Tokugawa shogunate

The bakuhan system (bakuhan taisei 幕藩体制) was the feudal political system in the Edo period of Japan.[1] Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government"—that is, the shogunate. The han were the domains headed by daimyō.[1] Beginning from Ieyasu's appointment as shogun in 1603, but especially after the Tokugawa victory in Osaka in 1615, various policies were implemented to assert the shogunate's control, which severely curtailed the daimyos' independence.[14] The number of daimyos varied but stabilized at around 270.[14]

The bakuhan system split feudal power between the shogunate in Edo and the daimyōs with domains throughout Japan.[16] The shōgun and lords were all daimyōs: feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, and territories.[16] Provinces had a degree of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration of the han in exchange for loyalty to the shōgun, who was responsible for foreign relations, national security,[16] coinage, weights and measures, and transportation.[14]

The shōgun also administered the most powerful han, the hereditary fief of the House of Tokugawa, which also included many gold and silver mines.[16] Towards the end of the shogunate, the Tokugawa clan held around 7 million koku of land (天領 tenryō), including 2.6-2.7 million koku held by direct vassals, out of 30 million in the country.[17] The other 23 million koku were held by other daimyos.[17]

The number of han (roughly 270) fluctuated throughout the Edo period.[18] They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number of koku of rice that the domain produced each year.[17] One koku was the amount of rice necessary to feed one adult male for one year. The minimum number for a daimyō was ten thousand koku;[18] the largest, apart from the shōgun, was more than a million koku.[17]

The main policies of the shogunate on the daimyos included:

• The principle that each daimyo (including those who were previously independent of the Tokugawa family) submitted to the shogunate, and each han required the shogunate's recognition and were subject to its land redistributions.[14]^192-93 Daimyos swore allegiance to each shogun and acknowledged the Laws for Warrior Houses, or buke shohatto.[17]
• The sankin-kōtai (参勤交代 "alternate attendance") system, which required daimyos to travel to and reside in Edo every other year, and for their families to remain in Edo during their absence.
• The ikkoku ichijyō rei (一国一城令), which allowed each daimyo's han to retain only one fortification, at the daimyo's residence.[14]¹⁹⁴
• The Laws for the Military Houses (武家諸法度, buke shohatto), the first of which in 1615 forbade the building of new fortifications or repairing existing ones without bakufu approval, admitting fugitives of the shogunate, and arranging marriages of the daimyos' families without official permission.[14] Additional rules on the samurai were issued over the years.[14][17]

Although the shogun issued certain laws, such as the buke shohatto on the daimyōs and the rest of the samurai class, each han administered its autonomous system of laws and taxation.[16] The shōgun did not interfere in a han's governance unless major incompetence (such as large rebellions) is shown, nor were central taxes issued.[16] Instead, each han provided feudal duties, such as maintaining roads and official currier stations, building canals and harbors, providing troops, and relieving famines.[16] Daimyōs were strategically placed to check each other, and the sankin-kōtai system ensured that daimyōs or their family are always in Edo, observed by the shogun.[16]

Edo Castle, 17th century

The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains, although they were rarely and carefully exercised after the early years of the Shogunate, to prevent daimyōs from banding together.[16] The sankin-kōtai system of alternative residence required each daimyō to reside in alternate years between the han and the court in Edo.[16] During their absences from Edo, it was also required that they leave their family as hostages until their return. The hostages and the huge expenditure sankin-kōtai imposed on each han helped to ensure loyalty to the shōgun.[16] By 1690s, the vast majority of daimyos would be born in Edo, and most would consider it their homes.[14] Some daimyos had little interest in their domains and needed to be begged to return "home".[14]

In return for the centralization, peace among the daimyos were maintained; unlike in the Sengoku period, daimyos no longer worried about conflicts with one another.[14] In addition, hereditary succession was guaranteed as internal usurpations within domains were not recognized by the shogunate.[14]

The Tokugawa clan further ensured loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the shōgun. Daimyos were classified into three main categories:[17]

• Shinpan ("relatives" 親藩) were six clans established by sons of Ieyasu, as well as certain sons of the 8th and 9th shoguns, who were made daimyos.[17] They would provide an heir to the shogunate if the shogun didn't have an heir.[17]
• Fudai ("hereditary" 譜代) were mostly vassals of Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan before the Battle of Sekigahara.[17] They ruled their han (estate) and served as high officials in the shogunate, although their han tend to be smaller compared to the tozama domains.[17]
• Tozama ("outsiders" 外様) were around 100 daimyos, most of whom became vassals of the Tokugawa clan after the Battle of Sekigahara. Some fought against Tokugawa forces, although some were neutral were even fought on the side of the Tokugawa clan, as allies rather than vassals.[17] The tozama daimyos tend to have the largest han, with 11 of the 16 largest daimyos in this category.[17]

