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Created page with "*''Japanese'': 参勤交代 ''(sankin koutai)'' ''Sankin kôtai'', or "alternate attendance," was a system of military service which served as a central piece of the [[Tokuga..."
*''Japanese'': 参勤交代 ''(sankin koutai)''
''Sankin kôtai'', or "alternate attendance," was a system of military service which served as a central piece of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogunate's]] systems for controlling the ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' and maintaining power. ''Daimyô'' were obligated to alternate their residence between [[Edo]] and their [[han|domain]]; the expense of journeys to and from Edo each other year, with large entourages, combined with the expense of maintaining [[daimyo yashiki|mansions]] in Edo often cost significant portions of the domain's resources, keeping them from consolidating power within their domains. The process of having so many samurai traveling to and from the capital, and maintaining residences in the capital, had a profound effect on cultural diffusion throughout the realm, and contributed significantly to the samurai-heavy demographic character of Edo.
Initially voluntary, the system was made mandatory for ''tozama daimyô'' in [[1635]] in a re-issuance of the ''[[buke shohatto]]'' ("various laws for warrior families"); this was expanded to all ''daimyô'' in [[1642]]. Lords were obligated to maintain a residence in Edo, where members of their close family would reside as hostages against the ''daimyô's'' disobedience or rebellion. As of [[1648]], each lord's heir was obligated to travel to Edo as well, and from [[1684]] onwards, the ''fudai daimyô'' had to make their ''sankin'' journeys every six months. Though most ''daimyô'' were obliged to perform this journey regularly, some ''tozama daimyô'' were granted exceptions, in most cases due to their great service to the realm in other respects, or after successfully arguing for the excessiveness of the burden. These included [[Satsuma han]], which was particularly powerful and had a particularly lengthy journey; [[Tsushima han]] which governed relations and trade with [[Joseon|Korea]]; and [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka]] and [[Saga han]], which contributed to the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]]. Some northern domains which contributed to responses to Russian incursions also received temporary exemptions at times.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 152.</ref>
The ''sankin kôtai'' system ensured a reliable flow of considerable numbers of elite travelers across the country, contributing considerably to both official and private construction of [[post-stations]] and inns (and their surrounding towns), lighthouses and port facilities, maintenance of highways, and expansion of travel-related services, such as networks of [[hikyaku|messengers]], [[toiyaba|porters, and horses]]. [[Corvee|Corvée]] labor was employed to provide a considerable portion of the porters, boatmen, and the like. Barrier checkpoints called ''[[sekisho]]'' were established along the highways to regulate travel; among their functions, too, was to enforce that firearms not be carried into Edo (so as to help prevent rebellion), and that women (who might be hostage members of ''daimyô'' families) not be allowed to leave.
Many ''daimyô'' of western Japan also came to maintain mansions in Osaka and Kyoto as well, where the ''daimyô'' and his retinue would stay during their journeys to and from the shogun's capital, thus contributing to the culture and economy of these cities as well.
In the early Edo period, most ''daimyô'' of Kyushu, Shikoku, and western Honshû, traveled by ship to [[Osaka]]; ''[[sekibune]]'' were converted into luxurious ''gozabune'' for this portion of the journey, and riverboats were used to travel up the [[Yodo River]] from Osaka to [[Fushimi]], from which the ''daimyô'' would then travel overland to Kyoto proper, and then along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] to Edo. Later on, however, many ''daimyô'' switched to traveling overland for as much of the journey as they could, avoiding sea travel. The [[Shimazu clan]] lords of [[Satsuma han]] likely had the longest journey; it typically took 40 to 60 days to travel the 440 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' to Edo. Though they originally sailed to Osaka from Kumisaki (Satsuma Sendai) or Wakimoto (Akune) on Kyushu's west coast, or from Hososhima in [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]] on Kyushu's east coast, they later switched to marching overland across Kyushu to [[Shimonoseki]], and then walking the [[Sanyodo|San'yôdô]] to Osaka.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref>
The financial costs of ''sankin kôtai'' were among the heaviest burdens upon ''daimyô'' budgets, leading to many ''daimyô'' incurring very significant debts over the course of the period. Despite the expense, however, ''daimyô'' often felt obligated to maintain large entourages and lavish traveling conditions in order to maintain impressions of their power and prestige; not only the number of men in one's entourage, but the number of spears preceding and following the ''daimyô'' in procession, the number of certain types of baskets and baggage, among other elements of performance and display, meant a lot in terms of representing one's prestige and power to all those who could see it. For this reason, though the shogunate repeatedly tried to restrict the allowable size of ''sankin kôtai'' entourages, ''daimyô'' regularly exceeded the official limits.
