The city was governed by a board of thirty-six merchant councilors called ''egôshû'', and was walled off and surrounded with moats, not unlike some of the free cities of Europe.<ref name=ikegami>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 122.</ref> | The city was governed by a board of thirty-six merchant councilors called ''egôshû'', and was walled off and surrounded with moats, not unlike some of the free cities of Europe.<ref name=ikegami>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 122.</ref> |