Roju

The R?j? (老中), usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two R?j?. The number was then increased to five, and later to four.

Related Topics:
Tokugawa - Japan - Shogun

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The Elders had a number of responsibilities, most clearly delineated in the 1634 ordinance that reorganized the government and created a number of new posts:

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:#Relations with the Throne, the Court, and the Prince-Abbots.

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:#Supervision of those daimyo who controlled lands worth at least 10,000 koku.

Related Topics:
Daimyo - Koku

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:#Managing the forms taken by official documents in official communications.

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:#Supervision of the internal affairs of the Shogun's domains.

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:#Coinage, public works, and enfiefment.

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:#Governmental relations and supervision of monasteries and shrines.

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:#Compilation of maps, charts, and other government records.

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The R?j? served not simultaneously, but in rotation, each serving the Shogun for a month at a time, communicating with the Shogun through a chamberlain, called Soba-y?nin. However, the R?j? also served as members of the Hy?j?sho council, along with the ?-Metsuke and representatives of various Bugy? (Commissions or Departments). As part of the Hy?j?sho, the R?j? sometimes served a role similar to that of a Supreme Court, deciding succession disputes and other such disputed matters of state.

Related Topics:
Hy?j?sho - ?-Metsuke - Bugy? - Supreme Court

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Under the reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1680-1709), however, the R?j? lost nearly all their power, as the Shogun began to work more closely with the Tair?, Chamberlains, and others, including Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, who held the power of a Tair?, but not the title. The R?j? became little more than messengers, going through the motions of their proper roles as intermediaries between the Shogun and other offices, but not being able to exercise any power to change or decide policy. As Arai Hakuseki, a major Confucian poet and politician of the time wrote, "All the R?j? did was to pass on his instructions" (Sansom 141). Even after Tsunayoshi's death, the R?j? did not regain their former power. They continued to exist, however, as a government post and a council with, officially if not in fact, all the powers and responsibilities they originally held, through the Edo period.

Related Topics:
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi - 1680 - 1709 - Tair? - Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu - Arai Hakuseki - Edo period

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The following is the list of roju.

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• Tanuma Okitsugu
• Matsudaira Sadanobu

incomplete

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Roju: Reference ►