Town hall - Machikaisho

Japanese: 町会所 - まちかいしょ

In the Edo period, this was a place where town officials met to handle town affairs. It was also called Machigaisho. It was called various names depending on the region, such as the assembly hall in Ise Uji (present-day Ise City, Mie Prefecture), the town elders' office in Hida Takayama, and the town office in Tango Miyazu. When it was set up in a somachi, it was also called a sokaisho. In Kyoto, Osaka, Settsu Sakai, and other areas, the sokaisho for the somachi was located above the town council halls of each town. In Edo, the Jijinbanya served as the general town council hall, and the offices of the three town elders, Taruya, Naraya, and Kitamura, served as the sokaisho. However, in the early days, the monthly events (gachigyo-ji) of each town took turns being stationed at the town elders' office, but later it became a paid-for-service office, and clerks were hired to handle the affairs, so it was no longer a so-called town council hall. In Edo, in 1791, an office to handle the seven-tenths savings of each town was established in Mukoyanagihara (present-day Taito Ward), and this was called the Town Council Office.

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

江戸時代，町役人が寄合い町政事務を執ったところ。〈まちがいしょ〉とも。伊勢宇治（現三重県伊勢市）の会合所，飛騨高山の町年寄詰所，丹後宮津の町用場など地域によって呼称はさまざま。惣町で置く場合は惣会所ともいう。京都・大坂・摂津堺などでは各町の町会所の上に惣町の惣会所があった。江戸では自身番屋が一般の町会所に，樽屋・奈良屋・喜多村の３町年寄の役所が惣会所にあたった。ただし，初期には各町の月行事(がちぎょうじ)が町年寄役所に交替で詰めていたが，のちに代銭納となり，手代を雇って事務を処理したので，いわゆる町会所ではなくなった。また江戸では1791年に各町の七分積金を扱う役所が向柳原(むこうやなぎはら)（現台東区）に設けられ，これを町会所とよんだ。

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