Edo Shogunate

Japanese: 江戸幕府 - えどばくふ

This refers to the governing body of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period. It was established on March 24, 1603 (February 12, 8th year of the Keicho era) when Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun (Seitaishogun), and closed on November 9, 1867 (October 14, 3rd year of the Keio era) when the 15th Shogun Yoshinobu submitted a petition to return power to the Emperor. During this period, the Shoguns were the second Shogun Hidetada, followed by Iemitsu, Ietsuna, Tsunayoshi, Ienobu, Ietsugu, Yoshimune, Ieshige, Ieharu, Ienari, Ieyoshi, Iesada, and Iemochi.

[Junnosuke Sasaki]

Functions of the Shogunate

The Tokugawa Shogun was originally the head of the samurai clan, and was at the top of the feudal lord-vassal relationship, but also held the position of sovereign of the feudal state as the shogunate. The Shogunate, as the governing body of the Shogun, also came to have the characteristics of both of these two sides.

The functions of the shogunate can be roughly summarized as follows:

[1] The function of the bakufu-han system as the central authority of the state. The state power organs of the bakufu-han system consisted of the shogunate and the feudal domains, which were the governing organs of the daimyo. The feudal domains were local governing organs divided into daimyo territories, but the independence of their governance was severely restricted by the separation of soldiers and farmers, and they merely played a part in the centralized state apparatus centered on the shogunate.

The functions that the shogunate performed as the central national power were as follows:

(A) The establishment of national sovereignty toward other nations under a closed-door policy. Examples include the monopoly on trade in Nagasaki, the prohibition of Christianity, and the oppression and expulsion of missionaries and believers. At the same time, measures were taken from a national perspective regarding relations with neighboring ethnic groups, such as the So clan of Tsushima with Korea, the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Shimazu clan with China, and the Matsumae clan with the Ainu.

(a) The function of national control within the country under the isolationist system and the kokudaka system. (1) The function of controlling and governing cities and commodity distribution. It fulfilled functions such as direct control of major cities, including the three capitals (Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka), and control over nationwide commerce through that, monopolizing the right to mint coins, which is inseparably linked to control over distribution, monopolizing control over minerals such as gold, silver, and copper, and controlling and governing the nationwide transportation system. (2) The function of controlling ideology and religion. It fulfilled functions such as organizing an ideological system and ideologues based on Confucianism as a national ideology, oppressing and denying heretical religions and sects including Christianity through state power, and seizing and governing control over temples and shrines. (3) The incorporation and control of traditional magical authority as a justification for the legitimacy of state rule. It served to realize and maintain the inclusion of the Emperor and the Imperial Court in state power, as represented by the Various Laws for the Imperial Court and the Nobles (Kinchu Naranai Kuge Shohatto).

[2] Function as the central authority of a centralized feudal lordship. The Shogun was the highest ranking person in the feudal lordship system, which had a unified and centralized character as a product of the process of separating soldiers from farmers. Therefore, the Shogunate, as a national governing body with the Shogun as its sovereign, also had a strong character as a central authority of feudal lordship power. In terms of its feudal lordship character, the Tokugawa clan was the landowner of land throughout Japan (about 30 million koku). On the other hand, the Tokugawa clan had a group of direct vassals consisting of daimyo (divided into the Gosanke, Shinpan, Fudai, and Tozama), hatamoto, and gokenin. Of these, the daimyo and some hatamoto were assigned territories as chigyo by the Shogun, and were entrusted with the governance of their territories. This portion was called private land, and its total amounted to approximately 23 to 25 million koku. The other part of the hatamoto and the gokenin were given rice stipends as fiefs by the shogun, and did not have any territories under their control. The relationship between these direct vassals and the shogun was basically based on the payment of fiefs and military service as on-fukou (favor and service). However, at the same time, these direct vassals, especially the related clans, hereditary daimyo, hatamoto, and gokenin, were also responsible for the administration of the shogunate.

Under this relationship, one of the functions the shogunate performed was the control of the Goryo (territory directly controlled by the shogunate; it came to be called Tenryo) of approximately 7 million koku. The income from the Goryo in the form of taxes and duties was the main source of finances for the rice stipend mentioned above, the shogunate's administrative expenses, and the shogun's household finances. This also meant that it was the main financial foundation of the centralized national finances. In this way, the shogunate exercised control over the "local areas" as one of its important functions. And because the shogun's finances were integrated with those of the shogunate, this financial function of the shogunate also served as the financial function of the shogun's finances.

