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CHAPTER 2

Crime and punishment in Edo

While the rise of the Tokugawa shgunate led to the gathering of people in the city of Edo, such a concentration also inevitably gave rise to a class of greater and lesser thieves and lawbreakers. Society was changing with the shift from civil war to a peaceful era, making it hard for certain individuals to adapt. The strict enforcement of harsh laws and often cruel punishments of the Tokugawa shgunate may be viewed as brutal, even inhumane, by modern standards. On the other hand, justice during the Edo period was also often tempered by compassion and tolerance. Empathy for the downtrodden and efforts to rehabilitate offenders sometimes reflected the general public opinion that circumstances were frequently accountable for criminal behavior.

Certain lawbreakers were even viewed in a positive light, idolized as protectors of the common people while rebelling against governmental oppression and widespread bureaucratic corruption. Referred to as otokodate (young man) or machi-yakko (street fellow), they were often considered virtuous and daring by many ordinary law-abiding citizens. Although otokodate were frequently little more than common criminals themselves, they were generally highly regarded in their respective communities for helping the poor, safeguarding women, and protecting the neighborhood from thieves, dishonest businessmen, and even corrupt samurai. The otokodate were reputed to live by their own special creed, “Yowaki wo tasuke, tsuyoki wo kujiku” (Help the weak and oppose the strong).

In an ironic twist, the police were also often forced to rely on local crime bosses and their subordinates to help preserve civil order, especially during the latter years of the Tokugawa shgunate. Faced with open defiance from the southern clans and mounting pressure from foreign powers to open ports for trade, the shgunate’s administration began to fall apart, official discipline became lax, and bribery was rampant. With severely limited resources, the police often resorted to unofficial arrangements with local crime gangs to keep the peace and maintain order.

Law enforcement during the Edo period was complicated by the fact that a significant segment of the population was openly armed. It is worth reviewing the history and social restrictions on arms here.

Defining the social classes

Prior to the end of the Sengoku jidai, most able-bodied subjects were armed with various weapons to some degree. As Japan became unified under Hideyoshi Toyotomi, though, a heavily armed populace was considered a significant threat to the new government. To discourage uprisings and revolt, Hideyoshi initiated a series of legislative social reforms. These edicts strictly defined social classes and drastically restricted social mobility.

In 1588 he issued the Taiko no katanagari (sword hunt), a decree prohibiting the possession of swords and guns by all but the noble classes. Claiming that the possession of weapons by peasants “makes difficult the collection of taxes and tends to foment uprisings,” the mandate prohibited farmers from possessing long or short swords, bows, spears, muskets, or any other form of weapon. Local daimy, official agents, and deputies were ordered to collect all such weapons within their jurisdictions and deliver them to be melted down to supply materials for construction of a temple containing a massive Buddha.¹

Destroying weapons to build a Buddhist image was meant to appease the remaining pious warrior monks as well as the religiously devout commoners. This edict also met with widespread daimy approval. Local rulers realized that disarming peasants also effectively restricted their neighbors from quickly raising a militia should any potential territorial disputes arise.

As a result of the sword hunt edict, only members of the warrior class were permitted to wear the daish,² thus further differentiating samurai from the rest of the population. Three years later, Hideyoshi issued another edict clearly defining the four major social castes—warrior, farmer, craftsman, and merchant. It further restricted interaction between the different classes and prevented any changes in social status. Samurai were forced to move away from their villages and farms and to live within garrison towns. The creation of mutually exclusive farming and military social classes was calculated to prevent them from forming any potential alliances and resisting the new administration.

In the last of his social reform efforts, Hideyoshi commissioned a land census, establishing a uniform tax system and further restricting physical movement between the various provinces, or han, under his rule. Each individual was required to register his name, along with his status and his number of houses. All registered individuals were then prohibited from moving to any other province, or han, without prior government approval.

Following the death of Hideyoshi and the establishment of the Tokugawa shgunate under Tokugawa Ieyasu, these social policies were further enforced with even more government proclamations. Barrier stations, or seki, were established on all major highways, and travelers were searched for any contraband or defiance of rules regarding physical movement. The Tokugawa shgunate was known for the policy to prevent Irideppo ni deonna (incoming firearms and fleeing women), which prohibited transport of arms and restricted women, especially daimy family members held as potential hostages, from leaving the city.

Disarming the commoners

Although samurai openly carried razor-sharp swords, chnin (townsmen) and nomin (farmers) during the Edo period usually were not allowed such overt displays of weaponry. Restricted by government decrees, they often resorted to hibuki (hidden or concealed weapons) for personal protection.

While katana (long swords) were prohibited, chnin and nomin were still allowed to carry tant (daggers) as well as short swords known as wakizashi. For many years after the end of the Japanese civil wars, though, commoners did not always abide by the laws prohibiting swords. One reason was that the actual measurements³ used to define katana, wakizashi, and tant were confusing and often inconsistently applied in many of these laws. Thus during the early part of the Edo period (early 1600s), some chnin, and especially yakuza,⁴ or criminal gang members, openly carried long wakizashi that were virtually equivalent to prohibited katana.

In an effort to restore peace and order to their society, the Tokugawa shgunate issued various orders prohibiting chnin from carrying long swords. One such government order was the Daish katana no sump oyobi touhatsu futsum no sei (the order regarding daish katana and hair style), issued in July 1645. This law specified the maximum blade length of katana as 2 shaku 8 or 9 sun⁵ and wakizashi as 1 shaku 8 or 9 sun.⁶

In March 1668, the Tokugawa shgunate once again issued Mut rei (no sword order), an executive directive firmly prohibiting the chnin class from carrying any swords longer than ko-wakizashi, a very short sword, without specific government permission. According to the edict, the ko-wakizashi blade length was defined as being no longer than 1 shaku 5 sun.⁷ The feudal government later revised this executive order, adding some specific exceptions to this prohibition, including the right for chnin to carry regular-length wakizashi when traveling or during fires.