The ''sankin kôtai'' system came gradually to an end in the [[Bakumatsu period]]. Obligations were relaxed in [[1862]], leading to a great many samurai leaving the city.
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
''Sankin kôtai'', or "alternate attendance," was a system of military service which served as a central piece of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogunate's]] systems for controlling the ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' and maintaining power. ''Daimyô'' were obligated to alternate their residence between [[Edo]] and their [[han|domain]]; the expense of journeys to and from Edo each other year, with large entourages, combined with the expense of maintaining [[daimyo yashiki|mansions]] in Edo often cost significant portions of the domain's resources, keeping them from consolidating power within their domains. The process of having so many samurai traveling to and from the capital, and maintaining residences in the capital, had a profound effect on cultural diffusion throughout the realm, and contributed significantly to the samurai-heavy demographic character of Edo.
Initially voluntary, the system was made mandatory for ''tozama daimyô'' in [[1635]] in a re-issuance of the ''[[buke shohatto]]'' ("various laws for warrior families"); this was expanded to all ''daimyô'' in [[1642]]. Lords were obligated to maintain a residence in Edo, where members of their close family would reside as hostages against the ''daimyô's'' disobedience or rebellion. As of [[1648]], each lord's heir was obligated to travel to Edo as well, and from [[1684]] onwards, the ''fudai daimyô'' had to make their ''sankin'' journeys every six months. Though most ''daimyô'' were obliged to perform this journey regularly, some ''tozama daimyô'' were granted exceptions, in most cases due to their great service to the realm in other respects, or after successfully arguing for the excessiveness of the burden. These included [[Satsuma han]], which was particularly powerful and had a particularly lengthy journey; [[Tsushima han]] which governed relations and trade with [[Joseon|Korea]]; and [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka]] and [[Saga han]], which contributed to the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]]. Some northern domains which contributed to responses to Russian incursions also received temporary exemptions at times.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 152.</ref>
The ''sankin kôtai'' system ensured a reliable flow of considerable numbers of elite travelers across the country, contributing considerably to both official and private construction of [[post-stations]] and inns (and their surrounding towns), lighthouses and port facilities, maintenance of highways, and expansion of travel-related services, such as networks of [[hikyaku|messengers]], [[toiyaba|porters, and horses]]. [[Corvee|Corvée]] labor was employed to provide a considerable portion of the porters, boatmen, and the like. Barrier checkpoints called ''[[sekisho]]'' were established along the highways to regulate travel; among their functions, too, was to enforce that firearms not be carried into Edo (so as to help prevent rebellion), and that women (who might be hostage members of ''daimyô'' families) not be allowed to leave.
Many ''daimyô'' of western Japan also came to maintain mansions in Osaka and Kyoto as well, where the ''daimyô'' and his retinue would stay during their journeys to and from the shogun's capital, thus contributing to the culture and economy of these cities as well.
In the early Edo period, most ''daimyô'' of Kyushu, Shikoku, and western Honshû, traveled by ship to [[Osaka]]; ''[[sekibune]]'' were converted into luxurious ''gozabune'' for this portion of the journey, and riverboats were used to travel up the [[Yodo River]] from Osaka to [[Fushimi]], from which the ''daimyô'' would then travel overland to Kyoto proper, and then along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] to Edo. Later on, however, many ''daimyô'' switched to traveling overland for as much of the journey as they could, avoiding sea travel. The [[Shimazu clan]] lords of [[Satsuma han]] likely had the longest journey; it typically took 40 to 60 days to travel the 440 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' to Edo. Though they originally sailed to Osaka from Kumisaki (Satsuma Sendai) or Wakimoto (Akune) on Kyushu's west coast, or from Hososhima in [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]] on Kyushu's east coast, they later switched to marching overland across Kyushu to [[Shimonoseki]], and then walking the [[Sanyodo|San'yôdô]] to Osaka.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref>
The financial costs of ''sankin kôtai'' were among the heaviest burdens upon ''daimyô'' budgets, leading to many ''daimyô'' incurring very significant debts over the course of the period. Despite the expense, however, ''daimyô'' often felt obligated to maintain large entourages and lavish traveling conditions in order to maintain impressions of their power and prestige; not only the number of men in one's entourage, but the number of spears preceding and following the ''daimyô'' in procession, the number of certain types of baskets and baggage, among other elements of performance and display, meant a lot in terms of representing one's prestige and power to all those who could see it. For this reason, though the shogunate repeatedly tried to restrict the allowable size of ''sankin kôtai'' entourages, ''daimyô'' regularly exceeded the official limits.
The ''sankin kôtai'' system came gradually to an end in the [[Bakumatsu period]]. Obligations were relaxed in [[1862]], leading to a great many samurai leaving the city.
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]