The settlement of political affairs by the Tokugawa Bakufu and its relations with Japan's feudal domains

This article attempts to reconstruct the process by which the Tokugawa Bakufu settled its political affairs through a comprehensive analysis of 1) the petitions submitted to the Bakufu by various feudal lords concerning the kind of accoutrement they would be allowed to carry with them in their processions to Edo and 2) the opinions written by Bakufu officials about whether to accept those petitions, all recorded in Documents of the Yuhitsu Secretariat (Yuhitsu Monjo), and in so doing sheds light on the following points concerning the relationship between the shogunate of Tokugawa Ienari and the daimyo families of the country’s feudal domains.<br> First, concerning the processing of the petitions, the applications submitted by the feudal lords to the Bakufu elder in charge for the month (Tsukiban Roju 月番老中) would then be handed over to the superintendents of police (Ometsuke 大目付, Metsuke 目付), who would deliberate, write their opinions and send them back to the Tsukiban. What accoutrement processions were allowed to carry was an issue closely related to the status of daimyo families, and regarding the acceptance or rejection of their requests, the Tsukiban and other elders would deliberate and make their final decisions while referring to the opinions of the police superintendents. On these occasions, what was emphasized in the elders’ decisions was the impact that the acceptance of any request would have on other daimyo families, The existence of such standards made is possible for the Bakufu to utilize the carrying of certain accoutrement by the daimyo families as a means to managing family status and the order of procession. <br> 　Next, concerning the shogunate of Tokugawa Ienari, the author shows that the daimyo families who held marital ties to the Ienari's sons and daughters had been unfairly promoted in bureaucratic status (kan’i 官位). For example, the Ienari-affiliated Aizu Matsudaira and Nabeshima Families were granted requests which they had been refused in the past and for which no precedents had been newly established. On the other hand, the Todo Family, which had no marital ties to Ienari's siblings, were according to the above standards also granted requests which they had been refused in the past and for which no precedents had been newly established.<br> 　Concerning these irregularities, the author concludes the in the background to the acceptance of many petitions to carry accoutrement during the Ienari shogunate lay 1) the acceptance of petitions submitted by Ienari-affiliated daimyo families and the submission of petitions by other, unaffiliated families and 2) in the thinking of the Bakufu officials, beginning with the Council of Elders, the granting of petitions was based on maintaining equilibrium with other daimyo families.