Editing Tokugawa shogunate (section)

===Shogunate and domains===<!-- The article O-Ie Sōdō links to this section. If you change the title of this section, kindly consider also changing the link (the on-screen text is ''bakuhan'') in O-Ie Sōdō. -->

The ''bakuhan'' system (''bakuhan taisei'' {{lang|ja|幕藩体制}}) was the [[Feudalism|feudal]] political system in the Edo period of Japan.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |title=Japan - The bakuhan system |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/The-bakuhan-system |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026043855/https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/The-bakuhan-system |archive-date=2021-10-26 |access-date=2020-06-01 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> {{anchor|bakufu}}''Baku'' is an abbreviation of ''bakufu'', meaning "[[military government]]"—that is, the shogunate. The ''han'' were the domains headed by ''daimyō''.<ref name="britannica" /> Beginning from Ieyasu's appointment as shogun in 1603, but especially after the Tokugawa [[Siege of Osaka|victory in Osaka]] in 1615, various policies were implemented to assert the shogunate's control, which severely curtailed the ''daimyos''' independence.<ref name="brown 1997" /> The number of ''daimyos'' varied but stabilized at around 270.<ref name="brown 1997" />

The ''bakuhan'' system split feudal power between the shogunate in Edo and the ''daimyōs'' with domains throughout Japan.<ref name="perez 2009">{{Cite book |last=Perez |first=Louis G. |title=The history of Japan |date=2009 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-36442-6 |edition=2nd |series=The Greenwood histories of the modern nations |location=Westport, Connecticut London |oclc=277040931}}</ref> The ''shōgun'' and lords were all ''daimyōs'': feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, and territories.<ref name="perez 2009" /> Provinces had a degree of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration of the ''han'' in exchange for loyalty to the ''shōgun'', who was responsible for foreign relations, national security,<ref name="perez 2009" /> coinage, weights, measures, and transportation.<ref name="brown 1997" />

The ''shōgun'' also administered the most powerful ''han'', the hereditary fief of the House of Tokugawa, which also included many gold and silver mines.<ref name="perez 2009" /> Towards the end of the shogunate, the Tokugawa clan held around 7 million ''[[koku]]'' of land (天領 tenryō), including 2.6–2.7 million ''koku'' held by direct vassals, out of 30 million in the country.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> The other 23 million ''koku'' were held by other daimyos.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />

The number of ''han'' (roughly 270) fluctuated throughout the Edo period.<ref name="gregorysmits" /> They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number of ''koku'' of rice that the domain produced each year.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> One ''koku'' was the amount of rice necessary to feed one adult male for one year. The minimum number for a ''daimyō'' was ten thousand ''koku'';<ref name="gregorysmits" /> the largest, apart from the ''shōgun'', was more than a million ''koku''.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />

==== Policies to control the daimyos ====
The main policies of the shogunate on the ''daimyos'' included:

* The principle was that each ''daimyo'' (including those who were previously independent of the Tokugawa family) submitted to the shogunate, and each ''han'' required the shogunate's recognition and was subject to its land redistributions.<ref name="brown 1997" />{{Rp|192–93}} ''Daimyos'' swore allegiance to each shogun and acknowledged the Laws for Warrior Houses or ''buke shohatto''.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015">{{Cite book |last1=Hane |first1=Mikiso |title=Premodern Japan: a historical survey |last2=Perez |first2=Louis G. |date=2015 |publisher=Westview Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group |isbn=978-0-8133-4965-7 |edition=2nd |location=Boulder, CO}}</ref>
* The ''[[sankin-kōtai]]'' (参勤交代 "alternate attendance") system, required ''daimyos'' to travel to and reside in Edo every other year, and for their families to remain in Edo during their absence.
* The ''ikkoku ichijyō rei'' (一国一城令), allowed each daimyo's ''han'' to retain only one fortification, at the ''daimyo's'' residence.<ref name="brown 1997" />{{Rp||page=194}}
* The [[Buke shohatto|Laws for the Military Houses]] (武家諸法度, ''buke shohatto''), the first of which in 1615 forbade the building of new fortifications or repairing existing ones without ''bakufu'' approval, admitting fugitives of the shogunate, and arranging marriages of the daimyos' families without official permission.<ref name="brown 1997" /> Additional rules on the samurai were issued over the years.<ref name="brown 1997" /><ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />

