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They were
generally ex-governors of Osaka and Fushimi, and they were
necessarily daimyo who had the qualification of direct vassalage to
the shogun. The jisha-bugyo performed their judicial functions in
their own residences, each administrator employing his own vassals
for subordinate purposes, and these vassals, when so employed, were
distinguished as jisha-yaku or toritsugi. Further, officiating
in conjunction with the jisha-bugyo f were chief inspectors
(daikenshi), and assistant inspectors (shokenshi) whose duties
require no description. The classes of people to whom the
jisha-bugyo's jurisdiction extended were numerous: they embraced the
cemetery-keepers at Momiji-yama, the bonzes, the fire-watchmen, the
musicians, the Shinto officials, the poets, the players at go or
chess, and so forth.

THE MACHI-BUGYO

The municipal administrator (machi-bugyo) controlled affairs relating
to the citizens in general. This was among the oldest institutions of
the Tokugawa, and existed also in the Toyotomi organization. At first
there were three machi-bugyo, but when the Tokugawa moved to Yedo,
the number was decreased to one, and subsequently increased again to
two in the days of Iemitsu. Judicial business occupied the major part
of the machi-bugyo's time. His law-court was in his own residence,
and under his direction constables (yoriki or doshiri) patrolled the
city. He also transacted business relating to prisons and the
municipal elders of Yedo (machi-doshiyori) referred to him all
questions of a difficult or serious nature.

THE KANJO-BUGYO

The financial administrator (kanjo-bugyo) received also the
appellation of kitchen administrator (daidokoro-bugyo), and his
duties embraced everything relating to the finance of the Bakufu,
including, of course, their estates and the persons residing on those
estates. The eight provinces of the Kwanto were under the direct
control of this bugyo, but other districts were administered by a
daikwan (deputy). There were two kinds of kanjo-bugyo, namely, the
kuji-kata and the katte-kata (public and private), the latter of whom
had to adjudicate all financial questions directly affecting the
Bakufu, and the former had to perform a similar function in cases
where outsiders were concerned. Various officials served as
subordinates of these important bugyo, who were usually taken from
the roju or the waka-doshiyori, and, in the days of the sixth shogun,
it was found necessary to appoint an auditor of accounts
(kanjo-gimmiyaku), who, although nominally of the same rank as the
kanjo-bugyo, really acted in a supervisory capacity. The Bakufu court
of law was the Hyojo-sho. Suits involving issues that lay entirely
within the jurisdiction of one bugyo were tried by him in his own
residence, but where wider interests were concerned the three bugyo
had to conduct the case at the Hyojo-sho, where they formed a
collegiate court. On such occasions the presence of the censors was
compulsory. Sometimes, also, the three bugyo met at the Hyojo-sho
merely for purposes of consultation.

THE CENSORS

An important figure in the Tokugawa organization was the censor
(metsuke), especially the great censor (o-metsuke). The holder of the
latter office served as the eyes and ears of the roju and supervised
the feudal barons. There were four or five great censors. One of them
held the additional office of administrator of roads (dochu-bugyo),
and had to oversee matters relating to the villages, the towns, and
the postal stations along the five principal highways. Another had to
inspect matters relating to religious sects and firearms--a strange
combination. Under the great censors were placed administrators of
confiscated estates. The ordinary censors had to exercise
surveillance over the samurai of the hatamoto and were under the
jurisdiction of the waka-doshiyori. There were altogether sixty
metsuke, and they travelled constantly throughout the empire
obtaining materials for reports which were submitted to the
waka-doshiyori. Among them are found censors who performed the duties
of coroners.*

*The employment of censors by the Bakufu has been severely criticized
as indicating a system of espionage. It scarcely seems necessary to
observe that the same criticism applies to all highly organized
Occidental Governments with their secret services, their detectives
and their inquiry agencies.

THE CHAMBERLAINS

Even more important than the censors were the chamberlains (soba
yonin) who had to communicate to the shogun all reports submitted by
the roju, and to offer advice as to the manner of dealing with them.
They also noted the shogun's decisions and appended them to
documents. The exercise of these functions afforded opportunities for
interfering in administrative affairs, and such opportunities were
fully utilized, to the great detriment of public interest. There were
also pages (kosho); castle accountants (nando); literati to the
shogun (oku-jusha), and physicians (oku-isha).

