The Hyōjōsho (評定所), established in 1225 b Hōjō Yasutoki,[1] was a judicial council in Japan.
During the Tokugawa shogunate it was composed of the Rōjū (Elders), the highest officials in the shogunate government, and a number of Commissioners called Bugyō, who headed certain executive departments.
The role of the council was partially executive, and partially judicial, and they served from a Council Chamber within Edo Castle.
Each clan also had an organization that judged the samurai under its own jurisdiction as well, and it was called an appraisal office or a royal house.
In Sendai domain, it was located on the banks of the Hirose river, so it remains as a place name called appraisal Kawahara even after its abolition.