https://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Petition_box&feed=atom&action=historyPetition box - Revision history2024-03-29T13:30:23ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.2https://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Petition_box&diff=28242&oldid=prevLordAmeth at 03:41, 23 July 20142014-07-23T03:41:47Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The ''[[Nihon shoki]]'' indicates that a Japanese emperor may have implemented a petition box system as early as [[646]]. [[Emperor Kotoku|Emperor Kôtoku's]] system, put into place in that year, did not last long, but various authorities made use of similar systems from time to time down through the medieval period. Among samurai warlords known to have employed petition boxes are [[Imagawa Yoshimoto]] and [[Takeda Shingen]].</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The ''[[Nihon shoki]]'' indicates that a Japanese emperor may have implemented a petition box system as early as [[646]]. [[Emperor Kotoku|Emperor Kôtoku's]] system, put into place in that year, did not last long, but various authorities made use of similar systems from time to time down through the medieval period. Among samurai warlords known to have employed petition boxes are [[Imagawa Yoshimoto]] and [[Takeda Shingen]].</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The first shogun to implement a petition box system was [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]]. He did so in [[1721]], after having overseen a similar system as ''daimyô'' of [[Wakayama han]], installing the box in front of the ''[[hyojosho|hyôjôsho]]'' (judicial offices). Prior to this, people often petitioned the shogunate illegally, through petitions known as ''osso'' (direct appeals to high officials) and ''sutebumi'' (anonymous petitions left at the gates of the castle); the creation of a petition box allowed for a legal avenue for such grievances to be expressed. While social commentary could be submitted into the shogunate's petition box easily enough, petitions which called for legal appeals could only be submitted in certain types of cases, where other legal avenues had already been tried. The petition box system was considered quite successful, however, and was not only maintained, but was expanded to [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]], and [[Sunpu]], and remained in place until [[1868]]. A number of policy moves, such as the establishment of the Edo [[fire brigades]], have been traced to suggestions made in petitions placed in the box.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">A significant number of [[han|domains]], though still a minority, employed petition boxes in the Edo period. [[Ikeda Mitsumasa]] of [[Okayama han]] was among those who did, putting a remonstrance box (''isamebako'') into place in [[1654]] after flooding in the domain exacerbated certain social problems. Petitions placed in the box led to quite a number of issues being investigated and addressed; Mitsumasa is said to have been so impressed with some of the petitions that he met with their authors personally, and sent his aide, [[Kumazawa Banzan]], into the countryside to personally investigate some of the complaints.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==In Tosa==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==In Tosa==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">A significant number of </del>[[han|<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">domains</del>]], <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">though still a minority</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">employed </del>petition boxes <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in the Edo period</del>. The case of Tosa han is the most well-known of these, at least in the English-language scholarship, as a result of the work of historian [[Luke Roberts]].</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ogaki han|Ôgaki]], [[Aizu </ins>han|<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Aizu]], and [[Hiroshima han</ins>]], <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">along with Okayama</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">were some of the earliest domains to institute </ins>petition boxes. The case of Tosa han is the most well-known of these, at least in the English-language scholarship, as a result of the work of historian [[Luke Roberts]]<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. It was put into place in [[1759]], after many of the neighboring domains, including [[Takamatsu han|Takamatsu]], [[Matsuyama han|Matsuyama]], and [[Uwajima han|Uwajima]] had already had similar systems in place.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">From 1759 until [[1873]], a wooden box was located just outside [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]], in a small structure called the ''ôkoshikake'', where people would sit while awaiting entrance to the castle on official business. The space was open and accessible to anyone, samurai, commoner, or peasant, though being right outside the castle, it was deep within the samurai district of the city, and Roberts points out it would have taken some courage for a commoner or peasant to make his way there to submit a petition. The box was a simple wooden box, with a slit in the top where petitions could be dropped in. Once a month, the chief inspector (''[[metsuke]]'') of the domain opened the box and delivered the petitions to the lord. In theory, the petitions were meant to fall into one of three categories: (1) offering suggestions on improving society or government, (2) offering complaints or information about current events or affairs, or (3) requesting a legal appeal for a judicial case the petitioner believes was decided unfairly or unjustly. Once the box was opened each month, the petitions were copied out and circulated amongst the officials, inviting comment and political discussion. Domain officials are known to have also looked at petitions to the shogunate as part of their efforts to remain informed about goings-on in the broader realm, but also as part of practice or training in politics</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">From [[1759]] until [[1873]], a wooden box was located just outside [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]], in a small structure called </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''ôkoshikake''</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">where people </del>would <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sit while awaiting entrance </del>to the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">castle on official business</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The space was open </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">accessible to anyone</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">samurai, commoner, or peasant, though being right outside the castle</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">it was deep within the samurai district of the city</del>, and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Roberts points out </del>it would <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">have taken some courage for a commoner or peasant </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">make his way there to submit a petition. The box was a simple wooden box</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">with a slit </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the top where </del>petitions <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">could </del>be <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">dropped </del>in<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. Once a month</del>, the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chief inspector (''[[metsuke]]'') </del>of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">domain opened the box and delivered the petitions </del>to the lord<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. In theory, </del>the petitions <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">were meant to fall into one </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">three categories: (1) offering suggestions on improving society </del>or <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">government, (2) offering complaints or information about current events or affairs, or (3) requesting a legal appeal for a judicial case </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">petitioner believes was decided unfairly or unjustly</del>.