1.
alternate attendance, sankin-kōtai
A system during the Edo period (1603–1868) that required feudal lords (daimyō) to alternate their residence between their home domains and Edo (present-day Tokyo). This compelled lords to spend roughly every other year in Edo, keeping their families there as de facto hostages, which served to maintain the shogunate's control.
参勤交代は江戸時代の制度だ。
Sankin-kōtai was a system of the Edo period.
大名は参勤交代で江戸と領地を行き来した。
The feudal lords traveled back and forth between Edo and their domains under the alternate attendance system.
参勤交代の費用は藩の財政を圧迫し、幕府への反乱を防ぐ役割を果たした。
The cost of alternate attendance strained the domains' finances, serving to prevent rebellions against the shogunate.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
Formalized by the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, in 1635. The system required 大名 to maintain residences in both their home 藩 and in 江戸, and to travel between them on a fixed schedule. The enormous expense of maintaining two households and funding the elaborate processions (大名行列) depleted the lords' wealth, making it difficult for them to fund military challenges to the shogunate. The system also contributed to the development of roads and post towns across Japan.
KEY TERMS:
- 大名: feudal lord
- 藩: feudal domain
- 幕府: shogunate
- 大名行列: daimyō procession