Japan: Its History, Arts, and Literature/Volume 4/Chapter 2
Chapter II
THE TOKUGAWA COURT
The Shōgun's Cabinet consisted of a Premier, called the "Great Senior" (Tairō); of five ministers, called "Seniors" (Rōjū) who formed a senior council, and of six "Sub-elders" (Waka-doshi-yori), who formed a junior council. It will be convenient to speak of these as the "Premier," the "Senior Councillors," and the "Junior Councillors."
Just as in the Kyōtō Court it had been necessary that the Regent and the Chancellor should be appointed from among the representatives of certain families, so the Premier of the Tokugawa administration must be a member of one of four houses,—Ii, Honda, Sakai, and Sakakibara; the Senior Councillors, who, among other duties, supervised the affairs of the Imperial Court in Kyōtō and those of the feudal nobility, and who served in turn for one month at a time, must be at least "castled barons," but the Junior Councillors, who, as a body, corresponded to the Hyōjō-shiu of the Kamakura epoch and had the special duty of superintending the bannerets, might be appointed from any of the feudal houses.
The Premier became the real repository of administrative power after the days of the third Shōgun, Iyemitsu. It cannot be said that he usurped the functions of the Shogunate as the Fujiwara had done in Kyōtō, the Vicegerents at Kamakura, and the Constables under the Ashikaga. Shōguns like Yoshimune (1716–1745) and Iyenari (1787–1838) enjoyed as full a measure of autocratic authority as had their great predecessors, Iyemitsu and Iyeyasu. But it was the Premier's spirit that informed the laws of his era and modelled the policy of the Government. Neither he nor his colleagues, the Senior and Junior Councillors, were responsible to any one save the Shōgun himself.
The Tokugawa Court was not free from the vices of clique and cabal, but its administrative capacity encountered no obstacle from the interference of parties or the restraints of parliaments. The student of this epoch's history nevertheless perceives, in proportion as the records become familiar to him, that abuses of ministerial power are conspicuously absent. Under a feudal system when the farmer, the tradesman, and the artisan pay for the support of a large military class which contributes nothing to the wealth of the State and has not even the pretext of insuring safety against foreign foes, it is inevitable that certain hardships should be associated with the imposition of taxes and certain extortions with their collection. But of the Tokugawa chiefs and their agents it must be said that the uniform tendency of their administration was to lighten burdens and to correct abuses; that wholesome employment of power was the rule, its perversion to evil ends the exception, and that their most conspicuous faults were unwisely drastic attempts to restrain by legislation vices which only ethical progress could successfully correct.
The most important officials after the above, though not the highest in rank, were the "Magistrates" (Bugyo) and the "Deputies" (Daikwan). In every urban district one or more Magistrates were posted and in every rural district there was a Deputy. That was the Tokugawa system, and most of the feudal nobles followed it in their dominions. The Magistrates were the chief civil administrators of the region where they officiated, and had also the duty of making tours of inspection as well as of dispensing justice in cases appealed from the Deputy's Court or incapable of settlement by tribunals of arbitration which will be presently referred to. There are three ranks of magistrate, the Temple Magistrate, the City Magistrate, and the Finance Magistrate, the different scope of whose duties may be roughly gathered from their titles.
The Deputy has been well described as a combination of judge and revenue officer. His functions brought him into intimate relations with the people, and for whatever oppression they suffered he was usually responsible. Nothing that concerned farmers lay outside the Deputy's purview. Land surveys, questions of irrigation, repairs of embankments, assessment of taxable values of land, estimate of yield for fiscal purposes, supervision of agricultural methods, enforcement of precautions against famine,—all these things fell within his province, as did also the judging of civil and criminal cases. It is of the Deputy and the Magistrate that the student of Japanese history constantly hears in Tokugawa times. They were the best trained and the most competent officials of the era, and to them the farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, and the unclassed "outcast" looked as the supreme authority. Not infrequently the Deputy became an object of popular execration, but, on the whole, he discharged his functions in obedience to the precept that the prosperity of the ruled should excite the satisfaction rather than the cupidity of the ruler, and that to destroy the farmer's tax-paying capacity by imposing upon him excessive burdens was to mistake the prime purpose of good administration.
