sankin kotai

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sankin kootai 参勤交代 Sankin Kotai Daimyo attendance in Edo
daimyoo gyooretsu, daimyō gyōretsu 大名行列　Daimyo procession

. samurai　侍, buke 武家, bushi 武士 　 .
Lord of a Domain, Daimyo, daimyoo　大名

. hatamoto 旗本 samurai class .





. shukuba 宿場　post station, postal station .
along the Sankin Kotai roads
Honjin (本陣):
Rest areas and lodgings built for use by samurai and court nobles. Honjin were not businesses; instead, large residences in the post towns were often designated as lodging for government officials.

. Kaido 街道 Highways used by the Daimyo .

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Sankin-kōtai 参勤交代 "alternate attendance",
a daimyo's alternate-year residence in Edo - was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. The purpose was to strengthen central control over the daimyo, or major feudal lords.

History
Toyotomi Hideyoshi had earlier established a similar practice of requiring his feudal lords to keep their wives and heirs at Osaka Castle or the nearby vicinity as hostages for loyal behavior. Following the Battle of Sekigahara and the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, this practice was continued at the new capital of Edo as a matter of custom. It was made compulsory for the tozama daimyo in 1635, and for the fudai daimyo from 1642. Aside from an eight year period under the rule of Tokugawa Yoshimune, the law remained in force until 1862.


Sightseers and merchants gazing at an entourage (sixth panel) from
"Folding Screen Depicting Scenes of the Attendance of Daimyo at Edo Castle",
National Museum of Japanese History

Description
The details changed throughout the 26 decades of Tokugawa rule, but generally, the requirement was that the daimyo of every han move periodically between Edo and his fief, typically spending alternate years in each place. His wife and heir were required to remain in Edo as hostages while he was away. The expenditures necessary to maintain lavish residences in both places, and for the procession to and from Edo, placed financial strains on the daimyo, making them unable to wage war. The frequent travel of the daimyo encouraged road building and the construction of inns and facilities along the routes, generating economic activity.

There were a number of exceptions for certain fudai daimyo in the vicinity of Edo, who were allowed to alternate their attendance in Edo every six months instead. Temporary exceptional dispensations were also occasionally granted due to illness or extreme extenuating circumstances.

In principle, the sankin-kōtai was a military service to the shogun. Each daimyo was required to furnish a number of soldiers (samurai) in accordance with the kokudaka assessment of his domain. These soldiers accompanied the daimyo on the processions to and from Edo.

With hundreds of daimyo entering or leaving Edo each year, processions (大名行列 daimyō-gyōretsu) were almost daily occurrences in the shogunal capital. The main routes to the provinces were the kaidō. Special lodgings, the honjin (本陣), were available to daimyo during their travels.

The sankin-kōtai figures prominently in some Edo period ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), as well as in popular theater such as kabuki and bunraku.
- source : wikipedia

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Picture of Daimyō Visiting the Castle on New Year's Day

The processions of all the daimyo, or domain lords, were one of the famous sights of the New Year in Edo.
The daimyō leave from their Edo residences to arrive at the castle at about seven in the morning.
The date of this paying of respects was arranged according to the rank of each daimyo
and held not only on New Year's Day but went on over three days.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

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NHK samurai drama, August 2015

Ichiroo 一路 Ichiro "One Road"

The adventures of Sankin Kotai, as experienced by 小野寺一路 Onodera Ichiro.

Ichiro’s father dies suddenly in a fire at his home. 19-year-old Ichiro, who had studied in Edo, has to come home. His father was supposed to prepare Sankin kotai and lead the lines of his Daimyo to visit Edo.

After his father's death, Ichiro leads the procession of Sankin kotai and heads to Edo, relying on his father's notes about the proceedings. During the journey, he faces various problems and schemes which target his family.




based on a book by 浅田次郎 Asada Jiro




- reference -

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- - - - - Legends about Sankin Kotai and Daimyo Gyoretsu - - - - -
There are quite a few tales with the fox or badger. Sometimes they compare their ability in shapeshifting.


