Kyoto Shoshidai

[1] The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was adopted by the Tokugawa shōguns.

The shoshidai, usually chosen from among the fudai daimyōs, was the shōgun's deputy in the Kyoto region, and was responsible for maintaining good relations and open communication between the shogunate and the imperial court.

[6] For example, the shoshidai supported the Kyoto magistrate or municipal administrator (the machi-bugyō) in making positive policy about firefighting for the royal palaces.

[9] The shoshidai also headed a network of spies tasked with discovering and reporting any covert sources of sedition, insurrection or other kinds of unrest.

[11] In addition to administrative duties, the shoshidai's participation in ceremonial events helped to consolidate the power and influence of the shogunate.

[4] In September 1862, a concurrent, nearly co-equal office was created, the "Kyoto shugoshoku", in an attempt to strengthen the Kōbu gattai faction (公武合体, Union of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate).