were officials of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

, 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, this ''

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...

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

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Settsu Province, and

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

. 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 Prefect ...

, 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 was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. * 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 an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. * 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