Changes

Under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'', ''[[hatamoto]]'', other retainers, and others in service to the shogunate<ref>Including [[court painters]], [[Noh]] performers, priests and monks of certain temples and shrines, and artisans & merchants who were official providers of goods to the shogunate.</ref> were obliged to appear at [[Edo castle]] to pay obeisances, and/or to offer gifts, on certain occasions of every year.

Under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'', ''[[hatamoto]]'', other retainers, and others in service to the shogunate<ref>Including [[court painters]], [[Noh]] performers, priests and monks of certain temples and shrines, and artisans & merchants who were official providers of goods to the shogunate.</ref> were obliged to appear at [[Edo castle]] to pay obeisances, and/or to offer gifts, on certain occasions of every year.

These included the New Year, five occasions (''[[gosekku]]'') marking the turn of seasons, and a number of days marking events related to [[Tokugawa clan]] history. The shogun also held audiences with certain categories or individuals on the 1st, 15th, and 28th days of each month.<ref>At some point in the early 19th century, this third monthly audience, held on the 28th, was reduced from taking place every month, to instead taking place only in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 12th months of the year. Asao Naohiro (ed.), ''Fudai daimyô Ii ke no girei'', Hikone Castle Museum (2004), 57.</ref>

These included the New Year, five occasions (''[[gosekku]]'') marking the turn of seasons, and a number of days marking events related to [[Tokugawa clan]] history. The shogun also held audiences with certain categories of individuals on the 1st, 15th, and 28th days of each month.<ref>At some point in the early 19th century, this third monthly audience, held on the 28th, was reduced from taking place every month, to instead taking place only in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 12th months of the year. Asao Naohiro (ed.), ''Fudai daimyô Ii ke no girei'', Hikone Castle Museum (2004), 57.</ref>

Annual ritual events in which the shogun himself participated also included visits to the shogunal mausolea at [[Zojo-ji|Zôjô-ji]], [[Kan'ei-ji]], and [[Momijiyama]], on the anniversaries of the deaths of his predecessors.<ref name=asao59>Asao, 59.</ref>

Annual ritual events in which the shogun himself participated also included visits to the shogunal mausolea at [[Zojo-ji|Zôjô-ji]], [[Kan'ei-ji]], and [[Momijiyama]], on the anniversaries of the deaths of his predecessors.<ref name=asao59>Asao, 59. In the late Edo period, shoguns visited such sites quite frequently; as many as ten days every month might involved trips to one of these mortuary sites. And each trip required considerable purification practices, including periods of sexual abstinence. Walthall, 334.</ref>

==New Year==

==New Year==

New Year's observances at [[Edo castle]] included the [[shogun]]'s reception of ''daimyô'' and other retainers, among others, on the first three days of the new year. All ''daimyô'' resident in [[Edo]] at the time were obliged to appear at the castle on each of these first three days. These practices were first put into place by [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were continued by his successor, becoming standard practice by the time of Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]] (r. [[1716]]-[[1751]]).<ref>Walthall, 353n13.</ref>

New Year's observances at [[Edo castle]] included the [[shogun]]'s reception of ''daimyô'' and other retainers, among others, on the first three days of the new year. All ''daimyô'' resident in [[Edo]] at the time were obliged to appear at the castle on each of these first three days. These practices were first put into place by [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were continued by his successor, becoming standard practice by the time of Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]] (r. [[1716]]-[[1751]]).<ref>Walthall, 353n13.</ref>

While most ''daimyô'' and officials received seasonal clothing and other bestowals in the audience hall immediately after the audience ceremony (after the shogun withdrew from the hall), the lord of the [[Kitsuregawa clan]], among others, received these things afterward in the ''tsugi-no-ma''. A number of ''[[renga]]'' poets, physicians, and others lacking any official rank or title shared a ceremonial cup of saké with the shogun in the Great Hall (''Ôrôka'').<ref name=edojo/>

While most ''daimyô'' and officials received seasonal clothing and other bestowals in the audience hall immediately after the audience ceremony (after the shogun withdrew from the hall), the lord of the [[Kitsuregawa clan]], among others, received these things afterward in the ''tsugi-no-ma''. A number of ''[[renga]]'' poets, physicians, and others lacking any official rank or title shared a ceremonial cup of saké with the shogun in the Great Hall (''Ôrôka'').<ref name=edojo/>

The first Noh performance of the year generally took place on the third day of the year, after which the performers received new robes, as formal gifts, on behalf of the shogun. The third day of the month also included audiences with prominent merchant officials from Edo, [[Kyoto]], [[Nara]], [[Fushimi]] and [[Osaka]], as well as elders from some of the chief cities and ''fudai'' [[han|domains]].

