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''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.
''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.
The wives of ''daimyô'' were obliged to remain resident in Edo, as political hostages, while the heirs to the domains, as well as retired former lords, were obliged to travel between Edo and the home domain, alternating with the lord.<ref name=ueno92>Ueno Takafumi, ''Satsuma han no sankin kôtai'' (2007), 92.</ref>
[[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]]]]
==Precedents==
The ''sankin kôtai'' system can be linked to a number of precedents in earlier periods, including in the relationships between ''[[gokenin]]'' ("housemen") and the [[Kamakura shogunate]], and between ''[[shugo|shugo daimyô]]'' and the [[Muromachi shogunate]]. Systems practiced in a number of [[Sengoku period]] domains provide an even stronger example, closer to the Edo period practice both chronologically, and logistically. In many regions in the Sengoku period, it was not unusual for retainers, granted a small sub-fief by their lords, to be required to appear before the lord at New Year's, or on other regular occasions, to demonstrate their obedience; of course, Sengoku retainers were also obliged to provide warriors, arms, horses, and/or other equipment to their lord's armies. The practice of keeping ''daimyô's'' wives and heirs hostage in Edo also grew out of Sengoku era practices regarding [[hostages]]. Yet, no such system was ever implemented in earlier periods as widely, and as systematically, as under the Tokugawa shogunate.<ref name=honjin49>Watanabe Kazutoshi 渡辺和敏, "Sankin kôtai to honjin" 参勤交代と本陣, ''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'' 本陣に泊まった大名たち, Toyohashi, Aichi: Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan (1996), 49-50.</ref>
Some scholars identify the first performances of ''sankin'' under the Tokugawa as a series of meetings in the earliest years of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] hegemony between Ieyasu and certain prominent ''tozama daimyô''. As [[Maeda Toshiie]] and others were received in audience by Ieyasu and formally bowed before him and declared their submission to his authority, they were performing "''sankin''": coming to their lord's castle and sitting in attendance, or in service, to their lord, the shogun. The lords of the [[Tohoku|northern]], [[Chugoku region|central]], and [[Saikoku region|western]] regions were obliged to journey to [[Sunpu]] and Edo in [[1609]], and to declare their submission and loyalty. Many of these ''daimyô'' had been loyal to the [[Toyotomi clan]], or still were, and had not been directly defeated in battle by the Tokugawa; thus, obliging them to formally declare their submission and loyalty was an important step towards securing Tokugawa hegemony. Building upon the ceremonial and socio-political / ideological (i.e. feudal) precedents of the preceding age, such audiences set the model, to some extent, for the form, and meaning, of ''sankin kôtai'' audiences going forward.<ref name=honjin49/> The [[Shimazu clan]] were the first to propose having the lords' wives remain in Edo as "hostages," a practice which was later made standard and obligatory by the shogunate.<ref name=ueno92/>
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.
==Implementation & Logistics==
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. At some point after that, it became standard for the heir to simply be raised in Edo, and not to travel to the home domain (''kunimoto'') until he succeeded his father and became ''daimyô''; this further served the Tokugawa purposes of weakening ''daimyô'' ties to their power bases, as it meant that most ''daimyô'', having been raised in Edo, had little familiarity with their domain and its people. The first entry of a new ''daimyô'' into the domain, an event known as ''okuni iri'', was thus heightened in significance, and was often accompanied by great celebrations, and commemorated in paintings or other works.<ref>''Edo-zu byôbu to gyôretsu'', exhibition pamphlet, National Museum of Japanese History, August 2014.</ref> 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'' of the [[Kanto|Kantô]] region had to make their ''sankin'' journeys every six months; seven clans spent the 2nd month through the 8th month in the city, and another seven clans spent the 8th month through the 12th month there. Other ''fudai daimyô'' arrived in Edo in the 6th month, while ''tozama daimyô'' generally arrived in the 4th month.<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi 宮本常一, ''Nihon no shuku'' 日本の宿, Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1965), 165.; Miyamoto, ''Daimyô no tabi'', Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1968), 57.; Ogawa Kyôichi 小川恭一, ''Shogun omemie sahô'' 将軍お目見え作法, ''Tokyojin'' 東京人 (1995/1), 78.</ref>