Other officials discharging important duties chiefly of an investigatory nature but sometimes of a judicial, were the "Censors" (Metsuke), of whom the chiefs (O-metsuke) had to keep themselves informed of everything relating to the great barons, and the juniors performed a similar function with regard to the bannerets. The Metsuke has generally been spoken of by foreign writers as a spy, and they have inferred the existence of an irksome system of espionage under the Tokugawa regimen. No such view of the Metsuke's functions was taken by the Japanese themselves. The genuine spy—the O-niwa-ban, to be spoken of presently—was regarded with abhorrence, but the Metsuke held in popular esteem the position of a legitimate investigatory and judicial official. A Chief Censor with three Magistrates—Temple, City, and Finance—and one or more Councillors constituted the Supreme Court, a chamber of decisions which was the last resort in all judicial questions.
It will be understood that no attempt is here made to describe the governmental machinery of the Tokugawa in minute detail. The reader's attention is directed only to such broad facts as may suffice to convey a general idea.
The organisation of the Shōgun's administration did not represent an entirely new departure: it was suggested in part by the Taikō's system. That eminent statesman conducted public affairs with the advice of a council consisting of five "Seniors" (Tairō) with whom were sometimes associated as many "Magistrates" (bugyo). The "Seniors" constituted a kind of senate. They were nobles of extensive influence and proved
ability. Iyeyasu himself, before he became 
Boat Bridge on the Nakasendo.
"Magistrates," men who had served the Taikō intimately and who possessed his full confidence, formed a cabinet, one being minister of legislation; another, minister of public works; the third, minister of justice; the fourth, minister of finance, and the fifth, administrator of Kyōtō. Some of the laws issued in the Taikō's time had the signatures of the five "Seniors," some those of the five Magistrates. It is plain that the purpose of this system was to give to the leading feudatories a direct interest in the administration while entrusting the actual discharge of executive functions to men in close touch with the Taikō. No such principle is apparent in the Tokugawa polity. The highest offices of State fell hereditarily to representatives of families related by blood to the Tokugawa, and the junior posts were filled by nominees of these dignitaries or by men specially connected with the Shogunate. The Taikō's government was a representative oligarchy; that of the Tokugawa, a family bureaucracy.
The ladies of the Shōgun's Court were called O-oku no Jochiu (dames of the honourable interior), and were organised in accordance with a system somewhat similar to that followed in the polity of the State. An equal number—three hundred and five—constituted the establishment of the Shōgun himself and of his wife (Midaidokoro), so that the total was six hundred and ten, but the names actually borne on the roll generally exceeded that aggregate. Not all had the privilege of direct access to either the Shōgun or the Midaidokoro. Those enjoying that distinction numbered ninety-one in each service, and were consequently differentiated by the title Omemiye-ijo (qualified for audience), the other two hundred and fourteen being classed as Omemiye-ika (not qualified for audience). The Shōgun's household included also four jesters, spoken of as Bozu, in allusion to the fact that their heads were shaved. These men, who had to be some fifty years of age, discharged the duties of ushers, in conjunction with their chief function of keeping his highness amused. They were not supposed to labour under any disadvantage as to moral endowments, and it was expected that they should be skilled in all polite accomplishments as well as possessed of literary ability. The Bozu had no place in the household of the Midaidokoro: on that side of the Court four pages were employed, their age not exceeding thirteen. For the rest, the organisations of the two halves of the Court were exactly similar, and what is here said of one may be read as applying to both. Highest in rank stood the "Senior Dames" (Joro), three in number. They had no special duties, but were regarded partly as advisers, partly as teachers of cha-no-yu, flower-arranging, "incense-bearing," and such pastimes. In the event, however, of the sickness or death of the Midaidokoro, it devolved upon one of the "Senior Dames" to take her place, temporarily or permanently, and as that might mean a great deal, the rules required that these ladies should be taken from the families of the Kyōtō Court nobles (Kuge) solely, and if possible from the houses of Konoye and Ichijo. Hence, when a vacancy occurred in the ranks of the Joro, and when no daughter of either the Konoye or the Ichijo was available, it became necessary that these houses should select and adopt some one from the family of another Kuge. Next to the "Senior Dames" came seven "Elders" (O-toshi-yori) whose duties were very extensive. They opened all letters coming to the Court, they paid visits, as representatives of the Shōgun and the Midaidokoro, to the mausolea at Shiba and Uyeno and to the shrine at Momiji-yama, they superintended the distribution of provisions, and they gave out all presents and allowances to the ladies of lesser degree. Only women of great ability and strength of character could fill the post of Toshi-yori, and the seven "Elders" exercised great influence at Court, whereas the three "Seniors," though nominally of higher rank, possessed much less power. Immediately below them were two "Middle Elders" (Chiu-doshi-yori), whose chief business was to inspect the provisions for the Court before and after cooking, and generally to assist the "Elders." It was necessary that the "Elders" should belong to one of the Three Families, Go-sankyo, Toyasu, Shimizu or Hitotsubashi, unless they came in the train of the Midaidokoro from Kyōtō, or obtained office by promotion from the rank of the "Middle Elders." Five "Great-entertainers" (O-kyaku-ashirai) received and welcomed any relative of the Shōgun or of the Midaidokoro who might repair to Court, and they also had it in charge to attend to the wants of the Shōgun if he visited the Midaidokoro, or vice versa. They were usually old women who enjoyed little consideration.
