Daimyo Procession - Daimyo Gyoretsu

Japanese: 大名行列 - だいみょうぎょうれつ

A procession that a feudal lord would take when traveling between Edo and his home province on the sankin-kotai system.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

The origin of sankin-kotai

Sankin-kotai began when feudal lords submitted hostages to Edo Castle as proof of their allegiance to the Tokugawa clan. After the Tokugawa clan established hegemony, many 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 (laws for the warrior class) enacted in 1615 (Genwa 1) only stipulated the number of attendants in relation to the etiquette of sankin-kotai. However, the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, moved the wives and children of the hereditary daimyo to Edo in 1604 (Kan'ei 11), and then revised the Buke Shohatto the following year to institutionalize sankin-kotai. Sankin-kotai was now made compulsory for the feudal lords as a duty and service, and the period for the alternation was set to be in April every year. Thus, the feudal lords began to alternate between residing in the capital and their provinces for one year each, and feudal lord processions became commonplace and one of the important events of the Edo period.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

Queue size and privileges

The Genna Law stipulated that daimyo processions should be no larger than 20 horsemen for daimyo with 1 million koku or less and 200,000 koku or more, and that daimyo with 100,000 koku or less should have no more than their share, but in reality, they were far larger. The shogunate recognized this reality in the Kan'ei Law, and adopted a policy of keeping the number of attendants as small as possible, appropriate to their share, but there was a strong tendency for daimyo to compete with each other, show off their strength, and show off. For example, the Maeda clan of Kaga had 4,000 attendants, and in some cases processions had as many as 2,000 to 3,000 attendants, with no fewer than 100 attendants. The order of the procession differed depending on the daimyo, but the beard slave was followed by the vanguard, such as the gold crest box bearer, spear bearer, and foot man, and the daimyo's palanquin entourage was made up of the umawari, attendants, sword guards, and rokushaku men, followed by the zoritori, umbrella bearer, tea boy, tea lunch box bearer, horseback rider, knight, spear bearer, and kappa palanquin men. The procession was given great privileges, and the person in front of the procession ordered passersby to bow down on the ground, and at river ferry crossings, ordinary travelers were made to wait in the river. If there was any rude behavior, such as crossing the path of the procession, there was the privilege of being cut off and forfeited. The route of the daimyo procession was determined by the shogunate, but the majority of daimyo used the Tokaido, accounting for 60% of the total. Daimyo from the eastern part of Japan mainly took the land route, but among the western part of Japan, many daimyo from Shikoku and Kyushu crossed the Seto Inland Sea by boat and took the land route from Osaka. As daimyo processions became more extravagant, the financial burden became heavier for daimyo from distant lands, and this became a major cause of financial hardship for daimyo.

[Fujino Tamotsu]

[Reference] | Sankin-kotai

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

参勤交代によって大名が江戸と国元を往復する際の行列。

［藤野　保］

参勤交代の起源

参勤交代は、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。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)」も、参勤作法に関し、従者の員数を定めるにとどまった。しかるに、3代将軍徳川家光(いえみつ)は、34年（寛永11）譜代大名の妻子を江戸に移し、ついで翌35年には「武家諸法度」を改訂し、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、大名行列が一般化し、江戸時代の重要な行事の一つとなった。

［藤野　保］

行列の規模と特権

大名行列の規模は、元和(げんな)法度で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定められたが、実際にははるかに大規模であった。幕府も寛永(かんえい)法度においてこの実状を認め、従者の員数は分相応とし、極力少なくする方針をとったが、諸大名は互いに競い合い、威勢を張り、見栄(みえ)を飾る傾向が強かった。たとえば、加賀前田氏の4000人を筆頭に、多い場合は2000～3000人、少なくとも100人を下らなかった。行列の順序は、大名によって異なるが、髭奴(ひげやっこ)に次いで金紋先箱(きんもんさきばこ)、槍持(やりもち)、徒歩(かち)などの先駆がこれに続き、大名の駕籠廻(かごまわ)りは馬廻、近習(きんじゅ)、刀番、六尺などで固め、そのあとを草履取(ぞうりとり)、傘持(かさもち)、茶坊主、茶弁当、牽馬(ひきうま)、騎士、槍持、合羽(かっぱ)駕籠などの後従が続いた。行列の通行には大きい特権が与えられ、行列の先払いが通行人に土下座(どげざ)を命じ、河川の渡し場では一般の旅人を川留(かわどめ)にした。供先を横切るなど無礼な行為があった場合は切捨御免の特権があった。大名行列の道筋は幕府によって定められたが、東海道を利用する大名がもっとも多く、全体の6割を占めた。東国筋(すじ)の大名は主として陸路をとったが、西国筋の大名のうち四国、九州の大名は、瀬戸内海を船で横断し、大坂より陸路をとる大名が多かった。大名行列が華美になると、遠国の大名ほど経済的負担が大きくなり、大名財政の窮乏をきたす主因となった。

［藤野　保］

[参照項目] | 参勤交代

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

<<: Daimyo Skipper - Daimyo Skipper

>>: Daimyo loan - Daimyo-gashi