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 [[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> For much of the Edo period, the lords of Tsushima were obliged to travel to Edo only once every three years; those of [[Matsumae han]] in [[Ezo]] only once every six years.<ref>Gallery labels, Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/45389881465/in/photostream/]</ref> Further, about thirty ''daimyô'', including the lord of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]] and the members of the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', were of a status known as ''jôfu'' (定府), and were primarily based in Edo, not spending any considerable amount of time in their domains.<ref>Ogawa, 78.</ref> ''Daimyô'' could also request, and be granted, exceptions from ''sankin kôtai'' on a one-time basis, when the lord was ill or the Edo mansion had burned down, or when the domain was fulfilling its obligations to the shogunate through corvée contributions to public works that year.<ref name=nagairei/>
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]]. The Tôkaidô saw 146 ''sankin kôtai'' groups every year, in addition to Imperial envoys, shogunal officials, and others.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 174. Meanwhile, the Mutsu Highway (''Mutsu Dôchû'') saw 37 ''sankin kôtai'' groups each year, the [[Nakasendo|Nakasendô]] 30, the Mito Dôchû 23, the Nikkô Dôchû four, and the [[Koshu Kaido|Kôshû Kaidô]] three. Miyamoto, ''Daimyô no tabi'', 57.</ref> The routes to be taken by ''daimyô'' and other elites were predetermined by the shogunate, and it was illegal for such official entourages to travel by other routes without authorization.<ref>Gallery labels, Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/31363646157/in/photostream/].</ref> Such entourages typically moved about ten ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' a day,<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi, ''Sankin kôtai'', Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 110.</ref> setting out around 7 or 6 ''[[Telling Time|koku]]'' (before or around dawn),<ref name=kusatsu37>''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> and passing through several post-stations where they stopped for lunch, tea, or short breaks, as they made their way to the station where they would spend the night. Many entourages stopped for "lunch" or a rest both before and after noon, having begun their travels so early in the morning each day.<ref name=kusatsu37/> Special elite lodgings known as ''[[honjin]]'' and ''waki-honjin'', employed chiefly by ''daimyô'' traveling on ''sankin kôtai'', and by others of similar status, quickly became standard sights in most post-towns after the 1642 expansion of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations.<ref name=honjin53>Watanabe, 53.</ref> [[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.
''Daimyô'' quickly came to establish regular schedules of reservations with particular ''honjin'', which knew to expect them on or around particular dates every year, and knew to prepare a reception in a particular fashion, with the ''daimyô'' paying a set amount of money in gratitude; by making this a regular, established, pattern, it helped avoid difficulties which might emerge from attempting to negotiate and re-negotiate dates, accommodations, and/or payment.<ref name=honjin53/> A larger ''honjin'' might provide lodgings for the ''daimyô'' and as many as sixty of his more esteemed retainers, while additional members of a samurai entourage (or [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] or [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean embassy]]) would stay at ''waki-honjin'', ''[[hatagoya]]'' (regular inns, also patronized by individual travelers), private homes, Buddhist temples, and/or Shinto shrines.<ref name=honjin53/> ''Honjin'' generally charged rates they themselves considered quite low, depending on supplemental payments of "''reikin''," or "gratitude money" - essentially, tips - and/or by gifts of special products from the ''daimyô's'' home province. However, for ''daimyô'' struggling with financial difficulties, these additional costs - paid to every ''honjin'' along the journey - could be quite a burden. From the mid-Edo period onwards, many ''daimyô'' began skipping mid-day rests at ''honjin'' along their travel routes, and stopping for food, tea, or a rest at roadside teashops and the like instead, in an effort to save money.<ref name=honjin54>Watanabe, 54.</ref>
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.
