Changes

''Machi bugyô'', or "City Magistrates," were [[Tokugawa shogunate]] officials who oversaw the administration of certain cities during the [[Edo period]].

''Machi bugyô'', or "City Magistrates," were [[Tokugawa shogunate]] officials who oversaw the administration of certain cities during the [[Edo period]].

[[Edo]] was administered by two ''machi bugyô'', who were divided into North and South town offices. Though [[Aoyama Tadamasa]] was the first to be granted this title, in [[1601]],<ref>Morgan Pitelka, ''Spectacular Accumulation'', University of Hawaii Press (2016), 86.</ref> it was in the 1630s that the powers and responsibilities of this and other positions were more thoroughly articulated. Alongside the ''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'' (Magistrates of Temples & Shrines) and ''[[kanjo bugyo|kanjô bugyô]]'' (Finance Magistrates), they were known as the ''Sanbugyô'' (Three Magistrates), one group of the most powerful officials in the city. The ''machi bugyô'' also served as members of the ''[[Hyojosho|Hyôjôsho]]'', the chief judicial organ of the shogunate government, alongside the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', the ''jisha bugyô'', ''kujikata kanjô bugyô'' (Magistrate of Judicial Finances) and their associated ''kanjô ginmiyaku'', and the ''kujikata ômetsuke'' and ''[[metsuke]]'' (Inspectors).<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), xxx.</ref>  

[[Edo]] was administered by two ''machi bugyô'', who were divided into North and South town offices. Each magistrate was responsible for matters across the entire city, but operated on a monthly rotation (''tsukiban''). Each month, either the North or South Magistrate would report regularly to the [[shogun]], receive petitions, preside over judicial hearings, and otherwise accept new business, while the other magistrate worked on matters he had begun the previous month, and closed the main gates to his office to signal he was not accepting new business.

 

Though [[Aoyama Tadamasa]] was the first to be granted this title, in [[1601]],<ref>Morgan Pitelka, ''Spectacular Accumulation'', University of Hawaii Press (2016), 86.</ref> it was in the 1630s that the powers and responsibilities of this and other positions were more thoroughly articulated. Alongside the ''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'' (Magistrates of Temples & Shrines) and ''[[kanjo bugyo|kanjô bugyô]]'' (Finance Magistrates), they were known as the ''Sanbugyô'' (Three Magistrates), one group of the most powerful officials in the city. The ''machi bugyô'' also served as members of the ''[[Hyojosho|Hyôjôsho]]'', the chief judicial organ of the shogunate government, alongside the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', the ''jisha bugyô'', ''kujikata kanjô bugyô'' (Magistrate of Judicial Finances) and their associated ''kanjô ginmiyaku'', and the ''kujikata ômetsuke'' and ''[[metsuke]]'' (Inspectors).<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), xxx.</ref>  

The ''machi bugyô'' answered directly to the ''rôjû''. They were assisted by officials known as the ''[[machi doshiyori]]'',<ref>[[Arai Hakuseki]], Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 321.</ref> and commanded the city's ''[[yoriki]]'' and ''[[doshin|dôshin]]'' (constables & patrolmen) and prison wardens. In [[1723]], the magistrates' [[stipends]] were set at 3,000 ''[[koku]]''.

The ''machi bugyô'' answered directly to the ''rôjû''. They were assisted by officials known as the ''[[machi doshiyori]]'',<ref>[[Arai Hakuseki]], Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 321.</ref> and commanded the city's ''[[yoriki]]'' and ''[[doshin|dôshin]]'' (constables & patrolmen) and prison wardens. In [[1723]], the magistrates' [[stipends]] were set at 3,000 ''[[koku]]''.