Metsuke

{{Short description|Censors or the inspectors of Tokugawa shogunate}} {{Italic title}} {{nihongo|'''''Metsuke'''''|目付|}} were the censors or the inspectors of Tokugawa shogunate. They were ''bakufu'' officials ranking somewhat lower than the ''bugyō.'' The ''metsuke'' were charged with the special duty of detecting and investigating instances of maladministration, corruption or disaffection anywhere in Japan, and particularly amongst the populace having status below the ''daimyō''.<ref name="b326">Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 326.</ref>

==Intelligence gathering== The shogunate recognized the need for some kind of internal intelligence-gathering apparatus and for some degree of covert espionage within its own ranks. It could be said that the ''metsuke'' functioned as the Shogun's intelligence agency or as internal spies, reporting to the officials in Edo on events and situations across the country.<ref name="c39">Cunningham, Don. (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=g5BP7DGuNFsC&dq=metsuke&pg=PA39 ''Taiho-jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai,'' p. 39.]</ref>

The ''metsuke'' were charged with focusing on those ranking below ''daimyō''-status; and their counterparts, the ''ōmetsuke'', were responsible for supervising the activities of officials and members of the ''daimyō'' (feudal lords).<ref name="b326"/>

Although similarly engaged, the reporting protocols of the ''metsuke'' and ''ōmetsuke'' differed. The ''metsuke'' reported to ''wakadoshiyori'' who ranked just below the ''rōjū''. The ''ōmetsuke'' reported directly to the four or five ''rōjū'' at the top of the shogunate bureaucracy. By design, the intelligence-gathering activities of the ''metsuke'' was intended to complement those of the ''ōmetsuke'' even though there was no official reporting relationship between the two somewhat independent groups.<ref name="c39"/>

There were at any given time as many as twenty-four ''metsuke''.<ref name="c39"/>

==Ōmetsuke== {{Uncited section|date=November 2025}} The Ōmetsuke had the role of an inspector who monitored the daimyo, the high family, and the imperial court, and protected the shogunate from these rebellions. On December 17, 1632, in the ninth year of Kanei, four people were appointed: Akiyama Masashige, Mizuno Morinobu, Yagyu Munenori, and Inoue Masashige. Also, at the beginning of installation, it was called Sometsuki He was elected from among the banners, and was considered to be the highest rank in the positions of the bannermen, equivalent to the members of the Imperial Concubine, the Imperial Guard, and the head of the Daiban. And since he was a bannerman and monitored the Manseki class (daimyo), during his tenure, he was given the rank of manseki-class rokutaka on a par with the daimyo, and was ordained to the official rank of "○○ guard".

In the middle of the Edo period, the color of the messenger (the role of conveying the orders of the shogunate to the daimyo of the whole country) and the ceremonial officer in the palace (Edo Castle) became darker than the color of the conventional inspector, and it came to be regarded as an honorary or quiet position, and the hatamoto, who served as a town magistrate or account magistrate, became a position appointed in old age. In addition, he also served in five roles such as a magistrate on the road, a sōmon reform, and a gun reform.

The official height was 3000 koku, and in the shogunate, it was under the jurisdiction of the old man In the year following the inauguration of the service fee system in the 5th year of Kanbun (1665), the official salary was set at 1,000 bales. When the service fee system was abolished in the second year of Tenwa (1682), the official fee was added to the Chigyo High School as it was. In the 5th year of Genroku (1692), the service fee system was reinstated, and under the system at that time, the official height of the daimetsuke was set at 3,000 koku, and 700 bales were paid only to those who had a job height of 3,000 koku or less. The capacity is indefinite, 3 to 2 people in the Iemitsu-Ietsuna period, 4 to 3 people in the Tsunayoshi-Ieshige period, and 5 to 4 people in the Ieji-Iekei period, and the number of people installed also changed due to the new construction of kake. Ōmetsuke, who also served as a magistrate along the way, was the first of the ranks, and was in a position to represent the shogun, as was the case with the Kyoto shojidai and Osaka jodai.

