Kaieki – Punishments for the Daimyo Class

Kaieki originally meant "to change one's position" and referred to the non-punitive transfer, replacement or amendment of positions, where the incumbent was relieved of his duties and a new daimyo was appointed. Since the replacement of positions later entailed disadvantages, the term came to have a punitive connotation.  However, from the Kamakura to the Muromachi periods, the original meaning remained, and both the change of positions and the confiscation of land were known as kaieki.

Kaeki became a form of authoritarian punishment initially for the higher ranked hatamoto and daimyo class meaning confiscation, reduction, or transfer of a daimyo's land.  Kaieki was considered more austere than house arrest, but less merciless than seppuku.

Causes and grounds for being dealt Kaeki in the Edo period included;

• Having fought against the Tokugawa at Sekigahara or the sieges of Osaka.

• Discontinuation of succession, i.e., when a daimyo died without an officially recognised heir.

• Breach of Shogunate Law. This included cases of unsanctioned marriages, the rebuilding or repairing of castles without permission, etc.

• Negligence, such as allowing uprisings, peasant revolt, clan internal problems to occur.

• Disorderly conduct on behalf of the daimyo, including cases of mental health issues.

In the Edo period, kaieki came to mean a punishment for all levels of the the warrior caste, from the lowest ranks of samurai to the elite hatamoto (direct vassals of the shogun) and even the Daimyo lords, in which they were deprived of their official positions, stipends, part or all of their territories, castles and residences, and in extreme cases, even their status as samurai. 

The earliest official Edo period usage of the word kaieki is dated February 1622, in which the confiscation of a warriors’ land, stipend, and residence is noted. The deprivation of samurai status was long-term, but was often forgiven after a certain period of time. In contrast, in cases of exile, it was rare for the exiled person to be forgiven, however following the Battle of Sekigahara, Western allied Ukita Hideie was captured and exiled to Hachijo-jima, an island 287 kilometers off the coast of mainland Japan. Some years after his exile, he was offered a pardon, but refused to return to the mainland, dying on the island in December 1655, the last of the daimyo to have seen action at Sekigahara.

The confiscation of all of a daimyo's territory or chigyo is called genpo, while the reduction of part of a daimyo's territory is called genfu or genchi. In some cases, the territory was confiscated, but the daimyo was given a smaller territory and ordered to transfer, such as Fukushima Masanori, accused of having carried out repairs to Hiroshima Castle, had his income reduced and was transferred to Kawanakajima.

History of Daimyo Kaieki

In the aftermath of Sekigahara the Tokugawa banished 87 daimyo families. Their total income was over 4.4 million koku, and another three daimyo had their kokudaka significantly reduced, making the total kokudakaconfiscated by the Tokugawa over 6.22 million koku. Ishida Mitsunari, Konishi Yukinaga, Ukita Hideie, Chosokabe Morichika, and others serving the Western forces and were punished for their hostility against the Tokugawa. Ringleaders Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga were beheaded — the most severe penalty for a samurai of any rank — Masuda Nagamori was forced to commit seppuku. Among others, Ukita Hideie was exiled, and Chosokabe Morichika was placed under house arrest. Each received additional punishments.

After the Sekigahara Disposition and until around 1651, about 130 feudal lords were removed, accounting for a total of 12 million koku. During this period, the removal of relative clans such as Matsudaira Tadateru, Matsudaira Tadanao, and Tokugawa Tadanaga stood out, but the number of removals of outside (tozama) feudal lords such as the Fukushima and Kato clans was greater. After the Battle of Sekigahara, most of the tozama daimyo were transferred to areas far from Edo, and the shogunate further ordered their fiefs stripped or reduced, turning the now vacant territories into tenryo, (territories directly controlled by the shogunate) and by assigning those related to the shogun or to fudai daimyo, the supremacy of the shogun's power was further cemented.

After the Toyotomi clan’s destruction in the Sieges of Osaka, Japan was mostly at peace. The removal of vanquished lords and the transferring of domains as a basic policy to control the domains was enforced by the first three Shoguns, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hidetada, and Iemitsu.

Violations of Shogunate Law

As for violations of Shogunate law around the time of the enactment of the Buke Shohatto (1615, 1635) laws, the well-known cases of Fukushima Masanori and Satomi Tadayoshi being punished for unauthorized castle repairs and their removal were well doccumented. During the reign of the third Shogun, Iemitsu, 26 tozama daimyo, including the former Toyotomi allied Kato, Horio, Gamo, and Kyogoku, and 17 vassal fudai daimyo families were removed. As a result of the terrorizing measures taken by the first three Tokugawa generations, the territory directly controlled by the shogunate expanded and allocation of lands to the fudai daimyo increased. Although the fudai daimyo constantly worried about being transferred, the tozama daimyo were weakened spiritually and financially, and the majority came to adopt an attitude of absolute obedience to the shogunate.

However, during the reign of the fourth Shogun, Ietsuna, a major change occurred in the Shogunate's policy. The previous three Shoguns' oppressive policies had been successful in eradicating hostile daimyo, and it was thought that further oppression through terror policies would be detrimental to the development of a civil government aimed at maintaining peace.  The abolition of daimyo inevitably produced many ronin, and the Keian Incident (AKA the Yui Shosetsu Rebellion) of 1655 and the Totsugi Shosetsu Rebellion the following year made it clear that ronin could become a major obstacle to public security. It was deemed foolhardy to abolish the already weakened daimyo and create ronin. The Shogunate's interest in public security shifted from measures to deal with daimyo to measures dealing with ronin, so it was no longer thought wise to continue to oppress the daimyo.