All the above ladies were supposed to be entirely beyond the reach of the Shōgun's affections. Their official duties occupied them exclusively, and they were required to live and die in virgin purity. But attached to the Shōgun's household were eight "Middle Dames" (O-chiu-ro), with whom his relations might be of the closest character. An equal number were attached to the household of the Midaidokoro, and had the same title. The Shōgun, though absolutely autocratic with regard to his own Chiuro, was not at liberty to bestow his affections unceremoniously on any of the Chiuro belonging to the Midaidokoro's side. If his fancy strayed in that direction, it was necessary that he should make known the wish to the "Elders" of his own household, who, in turn, communicated with the "Elders" of the Midaidokoro, and these laid the matter before their mistress. It would of course have been most unbecoming that either the Midaidokoro or the "Elders" should place any obstacle in the way of the Shōgun's desires, but the Chiuro to whom his addresses were thus ceremoniously conveyed, might reject them if she pleased. Naturally no small exercise of resolution was required to take such a stand. The young lady must be prepared to encounter threats that her father's estates would be confiscated if she continued obdurate,—a serious penalty, for the Chiuro were always daughters of bannerets,—and she must at least reckon on her own dismissal from Court. Yet several instances of refusal are on record, and it does not appear that the threat of confiscation was ever carried out. Indeed, such an arbitrary act would not have been endured. There appears to be something not easily explicable in the idea that a girl of comparatively humble origin, having wittingly accepted a post which exposed her to be the object of the Shōgun's importunities, and being well aware that the proposed honour might be turned into an instrument for satisfying high ambitions, should nevertheless reject it. Perhaps the explanation is to be sought in the fact that this side of Court life presented features which could not but shock the modesty of any lady. In the first place, those of the Shōgun's Chiuro who chanced not to be favoured with his attention,—and there were many such, since these ladies obtained their place by influence, not on account of personal attractions or accomplishments,[1]—so far from finding themselves discredited by the fact, received the appellation of "honourable pure ones" (O-kyo), while those in the other category were designated "soiled persons" (yogoreta kata), a distinction which the six hundred and ten dames of the court knew how to make effective. Further, even at night the Shōgun was obliged to have two companions. That singular rule began to be enforced after the era of the fifth Shōgun, Iyetsuma (1651-1680), who, having received into the ranks of his Chiuro the mistress of an intriguing banneret, was persuaded by her to attach the vermilion signature to a grant of an immense estate in favour of her secret lover. After that incident, which for a moment threatened the ruin of the Tokugawa, it was considered perilous to expose the Shōgun to the secret wiles of a favourite, and his highness had therefore to endure the presence of a second lady charged with the duty of reporting to the "Elder Dames" everything that happened in the "honourable bed-chamber." The shamelessness of such an arrangement was intensified on the following morning, when, as the Shōgun passed to another apartment, the two ladies were obliged to accompany him in positions regulated by the nature of the duties they had to perform. The Chiuro's lot, rendered irksome by these customs, was further embittered by the jealousy of her companions. If she became her master's favourite, she had to endure innumerable insults and torments at their hands, and there were cases where the prospect of bearing a child caused a Chiuro to be subjected to roughness that imperilled her own life and detroyed that of her offspring. Nevertheless, since the position of a favourite Chiuro offered extraordinary opportunities for influencing the Shōgun, that office, as well as the post of "Elder," was much coveted, and inasmuch as neither position could be secured without the aid of some influential person about the Court, large sums were often expended to obtain that aid. Under any circumstances the petty passions that disfigure human nature must have found a wide field for exercise among a community of ladies condemned to such a life, cut off from free intercourse with the outer world or with the other sex, and having few objects of legitimate ambition. It appears that the practices and morals of the O-oku-Jochiu were not among the fairest pictures of Tokugawa times. So far as discipline is concerned, the system was very strict. The gate leading to the ladies' apartments in the Palace had to be closed by ten o'clock every evening, after which hour neither ingress nor egress was permitted. Even during the daytime none of the ladies might go out without a passport. Thrice yearly—in January, May, and December—they were permitted to visit their homes, but under no other pretext, except in case of the serious illness or death of a parent, was their absence from the Palace tolerated, and every frivolity in the nature of visiting places of amusement was interdicted. Moreover, on entering the service they were required to swear an oath of twelve articles, one pledging them to serve until death, and another forbidding them to reveal the smallest detail of Palace life even to their own parents or sisters.
