ABSTRACT

The long-lasting stability did not come by accident. It was a result of the deliberate policies adopted by the Tokugawa bakufu when it formally took power in 1603. Tokugawa leyasu improved on Hideyoshi's policy of indirect rule through the familiar daimyo system, by establishing three major categories of daimyo. There were the shim pan which consisted of collateral descendants of the Tokugawa shogun, the fudai which were comprised of descendants of those loyal to Tokugawa leyasu before the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and the tozama or outer daimyo who were enemies or allies of Tokugawa leyasu at the time of the battle of Sekigahara and became Tokugawa vassals only after the battle. In the assignment of domains, care was taken to reward the Tokugawa vassals and allies, and to ensure loyalty of the tozama. The bakuju possessed the power of reassigning domains or confiscating them. An effective system of surveillance was maintained through the metsuke (inspectors). Daimyo families were not allowed to contract marriages without approval from the bakuju, and major daimyo families were bound to the Tokugawa through marriages. A system of leaving hostages in Edo became compulsory in 1634, and the following year the system of alternate attendance (sankin kotaO became institutionalized (Document 1 through 3).