48

The Making of Modern Japan

ju . Ieyasu and Let us look more closely at the council of elders, the ro Hidetada retained as special advisers men who had served them in war and peace, but Iemitsu set about structuring an administration that would be loyal ju be responsible for all matto him personally. In 1634 he ordered that the ro ters relating to the imperial court. Ieyasu had installed a trusted vassal at Kyoto shidai, and the court in turn named in a post that became known as the sho a court noble (buke denso) to deal with the bakufu. ju were the bakufus most important ofcials. They were in charge of Ro foreign policy, and they were also responsible for relations with all but the largest daimyo. To them fell responsibility for major construction projects, stipends for samurai who had given up or wished to surrender their land, matters relating to the shogunal household, schedules for attendance at the shoguns capital, the reconstruction of castles, the retirement and succession ju were also of daimyo, and the creation of new domains. When necessary ro to organize daimyo to suppress rebellions. In short, all matters of national signicance were entrusted to them. A Junior Council, the Wakatoshiyori, was responsible for matters within the shogunal retainer band. The council was briey abolished between 1649 and 1662, but thereafter it dealt with matters of the sub-daimyo level. ju was restricted to fudai daimyo with Membership on the board of ro incomes rated between 30,000 and 100,000 koku. They would normally have had previous experience as superintendents of shrines and temples, masters of shogunal ceremony, and Kyoto or castle deputies. Thus the post was restricted to the highest-ranking and most trusted of the fudai daimyo. Study of the membership of the board throughout the period, however, shows that it drew on a very limited number of families; the same family names appear over and over again. It is relevant to this that, as Thomas Smith has written, merit appointment may have become a sore issue in the second half of the Tokugawa period partly because rank was a more severe bar to advancement than previously.14 ju worked as a committee and reported their decisions to the shoThe ro gun. They served on a monthly rotation system. Even when not on duty call, however, they were expected to be present at the castle each morning. The ju called on the shogun each morning to pay his respects. Under the duty ro ju a large staff of secretaries generated imposing volumes of paperwork that ro had to be reviewed. The ofce was honored with the grant of fourth (imperial) ju received gifts from fellow daimyo and ofcials at the end of court rank. Ro the year, from the Dutch when they came to Edo, and from all daimyo when they came to Edo on rotation duty. Lower ofcials were expected to sink ju , and even the heads of the three to their knees when they encountered ro