Taiho-Jutsu. Don Cunningham

tai system was initiated by the first Tokugawa sh

gun. This obligation later became mandatory under the Buke Sho-hatto⁹ issued by the third sh

gun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. In addition to requiring alternate attendance for major landowners and territorial leaders, the Tokugawa sh

gun further required certain high-ranking daimy

to permanently reside in Edo. These included the heads of the three main Tokugawa families¹⁰ and other close relatives¹¹ as well as daimy

appointed to various important government posts. Obligated to reside within the new capital city of Edo, these upper-class society members also required a large population of direct retainers as well as general laborers and craftsmen to support their lifestyle and to serve their everyday needs.

      Edo quickly gained many new samurai-class residents—retainers of the various daimy

required to live within Edo as well as hatamoto (banner men) and gokenin (household retainers), direct retainers of the sh

gun. The hatamoto appointed to government offices and other officials who could afford to maintain an upper-class lifestyle built estates in the yaman

-te, the remaining hills to the north and west of the castle. The majority of the middle- and lower-ranking hatamoto did not receive any specific civil service appointments in the Tokugawa sh

gunate after the battle of Sekigahara. Unemployed hatamoto¹² and gokenin were often forced to subsist on small annual stipends granted by the government. The minimum salaries provided were so small that many hatamoto often suffered serious financial struggles. With stipends that did not provide enough money to maintain a household, they were often forced to borrow money or seek other employment.

      

      The once small castle town had to feed and house a surprisingly large population of commoners as well. Laborers and craftsmen flocked from all over Japan to build the new center of government and Japanese society. Recognizing the potential profit to be made providing material goods required by the growing population, merchants also rushed to open Edo-based branches of their provincial stores. As their respective businesses prospered, an ever-increasing retinue of clerks and apprentices was needed to staff the stores and meet the increasing demands of the new urban residents.

      

      The swelling ranks of laborers and craftsmen that flocked to Edo lived in tenements called naga-ya (long houses) and tiny row houses built throughout the low-lying area near the shore on land mostly reclaimed from shallow tidal flats and marshes when the hills around the castle were leveled. Roughly two-thirds of Edo’s population lived and worked in the hundreds of neighborhoods separated by the network of rivers and canals flowing through this area known as shita-machi (lower town). Because the craftsmen and merchants were located in this area, it also became the key commercial district and an important center for the city’s burgeoning economy.

Community centers of Edo

      Each of the za (wards) in the city was largely a self-contained community, organized with its own local leaders along the same lines as the rural villages. The nomin (farmers) in rural villages were governed by a system of local leadership and collective responsibility called the gonin-gumi (five-person group). Each group of five families selected one kumigashira, a formal headman. The kumigashira in turn reported to a group of local leaders called the toshiyori (village notables or elders). The toshiyori were usually members of locally prominent families called shya. Finally, the leader of the toshiyori, referred to as the nanushi (village headman), reported to the gundai, or local military government representative.

      Under the gonin-gumi system in the city of Edo, households were arranged in groups of five, each responsible for checking and reporting on the others. One household leader was selected as responsible for the group and reported to the machi-doshiyori (town elders). Although these ward officials were not members of the buke (military class), their senior positions were often hereditary. The machi-doshiyori in turn reported to the machi-bugy (town magistrate).

      Unlike the nomin, who were specifically restricted to their mura (village) or their allotted farmlands, chnin, or city dwellers, were allowed much more personal freedom for travel and even in their choice of residence. Although considered at the bottom rung of society, many merchants were often able to purchase respect from the upper classes with their newly found wealth and to live reasonably well. For the most part, though, the vast number of ch

nin dwelled in relatively cramped and overcrowded conditions.

      

      Wards were divided into small blocks called machi (town) or ch (city-block-size area). The ch

were further subdivided into about a dozen ban (blocks) usually consisting of an area of two streets or larger surrounded by either natural barriers, such as a river or canal, or large walls and fences with a single community gate. Most ban included five to ten naga-ya, long two-story buildings with up to hundred individual apartments. The naga-ya were typically built around a central square with a freshwater well at one end and a public toilet at the other. With families of seven or eight often packed into a single room, the naga-ya were most often used only for sleeping, with all everyday tasks performed outside.

      

      

      In the mornings, the local residents would wash their faces and brush their teeth at the central well. During the day, the women would gather there to wash rice and vegetables, prepare fish, and wash clothes. In the evenings, people gathered in the small squares, sitting on thin straw mats and gossiping with their neighbors. To prevent the spread of disease as well as to maintain security from roving bands of troublemakers, the gates to each local neighborhood were tightly sealed at night. Local citizens took turns as neighborhood watchmen, closing the community gates and maintaining guard at night over their respective areas.

      Most of the neighborhoods were named after the nearest hashi (bridge) linking the intricate system of rivers and canals. Thus, such areas became known as Edo-bashi, Take-bashi, Asakusa-bashi, and so on.¹³ The bridges usually had a wide square at either end that served as both a marketplace and meeting area for the local residents.

      These busy squares often included clusters of chaya (teahouses), small restaurants, and portable food stalls selling refreshments and snacks. Because the climate made it difficult to store food (other than pickled vegetables or dried grains such as rice) and the housing tended to be rather small and cramped with limited cooking space available, most Edo residents ate many of their meals at such establishments. The variety of food and entertainment available in these small businesses depended on the location and their clientele.