Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed

Chapter 4. The Division of the Japanese Empire into Large and Small Domains, and Especially General Information about Their Revenue and Government

Chapter 4 The Division of the Japanese Empire into Large and Small Domains, and Especially General Information about Their Revenue and Government 48 We do not want to leave the description of the country until we have discussed separately the division of the Japanese land into seven large regions or roads, and these into sixtyeight large domains or provinces of the empire, and these provinces into 604 smaller areas or districts, as well as the size, location, produce, and annual income of each province. All this information has been taken from a Japanese description called Setsuyōshū.1 Translator’s note: As Kaempfer states, the text that follows has been taken from a Japanese work. Setsuyōshū is a Japanese dictionary of unknown authorship that appeared in numerous editions, some of the later ones with supplements.2 Kaempfer apparently used an edition of 1680 published by the monk Ekū, which has a supplement corresponding to the information in this chapter. A reproduction of this is now available.3 Like Kaempfer’s chapter, the supplement lists the seven dō, highways or areas, with brief explanations , followed by an enumeration of the domains and districts. In both cases, the list ends with explanations about Iki and Tsushima. Kaempfer concludes this chapter with additional information about the government of Japan that is unlikely to have appeared in this form in any Japanese publication and therefore may be assumed to reflect his own observations. He writes: The total income of the above seven areas and their sixty-eight provinces amounts to 2,257 man goku.4 Kubō or Absolute Ruler of Japan This is not the place to write in detail about the government of this empire, its principalities and smaller dominions, but only inasmuch as it adds to the understanding of our account . The Japanese empire is governed by their shoguns, and each province by its do- main lord, in an autocratic way. The present kubō, or monarch, called Tsunayoshi, is the fourth generation and the successor of Ieyasu, who ruled at the beginning of the sixteen hundreds and was the first shogun in his family to seize power. This Tsunayoshi is a clever, just, and strict ruler. In government he follows the ways of his ancestors by ruling with absolute authority. This he does to such an extent that, when the circumstances arise, he disposes of the lands of his subordinate princes and lords as he pleases: divides or exchanges them, or confiscates them completely, as he judges or determines is in the interest of the empire, or in accordance with the achievements or crime of the owner. Chapter 4: Division of the Japanese Empire 49 Daimyo or Great Territorial Lords The above-mentioned principalities are ruled by their hereditary princes, called daimyo, that is, of august name,5 which means large territorial lords. The fortunes of war gave some of them several territories in earlier times. Therefore the lord of Satsuma owns the two neighboring provinces of Ōsumi and Hyūga, the territorial lord of Kaga, also the adjoining province of Noto, which means they are counted among the most powerful princes of the empire. Shōmyō or Lesser Territorial Lords The lords of lesser territories are called shōmyō, or “well-named,”6 which means as much as small territorial lords. In the registry of the sixty-six main provinces, their lands, be they islands, such as Gotō, Hirado, Amakusa, Matsuzaki, and so on, or territories on one of the three large islands, are always added to and counted as belonging to the same large province near or in which they are situated. These lords have come so much under the sway of the last shoguns that they are permitted to live only six months of the year in their hereditary lands, while the rest of the year they spend in the city of the shogun’s residence with their families, who reside there as hostages. Bugyō and Daikan Among the small territories are also shogunal lands or domains that either were set aside for this purpose from the beginning or were confiscated from those who had fallen out of favor at some time or other. For the art of government consists of attempting to break the power of the princes by splitting up larger territories to safeguard the position of the shogun. Of these domains, the large ones are governed by magistrates, who go under the common courtly title of bugyō, that is, commissioned men of high rank...