 

The first Noh performance of the year generally took place on the third day of the year. The shogun and his heir sat in the center of the middle level of the ''Ôhiroma'', alongside roughly eight ''daimyô'', facing south. The Noh stage was visible through the lower level of the ''Ôhiroma'', directly to the south across the garden. After the performance, there was a ceremonial sharing of cups of saké, and then the performers received new robes, as formal gifts, on behalf of the shogun. The third day of the month also included audiences with prominent merchant officials from Edo, [[Kyoto]], [[Nara]], [[Fushimi]] and [[Osaka]], as well as elders from some of the chief cities and ''fudai'' [[han|domains]].

Lower-ranking samurai retainers who would not normally be entitled to a shogunal audience were permitted to prostrate themselves and offer New Year's greetings on the sixth day of the new year; the abbot of [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] in [[Nikko|Nikkô]] enjoyed a private face-to-face meeting with the shogun on the first day of the second month each year.

Lower-ranking samurai retainers who would not normally be entitled to a shogunal audience were permitted to prostrate themselves and offer New Year's greetings on the sixth day of the new year; the abbot of [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] in [[Nikko|Nikkô]] enjoyed a private face-to-face meeting with the shogun on the first day of the second month each year.

Festival days specifically associated with commemorating or celebrating events related to the shogunate included:

Festival days specifically associated with commemorating or celebrating events related to the shogunate included:

*''Kashô'' 嘉祥, celebrated on 6/16. A celebration of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] victory in the [[1573]] [[battle of Mikatagahara]]. After the battle, his retainer Ôkubo Fujigorô supposedly gifted Ieyasu with an amount of sweets, as a gift in celebration of the victory; Ieyasu then distributed the sweets among some number of his other retainers, and in commemoration or reenactment of this event, every year on ''kashô'', the shogun would receive retainers in audience in the Ôhiroma (Grand Audience Hall) of [[Edo castle]], and would distribute sixteen types of sweets, including ''[[manju]]'' and ''[[yokan|yôkan]]'', to his retainers.<ref name=edojo>''Edojô'' 江戸城, Tokyo: Gakushu Kenkyusha (1995), 120.</ref>  

*''Kashô'' 嘉祥, celebrated on 6/16. A celebration of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] victory in the [[1573]] [[battle of Mikatagahara]]. After the battle, his retainer Ôkubo Fujigorô supposedly gifted Ieyasu with an amount of sweets, as a gift in celebration of the victory; Ieyasu then distributed the sweets among some number of his other retainers, and in commemoration or reenactment of this event, every year on ''kashô'', the shogun would receive retainers in audience in the Ôhiroma (Grand Audience Hall) of [[Edo castle]], and would distribute sixteen types of sweets, including ''[[manju]]'' and ''[[yokan|yôkan]]'', to his retainers.<ref name=edojo/>  

*''[[Hassaku]]'' 八朔, celebrated on 8/1. This date was a harvest festival traditionally, but in the Tokugawa period was simultaneously observed as a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu's first victorious entry into [[Edo]] in [[1590]].<ref name=edojo/> A celebration of the autumn harvest, and of the first fruits of the agricultural year, ''hassaku'' was also a traditional occasion for samurai (as well as Imperial Court nobles, and others) to give gifts to their lords or superiors, as a show of gratitude for their favor. This was one of two annual festivals during which ''daimyô'' presented swords, as a show of fealty, to the shogun.

*''[[Hassaku]]'' 八朔, celebrated on 8/1. This date was a harvest festival traditionally, but in the Tokugawa period was simultaneously observed as a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu's first victorious entry into [[Edo]] in [[1590]].<ref name=edojo/> A celebration of the autumn harvest, and of the first fruits of the agricultural year, ''hassaku'' was also a traditional occasion for samurai (as well as Imperial Court nobles, and others) to give gifts to their lords or superiors, as a show of gratitude for their favor. This was one of two annual festivals during which ''daimyô'' presented swords, as a show of fealty, to the shogun.