Machi-bugyō

Machi-bugyō (町奉行) were samurai officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. The office was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyō.[1] Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor".

This bakufu title identifies a magistrate or municipal administrator with responsibility for governing and maintaining order in what were perceived to be important cities.[2]

The machi-bugyō were the central public authority in the Japanese urban centers of this period. These bakufu-appointed officers served in a unique role, which was an amalgam of chief of police, judge, and mayor. The machi-bugyō were expected to manage a full range of administrative and judicial responsibilities.[3]

The machi-bugyō was expected to be involved in tax collection, policing, and firefighting; and at the same time, the machi-bugyō needed to play a number of judicial roles – hearing and deciding both ordinary civil cases and criminal cases.[3]

Only high-ranking hatamoto were appointed to the position of machi-bugyō because of the critical importance of what they were expected to do. The machi-bugyō were considered equal in rank to the minor daimyō. There were as many as 16 machi-bugyō located throughout Japan.[3]

Shogunal city

During this period, a number of urban cities—including Edo, Kyoto, Nagasaki, Nara, Nikkō, and Osaka—were considered important; and some were designated as a "shogunal city". The number of such "shogunal cities" rose from three to eleven under Tokugawa administration.[4]

List of machi-bugyō

  • Ōoka Tadasuke, 1717–1736 (Yedo-bugyō), 1736-1748 (Temple-bugyō).[5]
  • Yozou Torii, 1841-1844 (Minamimachi-bugyō).
  • Tōyama Kagemoto, 1840–1843 (Kitamachi-bugyō), 1845–1852 (Minammachi-bugyō).
  • Ido Satohiro, 1849–1856.[6]
  • Izawa Masayoshi, 1858.[7]
  • Oguri Tadamasa, 1862–1863.[8]
  • Abe Masatō, 1863–1864.[9]
  • Inoue Kiyonao, 1863, 1866–1868.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Beasley, William G. (1955). Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868, p. 325.
  2. ^ Hall, John Wesley. (1955) Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 201
  3. ^ a b c Cunningham, Don. (2004). Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai, p. 42.
  4. ^ Cullen, William. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds, p. 159.
  5. ^ Murdoch, p. 334.
  6. ^ Beasley, p. 332.
  7. ^ Beasley, p. 334.
  8. ^ Beasley, p. 338.
  9. ^ Beasley, p. 331.
  10. ^ Beasley, p. 333.

References

  • Beasley, William G. (1955). Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868. London: Oxford University Press. [reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. ISBN 978-0-19-713508-2 (cloth)]
  • Murdoch, James. (1996). A History of Japan., p. 334.
  • Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82155-X (cloth) -- ISBN 0-521-52918-2 (paper)
  • Cunningham, Don. (2004). Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8048-3536-7 (cloth)
  • Hall, John Wesley. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Jansen, Marius B. (1995). Warrior Rule in Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-48404-9

See also

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