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 ...
with responsibility for administration of the port of Uraga, which was a port of inspection for Japanese coastal vessels, especially those proceeding to Edo.
[Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 330.]
This office was created in 1721, and it was held by one or two ''
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 ...
s''—always two who were appointed concurrently after 1844.
Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor".
Uraga is both a town and a harbour at the entrance of
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...
, located on the eastern side of the
Miura Peninsula
is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kamakur ...
, at the northern end of the
Uraga Channel
The is a waterway connecting Tokyo Bay to the Sagami Gulf. It is an important channel for ships headed from Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chiba to the Pacific Ocean and beyond.
Geography
The Uraga channel is at the southern end of Tokyo Bay (formerly ...
.
Strategic location
Due to its strategic location at the entrance of Edo Bay, Uraga has often been the first point of contact between visiting foreign ships and Japan. In 1853,
Commodore Perry lowered the anchor of
his ships in front of Uraga. On the return of the Commodore's squadron in 1854, the ships by-passed Uraga to anchor closer to Edo at Kanagawa, which is where the city of Yokohama now stands.
List of Uraga bugyō
:
*
Toki Yorimune (1844–1845).
[Beasley, ''Select Documents,'' p. 341.]
*
Mizuno Tadanori (1852–1853).
*
Izawa Masayoshi (1854).
[Beasley, ''Select Documents,'' p. 334.]
*
Toki Tomoaki (1854–1857).
See also
*
Bugyō
was a title assigned to '' samurai'' officials during the feudal period of Japan. ''Bugyō'' is often translated as commissioner, magistrate, or governor, and other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given offic ...
Notes
References
*
Beasley, William G. (1972)
''The Meiji Restoration''.Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
* ____________. (1955)
''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868''.London:
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
eprinted_by_RoutledgeCurzon,_London,_2001.__;__(cloth).html" ;"title="RoutledgeCurzon.html" ;"title="eprinted by RoutledgeCurzon">eprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. ; (cloth)">RoutledgeCurzon.html" ;"title="eprinted by RoutledgeCurzon">eprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. ; (cloth)* Cullen, L.M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (cloth). (paper)
* Sewall, John S. (1905). ''The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas'', Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co. [reprint by Chicago: R. R. Donnelly & Sons, 1995. ]
Government of feudal Japan
Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate
Coastal fortifications
{{Japan-hist-stub