The apartments constituting the O-oku covered a very large area, and were built and furnished in sumptuous style. A sum of two hundred thousand pounds sterling, approximately, was assigned for the annual support of this little city. Not much of it was paid in the form of direct emoluments. The "Seniors" had fifty koku of rice yearly (the equivalent of about as many sovereigns), rations for ten persons, thirteen bundles of wood and eight bags of charcoal per month, eighty ryō in gold and a new suit of robes twice a year. The Chiuro received about one-third of that amount. Three thousand ryō (as many pounds sterling, approximately) was appropriated as pocket-money for the Midaidokoro, but her highness did not receive that amount to dispose of as she pleased: she could only obtain portions of it from time to time by regular process of written application. There is no accessible record showing how such a great sum as two hundred thousand pounds sterling was spent annually on the maintenance of the O-oku, but in connection with economies introduced in the middle of the nineteenth century, information is obtained that a system of wholesale peculation prevailed. Thus a sum of £2,000 was allowed for entertainment purposes on every occasion when daughters of the Six Families visited the Midaidokoro, and her highness was supposed to smoke daily a pound of tobacco costing seventy shillings.
It used to be a common belief in Japan that the Shōgun, being surrounded perpetually by ladies who were segregated from contact with the outer world, lived in practical ignorance of political and administrative problems. That is true in the case of some Shōguns, but it was no part of the Tokugawa system that the nominal ruler should allow himself to be effaced or that he should ever become a mere fainéant. From the point of view of a really industrious ruler like the present Emperor of Germany, the Shōgun enjoyed a great deal of leisure. During the forenoon official cares were never allowed to obtrude themselves into his existence. Rising, winter and summer, at five o' clock. he commenced the day with a hot bath and thereafter worshipped in the Palace sanctuary, wearing a special costume for the purpose. Then, having changed his robes, he breakfasted on comparatively simple viands, and afterwards submitted his head to a hair-dresser. While the latter was at work, the Court physicians entered. There were thirty of these officials, and six of them served daily. These six entered by pairs to examine his highness's condition. They advanced on their knees with bowed heads, and each taking one of the Shōgun's hands, raised it aloft and felt the pulse, each then passing the hand he had consulted to his colleague, so that, in sum, the pulse at each of the Shōgun's wrists was felt by six physicians daily, without his face being seen by any of them. Afterwards the chief physician entered with equal humility and examined the august stomach. That routine concluded, the Shōgun devoted his time until midday to whatever amusements and exercises he specially affected, archery, fencing with sword and spear, and equestrianism being usually among the number. Luncheon was served sometimes in the apartments of the Midaidokoro or the "Seniors," sometimes independently, but in either case the menu was not on an extravagant scale. Official duties occupied the greater part of the afternoon. They consisted chiefly in receiving reports from the O-soba Go-yo-toritsugi and perusing documents presented by them. These O-sobe Go-yo-toritsugi—a term which literally means "transmitters of business to the presence," but may be translated "chamberlain"—were among the chief instruments of government in the Tokugawa system, for they alone had direct daily access to his highness, and from their lips he learned how to interpret not only the various documents submitted for his inspection but also the events of the time. The Chamberlains were either nominees of the Premier or persons acceptable to him, and it was essential that they should be bannerets enjoying an annual income of at least five thousand pounds sterling. Perhaps the most accurate description of these officials is to say that they acted as the Shōgun's political and administrative advisers. Not much delay attended the discharge of the business submitted by the chamberlains. Questions of reward and punishment, of promotion and dismissal, which had to receive his highness's approval, were quickly settled, and other matters also were expeditiously dealt with. It is plain, however, that the Chamberlains might tell the Shōgun just as much or as little as they pleased about the events of the time, and that had they been his only medium of communication with the world outside the Court, he might often have remained very ill-informed. To avert that danger and to secure for the people a means of direct appeal to the Shōgun, an interesting device was adopted. It consisted of a petition-box (meyasu-bako) placed in the principal Court of Justice where any one could reach it. At certain fixed times this box was carried to the Shōgun, who inspected its contents. Historians have spoken of the meyasu-bako as a mere make-believe, their idea being that only such part of the contents reached the Shōgun as his high officials desired him to see. But, in truth, the most elaborate precautions were adopted to prevent any tampering with the contents of the box. When the time came for carrying it to the Shōgun, it was taken from its place by a certain set of officials, who, under the eyes of a metsuke, carried it to the Roju. These, in turn, passed it to the Chamberlains, by whom it was transmitted to the Bozu of the "Business Chamber" to be carried by him to the "Conversation Chamber," by the officials of the latter to yet another dignitary, and by him to still another, until, through so many hands as to preclude the possibility of its being tampered with, it reached the Shōgun, who, left alone with it, drew from his bosom a brocade bag in which the key of the box was always kept, and opening it, examined its contents carefully. The operation often required several hours. Such of the documents as demanded the attention of administrative officials, were at once submitted to them, but among the mass of complaints, petitions, accusations, disclosures, representations, and recommendations contained in the meyasu-bako, there were generally several which the Shōgun locked away in a special cabinet for the purpose of seeking fuller information about their contents. To obtain that information he had recourse to officials called O-niwa-ban, a term literally signifying "park guards," but really designating men who served as secret detectives. The "chamberlains" (O-soba Goyō-toritsugi), the "petition box" (meyasu-bako), and the "park guards" were the three only real instruments of administrative power wielded by the Tokugawa Shōguns. The "park guards" did not enter into the original scheme of government. They were organised for the first time by the eighth Shōgun, Yoshimune (1716-1745), a scion of the Kishiu family, who, when he proceeded to Yedo for investiture, was accompanied by Muragaki Sadayu, a man of exceptional craft and perspicacity. Muragaki proved so useful in the capacity of spy that the office of chief detective became hereditary in his family under the euphemism "Head of the Park Guards." Objects of odium and contempt to their brother samurai, these O-niwa-ban nevertheless rendered most valuable service to the Court, and there are many instances of their remarkable cleverness in assuming disguises for the purpose of enrolling themselves in the household of feudal barons whose doings the Shōgun desired to scrutinise. They were the only spies regularly employed by the Court. It is evident that with the "petition-box" as a medium for receiving secret complaints[2] and suggestions, and the "park guards" for investigating their truth, the Shōgun's knowledge of men and things outside the Court circle was not by any means so circumscribed as several historians have asserted.
Three bodies of guards were constantly on duty at the Palace,—outer guards, innerguards, and page guards. To belong to one of these corps was counted a high distinction. On the other hand, the discipline was most rigid. Absence involved confiscation of property, and if a captain of guards failed to be present at 10 a. m. on his day of duty, he forfeited his salary for the year, while an ordinary guardsman coming late to his post was fined two pieces of silver. Scribbling on the walls meant capital punishment for a man, banishment for a boy; quarrelling, on whatever pretext, was visited with confiscation of estate; drawing a sword within the precincts of the palace, exposed a man to execution or suicide; even to break into a run within one of the courtyards was a grave offence, and if a soldier of the guard acquired an evil moral reputation he was liable to be killed or exiled.
- ↑ See Appendix, note 6.
Note 6.—A Japanese proverb marshals the influences effective in obtaining admission to the ranks of the Court ladies thus: Ichi-hiki ni-un san-kiryo, or, "first a patron, second luck, and third ability."
- ↑ See Appendix, note 7.
Note 7.—Every document placed in the meyasu-bako had to carry the name and address of its compiler: otherwise its contents received no attention. There were also severe vetoes against any appeal based on purely personal interests, or of a slanderous character; against complaints not supported by the complainant's intimate knowledge of facts; against petitions embodying cases which had not been previously submitted to the proper authorities, and against false statements of every kind.