At the same time, the shogunate was also an institution for uniting the samurai groups below the daimyo. As shown in the Buke Shohatto, based on the principles of centralization and unification, strengthening the unity of the samurai groups was an absolute command, and those who went against this were punished by demotion, transfer, or reduction of their fiefs, backed by the overwhelming military force unified under the shogun.

[Junnosuke Sasaki]

Establishment of the Shogunate System

These functions of the shogunate were not established all at once. After the Battle of Sekigahara, the lands of the daimyo of the Western Army were confiscated, reduced, or transferred, and their lands were distributed to fudai daimyo. After that, the incorporation of cities, especially those in the Kinai region, under direct control, the monopoly of coin minting rights and coining, and the determination of the basic policy of agricultural policy were all underway before the shogunate was established.

Two years after the establishment of the shogunate, Ieyasu handed over the position of shogun to Hidetada and moved to Sunpu (Shizuoka City), but he still held real power in the shogunate. Ieyasu entrusted Hidetada with strengthening the Tokugawa government as a military government, and in Sunpu, he placed Honda Masanobu and others in charge of national affairs, from finances to trade and the Christian issue. This system is called the system of dual governments in Sunpu and Edo. From the time when the outcome of the Siege of Osaka became clear to the time of its aftermath, Ieyasu pushed through a series of important policies, such as revising military regulations, establishing the One Province, One Castle Law, laws for Buddhist sects including the Five Mountains, various laws for the Imperial Court and the Nobles, and various laws for the samurai, incorporating the Kinai region into the Imperial domain, and controlling Osaka and Sakai, before dying of illness in 1616 (Genwa 2). The era in which both governments existed simultaneously came to an end, and the shogunate was consolidated in Edo, but the establishment of the shogunate system under Iemitsu began after Hidetada's death (1632). Various administrative positions were established, including the establishment of the Rokuninshu, the forerunners of the later Wakadoshiyori (younger officials), the appointment of assistants, which is said to be the beginning of the Tamaridume (main office), the establishment of new and re-established town magistrates in Sunpu and Kyoto, the establishment of magistrates such as Sakuji (construction) and Kakimonokata (books) and the establishment of Oometsuke (police inspectors), as well as the establishment of regulations for the handling of the Hyojosho (council of councilors) and shogunate duties below the rank of Roju (senior councilors) and young masters, and the revision of the Buke Shohatto (laws for the warrior class) and military service regulations. At the same time, the first isolationist order was issued in 1633 (Kan'ei 10). Meanwhile, the national isolation policy was progressing while the domestic economic system was being established with Osaka at its center, and after the Amakusa-Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the isolation policy was completed in 1639. Following this, a poor harvest prompted the rural areas to rebuild, and a new direction for governing the "regions" was pursued and developed. The events leading up to the Edict Prohibiting the Permanent Sale of Farmland (1643) and the Keian Imperial Edict (1649) were the product of this.

The alternate attendance system, including the system of alternate attendance for fudai daimyo, was established in 1642, and the shogunate's finances and accounting system were finalized, the rice tax system was introduced to Osaka, and the town government system in Osaka and Edo was improved, among other things, between 1643 (Kan'ei 20) and 1651 (Keian 4).The creation of the Shoho Kuni-ezu and Go-cho (village registers) (1644) is said to have demonstrated the establishment of the shogunate's absolute position as the central state power.

[Junnosuke Sasaki]

Bakufu-han system bureaucrats

During the time of Ieyasu and Hidetada, the people in charge of the national political aspects of the shogunate were people called Shuttonin, such as Okubo Nagayasu. They were appointed based on their administrative ability, not on the feudal hierarchy of lord-vassal relationships. During the time of Iemitsu, as the shogunate's administrative structure was established, the roles of fudai daimyo and hatamoto in national politics became clearer, and the actual administration of the shogunate was carried out by them through a system of division of labor. This also led to the fudai daimyo and hatamoto becoming bureaucrats in the style of the shogunate-han system. The shogun's direct vassals came to be organized into two hierarchies: the military system of Bangata, and the administrative system of Yakugata.

The Shogun's vassals were organized into a hierarchy within the feudal system and order between him and the Shogun, and their ranks were determined by ranks. Thus, military ranks and administrative ranks corresponded to each other through these ranks.