The tozama daimyos who fought against the Tokugawa clan in the Battle of Sekigahara had their estate reduced substantially.[17] They were often placed in mountainous or far away areas, or placed between most trusted daimyos.[17] Early in the Edo period, the shogunate viewed the tozama as the least likely to be loyal; over time, strategic marriages and the entrenchment of the system made the tozama less likely to rebel. In the end, however, it was still the great tozama of Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa, and to a lesser extent Hizen, that brought down the shogunate. These four states are called the Four Western Clans, or Satchotohi for short.[18]

Social class during the Shogunate with the Emperor as the nominal ruler

Regardless of the political title of the Emperor, the shōguns of the Tokugawa family controlled Japan.[19] The shogunate secured a nominal grant of administration (体制, taisei) by the Imperial Court in Kyoto to the Tokugawa family.[18] While the Emperor officially had the prerogative of appointing the shōgun and received generous subsidies, he had virtually no say in state affairs.[16] The shogunate issued the Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials (kinchu narabini kuge shohatto 禁中並公家諸法度) to set out its relationship with the Imperial family and the kuge (imperial court officials), and specified that the Emperor should dedicate to scholarship and poetry.[20] The shogunate also appointed a liaison, the Kyoto Shoshidai (Shogun's Representative in Kyoto), to deal with the Emperor, court and nobility.

Towards the end of the shogunate, however, after centuries of the Emperor having very little say in state affairs and being secluded in his Kyoto palace, and in the wake of the reigning shōgun, Tokugawa Iemochi, marrying the sister of Emperor Kōmei (r. 1846–1867), in 1862, the Imperial Court in Kyoto began to enjoy increased political influence.[21] The Emperor would occasionally be consulted on various policies and the shogun even made a visit to Kyoto to visit the Emperor. Government administration would be formally returned from the shogun to the Emperor during the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Dutch trading post in Dejima, c. 1805

Foreign affairs and trade were monopolized by the shogunate, yielding a huge profit. Foreign trade was also permitted to the Satsuma and the Tsushima domains. Rice was the main trading product of Japan during this time. Isolationism was the foreign policy of Japan and trade was strictly controlled. Merchants were outsiders to the social hierarchy of Japan and were thought to be greedy.

The visits of the Nanban ships from Portugal were at first the main vector of trade exchanges, followed by the addition of Dutch, English and sometimes Spanish ships.

From 1603 onward, Japan started to participate actively in foreign trade. In 1615, an embassy and trade mission under Hasekura Tsunenaga was sent across the Pacific to Nueva España (New Spain) on the Japanese-built galleon San Juan Bautista. Until 1635, the Shogun issued numerous permits for the so-called "red seal ships" destined for the Asian trade.

After 1635 and the introduction of Seclusion laws, inbound ships were only allowed from China, Korea, and the Netherlands.

Christian prisoners in Edo, 17th century

Followers of Christianity first began appearing in Japan during the 16th century. Oda Nobunaga embraced Christianity and the Western technology that was imported with it, such as the musket. He also saw it as a tool he could use to suppress Buddhist forces.[22]

Though Christianity was allowed to grow until the 1610s, Tokugawa Ieyasu soon began to see it as a growing threat to the stability of the shogunate. As Ōgosho ("Cloistered Shōgun"),[23] he influenced the implementation of laws that banned the practice of Christianity. His successors followed suit, compounding upon Ieyasu's laws. The ban of Christianity is often linked with the creation of the Seclusion laws, or Sakoku, in the 1630s.[24]

The primary source of the shogunate's income is the tax (around 40%) levied on harvests in the Tokugawa clan's personal domains (tenryō).[17] No taxes were levied on domains of daimyos, who instead provided military duty, public works and corvee.[17] The shogunate obtained loans from merchants, which were sometimes seen as forced donations, although commerce was often not taxed.[17] Special levies were also imposed for infrastructure-building.[17]

The rōjū (老中) were normally the most senior members of the shogunate.[17] Normally, four or five men held the office, and one was on duty for a month at a time on a rotating basis.[17] They supervised the ōmetsuke (who checked on the daimyos), machi-bugyō (commissioners of administrative and judicial functions in major cities, especially Edo), ongoku bugyō (遠国奉行, the commissioners of other major cities and shogunate domains) and other officials, oversaw relations with the Imperial Court in Kyoto, kuge (members of the nobility), daimyō, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and attended to matters like divisions of fiefs. Other bugyō (commissioners) in charge of finances, monasteries and shrines also reported to the rōjū.[17] The roju conferred on especially important matters. In the administrative reforms of 1867 (Keiō Reforms), the office was eliminated in favor of a bureaucratic system with ministers for the interior, finance, foreign relations, army, and navy.

Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle where Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860

In principle, the requirements for appointment to the office of rōjū were to be a fudai daimyō and to have a fief assessed at 50000 koku or more.[17] However, there were exceptions to both criteria. Many appointees came from the offices close to the shōgun, such as soba yōnin (側用人), Kyoto Shoshidai, and Osaka jōdai.

