Edomachi-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 weresamurai officials of theTokugawa shogunate inEdo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usuallyhatamoto,^[2] this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were notdaimyōs.^[3] Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner", "overseer" or "governor."

During theEdo period, there were generally twohatamoto serving simultaneously as Edomachi-bugyō.^[4] There were two Edomachi-bugyō-sho within the jurisdictional limits of metropolitan Edo; and during the years from 1702 though 1719, there was also a third appointedmachi-bugyō.^[5]

The Edomachi-bugyō were the central public authorities in this significant urban center. These men werebakufu-appointed officials fulfilling a unique role. They were an amalgam of chief of police, judge, and mayor. Themachi-bugyō were expected to manage a full range of administrative and judicial responsibilities.^[6]

Eachmachi-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, themachi-bugyō were considered equal in status to the minordaimyōs. At any one time, there were as many as 16machi-bugyō located throughout Japan,^[6] and there were always two in Edo.

During this period, Edo ranked with the largest urban centers, some of which were designated as a "shogunal city". The number of such cities rose from three to eleven under Tokugawa administration.^[7]

In Edo, a special system was devised to mitigate the possibility of municipal corruption. Initially, there were threemachi-bugyō and then the number was reduced to one. The number ofmachi-bugyō was increased to two under Shōgun Iemitsu. Except for one brief period in the early 18th century, this bifurcated administration remained the consistent pattern until the shogunate was abolished in 1868.^[8] There were two chief officials with equal powers and responsibilities; and each would alternately take control for one month before relinquishing the office to their counterpart. These two officials were each based in a separate location at some distance from each other. A reorganization of city government which focused greater attention on the two separate locations for these officials dates from 1719.^[9]Kodenmachō(小伝馬町)

Edo's north magistrate was called theKita-machi-bugyō (北'町奉行,kita-machi-bugyō), so-called because his official residence was physically to the north of the official location of his counterpart, theminami-machi-bugyō.^[10]

Edo's south magistrate was called theMinami-machi-bugyō (南町奉行,minami-machi-bugyō), so called because his official residence was physically to the south of the official location of his counterpart, thekita-machi-bugyō.^[10] In 1707, the Tokugawa shogunate established theMinami-machi Bugyō-sho, the office of one of the magistrates of Edo, in this area of modernYūrakuchō.

• Ōoka Tadasuke, Ōoka Echizen-no-kami Tadasuke

Edo's third magistrate was called theHonjo-machi-bugyō (本所町奉行,honjo-machi-bugyō), who was responsible for the neighborhoods of Honjo and Fukagawa on the east bank of the Sumida River.^[10] A thirdmachi-bugyō was deemed necessary in the years between 1702 through 1719.^[2]

This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.

• Amano Saburobei Yasukage.^[11]
• Itakura Katsushige.^[11]
• Tōyama Kagemoto.^[12]
• Yoda Masatsugu (1753).^[13]
• Nanbu Toshimi (1753).^[13]

• Bugyō

• Beasley, William G. (1955).Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868. London: Oxford University Press; reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001.ISBN 978-0-19-713508-2 (cloth)]
• Cullen, Louis M. (2003).A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds.] Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-82155-X (cloth) --ISBN 0-521-52918-2 (paper)
• Cunningham, Don. (2004).Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai. Tokyo:Tuttle Publishing.ISBN 978-0-8048-3536-7 (cloth)
• Hall, John Whitney. (1955).Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge:Harvard University Press.OCLC 445621
• Jansen, Marius. (1995).Warrior Rule in Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780521482394;ISBN 9780521484046;OCLC 31515317
• Naito, Akira, Kazuo Hozumi, and H. Mack Horto. (2003).Edo: the City that Became Tokyo. Tokyo:Kodansha.ISBN 4-7700-2757-5
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 58053128
• Screech, Timon. (2006).Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London:RoutledgeCurzon.ISBN 978-0-203-09985-8;OCLC 65177072

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• Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate

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