In the Tokugawa era (around A.D. 17c.-the first half of A.D. 19c), there existed a class of Japanese warriers called ‘Hatamoto, ’ which was under the immediate control of the Shogunate as its vassal group. Although they were given smaller fieves than the Daimyos, the Hatamotos, employed as the Shogunate bureaucracy, held an important position in its caste. But their fieves, found most in the Kanto districts and secondly in the Tokai and Kinki districts, were generally of very small size. Moreover, it frequently happened that a village was ruled over by more than two rulers, so that sometimes the fieves got tangled each other in one village.
In this study I made it clear, by means of various historical materials, how the Hatamotos' fieves were distributed in five provinces generically named ‘Kinai’-Settsu, Kawachi, Izumi, Yamato and Yamashiro-which cover the present Osaka and Nara Prefecture, and a part of Hyogo and Kyoto Prefecture. I also studied why the Hatamotos were given their fieves in these districts, and classified the Hatamotos whose fieves were in Kinai into the following four types:
1) Some were vassals of the Toyotomi family, the virtual ruler of Japan before the Tokugawa Shogunate. They had their fieves near Osaka, which was the stronghold of the Toyotomi family. After the fall of the family they served the Shogunate as Hatamotos and were permitted to have their fieves as they had been.
2) Before the 17th century some proceeded to their posts as local government officials of the main cities in such districts as Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Sakai and so forth, and obtained fieves near their posts. But after the 18th century any instances of this kind were not observed.
3) Some relatives of the Daimyos who had their castles in Kinai became Hatamotos, given some parts of the Daimyos' fieves.
4) Some others were not Samurais but doctors, scholars, artists and the like living in Kyoto. Having those special occupations by inheritance, they got the position of ‘Hatamoto.’
Thus these four types characterize Hatamotos of the Kinai districts, but it seems that the case is different with the Kanto districts (centering around Edo-now Tokyo).
Comparing the fieves in Kinai with those in Kanto, we will notice another distinct feature; in Kinai the rule by the same family over each of their fieves lasted relatively longer than in Kanto. The reign of the Hatamotos in the Kanto districts became nominal gradually, whereas the Hatamotos in Kinki, who established their mansions in their fieves as a center of their government, maintained their prestige as rulers.
