Imai Hyobu

...The town area was four blocks square, and the perimeter was surrounded by a moat to make it a fortified area. In 1575 (Tensho 3), it surrendered to Oda Nobunaga, but because it had a sister town relationship with Sakai, it was allowed to be ruled by successive generations of Imai Hyobukyo as a temple town, and the Tokugawa Shogunate also recognized this. However, the townspeople's self-governance had developed, so the privileges of Imai Hyobukyo were eliminated, and the three Sotoshiyori families (Imanishi, Ozaki, and Ueda) were in charge of town administration as a direct domain of the Shogunate. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Imai Hyobu" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…町域は4町四方，外周には水濠をめぐらして要塞化した。1575年(天正3)に織田信長に屈服したが，堺と姉妹町の関係にあったため，寺内町として今井兵部卿歴代の支配が認められ，徳川幕府もこれを承認した。しかし，町人自治が発達しており，今井兵部卿の特権を排除し，幕府直領として惣年寄3家(今西，尾崎，上田)が町政に当たった。…

※「今井兵部」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報