The shogunate, which was led by the shogunate-like bureaucrats thus formed, developed during the Kanbun and Enpo eras (1661-1681) following the Iemitsu era. This period is also called the period when the shogunate system was established, due to the development of the shogunate system and the various mechanisms of the shogunate. However, as the actual state of war and the possibility of war receded and the country's social and economic conditions changed and developed, it was natural that a contradiction arose between the ranks, which were not in contradiction with the military hierarchy, but which required administrative qualities and abilities, and the administrative system and order that should be organized based on them. Furthermore, even though the bureaucratic system was established, the shogun's absolute power as the official government was still assumed, and the shogun's dictatorial nature was maintained.

From the end of the 17th century, the shogunate government's leadership shifted unstably. These can be divided into three categories: (1) when the shogun exercised real political power himself (such as the Tsunayoshi era and Yoshimune's Kyoho Reforms); (2) when the shogun was politically incompetent and administrative officials based on the rank order took control of real power (such as the Kansei Reforms and Tenpo Reforms); and (3) when real power was taken by those who were appointed based on their administrative abilities and whose rank order changed with their appointment (such as the period of chamberlain politics, the Shotoku reign, and the Tanuma era). However, throughout the Edo period, up until the country was opened to the world, the shogunate and its politics had consistently followed a policy of how to rebuild the shogunate-han system in accordance with the state it was in at the time of its establishment. When this policy was rejected by the opening of the country, the shogunate began to waver greatly about how it would collapse. The reforms carried out by the shogunate during the Ansei, Bunkyu, and Keio periods (1854-1868) were a manifestation of this.

[Junnosuke Sasaki]

"The Bakufu System" by Yamaguchi Keiji and Sasaki Junnosuke (1971, Nippon Hyoronsha)" ▽ "The Bakufu State Theory" by Sasaki Junnosuke (1982, University of Tokyo Press)" ▽ "The Edo Shogunate" by Kitajima Masamoto (1975, Shogakukan)" ▽ "The Power Structure of the Edo Shogunate" by Kitajima Masamoto (1964, Iwanami Shoten)

[Reference] | Bakufu-han system

List of Shoguns of the Edo Shogunate
©Shogakukan ">

List of Shoguns of the Edo Shogunate

Tokugawa Ieyasu
"Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tenkai Seated Together" Partial replica owned by the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo © Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo ">

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Hidetada
"Portrait of Tokugawa Hidetada" Reproduction (partial) owned by the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo © Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo ">

Tokugawa Hidetada

Tokugawa Iemitsu
"Portrait of Tokugawa Iemitsu" Reproduction (partial) owned by the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo © Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo ">

Tokugawa Iemitsu

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

江戸時代、将軍徳川氏の統治機関をいう。1603年3月24日（慶長8年2月12日）徳川家康が征夷大将軍(せいいたいしょうぐん)になったときに開府し、1867年11月9日（慶応3年10月14日）15代将軍慶喜(よしのぶ)が大政奉還上表を提出したことによって閉じた。この間、将軍は、2代秀忠(ひでただ)から家光(いえみつ)、家綱(いえつな)、綱吉(つなよし)、家宣(いえのぶ)、家継(いえつぐ)、吉宗(よしむね)、家重(いえしげ)、家治(いえはる)、家斉(いえなり)、家慶(いえよし)、家定(いえさだ)、家茂(いえもち)と継いだ。

［佐々木潤之介］

幕府の機能

将軍徳川氏はもともと武士の棟梁(とうりょう)であり、封建的主従関係の頂点に位置しているとともに、公儀として幕藩制国家の君主としての地位をも占めていた。そこで、その将軍の統治機関としての幕府も、その両面の性格を兼ねもつこととなった。

　そこで幕府の機能については、大きく次のようにまとめることができる。

〔1〕幕藩制国家の国家中央権力としての機能。幕藩制国家の国家権力機関は、幕府と、大名の統治機関である藩とからなっていた。藩は、大名領に区分された地方統治機関であったが、その統治の独自性は兵農分離制のもとで著しく制約を受け、幕府を中心とする中央集権的な国家機構の一部を担っているにすぎなかった。

　幕府が国家中央権力として果たした機能は、以下のとおりである。

(ア)鎖国制のもとでの対外的国家主権の確立。長崎貿易における貿易独占、キリシタンの禁止と宣教師・信者の弾圧・追放がその例である。同時に、朝鮮に対する対馬(つしま)の宗(そう)氏、中国に対する琉球王府(りゅうきゅうおうふ)―島津氏、アイヌに対する松前氏などの、近隣他民族との関係についての国家的見地からの措置もとられた。

