Japan: From the Japanese Government History

by Unknown

In this connection, a brief description may be made of the regular military service of the lord and vassal under the Tokugawa. In the Edo castle, all the officials from the rōjiu downward served in time of peace in civil capacities, but, in war, held military command, the shōgun himself sometimes taking the field. As to the feudal barons in the country, those whose income did not exceed ten thousand koku of rice were required to furnish ten horsemen and two hundred and thirty-five foot-soldiers, with full equipment of bows, guns, spears, banners, and so forth; while those who enjoyed a larger revenue were under obligation to furnish more ample contingents in proportion to their income. The shōgun himself had a large bodyguard, consisting of 30,000 men or upward, as well as a powerful standing force, called ōbangumi, which was prepared to take the field first in the event of an emergency. The samurai of these troops discharged civil duties in times of peace. Throughout the various clans a military system closely resembling that of the shōgunate prevailed.

To Yoshimune's initiative belongs, also, the establishment of a fire-brigade in Edo. In earlier times, during the period of the fourth shōgun, Iyetsuna, in January, 1657, a conflagration broke out in Edo, reducing nearly one-half of the city to ashes, and entailing the loss of many lives. After this catastrophe, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who then held the office of rōjiu, effected great improvements in the division of the city, repaired and widened the streets, removed the great Buddhist temples to the suburbs, created large spaces to which the citizens could fly for refuge in the event of fire, and built embankments to prevent the overflow of the rivers, thus greatly augmenting the prosperity of the capital. Prior to this three aqueducts had been constructed in the Kanda, Tamagawa, and Senkawa districts, by which means immense facilities were conferred in the matter of water supply. After the fire of 1657, however, the crime of incendiarism became common, and owing to the high winds so often prevailing in Edo, fires thus kindled proved very destructive, as many as ten thousand houses being sometimes ruined at one time. Perpetual exposure to such a destructive agency naturally exercised an injurious effect upon the methods of house construction. The citizens contented themselves with flimsy dwellings, in many cases thatched, not tiled, and the decoration of the nobles' mansions began to be materially reduced. On the other hand, the prosperity of the city increased so greatly that its area extended over twenty-five square miles and its population aggregated two millions. Conflagrations, however, continued as frequent as ever. Yoshimune, therefore, encouraged the people to build houses of stone or other fireproof materials, and in streets of prime importance, like those in the Kanda and Nihonbashi districts, the shōgun did not hesitate to have the houses pulled down in order to widen the thoroughfares. At the same time, Ōoka Tadasuke, municipal governor, established the fire-brigade system. All these improvements had some effect in reducing the number of fires, but to the end of the Tokugawa dynasty their ravages continued to be the curse of the capital.

Yoshimune, who in addition to military, financial, and administrative aptitudes had a strong scientific bias, devoted much of his spare time to astronomy, and caused instruments to be constructed for the purpose of taking observations. He also ordered surveys to be undertaken for the purpose of making a map. The encouragement of medicine and the building of hospitals were also within the range of his reforms, and even the promulgation of a law of copyright was not neglected, while we find him turning to such a matter as the planting of cherry, willow, and peach trees at Asukayama, along the banks of the Sumida River, in Kanda, in Koganei, in Nakano, and other parts of the capital, with the result that the citizens are to-day in possession of beautiful pleasure resorts both in the suburbs and in the business districts of Tōkyō.

Under the influence of these wise and comprehensive reforms, it is not strange that throughout the period of the rule of Yoshimune (1716-1745) and his son Iyeshige (1745-1761) the country enjoyed comparative peace and order. But the gradual decline of the Tokugawa power which had previously set in could not be checked even by Yoshimune. Under the tenth shōgun, Iyeharu (1761-1787), the influence of his unworthy favorites, the Tanuma family, introduced evils of bribery and sycophancy, while the country at large was visited by droughts and inundations, such discontent being engendered among the poorer classes that mobs assembled and attacked the residences of wealthy merchants.

