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*''Japanese'': 小普請組 ''(kobushingumi)''
The ''kobushin-gumi'' was one of two labor pools set up for low-ranking samurai in the [[Edo period]], the other being the ''[[yorigumi]]'', for samurai with fiefs and stipends over 3,000 ''[[koku]]''. Those of lower rank (income) than that were grouped into the ''kobushingumi''.
The ''kobushingumi'' was further sub-divided into eight units, each overseen by a ''shihai'' (commissioner) and ''kumigashira'' (asst. commissioner). Four or five clerks, known as ''sewa-tori-atsukai'', administered each of the sub-units. Samurai seeking membership in the group (and thus, employment) reported to meetings (''aitai'' or ''ôtai'') at the house of the commissioner, held on the 6th, 19th, and 24th day of each month, at which time they could also submit requests for marriages, adoptions of heirs, retirements, or other such matters affecting their family and status. Some particularly eager or desperate samurai greeted the commissioner each morning as he left his home, or visited the ''kumigashira'' at his home, on the 14th or final day of the month. The commissioner then submitted his recommendations (for employment, as well as for authorization for marriages, adoptions, retirements, etc.) to his superiors.
A ''[[metsuke]]'' (government inspector) surveyed the skills, finances, personality, and qualifications otherwise of applicants, and played a role in confirming the eligibility of a samurai applicant for government employment. Those whose applications were successful were summoned to the shogun's palace ([[Edo castle]]), though this appearance at the castle required the applicant to possess a formal outfit and to bring a certain number of gifts to present to officials; not every applicant could afford this.
==References==
*Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p.xiii.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
The ''kobushin-gumi'' was one of two labor pools set up for low-ranking samurai in the [[Edo period]], the other being the ''[[yorigumi]]'', for samurai with fiefs and stipends over 3,000 ''[[koku]]''. Those of lower rank (income) than that were grouped into the ''kobushingumi''.
The ''kobushingumi'' was further sub-divided into eight units, each overseen by a ''shihai'' (commissioner) and ''kumigashira'' (asst. commissioner). Four or five clerks, known as ''sewa-tori-atsukai'', administered each of the sub-units. Samurai seeking membership in the group (and thus, employment) reported to meetings (''aitai'' or ''ôtai'') at the house of the commissioner, held on the 6th, 19th, and 24th day of each month, at which time they could also submit requests for marriages, adoptions of heirs, retirements, or other such matters affecting their family and status. Some particularly eager or desperate samurai greeted the commissioner each morning as he left his home, or visited the ''kumigashira'' at his home, on the 14th or final day of the month. The commissioner then submitted his recommendations (for employment, as well as for authorization for marriages, adoptions, retirements, etc.) to his superiors.
A ''[[metsuke]]'' (government inspector) surveyed the skills, finances, personality, and qualifications otherwise of applicants, and played a role in confirming the eligibility of a samurai applicant for government employment. Those whose applications were successful were summoned to the shogun's palace ([[Edo castle]]), though this appearance at the castle required the applicant to possess a formal outfit and to bring a certain number of gifts to present to officials; not every applicant could afford this.
==References==
*Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p.xiii.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]