The Choshu War and Bakufu-Estate in Bittchu Province

Abstract

Although bakuryo (estates directly controlled by Bakufu) lay scattered in many parts of the country and offered footholds on which Edo-bakufu founded its economical and military base, the study of bakuryo are far behind that of hanryo. Especially, positive studies on the structure of machinery in specific bakuryo except Shinshu and Koshu have rarely been attempted. The primary function of daikansho (the only government office set up in bakuryo) was to collect tax and it could not govern for itself, nor possess sufficient military power, not even police force. It can be said that daikansho had great limitation in its administrative power. However, until the fall of Edo-bakufu, the control of daikansho was very successful in almost all bakuryo except for Hita and Iwami which were occupied by other han as a result of the Choshu War. How was it made possible? Does it suggest that there existed some form of an intermediary administrative agency between daikansho and each village? These are the questions that the author has tried to answer by examining the role played by gunchusodai. The aim of the present article is to discuss the function and character of gunchusodai of Bittchu, who represented kumiaimura and acted for daikansho as an intermediary government machinery to facilitate its control. The period dealt with in this article is limited to the Choshu War (1864-67) and the author intends to illuminate the function of gunchusodai by putting an emphasis on how they recruited labor and supplied provisions during the war. At that period, in Bittchu bakuryo, there were gunchusodai in every kumiaimura which consisted of some ten villages within the same district. The office of gunchusodai was held and was alternated yearly by two or three shoya whose main duties were 1)to supervise collection of gunchuiriyo (expenditure for the district administration) such as overhead expenses for the maintenance of daikansho, the cost of shipping of rice paid as land tax and so on : and 2)to mediate communication between daikansho and villages by transmitting the order from daikansho or speaking for the village people. Its 'self-governing' character largely enabled gunchusodai to keep smooth administrative functions as a substitute machinery. The duties imposed on Bittchu bakuryo in the war was to supply the needs of the officers who, like ikusametsuke, were dispatched by Bakufu to a battle front and had to be fed, fuelled and have their horses refreshed. Labor force was raised from Bittchu bakuryo to feed them and to transport their equipment. It should be noted that, in spite of the crushing defeat of the Bakufu army, gunchu-sodai was very active to meet the expectations of Bakufu and discharged its duty to the last. This fact might testify that gun-chusodai, even at the closing stage of Edo-bakufu, was functioning very efficiently as intermediary administrative instrument.