Fortunately the next shōgun, Iyenari (1787-1837), and his great councilor, Matsudaira Sadanobu, reverted to the strict policy of Yoshimune and the illustrious founders of the Tokugawa shōgunate. Many an able official was appointed for service in the Edo castle, and several barons in the country vied with the central administration in wisdom and efficiency of government. Iyenari's shōgunate also coincided with the reign of the noble Emperor Kōkaku (1780-1817). Iyenari was promoted to the second grade of the first rank and to the post of chief minister of state, thus enjoying the distinction of reaching the highest position ever attained by a shōgun of the Tokugawa line while in office. His long rule of fifty years may be said to have effectually stemmed the tide of the decline of the Edo government which otherwise would have swept over everything long before it did in the next period.

We shall conclude this chapter by describing various phases of the society and the life of the people of this period, beginning with the upper classes. Nothing was deemed of greater importance, politically and socially, than to preserve distinctions of birth. Throughout the Edo period the lines of demarcation were clearly and sharply maintained between the samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the four classes ranking in the order here given. Kyōto was the place of residence of the imperial princes, among whom Fushimi, Arisugawa, Katsura, and Kan-in were most closely connected with the imperial house. The civil nobles aggregated over 130 families, including the five called Sekka from which the prime ministers were appointed and empresses chosen, and the seven Seika from which the ministers of the right and left were selected. The real administration of all the civil and military affairs of the state rested, however, under the authority of the sovereign, on the shōgun, who controlled the feudal barons numbering over 360. At the outset large tracts of territory were given to the direct descendants of Iyeyasu, on whose support the shōgun chiefly relied, but subsequently special treatment was extended to the feudal barons of Owari, Kii, and Mito, who under the name Sanke—Three Families—were authorized to act in the capacity of advisers to the shōgun with reference to the principal political affairs of the realm, and they were invested with the right to succeed to the shōgunate in the event of a failure in the direct line of male descent. Besides these, the two shōguns Yoshimune and Iyeshige founded three new families at the head of which they placed their own sons, namely, the houses of Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, and Shimizu, collectively known as the Sankyō—Three Barons—enjoying the same special privileges and distinctions as the Sanke. Many other feudal chiefs were also the recipients of exceptional, though smaller, favor at the hands of the shōgun.

As to the various barons in the land, their classification into the tozama and fudai classes has already been explained. If classified according to the extent of their holdings, they fall into the three divisions of kokushi, jōshi, and ryōshi. Lands of varying extent were granted in perpetuity, such estates being classed into four kinds, namely, those yielding 10,000 koku annually and upward; those of 50,000 koku and upward; those of 100,000 koku and upward, and those of 300,000 koku and upward. According to these property qualifications the relative ranks of the feudal nobles were determined, as well as their ceremonial robes, their treatment at the Edo castle, and the places assigned to them there. It was prescribed that, whenever the feudal barons repaired to Edo or visited the shōgun's palace, they had to be attended by a fixed retinue of retainers, the number varying with their rank. On these occasions bows, muskets, spears, and halberds were borne by the retinue, several of whom were mounted on horseback. The baggage was carried in handsome cases, called hasami-bako, and the utensils used en route were also enclosed in ornamented coverings, so that the whole procession formed an imposing and picturesque spectacle, which was frequently met with on the main roads converging in Edo. As for the samurai at large, they derived their means of support from lands granted them for life or in perpetuity by the shōgun's government or the feudal nobles. Their duties were to master all branches of military exercises and to devote themselves faithfully to the service of their lords, and literature was also studied with assiduity. Speaking broadly, they were divided into two classes. Those belonging to the higher class, called bajō-kaku, or knightly rank, took the field on horseback and held comparatively high social positions. The second class, keihai, or light men, went on foot, and were subdivided into various grades, as kachi, kobito, ashigaru. The samurai who directly served the shōgun's government were called jikisan, and occupied the most respected position among their class, the highest among them being hatamoto (bannerets) and the lowest kenin.

