's solidarity and shared values as the driving force of society, beyond the conventional yardstick of value called 'money.' Commoners who were called 'insects' by information shared values and united to act. That power eventually shook the Shogunate and moved history. The 'crowd gathered for battle' depicted in the climax of 'Muromachi Outsiders' was no longer a disorganized mob hired with money, but a 'group with will moved by information.' With this, the theme Hasuda Hyoe questioned, 'Can information (reputation) change people's values and actions?', is eloquently affirmed in the film. In the work, Hyoe chooses the path of lighting a fire in people's hearts even while knowing the risk that if his own reputation spreads, he will be chased and lose his life. In fact, in the Kansho Peasant Uprising, Hasuda Hyoe's name became so famous that the Shogunate pursued and executed him with unusual persistence even after the uprising. This can be said to be proof that the power of reputation was that much of a threat to the establishment side.
The Universal Principle Demonstrated by 'Muromachi Outsiders'
The contrast between 'the true nature of money' and 'words' in 'Muromachi Outsiders' depicts, through the peasant uprisings of the 15th century, the universal principle that information becomes the driving force of social change. It is the point that information is the power that moves people's hearts and, in turn, repaints the values of society. Ryosuke Kakin states that the 'principle of uprisings' also applies to modern SNS. The mid-Muromachi period, when the outlaw Hasuda Hyoe was active, was the dawn of the currency (money) economy and information circulation, and its dynamism is similar to the modern era.
The mid-Muromachi period, when Hasuda Hyoe, who led the Kansho Peasant Uprising (1462), was active, was a transformative period where the penetration of the money economy and the development of information circulation progressed simultaneously. Particularly noteworthy is the existence of the bashaku (packhorse drivers). They were not just transporters, but functioned as a 'living communication network' that transmitted information from various places while going back and forth on the roads. The 'words (reputation)' as 'that which moves more than money' that Hasuda Hyoe discerned in the film symbolizes the power of information circulation in this era. People suffering from famine and heavy taxes found hope and gained the courage to take action through news of successful uprisings in other countries and rumors of debt cancellation decrees brought by bashaku. Through the figures of commoners called 'insects' who, while disappointed in the Shogunate that did not protect them, stood up relying on 'words (reputation)' obtained from the information transmission network of bashaku (the Muromachi version of the Internet), 'Muromachi Outsiders' shows the universal principle that information can become a driving force to reform existing order by creating new values and giving people the motivation to act.
The historical drama based on the Kansho Peasant Uprising of the late Muromachi period depicted in 'Muromachi Outsiders' is by no means a past anecdote. Rather, the implications of this work are becoming increasingly important in the modern era of the early 21st century, which is in the midst of a vast amount of information even more than in the Muromachi period. Just as Hasuda Hyoe recognized the power of 'words' and attempted social change through the consciousness reform of the people, we in the modern era are also participating in the transformation of values through the selection and dissemination of information. However, there is an overwhelming difference in quantity and quality in the speed and scale between information transmission by bashaku in the Muromachi period and modern digital information networks.
'Muromachi Outsiders' poses the fundamental question of 'what to believe and what kind of values to choose' in the information society of the early 21st century. Beyond being a mere historical drama, it provides important implications for us living in the modern era as a universal fable about information, power, and human dignity.
[References]
Ryosuke Kakin, Novel 'Muromachi Outsiders' (Shinchosha 2016)
https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/book/475006/
Director: Yu Irie, Original Work: Ryosuke Kakin, Film 'Muromachi Outsiders' (Toei 2025)
https://muromachi-outsiders.jp/
Kakin, R., & Goza, Y. (January 31, 2025). 'Uprisings' and 'SNS': The surprising 'common principle' discussed by a historical writer. Some ringleaders even tried to spread their names intentionally. Toyo Keizai Online.
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/853354