, also known as ''kaigun-bugō,'' were officials of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai daimyō''.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 322. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner", "overseer" or "governor". This ''

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

'' title identifies an official with responsibility for naval matters. The office was created on March 28, 1859. The creation of this new position was an administrative change which was deemed necessary because of two treaties which were negotiated with the Americans. The open port provisions were part of the

Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...

of 1858, which cam about as the result Commodore Perry's second appearance in Tokyo harbor with armed battleships. More precisely, this ''bugyō'' was considered essential because of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which had been negotiated in 1858 by the American representative,

Townsend Harris Townsend Harris (October 4, 1804 – February 25, 1878) was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the " Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the d ...

—the

Harris Treaty Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

of 1858). The ''gunkan-bugyō'' was considered to rank approximately with the '' kanjō-bugyō''. The genesis of the ''gunkan-bugyō'' pre-dates the actual creation of the office.

''Kaibō-gakari''

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—for example, ''kaibō-gakari-ōmetsuke'' which later came to be superseded by the term ''gaikoku-gakari.''

List of ''gunkan-bugyō''

: * Mizuno Tadanori (1859).Beasley, p. 337. * Nagai Naomune, (1859).Beasley, p. 338. * Inoue Kyuonao (1859–1862).Beasley, p. 333. *

Oguri Tadamasa Oguri Kozukenosuke (Oguri Tadamasa, 16 July 1827 – 27 May 1868) was a statesman of the Tokugawa government in the last stage of the Edo period, and he is often regarded as a rival of Katsu Kaishu. At the time when the power of the Tokugawa g ...

(1865). *

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Me ...

– ''kaigun-bugyō'' (1866–1868). "Military man"
Dictionary of history & traditions in Japan web site. *

Katsu Kaishū Count , best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku ) by Sakuma Shōzan. H ...

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1955)
''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868''.
London:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

; reprinted by

RoutledgeCurzon Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

, London, 2001. (cloth) Government of feudal Japan Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate {{Japan-hist-stub

''Kaibō-gakari''

List of ''gunkan-bugyō''

See also

Notes

References