were officials of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

, but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyō.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 325. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor". Under the control of

Rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''shō ...

, this ''

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

'' title identifies a magistrate or municipal administrator with responsibility for governing and maintaining order in the shogunal city of Osaka,

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Setts ...

, and Kawachi Province. The Osaka ''machi-bugyō'' were the central public authorities in this significant urban center. These men were ''bakufu''-appointed officials fulfilling a unique role. They were an amalgam of chief of police, judge, and mayor. The ''machi-bugyō'' were expected to manage a full range of administrative and judicial responsibilities.Cunningham, Don. (2004)
''Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai'', p. 42.
/ref> Each ''machi-bugyo'' was involved in tax collection, policing, and firefighting; and at the same time, each played a number of judicial roles – hearing and deciding both ordinary civil cases and criminal cases. Each machi-bugyo worked by relay, changing on duty and off duty monthly. Machi-bugyo which is on duty accept new tasks. Another ''machi-bugyō'' which is off duty does not accept new tasks, but still working to deal with tasks which had been accepted. By this alternation system, bakufu let two bugyos watch each other, and decentralized the massive power of machi-bugyo, therefore prevented injustice. In this period, the ''machi-bugyo'' were considered equal in status to the minor ''daimyō''. At any one time, there were as many as 16 ''machi-bugyō'' located throughout Japan; and there was always at least one in Osaka.

Shogunal city

During this period, Osaka ranked with the largest urban centers, some of which were designated as a "shogunal city". The number of such cities rose from three to eleven under Tokugawa administration.

List of Osaka ''machi-bugyō''

Higashimachi-bugyō

* 34th -

Kawaji Toshiaki Kawaji (written: 川路) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese politician *, pen name of Kawaki Makoto, Japanese poet and literary critic See also * Kawaji Station, a railway station in Iida, Nagano Prefecture ...

, 1851-1852.

Nishimachi--bugyō

* 11th - Ōkubo Tadakata(1704-1708).Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822,'' p. 236 n57.

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868''. London: Oxford University Press; reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. (cloth) * Cullen, Louis M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds''.] Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

. * Cunningham, Don. (2004)
''Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai''.
Tokyo:

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

. (cloth) * Hall, John Whitney. (1955). ''Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan''. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

. * Jansen, Marius. (1995). ''Warrior Rule in Japan''. New York: Cambridge University Press. ; * Screech, Timon. (2006)
''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''.
London: RoutledgeCurzon. ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Osaka machi-bugyo Government of feudal Japan Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate