Editing Tokugawa shogunate (section)

===Ōmetsuke and metsuke===
The ''ōmetsuke'' and ''[[metsuke]]'' were officials who reported to the ''rōjū'' and ''wakadoshiyori''.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> The five ''ōmetsuke'' were in charge of monitoring the affairs of the ''daimyōs'', ''kuge'' and imperial court. They were in charge of discovering any threat of rebellion. Early in the Edo period, ''daimyōs'' such as [[Yagyū Munefuyu]] held the office. Soon, however, it fell to ''[[hatamoto]]'' with rankings of 5,000 ''koku'' or more. To give them authority in their dealings with ''daimyōs'', they were often ranked at 10,000 ''koku'' and given the title of ''[[Kokushi (official)|kami]]'' (an ancient title, typically signifying the governor of a [[Provinces of Japan|province]]) such as ''Bizen-no-kami''.

As time progressed, the function of the ''ōmetsuke'' evolved into one of passing orders from the shogunate to the ''daimyōs'', and of administering to ceremonies within Edo Castle. They also took on additional responsibilities such as supervising religious affairs and controlling firearms. The ''metsuke'', reporting to the ''wakadoshiyori'', oversaw the affairs of the vassals of the ''shōgun''.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> They were the police force for the thousands of hatamoto and [[gokenin]] who were concentrated in Edo. Individual ''han'' had their own ''metsuke'' who similarly policed their samurai.