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>
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> ''Daimyô'' who did not maintain their own ships were typically provided ships by other ''daimyô'', at the orders of the shogun; this was particularly the case for the river journey up the Yodo River.<ref>Ronald Toby ロナルド・トビ, ''"Sakoku" toiu gaikô'' 「鎖国」という外交, Tokyo: Shogakukan (2008), 233.</ref>
When ''daimyô'' passed through the territory of another lord, the latter typically provided warriors to serve as a guard, or escort, through the territory.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 174.</ref> They also often dispatched a retainer or other official (or traveled himself, depending on the rank and identity of the visiting ''daimyô'') to formally meet with the traveling ''daimyô'', extend greetings, and offer gifts; the traveling ''daimyô'' would then send a formal response in return, often also accompanied by gifts.<ref>Noda Hiroko 野田浩子, “Oitoma kara sankin made no ichi-nen” 御暇から参勤までの一年, in Asao Naohiro 朝尾直弘 (ed.), ''Fudai daimyô Ii ke no girei'' 譜代大名井伊家の儀礼, Hikone Castle Museum (2004), 149.</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. For example, a set of regulations issued in [[1711]] limited the largest domains to no more than four hundred and a few tens of men, plus another 15-20 mounted warriors. ''Daimyô'' with territories assessed at 100-200,000 ''koku'' were to have roughly half that number (200-something men, plus ten mounted warriors). Those between 50-100,000 ''koku'' might have around 160 men, plus roughly seven mounted warriors. And finally, the smallest domains were to have entourages numbering around fifty, with only three or four mounted warriors among them.<ref name=honjin53/>
The actual numbers often far exceeded these regulations, but also varied widely from domain to domain, and across the period, with [[Satsuma han]], for example, bringing an entourage of over 1,200 men to Edo in [[1635]], but only around 500-600 on many other occasions. [[Kaga han]] occasionally brought as many as 2,500 men to Edo. These numbers, however, represent only the people brought along from the home province, and do not include the many porters and laborers typically hired to carry luggage and otherwise accompany the samurai entourage along the road.<ref name=honjin53/> For ''daimyô'' with the largest territories (over 200,000 ''koku''), this core group of retainers generally included 15-20 retainers on horseback, 120-130 ''[[ashigaru]]'', and 250-300 ''[[chugen|chûgen]]'' (low-ranking figures between [[samurai]] and commoner status). ''Daimyô'' with a fief between 100,000 and 200,000 ''koku'' might be accompanied by ten mounted retainers, 80 ''ashigaru'', and 140-150 ''chûgen''. For those above 50,000 ''koku'', perhaps seven mounted officials, 60 ''ashigaru'', and 100 ''chûgen''. And for the lowest-ranking ''daimyô'', three mounted officials, twenty ''ashigaru'', and thirty ''chûgen''.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 168.</ref>
Though still one of the largest domains, and thus something of an exception, [[Tosa han]] has been oft-discussed as an example of the size and extent of the undertaking of ''sankin kôtai'' journeys. Tosa generally moved 1,500 to 3,000 people and their baggage each year between the home province and Edo, a 500 mile journey over mountains, seas, and highway. In 1697, over 2,800 people accompanied the lord.<ref>These numbers include footsoldiers (''ashigaru''), menial attendants, and others, and only a small portion of mounted samurai. Constantine Vaporis, Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo, and the Culture of Early Modern Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008), 74.</ref> Three years earlier, while the lord was resident in Edo, there were over 4,550 other Tosa people resident there with him. The domain had to pay porters, innkeepers, shippers, and food suppliers for the journey, and then also suppliers of food and other necessities (and luxuries) to this large Tosa population in the capital, as well as carpenters and artisans to service the [[Tosa Edo mansion|domain mansion]]. In 1688, Tosa's total domain budget was 3,953 ''[[currency|kan]]'', of which 300 paid for the ''sankin kôtai'' journey, 1,422 paid for expenses related to the mansion in Edo, and 1,042 went to paying off loans from Osaka and Edo merchants. [[Wakayama han]], the domain of the [[Kishu Tokugawa clan|Kishû Tokugawa clan]], to give another example, had a total annual revenue of 30-40,000 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' in [[1831]], when it spent 12,930 ''ryô'' on the lord's journey to Edo.<ref name=honjin53/> In total, domains typically spent between 40% and 70% of their annual budgets on costs related to ''sankin kôtai''.<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 18.</ref>
