Daikan

Not to be confused withDahan (solar term).

Daikan( đại quan ) was anofficialin Japan that acted on behalf of a rulingmonarchor alordat the post they had been appointed to. Since the Middle Ages,daikanwere in charge of their territory and territorial tax collection. In theEdo period,daikanwere local governors in charge of the government and security ofdomainandshogunateterritories.

A formerdaikan's office, the Suibara Daikansho inAgano,Niigata Prefecture

History

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages,azukaridokoroandukeshoreferred todaikanof a feudal lord, andshugo-daiandjitō-daireferred todaikanofshugoandjitōgovernors, respectively. In theAzuchi-Momoyama period,territorial rulers in charge of local tax collection were calleddaikan.

Edo period

In theEdo period,high-rankinghatamotoretainers of theshogunwere appointeddaikanto govern the shogunal demesne across Japan and were given a 50,000-100,000kokuterritory. Thedaikanworked from their administrative headquarters (jin'ya) at their territory or their mansion inEdo,under the Commissioner of Finance (kanjō bugyō), and had a dozen oftetsukiandtedaiofficials under their service. Hereditary succession of the position was common.In 1867, at the end of the Edo period, there were 37daikan.

Daikanwho had a bad reputation for self-interest were dismissed by the shogunate, as the harsh collection of annual taxation led to the escape of farmers, which in turn reduced the amount of collectable taxation. Some of them were dismissed and punished for causing starvation during famines.On the other hand, otherdaikangained a great reputation, such asSuzuki Shigenari,who continued to appeal to the shogunate for a reduction or exemption of annual taxation at the cost of his own life in order to save the people of the domain from heavy taxes, and Ido Masaaki, who also saved the people from famine by introducingganzoto the territories under his control.

In the latter half of the Edo period, thefeudal domainsfollowed the example and appointed their owndaikan,districtmagistrates,who were calledgun-daiorkōri bugyō.