Ōoka Tadasuke

When he accepted this job, he found out that there was a long-standing boundary dispute between the farmers of the Yamada and Wakayama (Kishū) fiefs, which is also known as the "Case of the Inherited Rice Fields."

While it was obvious that the Yamada claim was the just one, no previous judge had been foolish enough to irritate Yoshimune, Lord of Kishū, as he was very close to the shōgun, Tokugawa Ietsugu.

[1] According to the story, the dispute began in the early 18th century when the lord of the Wakayama domain granted some rice fields to a group of farmers in the Yamada region.

When the final harvest was taken, Ōoka Tadasuke declared that the farmers of Wakayama had proven their superior farming skills and deserved to be the rightful owners of the disputed rice fields.

[2] Yoshimune was so impressed that when he became shōgun five years later, he took the unusual action of promoting Ōoka over hundreds of other candidates, to the important post of machi-bugyō (magistrate) of Edo (old name for Tokyo).

In addition, the figure has taken on a legendary status in a number of stories about his unorthodox and wise legal decisions, frequently used in rakugo (Japanese storytelling).

[3] In "The Case of the Bound Jizō or Suspect Statue", Ōoka was called upon to discover the thief of a cartload of cloth from a local kimono maker.

Ōoka ordered a statue of Jizō of the Narihira-san Tōsen-ji, a temple in Tokyo, to be bound and brought forth to be called to answer for dereliction of its custodial duty.

In 1988 this book was adapted by Brno studio of Czechoslovak Television into 62 minute TV fairytale called Rozsudky soudce Ooky (Judgements of Ōoka the Judge).

Ōoka is a major character in the Japanese tokusatsu series, Shiro Jishi Kamen (White Lion Mask).

Published by the Pacific Stars & Stripes, it was called Solomon in Kimono: Tales of Ooka, a Wise Judge of Old Yedo.