Stories of the Japanese 00650 [Mid-Kamakura Period] The Establishment of the Goseibai Shikimoku*

The year 1230 (Kanki 2) was a year of continued misfortune for Yasutoki.
On April 11, Yasutoki's heir, Tokiuji, returned to Kamakura after finishing his six-year term as Rokuhara Tandai. In his place, Yasutoki's younger brother, Gokurakuji Shigetoki, departed for Kyoto. Shigetoki was to take office as the new Rokuhara Tandai.
Yasutoki likely called Tokiuji back to Kamakura to have him learn by observing his own work firsthand, with the intention of having him succeed to the position of regent in the future. However, as soon as Tokiuji returned to Kamakura, he fell ill and passed away on June 18.
Furthermore, on August 4, Yasutoki's daughter, who had married Miura Yasumura (?-1247), died due to a stillbirth. Prior to this, in 1227 (Karoku 3), Yasutoki had suffered the tragedy of his second son, Tokizane (1212-1227), being attacked and killed by a family retainer, and by this point, he had lost two sons and one daughter.
Yasutoki's succession was entrusted to Tokiuji's surviving children: his six-year-old eldest son, Tsunetoki (1224-1246), and his three-year-old second son, Tokiyori (1227-1263).
Now, undeterred by the tragedy of his children's early deaths, Yasutoki energetically set about his administrative duties. His greatest achievement was the establishment of the Goseibai Shikimoku (Formulary of Adjudications) on August 10, 1232 (Joei 1).
In this era, most lawsuits brought to the shogunate involved land disputes. However, the ability and personal interests of the adjudicators often influenced the verdicts, leading to growing dissatisfaction among the people. Therefore, Yasutoki sought to address this by creating a written law that would allow for reasonable and fair judgments. Moreover, the Goseibai Shikimoku was also applied to lawsuits between gokenin (shogunate vassals) and non-gokenin, and it was designed to be convincing even from the perspective of non-gokenin, without ever favoring someone simply because they were a gokenin. It can be said that this legislation was filled with Yasutoki's ideals of governing through virtue and reason.
There is an anecdote regarding the Goseibai Shikimoku.
A samurai in Kyushu felt sorrow seeing his father sell off his land due to poverty, so he worked hard to buy it back and return it to his father. However, after that, his father did not give the land to him, but for some reason, gave it all to his younger brother before passing away.
A lawsuit over the land arose between the brothers, and Yasutoki initially wanted to let the older brother win. However, the younger brother's ownership of the land had gone through proper legal procedures, and according to the Goseibai Shikimoku, the younger brother's side was clearly at an advantage. Despite his deep sympathy for the older brother, Yasutoki handed down a verdict in favor of the younger brother.
However, later, when a piece of land without a lord happened to be found in Kyushu, Yasutoki gave it to the older brother, thereby balancing the strict application of the law with compassionate mercy.
Until then, the only laws available were the 'Ritsuryo' codes modeled after Tang China, but it is extremely rare to have legislation that codified Japan's ancient traditions without imitating foreign countries. The Kamakura Shogunate, which had been nothing more than a group of samurai who could not even read or write, can be evaluated as having become a sophisticated political organization centered on the rule of law and virtuous governance by the time of Yasutoki.