Sankin-kotai

Japanese: 参勤交代 - さんきんこうたい

Also written as sankin-kotai. One of the military duties imposed by the Edo Shogunate. By making it obligatory for daimyo to perform sankin to Edo as a duty and service, the Shogunate exercised strong control over the daimyo and strengthened the centralization of power, enabling the long-term continuation of the Shogunate-han system.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

Origin and operation

It began when feudal lords submitted hostages to Edo Castle as evidence of their allegiance to the Tokugawa clan. An early example of this was in 1596 (Keicho 1), when Todo Takatora sent his younger brother Masataka to Edo as a witness. After the Tokugawa clan established its hegemony, more feudal lords submitted witnesses and many established their residences in Edo, but this was still at the daimyo's own volition and was not implemented as a system. The Buke Shohatto (Buke Shohatto), enacted in 1615 (Genwa 1), merely stipulated the number of attendants to be kept as sankin (attendance at Edo), stipulating that daimyo with 1 million koku or less but more than 200,000 koku should have no more than 20 horsemen, and daimyo with less than 100,000 koku should have their share. However, the third Shogun, Iemitsu, moved the wives and children of Fudai daimyo to Edo in 1634 (Kan'ei 11), and in the following year, revised the "Buke Shohatto" (Buke Shohatto), stipulating in Article 2 that "Daimyo and Shodai shall alternate their residence in Edo, and shall perform sankin-kotai every summer during April," thus institutionalizing the system of sankin-kotai. Sankin-kotai was made compulsory as a duty and service for the daimyo, and the period for the alternation was set to April every year. Thus, the daimyo alternated between staying in the capital and staying in their own provinces for one year, and many of their vassals, including their wives and children, came to reside in Edo full time. In 1642 (Kan'ei 19), the system was revised, and the period for the alternation of Fudai daimyo was changed to June, and especially for the fudai daimyo in the Kanto region, the period for the alternation was changed to six months, from August to February. In addition, the So clan of Tsushima was required to serve in the capital for three years (four months), and daimyo with important posts such as the Mito domain and senior councilors were required to have permanent residence in Edo.

In order to rebuild the finances of the shogunate, the eighth shogun, Yoshimune, ordered each daimyo to pay 100 koku of top-grade rice for every 10,000 koku in 1722 (Kyoho 7), and in return relaxed the sankin-kotai system, requiring them to stay in the capital for six months and in their own provinces for one and a half years, but then reverted to the old system after 30 years. Later, towards the end of the shogunate, as part of the government reforms, the sankin-kotai system was relaxed again in 1862 (Bunkyu 2), and a system of three years, one year of service, and 100 days of stay in the capital was implemented, but this did not prevent the daimyo from defecting from the shogunate, and instead ended up hastening the collapse of the shogunate.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

Effects and Significance

In the Edo period, the shogunate's military service system was improved, but with the advent of peace, there was no longer any opportunity to mobilize the daimyo in wars, and sankin-kotai, along with tetudai-bushin (help construction), assumed an important role as a form of military service. With the institutionalization of sankin-kotai, Edo developed into a major consumer city where the daimyo and their vassals gathered, but the costs of the daimyo's sankin-kotai were enormous, and this became a major factor in the daimyo's financial difficulties. As a result, the daimyo were forced to sell rice tax and local specialties in the central market of Osaka to earn money, but the goods gathered in Osaka from all over the country were mainly transported to Edo to meet Edo's huge demand for goods. Thus, the institutionalization of sankin-kotai created a distribution route for goods between the daimyo and Osaka, and between Osaka and Edo, realizing an economic connection between the three and promoting the formation of a national market. The development of commodity distribution, transportation, post stations, monetary economy, commerce, and industry in the Edo period was largely due to the sankin-kotai system, which also contributed in many ways to the spread of central culture to the provinces.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

"Revised Study of the History of the Bakufu-han System" by Tamotsu Fujino (1975, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

[Reference] | Daimyo Procession

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

参覲交替とも書く。江戸幕府が課した大名軍役の一つ。それによって、幕府は諸大名の江戸参勤を役儀・奉公として義務づけ、強力な大名統制を行うとともに、権力の集中強化を図り、幕藩体制の長期存続を可能とした。

［藤野　保］

起源・運用

諸大名が徳川氏に対する臣従の証拠として、江戸城に人質を提出したことに始まる。1596年（慶長1）藤堂高虎(とうどうたかとら)が弟の正高を証人として江戸に送ったのは、その早い例。徳川氏の覇権確立後、諸大名の証人提出が多くなり、また江戸に大名屋敷を設けるものが多くなったが、なお、諸大名の自発的意志によるもので、制度として実施されたわけではない。1615年（元和1）制定の「武家諸法度(ぶけしょはっと)」は、参勤作法として従者の員数を定めただけで100万石以下20万石以上の大名は20騎以下、10万石以下の大名は分に応ずるよう規定した。しかるに3代将軍家光(いえみつ)は、1634年（寛永11）譜代(ふだい)大名の妻子を江戸に移し、翌35年には「武家諸法度」を改定し、その第2条に「大名・小名、在江戸交替相定むる所なり、毎歳夏四月中、参勤いたすべし」と規定し、参勤交代を制度化した。ここに参勤交代は諸大名の役儀・奉公として義務づけられ、毎年4月が交代期と定められた。こうして諸大名は在府・在国1年交代となり、大名妻子をはじめ多数の家臣団が江戸に常住することになった。1642年（寛永19）制度の改正が行われ、譜代大名の交代期は6月、とくに関東の譜代大名は在府・在国半年、8月ないし2月交代となった。ほかに対馬(つしま)の宗(そう)氏は三年一勤（4か月在府）、水戸藩や老中などの役付大名は江戸定府(じょうふ)となった。

　8代将軍吉宗(よしむね)は、幕府財政再建のため、1722年（享保7）諸大名に1万石につき100石の上米(あげまい)を命じ、その代償として、参勤交代を緩和し、在府半年・在国1年半としたが、30年旧制に復した。その後、幕府は幕末に至り、幕政改革の一環として、1862年（文久2）ふたたび参勤交代を緩和し、三年一勤百日在府制を実施したが、それによって、諸大名の幕府からの離反を防ぐことができず、かえって幕府の崩壊を早める結果となった。

［藤野　保］

効果・意義

江戸時代に入り、幕府の軍役体系は整備されたが、平和の到来によって、諸大名を戦争に動員する機会はなくなり、参勤交代が手伝普請(てつだいぶしん)とともに、軍役として重要な意義を担った。参勤交代の制度化によって、江戸は諸大名とその家臣団が集居する大消費都市に発展したが、諸大名の参勤交代に要する費用は膨大なもので、大名財政の窮乏をきたす主要因となった。そのため、諸大名は年貢米と特産品を中央市場である大坂で販売し、貨幣を獲得する必要に迫られたが、大坂に集まった全国の物資は、おもに江戸へ輸送され、江戸の膨大な商品需要に応じたのである。こうして、参勤交代の制度化によって、諸大名と大坂、大坂と江戸という商品の流通路ができあがり、三者の経済的な結合が実現して、全国市場の形成を促進した。江戸時代の商品流通、交通・宿駅、また貨幣経済・商工業などの発達は、参勤交代によるところが大きく、さらに中央文化の地方普及にも貢献するところが少なくなかった。

［藤野　保］

『藤野保著『新訂幕藩体制史の研究』（1975・吉川弘文館）』

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