Edo machi-bugyō

were magistrates or municipal administrators with responsibility for governing and maintaining order in the shogunal city of Edo. Machi-bugyō were samurai officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually ''hatamoto'',Cunningham
p. 39.
/ref> this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not ''daimyōs''.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 325. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner", "overseer" or "governor."

During the Edo period, there were generally two hatamoto serving simultaneously as Edo ''machi-bugyō''. There were two Edo ''machi-bugyō-sho'' within the jurisdictional limits of metropolitan Edo; and during the years from 1702 though 1719, there was also a third appointed ''machi-bugyō''.Cunningham, Don. (2004)
''Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai'', p. 39.
/ref>

The Edo ''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-bugyō'' 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.

In this period, the ''machi-bugyō'' were considered equal in status to the minor ''daimyōs''. At any one time, there were as many as 16 ''machi-bugyō'' located throughout Japan, and there were always two in Edo.

Shogunal city

During this period, Edo 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.

In Edo, a special system was devised to mitigate the possibility of municipal corruption. Initially, there were three ''machi-bugyō'' and then the number was reduced to one. The number of ''machi-bugyō'' was increased to two under Shōgun Iemitsu. Except for one brief period in the early 18th century, this bifurcated administration remained the consistent pattern until the shogunate was abolished in 1868. There were two chief officials with equal powers and responsibilities; and each would alternately take control for one month before relinquishing the office to their counterpart. These two officials were each based in a separate location at some distance from each other. A reorganization of city government which focused greater attention on the two separate locations for these officials dates from 1719.Murdoch
p. 46.
/ref> Kodenmachō( 小伝馬町)

Kita-machi-bugyō

Edo's north magistrate was called the , so-called because his official residence was physically to the north of the official location of his counterpart, the ''minami-machi-bugyō''.Yoshino, Jun
"Law Enforcement in the Edo Period"
''Japan Echo.'' Vol. 31, No. 3. June 2004.

Minami-machi-bugyō

Edo's south magistrate was called the , so called because his official residence was physically to the south of the official location of his counterpart, the ''kita-machi-bugyō''. In 1707, the Tokugawa shogunate established the ''Minami-machi Bugyō-sho'', the office of one of the magistrates of Edo, in this area of modern Yūrakuchō.
* Ōoka Tadasuke, Ōoka Echizen-no-kami Tadasuke

Honjo-machi-bugyō

Edo's third magistrate was called the , who was responsible for the neighborhoods of Honjo and Fukagawa on the east bank of the Sumida River. A third ''machi-bugyō'' was deemed necessary in the years between 1702 through 1719.

List of Edo ''machi-bugyō''

:
* Amano Saburobei Yasukage.Naito, Akira '' et al.'' (2003)
''Edo: the City that Became Tokyo,'' p. 26.
/ref>
* Itakura Katsushige.
* Tōyama Kagemoto. Takeuchi, Rizō. Nihonshi shōjiten (A Concise Dictionary of Japanese History). Kadokawa shoten, Tokyo (1985), p.352
* Yoda Masatsugu (1753).Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822,'' p. 243 n113.
* Nanbu Toshimi (1753).

See also

* Bugyō

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868''. London: Oxford University Press; reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. (cloth)]
* Louis Cullen, Cullen, Louis M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds''.] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (cloth) -- (paper)
* Cunningham, Don. (2004)
''Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai.''
Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. (cloth)
* Hall, John Whitney. (1955). ''Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
OCLC 445621
* Jansen, Marius. (1995). ''Warrior Rule in Japan''. New York: Cambridge University Press. ;
OCLC 31515317
* Naito, Akira, Kazuo Hozumi, and H. Mack Horto. (2003)
''Edo: the City that Became Tokyo''.
Tokyo: Kodansha.
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia''.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 58053128
* Screech, Timon. (2006)
''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''.
London: RoutledgeCurzon.
OCLC 65177072

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edo machi-bugyo
Government of feudal Japan
Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate