Changes

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>

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> Further, the lord of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]], and about thirty rather small ''daimyô'' houses, 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/>

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> 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> Such entourages typically moved about ten ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' a day,<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi, ''Sankin kôtai'', Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 110.</ref> often 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. 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.

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> Such entourages typically moved about ten ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' a day,<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi, ''Sankin kôtai'', Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 110.</ref> often 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. 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.