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 sh
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
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
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 sh
Disarming the commoners
Although samurai openly carried razor-sharp swords, ch
While katana (long swords) were prohibited, ch
In an effort to restore peace and order to their society, the Tokugawa sh
In March 1668, the Tokugawa sh
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 ch