In order to maintain the demarcation between classes and to preserve social order, strict attention was paid by the government to etiquette and conventional observances, and the study of literature by men of position was encouraged. Nevertheless, instances of rude and disorderly conduct on the part of the people were not infrequent. During the early years of the Tokugawa period, the memory of the nation being still freshly imbued with incidents of battle and bloodshed, both the government and the people regarded the military spirit with the utmost reverence and considered its development essential to the well-being of the state. Samurai of the lowest rank wore two swords whenever they walked abroad, and, one and all, these men of war were disciples of a cult which placed honor and justice at the head of a soldier's characteristics and relegated selfishness to the lowest place. It was a common practice with the samurai of the time to take their own lives for the purpose of expiating some event which they considered injurious to the prestige of their feudal lord.

A remarkable example of the vendetta occurred in 1702, when forty-seven rōnin killed the enemy of their late lord. The affair had its origin in an act of violence perpetrated by Asano Naganori, feudal chief of Akō, who, being insulted by a rear-vassal Yoshinaka, drew his sword within the precincts of the palace and wounded the offender, for which breach of etiquette he was condemned to take his own life, and his family estate was confiscated, an exceptionally severe sentence, due to the fact that the government of the shōgun was just then exercising every effort to check the rough-and-ready habits of time. Asano's vassals, forty-seven in number, under the leadership of Ōishi Kuranosuke, after a long period of patient watching and much hardship, succeeded in forcing their way into Yoshinaka's residence in Edo and decapitating him. Then they surrendered themselves to the authorities and were sentenced to die by suicide. But their achievement excited the nation's strong admiration, who bestowed upon them the name of gishi, loyal retainers. Their act was later dramatized into one of the greatest of Japanese plays called "Chūshigura," and through all succeeding generations theatrical representations of their loyal conduct never failed to attract deeply sympathetic audiences. Similar deeds were already on record. Early in the Kamakura period, the Soga brothers, Sukenari and Tokimune, killed their father's foe, Kudo Suketsune; and under the Tokugawa rule, Araki Matayemon, the renowned swordsman, together with Watanabe Kazuma, put to death Kawai, the hereditary enemy of his family, at Ueno in Iga. These and other achievements, some filial, some loyal, fired the imagination of the nation. It became a popular creed that orphans, faithful vassals, and even widows should devote their lives to vindicating the memory or avenging the death of parents, chiefs, or husbands, and this conviction was constantly translated into action during the early years of the Tokugawa rule. It was undoubtedly a custom in some respects worthy only of a military feudalism, but its effect in fostering a spirit of chivalry was beyond question.

Even the inferior classes and the merchants of that day, living in or near Kyōto, attached more importance to the dictates of integrity and honor than to questions of pecuniary interest. An evidence of the spirit that governed monetary transactions is furnished in the form of promissory notes in vogue at the time, which contained such clauses as: "In the event of my failure to repay the money, I shall have no objection to being publicly ridiculed," or, "Should I fail to discharge my obligation at the fixed time, I should be considered as no man." In fact, displays of courage and resolution and heroic contempt of difficulties were so highly prized that, from the latter part of the seventeenth century such a habit of thought naturally degenerated in the case of the unrefined or illiterate into mere truculence and roughness. A peculiar class of men called odokodate, civilians attired half like the samurai and exercising deeds of chivalry, no less of mere roughness, was a product of this period. They roamed about the streets in bands, between whom bitter quarrels frequently occurred. The proceedings of these affiliations exercised so injurious an effect on the customs and morals of the people that they were strictly interdicted by the fifth shōgun, and their leaders were put to death. The same ruler forbade the wearing of swords by merchants and farmers, and by these means succeeded in correcting the rough habits of the lower orders, but it is questionable whether the evils removed were not replaced by others still greater.