(イ)鎖国制と石高制(こくだかせい)のもとでの国内における国家的支配機能。(1)都市、商品流通の統制・支配の機能。三都（江戸、京都、大坂）をはじめとする主要都市の直轄支配とそれを通じての全国的商業に対する支配、流通支配と不可分に結び付いている貨幣鋳造権の独占、金銀銅など鉱産物に対する独占的統制、全国的交通運輸体制の支配と統制などの機能を果たした。(2)イデオロギー、宗教統制の機能。国家思想としての儒学に基づくイデオロギー体系とイデオローグの編成、キリシタンをはじめとする異端宗教・宗派の国家権力による弾圧・否定と寺社統制権の掌握と支配の機能を果たした。(3)国家支配の正統性論拠としての、伝統的呪術(じゅじゅつ)的権威の取り込みと統制。禁中並公家諸法度(きんちゅうならびにくげしょはっと)（禁中并公家中諸法度）に代表される天皇・朝廷の国家権力への包摂を実現し維持する機能を果たした。

〔2〕集権的領主制支配の中央権力としての機能。将軍は幕藩領主制の最高位者であり、その幕藩領主制は兵農分離の過程の所産として、統一的・集権的特質をもっていたから、将軍を君主とする国家統治機関としての幕府は、領主制権力中央機関としての性格をも強くもっていた。徳川氏は、その領主制的性格においては、日本全国の土地（約3000万石）の土地所有者であった。他方、徳川氏は、大名（御三家(ごさんけ)、親藩(しんぱん)、譜代(ふだい)、外様(とざま)に区分される）、旗本、御家人(ごけにん)よりなる直属家臣団を擁していた。このうち、大名と一部の旗本とは将軍から知行(ちぎょう)として所領を宛行(あてが)われ、それぞれにその所領支配をゆだねられていた。この部分を私領といい、その総額は約2300万～2500万石であった。旗本の他の部分と御家人とは、将軍から知行として禄米(ろくまい)を与えられて、支配所領をもたなかった。これらの直属家臣団と将軍との関係は、基本的には知行給与と御恩・奉公としての軍役関係によって貫かれていた。しかし同時に、これらの直属家臣団、とくに親藩、譜代大名、旗本、御家人は幕府行政の担当者でもあった。

　この関係のもとで、幕府が果たした機能の一つは、約700万石の御領（幕府直轄領。天領ともよばれるようになった）支配であった。御領からの年貢諸役の収入は、前記の禄米と、幕府の行政経費と、将軍の家財政との主要な財源だったのである。そしてそのことは、集権的国家財政の主要な財政基礎であるということをも意味した。こうして幕府は、重要な機能の一つとして「地方(じかた)」支配を行った。そしてこの幕府の財政機能は、将軍財政が幕府財政と統合されていたから、将軍財政の財政機能をも果たすことになった。

　同時に、幕府は、大名以下の武士団の結合の機関でもあった。武家諸法度に示されるように、集中と統一の原理に基づいて、武士団の結束を固めることが至上命令とされ、これに反する者は、将軍のもとに統一的に集結している圧倒的に強大な軍事力を背景にした、改易・移封・減封という懲罰方法によって処分された。

［佐々木潤之介］

幕府体制の確立

幕府のこれらの機能は、一挙に形成されたものではなかった。関ヶ原の戦い後、西軍の諸大名の所領没収や減・転封と譜代大名への所領配分を終わってのち、畿内(きない)の諸都市をはじめとする都市の直轄支配への組み込み、貨幣鋳造権の独占と鋳貨、農政の基本方針の決定などのことは、幕府が開府される前にすでに進行したことであった。

　開府後2年で家康は秀忠に将軍職を譲ると駿府(すんぷ)（静岡市）に移ったが、なお幕政の実権を握っていた。家康は秀忠に軍事政権としての徳川政権の強化を任せ、自らは駿府で本多正信(ほんだまさのぶ)らを重用して、国政にかかわる財政から貿易、キリシタン問題などを扱っていた。この体制を駿府・江戸両政権併立の体制という。やがて、大坂の陣の帰趨(きすう)が明らかになるころから、陣後にかけて、家康は、軍役規定の改定、一国一城令、五山をはじめとする仏教諸宗への法度、禁中並公家諸法度、武家諸法度の制定、畿内の御領への組み込み、大坂・堺(さかい)支配などの重要政策を次々と強行したうえで、1616年（元和2）に病死した。両政権併立時代は終わり、幕府は江戸に一本化されたが、家光時代の幕府体制の確立は、秀忠の死（1632）後に始まった。後の若年寄(わかどしより)の先駆である六人衆の設置、溜詰(たまりづめ)の始まりとされる補佐役の任命、駿府・京都などの町奉行(まちぶぎょう)の新・再置、作事(さくじ)・書物方(かきものかた)などの奉行や大目付の設置など諸役が整えられるとともに、評定所(ひょうじょうしょ)取扱規定や、老中・若年寄以下の幕府職務規定が定められ、ついで武家諸法度や軍役規定の改定を行った。同時に1633年（寛永10）に第1回の鎖国令が出た。一方で、大坂を中心とする国内の経済体制を整えながら、鎖国は進められていき、1637年の天草・島原の乱を経て、1639年に鎖国は完成した。それに続いて、凶作による農村立て直しを機に、新たな「地方(じかた)」支配の方向が追求され、展開していく。田畑永代売買禁止令(でんぱたえいたいばいばいきんしれい)（1643）から慶安御触書(けいあんのおふれがき)（1649）に至る経緯はその所産であった。