In addition to simply being resident in Edo for a certain period of time, the performance of ''sankin kôtai'' involved formal audiences with the shogun, in which the ''daimyô'' would officially present himself to the shogun, as performance of military duty, in observance of feudal fealty to his lord. During a ''daimyô's'' time in [[Edo castle]], only the ''daimyô'' himself and a certain number of higher-ranking retainers would actually enter the castle; the remainder of his retinue, some considerable number of middle- and low-ranking samurai, would remain outside the castle, sitting around on the ground, eating, drinking, chatting, sleeping, etc. Both when arriving in Edo, and when departing, the clan would send a formal request to the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' some six months ahead of time; the response would declare when they would be expected at the castle for formal audiences.<ref name=nagairei/> Once actually arriving in the city, a message would be sent to announce their arrival, and either a member of the ''rôjû'', or for lower-ranking ''daimyô'' a ''[[soshaban|sôshaban]]'', would come to the lord's mansion and deliver orders to venture up to the castle at a specific day and time to be received by the shogun; high-ranking ''daimyô'' would be received individually, while lower-ranking lords were received only in groups.<ref>Yamamoto, 184-187.</ref>
When a ''daimyô'' departed Edo at the end of his year of attendance, if at that time he did not have a formally designated heir, he submitted a document known as a ''kari yôshi negaigaki'' (仮養子願書). This "temporary heir request" named someone to serve as the ''daimyô's'' heir should he die on the return journey to his domain, or during the intervening year while home in his domain, before returning once again to Edo.<ref>Noda Hiroko 野田浩子, "O-itoma kara sankin made no ichi nen" 御暇から参勤までの一年, in Asao Naohiro 朝尾直弘 (ed.), ''Fudai daimyô Ii ke no girei'' 譜代大名井伊家の儀礼, Hikone Castle Museum (2004), 148.</ref>
The ''sankin kôtai'' system came gradually to an end in the [[Bakumatsu period]]. Obligations were relaxed in [[1862]], leading to many ''daimyô'' abandoning their Edo mansions, or at least severely reducing the number of retainers they had stationed there. By some estimates, as many as 360,000 people left Edo in the 1860s to return to their home domains, representing too a severe decline in commercial demand for goods and services, and thus having a dramatic impact on the city's economy as well.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 39.</ref>
==Bakumatsu==
The ''sankin kôtai'' system came gradually to an end in the [[Bakumatsu period]]. Obligations were relaxed in [[1862]], allowing ''daimyô'' to come to Edo only once every three years (instead of every other year), allowing those of ''[[Edo_castle#Omote|tamari-no-ma-zume]]'' rank or equivalent to stay in the city only 100 days (instead of closer to a full year), and allowing them to send their wives and heirs back to their home provinces (rather than having them be hostages in Edo).<ref name=honjin54/> This led to many ''daimyô'' abandoning their Edo mansions, or at least severely reducing the number of retainers they had stationed there. By some estimates, as many as 360,000 people left Edo in the 1860s to return to their home domains, representing too a severe decline in commercial demand for goods and services, and thus having a dramatic impact on the city's economy as well.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 39.</ref>
As [[Choshu han|Chôshû]] and other domains grew increasingly defiant against Tokugawa rule, the shogunate attempted in [[1864]] to reverse this relaxation of the obligations, and to restore the ''sankin kôtai'' system to its fuller strength. However, many ''daimyô'' refused to return to such a system, and offered a variety of excuses, as they began to request, year after year, exemption or deferral on traveling to Edo.<ref name=honjin54/> [[Shimazu Tadayoshi]], the final lord of Satsuma han, citing illness or foot injuries and the need to soak in medicinal hot springs in his native Kagoshima, was one of a number of ''daimyô'' who thus never performed ''sankin kôtai'' at all, for the length of his rule.<ref>Marco Tinello, "The termination of the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo : an investigation of the bakumatsu period through the lens of a tripartite power relationship and its world," PhD thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (2014), 377.</ref>
==References==
==References==
