| Originally, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] provided mansions to the ''[[tozama daimyo|tozama daimyô]]'', in which their wives and children would live in Edo, as hostages, as part of the ''sankin kôtai'' "alternate attendance" system. Following the extension of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations to all ''daimyô'' in [[1635]], the ''daimyô'' practice of maintaining a mansion in Edo became much more common, and certain aspects of their layout, design, or locations in the city became somewhat standardized. After the [[1657]] [[Meireki Fire]] in particular, when the city was rebuilt, ''daimyô'' rebuilt multiple mansions in different parts of the city. A given ''daimyô's'' "upper mansion" might be located within the walls or moats (Marunouchi), below the Nishi-no-maru, or in neighborhoods such as Atagoshita or Sotosakurada; his "middle mansion" might be located just inside the outermost walls of [[Edo castle]]; and his "lower mansion" would be somewhere in the outskirts of the city. | | Originally, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] provided mansions to the ''[[tozama daimyo|tozama daimyô]]'', in which their wives and children would live in Edo, as hostages, as part of the ''sankin kôtai'' "alternate attendance" system. Following the extension of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations to all ''daimyô'' in [[1635]], the ''daimyô'' practice of maintaining a mansion in Edo became much more common, and certain aspects of their layout, design, or locations in the city became somewhat standardized. After the [[1657]] [[Meireki Fire]] in particular, when the city was rebuilt, ''daimyô'' rebuilt multiple mansions in different parts of the city. A given ''daimyô's'' "upper mansion" might be located within the walls or moats (Marunouchi), below the Nishi-no-maru, or in neighborhoods such as Atagoshita or Sotosakurada; his "middle mansion" might be located just inside the outermost walls of [[Edo castle]]; and his "lower mansion" would be somewhere in the outskirts of the city. |
− | Edo boasted more than six hundred ''daimyô yashiki'' compounds, many of which hosted considerable populations. The roughly 250-300,000 people resident in these compounds in the 18th to early 19th centuries comprised roughly 20-30% of the total population of the city, though a large portion of these individuals, roughly 1/3 to 1/2, were only temporary residents, coming and going with their ''daimyô''.<ref>Vaporis, Constantine. "Lordly Pageantry: The Daimyo Procession and Political Authority." ''Japan Review'' 17 (2005), 3-4.</ref> To cite some examples, the [[Tosa han]] mansions in Edo were home to 4,500 people in [[1694]]; in [[1697]], the lord arrived in the city on his ''sankin kôtai'' mission with 2,800 people, adding considerably to that figure. The Edo mansions of [[Kaga han]], meanwhile, are believed to have had, regularly, as many as 30,000 inhabitants. | + | Edo boasted more than six hundred ''daimyô yashiki'' compounds, many of which hosted considerable populations. The roughly 250-300,000 people resident in these compounds in the 18th to early 19th centuries comprised roughly 20-30% of the total population of the city, though a large portion of these individuals, roughly 1/3 to 1/2, were only temporary residents, coming and going with their ''daimyô''.<ref>Vaporis, Constantine. "Lordly Pageantry: The Daimyo Procession and Political Authority." ''Japan Review'' 17 (2005), 3-4.</ref> To cite some examples, the [[Tosa han]] mansions in Edo were home to 4,500 people in [[1694]]; in [[1697]], the lord arrived in the city on his ''sankin kôtai'' mission with 2,800 people, adding considerably to that figure. The lord of [[Kaga han]], meanwhile, typically arrived in Edo with an entourage of 8,000, leaving roughly 4,000 behind afterwards to help manage his estates. The Edo mansions of Kaga han are believed to have had, regularly, as many as 30,000 inhabitants, and to have covered roughly 267 acres, filled with warehouses, barracks, residences, gardens, and schools.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 72.</ref> |