MASTERS OF CEREMONIES

The duty of transmitting messages from the shogun to the Emperor and
of regulating all matters of ceremony connected with the castle was
discharged by fifteen masters of ceremonies (koke) presided over by
four chiefs (the office of chief being hereditary in such families as
the Osawa and the Kira) who, although their fiefs were comparatively
small, possessed influence not inferior to that of the daimyo. A koke
was usually on watch in the castle by day. These masters of
ceremonies are not to be confounded with the chamberlains (soshaban)
already spoken of. The latter numbered twenty-four. They regulated
affairs connected with ceremonies in which all Government officials
were concerned, and they kept watch at the castle by night.
Subordinate to the koke and the chamberlains were various officials
who conveyed presents from the feudal lords to the shogun; directed
matters of decoration and furniture; had charge of miscellaneous
works in the castle, and supervised all persons, male or female,
entering or leaving the shogun's harem. Officials of this last class
were under the command of a functionary called o-rusui who had
general charge of the business of the harem; directed the issue of
passports to men and women of the samurai class or to commoners, and
had the care of all military stores in the castle. The name rusui
signifies a person in charge during the absence of his master, and
was applied in this case since the o-rusui had to guard the castle
when the shogun was not present. The multifarious duties entrusted to
officials over whom the o-rusui presided required a large number and
a great variety of persons to discharge them, but these need not be
enumerated in detail here.

THE TAMARIZUME

Characteristic of the elaborate etiquette observed at the shogun's
castle was the existence of semi-officials called tamarizume, whose
chief duty in ordinary times was to repair to the castle once every
five days, and to inquire through the roju as to the state of the
shogun's health. On occasions of emergency they participated in the
administration, taking precedence of the roju and the other
feudatories. The Matsudaira of Aizu, Takamatsu, and Matsuyama; the Ii
of Hikone, and the Sakai of Himeji--these were the families which
performed the functions of tamarizume as a hereditary right. It is
unnecessary to describe the organization and duties of the military
guards to whom the safety of the castle was entrusted, but the fact
has to be noted that both men and officers were invariably taken from
the hatamoto class.

THE WOMEN'S APARTMENTS

In the o-oku, or innermost buildings of the shogun's castle,
the harem was situated. Its chief official was a woman called
the o-toshiyori (great elder), under whom were a number of
ladies-in-waiting, namely, the toshiyori, the rojo, the churo, the
kojoro, and others. There were also ladies who attended solely to
visitors; others who kept the keys; others who carried messages to
public officers, and others who acted as secretaries. All this part
of the organization would take pages to describe in detail,* and is
necessarily abbreviated here. We may add, however, that there were
official falconers, sailors, grooms, gardeners, and every kind of
artist or mechanician.

*For fuller particulars of the manner of daily life at the shogun's
court, see Chapter 1. Vol. IV, of Brinkley's "Oriental Series."

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

In organizing a system of local government the Tokugawa Bakufu began
by appointing a shoshidai in Kyoto to guard the Imperial palace, to
supervise Court officials, and to oversee financial measures as well
as to hear suits-at-law, and to have control over temples and
shrines. The shoshidai enjoyed a high measure of respect. He had to
visit Yedo once in every five or six years for the purpose of making
a report to the shogun in person. The municipal administrator of
Kyoto and the administrators of Nara and Fushimi, the Kyoto deputy
(daikwan), and all the officials of the Nijo palace were under the
jurisdiction of the shoshidai. To qualify for this high office a man
must have served as governor of Osaka. In the Imperial city the
municipal administrator heard suits-at-law presented by citizens,
managed the affairs of temples and shrines, and was responsible for
collecting the taxes in the home provinces. There were two of these
officials in Kyoto and, like their namesakes in Yedo, they had a
force of constables (yoriki) and policemen (doshin) under their
command.

THE JODAI

Regarded with scarcely less importance than that attaching to the
shoshidai was an official called the jodai of Osaka, on whom devolved
the responsibility of guarding the Kwansei. For this office a
hereditary daimyo of the Tokugawa family was selected, and he must
previously have occupied the offices of soshaban and jisha-bugyo. The
routine of promotion was from the jodai of Osaka to the shoshidai of
Kyoto and from thence to the roju. Originally there were six jodai
but their number was ultimately reduced to one. Sumpu also had a
jodai, who discharged duties similar to those devolving on his Osaka
namesake.