During the reign of the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi, the number of dismissals increased again, but the targets shifted to Tokugawa related shinpan and fudai hereditary daimyo to prevent political interference and realize political stability. Of the 45 cases of kaieki during Tsunayoshi's reign, 28 were shinpan or fudai daimyo.  Under the sixth shogun, Ienobu, the number of cases decreased dramatically, and by the time of the eighth shogun, Yoshimune, it had reached a stage where kaieki was no longer carried out, and even in cases of heirless death, lenient measures such as terminal adoption and reduction of stipends were taken.

In later periods, most dismissals were related to mismanagement of domains or power struggles within the shogunate's politics, such as Okubo Tadachika and Honda Masazumi in the early years, and Matsudaira Norimura, Tanuma Okitsugu, Hayashi Tadahide, and Mizuno Tadakuni from the mid-period onwards.

Even when the shogunate no longer viewed daimyo as enemy, there were cases where a problematic daimyo was removed. There were, surprisingly, many cases where daimyo were censured for violations of public order and morals, such as misconduct, fighting, or even over mental issues such as insanity, such as Asano Naganori of the 47 Ronin fame attacking Lord Kira within Edo Castle. Usually both parties were punished in a quarrel, but there were exceptions such as with Lord Kira Yoshinaka. There were cases where the shogunate was asked for a decision in a clan dispute, but it was rare, and punishment was usually meted out kaieki to both sides.  This prevented many such feuds from coming to the attention of the authorities. There were cases in which uprisings and disturbances arose due to the mismanagement or harsh governance of feudal lords, and so demotion was a punishment.

On being punished, each daimyo was subjected to individual censure such as house arrest or exile. Those who were guilty of mismanagement or sword attacks were often forced to commit seppuku. Matsukura Katsuie, who was responsible for the Shimabara Rebellion, was beheaded rather than being alowed to committ seppuku. However, often daimyo were pardoned long after punishment, and the daimyo or his descendants were re-promoted to minor daimyo or hatamoto status, and the family name preserved.

Great consideration was taken in announcing the dismissal of a feudal lord. A daimyo to be punished was often first ordered confined to a relative's house or exiled or banished as a punishment called ayori, and then, depending on the nature of his crime, further punishments such as beheading, seppuku, confinement, seclusion or exile were decided.

Neutralizing the lord's control, confiscating his castle and territory, and dismissing his vassals, effectively making them ronin was done with care. One mistake could lead to rebellion, so the shogunate made careful preparations and gave the utmost consideration to all matters before ordering a castles surrender.

For example, in 1619, the lord of Hiroshima Castle, Fukushima Masanori was accused of undertaking repairs to Hiroshima Castle without the direct permission of the government, and was demoted. Shogun Hidetada visited Kyoto while Fukushima Masanori was in Edo, and summoned Masanori's eldest son, Tadakatsu, to Kyoto’s Kennin-ji Temple, and announced the demotion to his son first. Meanwhile, the shogunate sent Makino Tadanari and Hanabusa Masanari as envoys to Fukushima Masanori’s mansion to inform him that his territories in Aki and Bingo were to be confiscated, but would be given lesser lands in Kawanakajima instead. In precaution, the Shogunate ordered various daimyo in Edo to gather troops and surround Masanori's Edo residence before the announcement was made. As the Shogun was not in Edo at the time, he could not be petitioned, and so Fukushima Masanori had no choice but to quietly accept the order.

In October 1622, fudai daimyo Lord Honda Masazumi of Utsunomiya was accused of conspiracy and fell into disfavor with Hidetada, but was sent to Yamagata Castle ostensibly as a “messenger of the shogun” with orders not to confer with anyone but the lord of Yamagata until he received an answer. While awaiting the answer ^— which took some time coming — he was in fact quietly being detained in Yamagata without his knowledge before being exiled to Dewa, where he remained under the custody of the Satake clan. During his “trial” of sorts, he was offered 55,000 koku in exchange for the confiscation of Utsunomiya, however he refused, stating, "I cannot accept this as punishment as I have committed no crime."

In another instance, Kato Tadahiro of Kumamoto was summoned to Edo in May 1632 by the senior councilors for alleged treason, but as he arrived at Shinagawa he was refused permission to enter Edo, and instead was ordered to wait at Ikegami Honmon-ji Temple. Thus, the Shogunate took caution and removed Kato from his domain and detained him simply and quietly, and informed the shocked daimyo nationwide afterwards.

In these cases, the shogunate aimed to quietly and safely separate the daimyo from their castles and vassals, creating a safer situation before handing down the punishment, in order to prevent the sparking of resistance, and it shows that the shogunate took great care to quell any possible rebellion or problem quickly, quietly and efficiently.

Restructuring at the End of the Edo period

When the shogunate collapsed after the Boshin War, the new Meiji government took action against the feudal lords who supported the Tokugawa. Twenty-one clans, including the Date of  Sendai and the Uesugi of Yonezawa, had their lands reduced. The Hayashi of Ueno Nishi and the Matsudaira of Aizu Domain lost their castles. However the son of the Aizu Matsudaira lord was granted a new stipend of 30,000 koku. As such, only the Hayashi of Ueno Nishi lost their feudal status. Other feudal lords were given the new status of nobility. New laws were enacted, based predominantly on those of the United Kingdom, and kaieki became a thing of the past.