............................................................................ Aomori 青森県

The foxes from 三戸 Sannohe
The fox from Akasaka 赤坂の狐 and the fox from Nagane 長根の狐 held a contest in shapeshifting.
The fox from Nagane transformed into a Daimyo procession, which looked quite real with the regional lord and all, when bowing to it from under a tree. The fox of Nagane got caught by the official vassals of the Daimyo and was put to death.



............................................................................ Fukushima 福島県
湖南町 Konan

O-Suga sama お菅さま "Lady Suga"
O-Suga Sama was the wife of the Shogun in Edo. He had been up in Ezo エゾ (Northern Japan and Hokkaido) and since she missed his love so much, she came after him. But she fell sick on the road and eventually committed suicide by drowning in a nearby pond.
She was the youngest of three sisters. When she was a child she liked to roam the forests and look for silkworms. She fed them with leaves and cared for them.

The place is called "O-Suga Sama" and people come here to pray for the well-being of their silk-worms. She observed the silk worms munching leaves with joy and told them:
neesan kuu wa ねえさん食うわ. Since then the leaves were called "kuwa クワ".

When her husband passed the area on his way back, he dreamed that she has become the mist on mount 高井原山 Takaraibarayama to moisten the kuwa leaves.
Her name was actually "O-Sugi お杉", Lady Cedar, but that turned to "O-Suga" in the local dialect.

During the procession of Sankin Kotai there was a great serpent up on a willow tree along the road. It displeased the vassals of the Daimyo and was thus driven away and had to move to Fukushima. When a branch of this willow tree breaks off, there was blood flowing from the wound. So in the end the whole tree was cut off.
This place is called "O-Suga Sama".

. silk　絹 kinu legends .
kuwa 桑 mulberry tree / kuwago 桑子 "kuwa child", "mulberry child", - silkworm



............................................................................ Hiroshima 広島県

. Osangitsune オサンギツネ / 於三狐 O-San kitsune fox with three tails .

Wakamiya no Iwa 若宮の岩 - 大和町 Daiwa

原田備前守が参勤交代で萩原を通ったとき、若宮の岩から白い蛇が現れた。ここを城にしろとのお告げだと思い、城を建てて永住したという。昭和に入ってその岩がトンネル掘削の邪魔になったので、ダイナマイトで壊そうとしたら暴発して作業員が怪我をした。神の住む岩である。

狐，狸 Fox and Badger
昔、於三という悪い狐と、四国の讃岐にいる於三に劣らぬ悪き狸が、どちらが化けるのが上手か比べあった。於三の番がきたとき、於三は今度大名行列に化けるので来てくれといった。約束の日に行くと果たして大名行列が来た。狸が本性を現して近づくと、侍に斬られてしまった。



............................................................................ Hyogo 兵庫県

Shibaemon 芝右衛門 - tanuki and kitsune 狸 - 狐
淡路に芝右衛門という狸がいて、阿波の狸合戦に来て働いたが、その後京都へ上って伏見の狐に遇った。京の狐は口ばかりで腕の程も知れぬから、1つ腕前を見せてくれといわれたので、芝右衛門は翌日大名行列を見せた。盛大な大名行列で、狐は驚きこれは殺してしまわないといけないと思い、次の日におれも大名行列を見せるから稲荷の鳥居に来てくれといった。芝右衛門が約束どおり行くと文句の付けようのない大名行列だったので手を打ち「ヤレヤレ」といってほめたが、それは本物の大名行列で芝右衛門は撃ち殺された。



............................................................................ Kochi 高知県

. The Old Tanuki from 奈半利町 Nahari town .



............................................................................ Nara 奈良県

shirogitsune 白狐 the curse of the white fox
The Lord of Yamato Koriyama 大和郡山 had caught a white fox 白狐 and killed it. The white fox appeared in his dream and asked to have a shrine built so he could go to paradise. But the Lord did not do as he was asked by the spirit. Therefore the white fox cursed him. During his next procession to Edo he behaved quite crazy, like bewitched by the fox. So his family name was taken away and the family line stopped.


. shirogitsune 白狐 Legends about the White Fox .



