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During a daimyo's sankin kotai visit to Edo castle, only the daimyo and a certain number of higher-ranking retainers would actually enter the castle; the remainder of his retinue, some considerable number of middle- and low-ranking samurai, would remain outside the castle, sitting around on the ground, eating, drinking, chatting, sleeping, etc.
During a daimyo's [[sankin kotai]] visit to Edo castle, only the daimyo and a certain number of higher-ranking retainers would actually enter the castle; the remainder of his retinue, some considerable number of middle- and low-ranking samurai, would remain outside the castle, sitting around on the ground, eating, drinking, chatting, sleeping, etc.
[[Sankin kotai]] - Tosa generally moved 1,500 to 3,000 people and their baggage each year between Tosa and Edo, a 500 mile journey over mountains, seas, and highway. In 1697, over 2,800 people accompanied the lord. Three years earlier, while the lord was resident in Edo, there were over 4,550 other Tosa people resident there with him. The domain had to pay porters, innkeepers, shippers, and food suppliers for the journey, and then also suppliers of food and other necessities (and luxuries) to this large Tosa population in the capital, as well as carpenters and artisans to service the domain mansion. In 1688, Tosa's total domain budget was 3,953 kan, of which 300 paid for the sankin journey, 1,422 paid for expenses related to the mansion in Edo, and 1,042 went to paying off loans from Osaka and Edo merchants. In total, in general, domains spent between 40% and 70% of their annual budgets on costs related to sankin kotai. (Roberts, Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain, 18.)
*First day of the 8th month was generally considered an auspicious day for giving gifts. The shogunate claimed the date to be in commemoration of ieyasu's first entry into the kanto in 1509. (Anne Walthall, Hiding the Shogun, p332)
*First day of the 8th month was generally considered an auspicious day for giving gifts. The shogunate claimed the date to be in commemoration of ieyasu's first entry into the kanto in 1509. (Anne Walthall, Hiding the Shogun, p332)