Daikan
- Japanese: 代官 (daikan)
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate appointed officials to oversee and administer areas of shogunate land, or tenryô; this post, which we might translate as "governor," "magistrate," or "district administrator," was called daikan in Japanese. They were overseen by the Bureau of Finance (kanjôsho).[1]
A daikan typically administered an area worth 50,000 to 100,000 koku, and maintained residences both in Edo and in the territory to which he was assigned. Within that territory, he was responsible for overseeing a range of government functions, including infrastructure projects, tax collection, and judicial matters.
Some domains also appointed officials called daikan to oversee portions of their territory. The Satsuma han official in charge of overseeing matters on Amami Ôshima was known by this title.[2]
References
- Craig, Teruko (trans.). Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p159n2.
- ↑ Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), Escape from Impasse, International House of Japan (2006), xxix.
- ↑ Explanatory plaques on-site at Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.