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The earliest petitions included suggestions on how to improve </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">petition system. Many complained that petitions were not allowed to be anonymous</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">as anonymity </ins>would <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">have acted </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">protect </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">petitioner from government retribution</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Official policy stated that petitioners had to write their name </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">address</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">but while shogunate inspectors burned anonymous petitions unopened</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Tosa administrators did not</ins>, and it would <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">seem that, contrary </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">official policy</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">anonymous petitions were </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">fact kept and perhaps read and considered. Other early </ins>petitions <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">claimed that there should </ins>be <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">more boxes located </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">more parts of the domains</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">or that </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">security </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">message </ins>to the lord <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">was compromised by </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">fact that </ins>petitions <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">passed through the hands </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">inspectors </ins>or <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">other officials - inspectors and officials who might be corrupt - rather than the lord opening </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">box directly himself</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Though petitions were not anonymous, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">policy associated with </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">petition box protected </del>petitioners from <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">governmental retribution</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">thus enabling </del>petitioners to be much more open and honest than they would <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">be able to be </del>otherwise.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Though petitions were not anonymous, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''han'' government only visited any kind of retribution or punishment upon the petitioners in the rarest of cases; while many </ins>petitioners <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">nevertheless expressed their trepidation at signing their names, and insisted they had discussed their ideas with no one (thus both protecting their family </ins>from <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">reprisals, and assuring the lord that they were not fomenting dissension), and others in fact used pseudonyms or refused to sign, in the actual content of their complaints</ins>, petitioners <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">generally allowed themselves </ins>to be much more open and honest than they would <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">have done </ins>otherwise<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. People of nearly every region of the domain, and from many sections of society entered petitions, with the notable exceptions of women, children, and [[outcastes]]. Villagers often submitted petitions in aggregate, on behalf of the entire village, though some also entered petitions as individuals. Some independent Confucian scholars whose advice made a particular impression upon the lord were granted government positions as a result of their petitions</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While a number of these petitions survive, mostly in transcription (only two survive in the original manuscript form), the vast majority have been lost. The system does seem to have been used fairly extensively, however, at least in the early years. Nearly 150 petitions survive in transcribed form from the first twelve years of the box's operation, and a pre-war scholar noted that at that time there were thousands of petitions surviving in the archives.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While a number of these petitions survive, mostly in transcription (only two survive in the original manuscript form), the vast majority have been lost. The system does seem to have been used fairly extensively, however, at least in the early years. Nearly 150 petitions survive in transcribed form from the first twelve years of the box's operation, and a pre-war scholar noted that at that time there were thousands of petitions surviving in the archives.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==References==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==References==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Luke Roberts, ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 104-.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Luke Roberts, ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 104-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">133</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Edo Period]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Edo Period]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Political Institutions]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Political Institutions]]</div></td></tr>
</table>LordAmethhttps://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Petition_box&diff=28240&oldid=prevLordAmeth: i'll come back to finish this2014-07-23T00:24:53Z<p>i'll come back to finish this</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>*''Japanese'': 訴状箱 ''(sojoubako)'', 目安箱 ''(meyasubako)''<br />
<br />
The petition box was a process employed at various times and places, notably in [[Edo period]] [[Tosa han]], to allow members of society, regardless of their status, to have their comments and suggestions heard by the lord.<br />
<br />
==Historically==<br />
Some records indicate that a petition box system was instituted for a time in the 2nd century BCE in [[Han Dynasty]] China, where a local official sought to gather from the people accusations against corrupt officials. The first Imperial use of a petition box system in China might date to the reign of [[Empress Wu]], whose system, implemented in [[686]], continued into the [[Song Dynasty]].<br />
<br />
The ''[[Nihon shoki]]'' indicates that a Japanese emperor may have implemented a petition box system as early as [[646]]. [[Emperor Kotoku|Emperor Kôtoku's]] system, put into place in that year, did not last long, but various authorities made use of similar systems from time to time down through the medieval period. Among samurai warlords known to have employed petition boxes are [[Imagawa Yoshimoto]] and [[Takeda Shingen]].<br />
<br />
==In Tosa==<br />
A significant number of [[han|domains]], though still a minority, employed petition boxes in the Edo period. The case of Tosa han is the most well-known of these, at least in the English-language scholarship, as a result of the work of historian [[Luke Roberts]].<br />
<br />
From [[1759]] until [[1873]], a wooden box was located just outside [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]], in a small structure called the ''ôkoshikake'', where people would sit while awaiting entrance to the castle on official business. The space was open and accessible to anyone, samurai, commoner, or peasant, though being right outside the castle, it was deep within the samurai district of the city, and Roberts points out it would have taken some courage for a commoner or peasant to make his way there to submit a petition. The box was a simple wooden box, with a slit in the top where petitions could be dropped in. Once a month, the chief inspector (''[[metsuke]]'') of the domain opened the box and delivered the petitions to the lord. In theory, the petitions were meant to fall into one of three categories: (1) offering suggestions on improving society or government, (2) offering complaints or information about current events or affairs, or (3) requesting a legal appeal for a judicial case the petitioner believes was decided unfairly or unjustly.<br />
<br />
Though petitions were not anonymous, policy associated with the petition box protected petitioners from governmental retribution, thus enabling petitioners to be much more open and honest than they would be able to be otherwise.<br />
<br />
While a number of these petitions survive, mostly in transcription (only two survive in the original manuscript form), the vast majority have been lost. The system does seem to have been used fairly extensively, however, at least in the early years. Nearly 150 petitions survive in transcribed form from the first twelve years of the box's operation, and a pre-war scholar noted that at that time there were thousands of petitions surviving in the archives.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Luke Roberts, ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 104-.<br />
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[[Category:Edo Period]]<br />
[[Category:Political Institutions]]</div>LordAmeth