　参勤交代制も譜代大名の交代制までを含めて1642年に確立したし、幕府財政・勘定方制度の確定や、年貢米の大坂への廻米制(かいまいせい)、大坂・江戸の町方制度の整備等々のことが行われたのも、1643年（寛永20）から1651年（慶安4）までの間のことであった。そして、幕府の中央国家権力としての絶対的地位の確立を示すのが、正保(しょうほう)の国絵図と郷帳の作成（1644）であったといわれる。

［佐々木潤之介］

幕藩制的官僚

家康・秀忠時代、幕政の国政的側面を担当したのは、大久保長安(おおくぼながやす)らの出頭人(しゅっとうにん)とよばれる人々であった。それは封建的主従関係の序列とは別の、行政的能力によって登用された者であった。家光時代に至り、幕府職制が確定するにつれて、譜代大名・旗本の国政上の役割が明らかにされるようになり、分役制度によって、彼らによる幕政の実際が運用されることとなった。そしてそのことは、譜代大名・旗本の、幕藩制的官僚化をも進めた。将軍の直属家臣団は、軍事的体系である番方(ばんがた)と、行政的体系である役方(やくがた)との、二つの序列によって編成されることとなった。

　将軍の家臣は、それぞれに、将軍との間の封建的体系と秩序のなかに位階制的に編成され、その序列は格として定められていた。したがって、軍事的序列と行政的序列とは、この格によって対応させられることとなった。

　このように形成された幕藩制的官僚が担い手となった幕政は、家光時代に続く寛文(かんぶん)・延宝(えんぽう)年間（1661～1681）に展開した。この時期は、幕府体制や幕政の諸機構の整備と、幕政の展開によって、幕藩体制の確立期ともいわれる。しかし、現実の戦争状態と可能性とが遠ざかり、国内の社会経済が変動しつつ進展してくるにつれて、格は軍事的序列との間には矛盾がないものの、行政的な資質と能力とを必要とし、それによって体系だてられるべき、行政的体系・秩序との間に矛盾関係が出てくるのは当然であった。また、官僚制的機構が確立したとはいっても、なお将軍の公儀としての絶対的権力が前提となっており、将軍の独裁性は保持されていた。

　そこで、17世紀末ごろから、幕政の主導権は不安定に変転していった。(1)将軍がその政治的実権を自ら行使した場合（綱吉時代、吉宗の享保(きょうほう)の改革など）、(2)将軍の政治的無能力を前提として、格序列に基づく行政担当者が実権を掌握した場合（寛政(かんせい)の改革、天保(てんぽう)の改革など）、(3)行政的能力によって登用され、格序列はその登用につれて変動していった者が実権を握った場合（側用人(そばようにん)政治の時代や正徳(しょうとく)の治、田沼時代など）に分けることができる。しかし、江戸時代を通じて、開国に至るまで、幕府とその政治は、一貫して、どのように、幕府成立期の状態に即して幕藩体制を立て直すかという方針をとり続けていた。その方針が開国によって否定されたところから、幕府はその倒壊の仕方について、大きく動揺し始めた。安政(あんせい)・文久(ぶんきゅう)・慶応(けいおう)年間（1854～1868）の幕政の改革はその現れであった。

［佐々木潤之介］

『山口啓二・佐々木潤之介著『幕藩体制』（1971・日本評論社）』▽『佐々木潤之介著『幕藩制国家論』（1982・東京大学出版会）』▽『北島正元著『江戸幕府』（1975・小学館）』▽『北島正元著『江戸幕府の権力構造』（1964・岩波書店）』

[参照項目] | 幕藩体制

江戸幕府将軍一覧

徳川家康

徳川秀忠

徳川家光

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

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