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[[File:Iyo-matsuyama-sankin.JPG|center|thumb|800px|Detail from a handscroll painting depicting the ''sankin kôtai'' procession of the lord of [[Iyo-Matsuyama han]]. Date unknown. [[National Museum of Japanese History]]]]

[[File:Iyo-matsuyama-sankin.JPG|center|thumb|800px|Detail from a handscroll painting depicting the ''sankin kôtai'' procession of the lord of [[Iyo-Matsuyama han]]. Date unknown. [[National Museum of Japanese History]]]]

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>

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, alternating with his father, so that either the lord or his heir would be in Edo at any given time. Retired ''daimyô'' were also obliged to travel to Edo occasionally, to be re-confirmed in their being granted leave to remain in their domain (or in Edo, as they wished).<ref name=nagairei>Nagai Hiroshi 永井博, ''Sankin kôtai to daimyô gyôretsu'' 参勤交代と大名行列 (Tokyo: Yôsensha 洋泉社 MOOK, 2012), 126-131.</ref>

 

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.

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.