The Shadow Bearers of Edo: The Power of Kuruma Zenshichi and Behind-the-Scenes of Urban Governance: The Edo Period

The Shadow Bearers of Edo: The Power of Kuruma Zenshichi and Behind-the-Scenes of Urban Governance: The Edo Period

In the urban society of the Edo period (1603-1867), non-humans, the lowest class of the oppressed, played an important role in maintaining public order and behind the scenes in the administration of justice, even though they were neglected in daily life. At the top of the hierarchy was the "non-hito head. One of the most famous of these was Kuruma Zenshichi, who was based in Asakusa Tambo.

Zenpichi's residence was located outside the fence to the southwest of the Yoshiwara brothel, where he gathered a large number of non-humans and ruled over them. His power base was guaranteed by the official government service authorized by the shogunate. Specifically, he disposed of corpses at the Kozukabara Penitentiary, turned in criminals, and disposed of the unrelated Buddhist statues that had perished in fires and epidemics. These were duties associated with the uncleanness that ordinary townspeople and samurai avoided, and order was maintained by having non-humans take charge of them.

In Asakusa-tambo, there was also a temporary detention center for the unappointed and the criminally insane, and Zenhichi was in charge of the management of this facility. This system functioned similar to today's detention centers and summary detention centers, and was a complement to the activities of the town magistrate's office and the prison magistrate. The fact that the non-human head had this authority meant that they were not merely at the bottom of society, but constituted part of the judicial system.

As a historical background, the population of Edo exceeded one million, and the number of non-habituals and criminals was rapidly increasing. Maintaining public order was an urgent issue for the shogunate, and the official samurai organization alone could not cope with the situation. Therefore, non-humans like Kuruma-Zenshichi became indispensable as an auxiliary line of urban governance. Kuruma Zenpichi was a symbolic figure of this structure and an embodiment of the contradiction between discrimination and power.