Yugisho (testimony by boiling water) (湯起請)
Yugisho is a method that was mainly used in trials to judge which of the two claimants involved had a just claim. It is also known as yudate.
Summary
In the yugisho method, each of the two claimants to be tried first swore that their claim was the truth in front of the parties concerned (in some cases, they would write a kishomon [sworn oath]). After that, they would both simultaneously put their hands in boiling water, take out a stone, and then place it on the Shinto altar in order to ask the shrine's gods for consideration. Then, on the same day or a few days later, the claimant who suffered a less severe scald (it was referred to as "shitsu" [fault]) would be judged to be right. However, if on the day of the trial, the claimant went out somewhere else, did not attend the trial, failed to take out the stone, or place it on the altar by dropping it, he would be considered to be "at fault" and lose the suit immediately. If the both claimants suffered a similar degree of scalding, it would be regarded as a sign from providence showing that their claims were even. Although yugisho was mainly applied to civil suits such as disputes over the boundary between territories, in some cases it was used on a suspect of various crimes.
Yugisho is considered to be an inheritance of kukatachi (an ancient way of making a judgment by putting one's hands in hot water) from ancient times, but no such technique existed in the period of the Ritsuryo legal codes. Although the details are unknown, it is said that yugisho started being used around the early Muromachi period as a revival of the ancient kukatachi and was used among private citizens at first. It was widely used as a method which enabled people to obtain agreements from both claimants without the exercise of detentions or tortures at "the will of the gods," but its use was limited only to the cases in which the truth could not be ascertained even after the thorough investigation of evidence such as witnesses or documents collected from the both parties. Also, since the decision to conduct yugisho could put psychological pressure on the litigants, indirectly it helped to achieve an early solution to a problem by having litigants with weak evidence drop the suit voluntarily.
In "Sakkai-ki Diary," it is stated that yugisho was conducted at Naishidokoro (the place where the sacred mirror is enshrined) of the Imperial Court in 1425, and also in "Kanmongyoki," it is described that it was conducted in 1431. A written opinion issued by the Muromachi bakufu in 1439 described that "the degree of shitsu shows how maliciously Boji (signs placed at the border between territories) was distorted" and regarded it as an effective solution to disputes over the boundary between territories since an unreasonable claim would be reflected in the the result of yugisho. The method of yugisho in the Muromachi bakufu was as follows. First, the parties concerned, the officials from the bakufu side such as bugyoshu (magistrates) or oyakebito (officials who serve the Imperial Court), and a miko (a shrine maiden) or an onmyoji (the master of Yin Yang) gathered before the gods, and then after the miko had conducted purification, they boiled water before the gods. Next, one representative (termed "torite") of each party wrote a kishomon (sworn oath), burned it and swallowed the ash, then picked up a stone from the hot water and placed it on the Shinto alter in the order that had been decided by drawing lots in advance. The torite held before the gods (normally in a Shinto shrine) where yugisho took place for three days, and then on the third day the degree of their scalds was examined by bugyoshu. If only one of the torite suffered a scald, he would be regarded as "at fault," and the torite and his party would be considered to be making a false claim and lose the suit. If the both torite suffered scalds, they both would be regarded as unlawful and the property concerned (i.e. lands if the case was of a dispute over the boundary between territories) would be confiscated by the bakufu. On the contrary, if neither of them suffered scalds, both sides would be regarded as "without fault" and a new deal would be concluded by chubun (the physical division of the land). If one of the parties concerned did not respond to the call for yugisho three times, it would become definite that the party lost the suit due to "disobedience to summons."
It is considered that yugisho was conducted until the early Edo period. However, by the mid Edo period, the legal system had been improved by kogi (the shogunate government) and people had become more science-oriented and accordingly few people believed in yugisho, so eventually this method died out. On the other hand, in some regions yugisho changed into a custom of yudate and became part of various Shinto rituals. In yudate, with reverence toward the holiness and magical power of water and fire, after purification by abstaining from eating meat, the conductor of the ritual boils water, presents it to the gods, and at the same time sprinkles it over the attending people to pray for rebirth and purification of life and good health.