==Ad hoc evolution== The bureaucracy of the Tokugawa shogunate expanded on an ''ad hoc'' basis, responding to perceived needs and changing circumstances. Sometimes one or more of the ''metsuke'' or ''ōmetsuke'' would have been selected to address a specific or even a unique problem. For example, Arao Norimasa in the period from 1852 through 1854 was charged with special duties as ''kaibo-gakari-metsuke''.<ref name="b341">Beasley, p. 341.</ref>

The prefix ''kaibō-gakari'' meaning "in charge of maritime defense" was used with the titles of some ''bakufu'' officials after 1845. This term was used to designate those who bore a special responsibility for overseeing coastal waters, and by implication, for dealing with matters involving foreigners. ''"Kaibō-gakari-metsuke"'' later came to be superseded by the term ''gaikoku-gakari.''<ref>Beasley, p. 323.</ref> These developments preceded the ''Gaikoku bugyō'' system which began just prior to the negotiations which resulted in the Harris Treaty.<ref>Cullin, L.M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941,'' p. 185.</ref> First appointed in August 1858, the ''gaikoku-bugyō'' were bakufu officials who were charged with advising the government on foreign affairs and who were tasked with conducting negotiations with foreign diplomats both in Japan and abroad.

==In popular culture== The post of ''metsuke'' was not immune to corruption, and sometimes the conduct of these officials could be affected by bribes. For example, the televised ''jidaigeki'' episodes of ''Abarenbō Shōgun'' are rife with petty corruption, including a broad range of officials across the span of television seasons.

''Metsuke'' also appear as persecutors of Japanese Christians in the film ''Silence'' (2016).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.periodistadigital.com/guiacultural/ocio-y-cultura/2017/01/08/silencio-de-martin-scorsese-cine.shtml|title = 'Silence', los silencios de Martin Scorsese|date = 8 January 2017}}</ref>

In the video game ''Total War: Shogun 2'', ''metsuke'' are agents who serve as secret policemen and act as the counterparts to ninjas, whose role is to discover and arrest enemy operatives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Total War: Shogun 2 Interview » Interview with Kieran Brigden, The Creative Assembly {{!}} GameScope |url=http://en.gamescope.ru/features/kieran-brigden-total-war-shogun-2-interview-en/ |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=GameScope.ru |language=en-US}}</ref>

==List of metsuke== * Matsudaira Chikano (1841–1844)<ref name="b335">Beasley, p. 335.</ref> * Ido Staohiro (1842–1845)<ref>Beasley, p. 332.</ref> * Arao Narimasa (1852–1854)<ref>Beasley, p. 331.</ref> * Nagai Naomune (1853–1858)<ref name="b338">Beasley, p. 338.</ref> * Iwase Tadanari (1854–1858)<ref name="b333">Beasley, p. 333.</ref> * Oguri Tadamasa (1859–1860)<ref name="b338"/> * Ikeda Nagaoki (1862–1863, 1863)<ref name="b333"/> * Kawada Hiroshi (1864)<ref>Beasley, p. 334.</ref> * Kurimoto Sebei (1864–1865)<ref name="b335"/>

==See also== * Bugyō

==Notes== {{reflist|2}}

==References== * Beasley, William G. (1955). [https://books.google.com/books?id=jjOCAAAAIAAJ&q=Niigata+bugyo ''Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868.''] London: Oxford University Press. [reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-19-713508-2}} (cloth)] * Cullen, L.M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-82155-X}} (cloth), {{ISBN|0-521-52918-2}} (paper) * Cunningham, Don. (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=g5BP7DGuNFsC&q=metsuke ''Taiho-jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai.''] Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8048-3536-5}} * Sansom, George Bailey. (1963). "A History of Japan: 1615–1867." Stanford: Stanford University Press.{{ISBN|978-0-8047-0527-1}}

Category:Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate Category:Government of feudal Japan