Alternation and service in Edo
The system placed a daimyo's movements under the shogun's authority. A lord travelled with retainers to Edo, resided in his mansion and returned to his domain according to the permitted schedule. Nagano's city history describes the normal arrangement as alternating years, with an entourage related to assessed domain revenue.
The 1635 Laws for the Military Houses marked an important stage of regulation for outside lords, followed by extension to hereditary Tokugawa vassal lords in 1642. A copy preserved at Kumamoto University shows how the law was proclaimed in Edo and copied within the Hosokawa household. Written circulation connected central rules to domain administration.
Edo households and political control
Alternate attendance worked alongside the residence of wives and heirs in Edo. Family residence maintained a continuing bond with the shogun and carried the constraints associated with a hostage arrangement. Even during a lord's absence, the Edo mansion required staff, supplies and management.
The obligations changed. Reforms in 1862 shortened residence requirements and relaxed restrictions on whether wives and heirs stayed in Edo or returned to their domains. These late changes show why the institution should be understood as a developing set of arrangements rather than a single timetable applied unchanged throughout Tokugawa rule.
References: [3]
Processions, post stations and expenditure
A procession required horses, baggage transport, accommodation and hired labour. Post stations and neighbouring communities supplied services, sometimes under burdensome obligations. The Hokkokukaido carried lords from Kaga, Etchu, Echigo and Shinano, leaving records of different routes and entourage sizes.
Journeys and Edo residence strained domain finances and retainers' resources, while generating income through transport, employment and provisioning. Repeated orders to reduce attendants addressed congestion and expense. The institution therefore joined political service to a recurring movement of people and resources across the road network.
References: [1]