Samurai-dokoro

The ''Samurai-dokoro'' (侍所 - Board of Retainers) was an office of the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates. The role of the ''Samurai-dokoro'' was to take the leadership of ''gokenin'', the shogun's retainers, and to be in charge of the imprisonment of criminals. It was established in 1180 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate.

History

Kamakura period

During the Kamakura period, the ''Samurai-dokoro'' was in charge of calling in and directing the ''gokenin'', the shogun's retainers. It was also in charge of the imprisonment of criminals.

The office was administered by officials called ''shoshi'' or ''samuraidokoro-no-tsukasa,'' who were made up from the most powerful ''gokenin''. The most senior of the officials, the president of the ''Samurai-dokoro'', was called ''bettō''. The office was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1180, who appointed Wada Yoshimori its first ''bettō''. However, after Yoshimori was killed during the Wada Rebellion, the ''shikken'' (regent of the shogunate) took over the post of ''bettō''.

In the ''Engyobon Heike Monogatari'', the ''Samurai-dokoro'' was established upon the request of Wada Yoshimori, and it was modeled after the Taira government period office called ''samurai'' ''bettō'' that Fujiwara no Tadakiyo was appointed to rule over the samurai of the eight provinces of Bandō (present-day Kantō region). If this is true, the ''Samurai-dokoro'' was not modeled after the household agency of noble families that shares the same name.

As Yoritomo's position rose, the ''Samurai-dokoro'' began to also take on the role of a domestic administration institution. In the Kenkyū era, Wada Yoshimori, the ''bettō'', was in charge of military affairs in general as well as domestic administration, and Kajiwara Kagetoki, a ''shoshi'', was in charge of directing the ''gokenin'', the basis of the Kamakura shogunate.

Muromachi period

Under the Muromachi shogunate, the ''Samurai-dokoro'' was led by a ''tōnin'' or ''shoshi'', who was assisted by a ''shoshi-dai''. ''Bugyōnin'' was in charge of administrative paperwork, and there were junior officers, ''kodoneri'', ''zōshiki'', and others. Additionally, ''kaikō'' took on the duties of a clerk, ''metsuke'' worked as an inspector, and ''yoriudo'' took on the duties of an investigator, among other officials.

The ''Samurai-dokoro'' was largely dependent on the military power of the daimyo, and in reality the ''shoshi-dai'', a high-ranking retainer of the ''shoshi'', was in charge of the ''Samurai-dokoro''. During events like the Tsuchi-ikki peasant uprising, a powerful military was required to suppress the chaotic situation, and in such cases the ''Samurai-dokoro'' asked help from the daimyo and the ''kenmon'' (powerful families).

Between the late Muromachi period and the Sengoku period, ''shoshi'' and ''shoshi-dai'' were no longer appointed, and the ''kaikō'' was in turn charge of the ''Samurai-dokoro''. The shogunate ''bugyōnin'' was appointed this post and was either from the Matsuda clan or the Īno'o clan. The ''kaikō'' was required to stay in Kyoto and be in charge of Kyoto's public security and the management of prisons, and also served as an advisor to the shogun and other ''kenmon'' on judgements. Additionally, after mid-Muromachi period, the ''kaikō'' formed its own military by recruiting local Kyoto ''jizamurai'' and skilled vagrants. After the Ōnin War (1467-77), the military power of the ''shoshi'' weakened, and the ''kaikō'''s hikan and the officials of another ''Samurai-dokoro'' took over the public security. Additionally, the military power of the ''kaikō'' directly played a part in the military power of the Ashikaga shoguns, and according to the records at the time, the ''kaikō'' could mobilize an estimated 200 to 300 men.

''Bettō''

''Tōnin''

References

Ashikaga shōguns
Government of feudal Japan
Kamakura shōguns
{{Japan-gov-stub