Edo machi-bugyō
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Edo machi-bugyō (江戸町奉行) were magistrates or municipal administrators with responsibility for governing and maintaining order in the shogunal city of Edo.[1] Machi-bugyō were samurai officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually hatamoto,[2] this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyōs.[3] Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner", "overseer" or "governor."
During the Edo period, there were generally two hatamoto serving simultaneously as Edo machi-bugyō.[4] There were two Edo machi-bugyō-sho within the jurisdictional limits of metropolitan Edo; and during the years from 1702 though 1719, there was also a third appointed machi-bugyō.[5]
The Edo machi-bugyō were the central public authorities in this significant urban center. These men were bakufu-appointed officials fulfilling a unique role. They were an amalgam of chief of police, judge, and mayor. The machi-bugyō were expected to manage a full range of administrative and judicial responsibilities.[6]
Each machi-bugyō was involved in tax collection, policing, and firefighting; and at the same time, each played a number of judicial roles—hearing and deciding both ordinary civil cases and criminal cases.[6]
In this period, the machi-bugyō were considered equal in status to the minor daimyōs. At any one time, there were as many as 16 machi-bugyō located throughout Japan,[6] and there were always two in Edo.