Approximate Site of East City Magistrate’s Office

This was the site of the East City Magistrate’s Office for the city magistrates of Kyoto during the Edo period (1603-1868). It covered the area near what is now the NTT West Mibu Office, from the west side of Shinsen-en Temple as far as Bifuku Street.
The office was responsible for administration, legal matters, and policing in general in Kyoto and the surrounding area. As well as the magistrate, it was staffed by low-ranking samurai of the yoriki and doshin ranks , roughly equivalent to constables and policemen.
Kyoto magistrates had jurisdiction over a wide area covering eight provinces in and around the Kinai region (which refers to the five provinces surrounding the ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto). They were responsible for dealing with litigation and other problems in areas directly controlled by the shogunate or by temples and shrines. These responsibilities were shared in alternating months with the West Magistrate’s Office (near what is now Nakagyo Junior High School).
With only twenty yoriki and fifty doshin samurai, each office used the local neighborhood councils to help govern the city.
The Kyoto city magistrates were first appointed in 1668, taking on the roles of shogun’s Kyoto deputy, or shoshidai , and Kansai county magistrate, or Kamigata gundai , and lasted until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Kyoto City