Sankin-kōtai

Sankin-kōtai was the Tokugawa shogunate’s system requiring daimyo to alternate residence between their domains and Edo. It tied regional lords to the shogun through travel, expense, and family residence in the capital.

Daimyo: Daimyo were powerful territorial lords who governed domains under Japan’s shogunate. They had to maintain residences and follow the alternating attendance schedule.
Edo period: The Edo period was the era of Tokugawa rule in Japan, conventionally dated 1603–1868. Sankin-kōtai became a defining institution of this long period of shogunal government.
Tokugawa Ieyasu: Tokugawa Ieyasu founded the Tokugawa shogunate and became shogun in 1603. His regime laid the foundations for controlling daimyo that later attendance rules formalized.
Feudalism in Japan: Feudalism in Japan was a political order built around landholding, military service, and layered lord-vassal ties. Sankin-kōtai was one institution within this wider structure of shogunal and domain authority.
Edo: Edo was the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate and the city later renamed Tokyo. Daimyo were required to reside there for part of each attendance cycle.
Tōkaidō: The Tōkaidō was a major route connecting Edo and Kyoto along Japan’s Pacific coast. Daimyo processions used this and other highways, supporting traffic and services along the route.
Tokugawa Hidetada: Tokugawa Hidetada was the second Tokugawa shogun, ruling from 1605 to 1623. Policies during his rule helped develop the attendance obligations later made systematic.
European feudalism: European feudalism was a varied set of medieval and early modern systems of land tenure and personal allegiance. Its forms of lordly obligation differed from Japan’s centralized attendance regime.
Tokugawa shogunate: The Tokugawa shogunate was Japan’s military government from 1603 to 1868. It imposed and administered the system to strengthen central authority.
Japanese castle towns: Japanese castle towns were urban settlements organized around a feudal lord’s castle and administration. Alternating residence linked domain capitals to the shogun’s court and their lords’ households.

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