Although the shogun issued certain laws, such as the ''buke shohatto'' on the ''daimyōs'' and the rest of the samurai class, each ''han'' administered its autonomous system of laws and [[taxation]].<ref name="perez 2009" /> The ''shōgun'' did not interfere in a ''han''<nowiki/>'s governance unless major incompetence (such as large rebellions) was shown, nor were central taxes issued.<ref name="perez 2009" /> Instead, each ''han'' provided feudal duties, such as maintaining roads and official courier stations, building canals and harbors, providing troops, and relieving famines.<ref name="perez 2009" /> ''Daimyōs'' were strategically placed to check each other, and the ''sankin-kōtai'' system ensured that ''daimyōs'' or their family were always in Edo, observed by the shogun.<ref name="perez 2009" />
[[File:Edo P2.jpg|thumb|[[Edo Castle]], 17th century]]

The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains, although they were rarely and carefully exercised after the early years of the shogunate, to prevent ''daimyōs'' from banding together.<ref name="perez 2009" /> The ''sankin-kōtai'' system of alternative residence required each ''daimyō'' to reside in alternate years between the ''han'' and the court in Edo.<ref name="perez 2009" /> During their absences from Edo, it was also required that they leave their family as hostages until their return. The hostages and the huge expenditure ''sankin-kōtai'' imposed on each ''han'' helped to ensure loyalty to the ''shōgun''.<ref name="perez 2009" /> By the 1690s, the vast majority of daimyos would be born in Edo, and most would consider it their homes.<ref name="brown 1997" /> Some daimyos had little interest in their domains and needed to be begged to return "home".<ref name="brown 1997" />

In return for the centralization, peace among the daimyos was maintained; unlike in the [[Sengoku period]], daimyos no longer worried about conflicts with one another.<ref name="brown 1997" /> In addition, hereditary succession was guaranteed as internal usurpations within domains were not recognized by the shogunate.<ref name="brown 1997" />

==== Classification of daimyos ====
The Tokugawa clan further ensured loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the ''shōgun''. Daimyos were classified into three main categories:<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />

* ''[[Shinpan]]'' ("relatives" 親藩) were six clans established by sons of Ieyasu, as well as certain sons of the 8th and 9th shoguns, who were made daimyos.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> They would provide an heir to the shogunate if the shogun did not have an heir.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />
* ''[[Fudai daimyō|Fudai]]'' ("hereditary" 譜代) were mostly vassals of Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan before the [[Battle of Sekigahara]].<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> They ruled their ''han'' (estate) and served as high officials in the shogunate, although their ''han'' tended to be smaller compared to the ''tozama'' domains.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />
* ''[[Tozama daimyō|Tozama]]'' ("outsiders" 外様) were around 100 daimyos, most of whom became vassals of the Tokugawa clan after the Battle of Sekigahara. Some fought against Tokugawa forces, although some were neutral or even fought on the side of the Tokugawa clan, as allies rather than vassals.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> The ''tozama daimyos'' tend to have the largest ''han'', with 11 of the 16 largest daimyos in this category.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" />

The ''tozama daimyos'' who fought against the Tokugawa clan in the Battle of Sekigahara had their estate reduced substantially.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> They were often placed in mountainous or far away areas, or placed between most trusted daimyos.<ref name="mikiso perez 2015" /> Early in the Edo period, the shogunate viewed the ''tozama'' as the least likely to be loyal; over time, strategic marriages and the entrenchment of the system made the ''tozama'' less likely to rebel. In the end, however, it was still the great ''tozama'' of [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]], [[Chōshū Domain|Chōshū]] and [[Tosa Domain|Tosa]], and to a lesser extent [[Saga Domain|Saga]], that brought down the shogunate. These four states are called the Four Western Clans, or [[Satchotohi]] for short.<ref name="Nussbaum; Satchotohi">{{harvnb|Nussbaum|2002|pp=826–827}}</ref>