............................................................................ Niigata 新潟県

Dankuro the Fox and Sankichi the Tanuki 団九郎，三吉 from Sado 佐渡
団九郎狐は、佐渡に住むたちの悪い古狸の三吉を憎んでいた。あるとき信濃川のほとりで団九郎は三吉と出会う。団九郎は三吉をおだてて酒屋の小僧や大入道に化けるなどさせる。団九郎はお礼に自分の芸も見せるといい、次の日に街道に来るようにいう。三吉が約束の場所で待っていると大名行列がやってくる。三吉は感心して行列の前に飛び出るが、それは本物の大名行列で、捕らえられて食べられてしまう。
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佐渡島には狢が群れをなして住んでおり、その首領の名前を団三郎と言った。鎌倉時代の末期、狐が渡って来て、団三郎と妖術の勝負をした。狐は嫁入りの行列をして見せた。そこで団三郎は大名行列をして見せると狐に行った。狐は大名行列のあまりの見事さに驚いて近寄ったら、その行列は本物で、狐は殺されてしまった。それ以来、佐渡島に狐は来なくなった。

mujina 狢 the Mujina badger from Sado 佐渡
The Mujina badger from Sado and the Fox from 越後 Echigo held a contest in shapeshifting.
The fox shapeshifted into a fire, but was soon found out.
The mujina shapeshifted into a Daimyo Gyoretsu and no one found this strange. So the mujina won.



............................................................................ Yamagata 山形県

遊佐町
onshoo no tama 宝珠の玉
小坊が狐の宝珠の玉を盗んでやろうと、子狐をだました。狐たちが玉を取り返そうと画策するが、のけものにされた狐が計画を小坊に漏らした。大名行列に化けてやってきた狐たちは、本堂に閉じ込められ、小坊の話した犬に噛み付かれて死んだものもいた。



............................................................................ Yamaguchi 山口県

tanuki to kitsune 狸，狐 the badger and the fox

化け上手な阿波狸が、中国地方へ股旅をし、周防の国で狐に化けくらべを申し込んだ。まず阿波狸が、翌々日の午前１０時頃に、毛利侯の行列に化けてみせることになった。狸は、その日時に本物の参勤交代の行列が通ることを知っていた。当日、狐は狸が化けたものと信じ込み、狸との約束通り拍手喝采したので、侍に捕らえられて斬り殺されてしまったという。


- source : ukiyoeota/status -

Foxes shapeshift as humans and perform a daimyo gyoretsu.
狐たちが人間を化かして大名行列

- reference : yokai database - nichibun.ac.jp -

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参勤交代 : 土橋章宏

- reference - books about 参勤交代 -

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This is probably the definitive work on sankin-kotai in English.

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What is Sankin-kōtai?
[Sankin-kōtai is] the Alternate Attendance Policy. Established by the Tokugawa Shōgunate, this system required all daimyo to live in Edo for a certain period of time, often every other year.

The daimyō were required to attend (provide service to) the shōgun in Edo and so they set up residences within the city. I like to think of them as embassies from the provinces. The daimyō would bring samurai “staff” from their domains to serve in Edo as well, so these were essentially provincial courts accompanied by a military staff. The daimyō residences included a small palace for the lord and domainal administration as well as barracks for the lower ranking samurai who accompanied the lord.

Each lord generally maintained 3 residences in Edo, though some had more. The land was granted to them by the shōgunate and could be confiscated or redistributed at the discretion of the shōgun or his council of advisors.



. . . . . The trip to Edo and the trip back to the domain were also costly.
The daimyō had to walk, with family and court and staff and in tow, in long processions called 大名行列 daimyō gyōretsu daimyō processions. These elaborate parades took days. But with so many domains coming and going all the time, they were a constant site on the major routes in and out of Edo. There are many great Edo Era prints of these and accounts from foreigners and Japanese alike agreed they were something to see!

- - - - - further info and links :
- source : Marky Star -

- reference - books about sankin kotai -

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A Daimyo Gyoretsu is just coming over 日本橋 Nihonbashi in Edo,
the first station of the Tokaido road to Kyoto.


CLICK for more photos !

. Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797 - 1861) .

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. bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government and Administration .

. kido 木戸　The Gates of Edo .

. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .


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