, also known as kaigun-bugō, were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 in Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually fudai

Fudai

was a class of daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa in Edo period Japan. It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.-Origins:...

daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor."

This bakufu tile identifies an official with responsibility for naval matters. The office was created on March 28, 1859. The creation of this new position was an administrative change which was deemed necessary because of two treaties which were negotiated with the Americans. The open port provisions were part of the Convention of Kanagawa

Convention of Kanagawa

On March 31, 1854, the or was concluded between Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy and the Tokugawa shogunate.-Treaty of Peace and Amity :...

 of 1858, which cam about as the result Commodore Perry

Commodore Perry

Commodore Perry may refer to:* Commodore Matthew Perry , United States Navy officer* Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry , United States Navy officer* Commodore Perry Owens , American gunfighter...

's second appearance in Tokyo harbor with armed battleships. More precisely, this bugyō was considered essential because of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce

Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States-Japan)

The , also called Harris Treaty, between the United States and Japan was signed at the Ryōsen-ji in Shimoda on July 29, 1858. It opened the ports of Yokohama and four other Japanese cities to American trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among other stipulations.-The Treaty:The...

, which had been negotiated in 1858 by the American representative, Townsend Harris

Townsend Harris

Townsend Harris was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan...

 -- the Harris Treaty of 1858).

The gunkan-bugyō was considered to rank approximately with the kanjō-bugyō

Kanjo-bugyo

were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually fudai daimyō. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor."...

.

The genesis of the gunkan-bugyō pre-dates the actual creation of the office.

Kaibō-gakari

The prefix kaibō-gakari meaning "in charge of maritime defense" was used with the titles of some bakufu officials after 1845. This term was used to designate those who bore a special responsibility for overseeing coastal waters, and by implication, for dealing with matters involving foreigners—for example, kaibō-gakari-ōmetsuke which later came to be superseded by the term gaikoku-gakari.

List of gunkan-bugyō

• Mizuno Tadanori (1859).
• Nagai Naomune, (1859).
• Inoue Kyuonao (1859–1862).
• Oguri Tadamasa (1865).
• Takeaki Enomoto -- kaigun-bugyō (1866–1868).
• Katsu Kaishu
  Katsu Kaishu
  was a Japanese statesman, naval engineer during the Late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was and his real name was...