Irregularly, the shōguns appointed a rōjū to the position of tairō (great elder).[17] The office was limited to members of the Ii, Sakai, Doi, and Hotta clans, but Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was given the status of tairō as well. Among the most famous was Ii Naosuke, who was assassinated in 1860 outside the Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle (Sakuradamon incident).

Three to five men titled the wakadoshiyori (若年寄) were next in status below the rōjū.[17] An outgrowth of the early six-man rokuninshū (六人衆, 1633–1649), the office took its name and final form in 1662. Their primary responsibility was management of the affairs of the hatamoto and gokenin, the direct vassals of the shōgun.[17] Under the wakadoshiyori were the metsuke.

Some shōguns appointed a soba yōnin. This person acted as a liaison between the shōgun and the rōjū. The soba yōnin increased in importance during the time of the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, when a wakadoshiyori, Inaba Masayasu, assassinated Hotta Masatoshi, the tairō. Fearing for his personal safety, Tsunayoshi moved the rōjū to a more distant part of the castle. Some of the most famous soba yōnin were Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tanuma Okitsugu.

The ōmetsuke and metsuke were officials who reported to the rōjū and wakadoshiyori.[17] The five ōmetsuke were in charge of monitoring the affairs of the daimyōs, kuge and imperial court. They were in charge of discovering any threat of rebellion. Early in the Edo period, daimyōs such as Yagyū Munefuyu held the office. Soon, however, it fell to hatamoto with rankings of 5,000 koku or more. To give them authority in their dealings with daimyōs, they were often ranked at 10,000 koku and given the title of kami (an ancient title, typically signifying the governor of a province) such as Bizen-no-kami.

As time progressed, the function of the ōmetsuke evolved into one of passing orders from the shogunate to the daimyōs, and of administering to ceremonies within Edo Castle. They also took on additional responsibilities such as supervising religious affairs and controlling firearms. The metsuke, reporting to the wakadoshiyori, oversaw the affairs of the vassals of the shōgun.[17] They were the police force for the thousands of hatamoto and gokenin who were concentrated in Edo. Individual han had their own metsuke who similarly policed their samurai.

The san-bugyō (三奉行 "three administrators") were the jisha, kanjō, and machi-bugyō, which respectively oversaw temples and shrines, accounting, and the cities. The jisha-bugyō had the highest status of the three. They oversaw the administration of Buddhist temples (ji) and Shinto shrines (sha), many of which held fiefs. Also, they heard lawsuits from several land holdings outside the eight Kantō provinces. The appointments normally went to daimyōs; Ōoka Tadasuke was an exception, though he later became a daimyō.

The kanjō-bugyō were next in status. The four holders of this office reported to the rōjū. They were responsible for the finances of the shogunate.[25]

The machi-bugyō were the chief city administrators of Edo and other cities. Their roles included mayor, chief of the police (and, later, also of the fire department), and judge in criminal and civil matters not involving samurai. Two (briefly, three) men, normally hatamoto, held the office, and alternated by month.[26]

Three Edo machi bugyō have become famous through jidaigeki (period films): Ōoka Tadasuke and Tōyama Kagemoto (Kinshirō) as heroes, and Torii Yōzō (ja:鳥居耀蔵) as a villain.

The san-bugyō together sat on a council called the hyōjōsho (評定所). In this capacity, they were responsible for administering the tenryō (the shogun's estates), supervising the gundai (郡代), the daikan (代官) and the kura bugyō (蔵奉行), as well as hearing cases involving samurai. The gundai managed Tokugawa domains with incomes greater than 10,000 koku while the daikan managed areas with incomes between 5,000 and 10,000 koku.

The shogun directly held lands in various parts of Japan. These were known as shihaisho (支配所); since the Meiji period, the term tenryō (天領, literally "Emperor's land") has become synonymous, because the shogun's lands were returned to the emperor.[27] In addition to the territory that Ieyasu held prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, this included lands he gained in that battle and lands gained as a result of the Summer and Winter Sieges of Osaka. Major cities as Nagasaki and Osaka, and mines, including the Sado gold mine, also fell into this category.

The gaikoku bugyō were administrators appointed between 1858 and 1868. They were charged with overseeing trade and diplomatic relations with foreign countries, and were based in the treaty ports of Nagasaki and Kanagawa (Yokohama).

Over the course of the Edo period, influential relatives of the shogun included:

• Tokugawa Mitsukuni of the Mito Domain[30]
• Tokugawa Nariaki of the Mito Domain[31]
• Tokugawa Mochiharu of the Hitotsubashi branch
• Tokugawa Munetake of the Tayasu branch.[32]
• Matsudaira Katamori of the Aizu branch.[33]
• Matsudaira Sadanobu, born into the Tayasu branch, adopted into the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira of Shirakawa.[34]