Commoners were allowed to carry a wakizashi on trips to protect themselves and their valuables from brigands who often preyed on travelers. Since fires in the densely populated city of Edo occurred with such frequency, most chnin would take their household possessions into the streets with them when evacuating their neighborhood. The government decree thus allowed them to arm themselves and protect their personal possessions during such chaotic events.

Although not specifically prohibited from carrying ko-wakizashi, law-abiding chnin during the Edo period typically did not wear any sword while conducting their day-to-day business within the city. Because the risks of encountering bandits or worse, though, it was quite common for chnin to openly wear a legal-length ko-wakizashi when traveling any significant distance from their homes.

Samurai status

The sword was venerated by the bushi (warrior class) and even during the relative peace of the Edo period was worn as a badge of samurai status. The sword was considered the “the soul of a samurai,” and no self-respecting bushi would be seen outside his home without his daish prominently displayed.

Although all members of the samurai class wore the two swords during the Edo period, some did so more out of custom than for functional purposes. The samurai of the Edo period were mostly bureaucrats and administrators, not the warriors of their more violent medieval past. As descendants of soldiers and hereditary members of the military class, they were forced to reconcile the sometimes contradictory roles of being warriors in a time of peace.

Continuing in their martial tradition, many young samurai trained in kenjutsu (swordsmanship) and maintained their overall proficiency with various other weapons. Hundreds of dj (training halls) were quite active, and sword instructors were typically highly regarded. As government bureaucrats and officials under the Tokugawa shgunate’s peaceful administration, though, many samurai began to consider the daish more a requirement of their status and less so a practical weapon.

With swords worn primarily for public display, many descendants of the samurai class were less concerned with proficiency and weapons expertise. During the peace of the Tokugawa shgunate, many martial arts ryha (style or system) emphasized elaborate and showy presentations rather than actual lethal skill. Critics often complained about the “flowery styles” exhibited by many Edo-period martial arts practitioners. They were concerned that focusing on appearance and flashy displays rather than deadly effectiveness weakened their warrior spirit and prowess and ultimately affected the nation’s defense capabilities. Yet these schools still flourished in the urban perspective, where bureaucratic skills were more significant than swordsmanship.

Kirisutegomen (killing and going away)

Popular fiction has often portrayed the samurai as extremely violent and quick to cut someone down at the slightest provocation. With a rigidly enforced and unquestioned social hierarchy, some samurai did tend to be rather dismissive, even arrogant and abusive toward the lower classes. It is a popular misconception, though, that most samurai swaggered about the streets of Edo or rural highways indiscriminately killing one another or some unfortunate chnin and nomin out of anger over the slightest perceived offense. Although this type of incident is a widespread occurrence in historical dramas and novels, the truth is actually much more mundane.

It is true that the convention of kirisutegomen (killing and going away) was formally recognized under the Tokugawa shgunate. According to this custom, samurai basically had the legally recognized right to kill any member of the commoner or eta⁸ (non-human) classes acting other than as expected. Unexpected behavior included surliness, discourtesy, and inappropriate conduct. This occasionally fostered the hideous practice of tsuji-giri, testing a sword blade by cutting down a commoner.

Any samurai involved in such a killing, however, would certainly have been held by officials while an investigation was conducted. The Tokugawa shgunate published a series of guidelines, such as the Kujikata osadamegaki, that established strict penal codes and judicial procedures. Any samurai found guilty of inappropriate behavior was often subjected to severe penalties. The metsuke (watchers) served as the overseers and inspectors for retainers in the service of the various daimy.⁹ Unemployed samurai or ronin¹⁰ were considered under the jurisdiction of the respective machi-bugy, though, and subject to many of the same penal codes as any chnin.

Wasteful actions such as kirisutegomen, and especially tsuji-giri, were generally frowned upon by all clan and government officials. Although it may have been allowed legally, such behavior was definitely considered intolerable according to commonly accepted religious, moral, and ethical values. The government, realizing it was dependent upon the common people for both produce and taxes, would not risk further alienation by allowing such excesses. Even if an investigation did fail to find any infraction of these respective guidelines, no samurai could afford a reputation for such needless killings.

According to common law of this period, any citizen, regardless of class, was also allowed to defend himself from unprovoked attacks. Thus, a commoner was allowed to kill a samurai if assaulted. If successful, he was likely to be released from any murder charges by authorities if the killing was committed in self-defense. Obviously, samurai were not as prone to indulge in practices such as kirisutegomen and tsuji-giri when commoners were armed and capable of offering resistence.

Fukushu (blood feud) and ada-uchi (legal vendetta)

Killing another samurai, even a lower-ranking bushi, might easily spark a fukushu (blood feud) with another clan, resulting in many other members of either house being killed. No self-respecting bushi would dare put his fellow clan members in such a dangerous position without considering these possible consequences.

Slaying any individual, regardless of class, might also initiate an ada-uchi,¹¹ a legal vendetta, by members of the victim’s family. According to the strict rules of ada-uchi, retaliation could be directed only against the murderer and then only by a person of equal or lower social status. An ada-uchi required registration with local officials. Once a permit was issued, the right or wrong of the original death was considered irrelevant. Anyone killing another without a properly registered ada-uchi, though, was subject to punishment for murder.